Not All Rotten Produce from Grocery Stores in Garland is Taken to the Landfill

When one ventures out into the world at 6:30 AM, there is no telling what secrets will be revealed or mysteries unraveled. So it was this morning.

I had to go to Wal-Mart to pick up some clear sacks for the Garland Community Garden lemongrass tea we are giving out to folks tomorrow (October 29) from 1 to 3 PM at our Monster Bash Event.  I hope YOU come!  We need your support!

About a year ago I approached Wal-Mart and several other grocery stores in the area to see if Loving Garland Green might pick up some of their fresh produce that had gone south. We planned to use it in our compost. I got all kinds of answers as to why not ranging from the city has a code that doesn’t allow people to do this (the City does not) to they would have to get permission from corporate (and then the answer was no from the three stores that did that).  It’s not always easy to be green, but it’s always worth it.

This morning there behind Wal-Mart was the truck unlocking the produce bins and loading up a huge truck so I went over and interviewed the truck driver.  I wish it had been a little later as I was minus my morning coffee so I didn’t get clarification on one question in particular that I would have liked to know:  Who pays whom?  Does Wal-Mart pay for the stuff to be picked up, or does the company picking up the spoiled produce pay Wal-Mart?  It would be interesting to know.

This much I did learn:  Organics, LLC of Hutchins Texas picks up the produce from the Super Wal-Mart on North Garland and the Bush Tollway and carries it to Hutchison, Texas (a small community of about 5,000 located in south Dallas County).

There, employees of Organics cull out any plastic or unwanted items that may have gotten into the produce and take it to an area where it is composted and then sold to organic farmers in the Hutchins area.

SIDE TRIP TO THE DUMP 

About 15 years ago when I was traveling the old broken Route 66 across the Midwest with some friends, we passed a dump somewhere in Missouri and one of my friends remarked that our great-grandchildren might have to mine dumps to survive.  At the time his comment seemed absurd and impossible, but not so much today.  Below is a photo of two children in a dump in Leon, Nicaragua looking for food and other necessities.  Their mother reported the dump is a dangerous place as people sometimes get killed there fighting over trash.

                                        Photo Credit:  Compassion International

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Loving Garland Green Promotes the Ongoing Greening of Garland

We do what we can-- Mostly by example.  However for the month of November we are planning a public awareness campaign to raise awareness here in Garland of the fact that the leaves we put curbside in plastic bags go to our local landfill.  They are not recycled.  The citizens still have many green alternatives available to them and we will make them aware of these choices during the month of November.

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We tagged our first Monarch yesterday! 

About a month ago Jane Stroud, an officer of our board, gave me a packet of labels from Monarch Watch.org—an education, conservation and research group who operate out of the University of Kansas.  I haven’t had time to read the literature to find out how to do it properly until yesterday.  It’s a fairly easy process.  We labeled a female Monarch WGW300 and released her down at the Garden.  Unfortunately Charlie, the Monarch Whisperer, insisted that I release it.  My spirit is wilder than his and creatures sense it but he was adamant.  Naturally the Monarch flew away before he could snap a photo of it.  Next time I’ll make sure that he releases the tagged Monarch!

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COME TO THE MONSTER BASH SATURDAY OCTOBER 29 – 1 to 3PM
GARLAND COMMUNITY GARDEN 4055 NAAMAN SCHOOL ROAD--75040

If you don't want to build a Monster, you can still come, have fun and see what others have built.

We have lots of little things from the garden available for a small donation to our scholarship fund. Below is a photo of one of the 70 Loofah scrubbers and one of the Lemongrass tea bags  we are giving away.

Wear your Halloween costume.  I'll be wearing mine.  I have it waiting on the hall rack.

Remember,  you'll never be any  younger than you are today.  If you've never worn a costume, it may be time now to do so.