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FYI: Starting this month, customers of any Harris Teeter store will be able to recycle bottles and cans in addition to plastic and paper bags in the front lobby. The new in-store recycling program is intended for items including drink containers, milk bottles from the coffee shop, pharmacy bulk bottles and deli containers.

I received two unsolicited copies of of Kate Heyhoe's "Cooking Green: Reducing Your Carbon Footprint in the Kitchen -- The New Green Basics Way", which I reviewed for this Sunday's N&R book page. That makes them eligible for one of my occasional giveaways for goGreenTriad.com.

I will draw two names on Thursday from the list of subscribers to my weekly e-newsletter, The Green News Sampler, so you have until Wednesday night to sign up. You can access it on the right side of the main page at goGreenTriad.com. I will then e-mail the winner to request mailing information.

Believe it or not, but second lives do exist for the goopy, dirty, dusty and smelly remains of our everyday personal and industrial activities. And the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources is doing what it can to encourage more people to trade their wastes instead of sending them to the landfill.

Available to the public is the N.C. BiomassTrader, an online listing of organic waste products for trade. A glitchy version of the site existed for a few years but only started getting much interest about a month ago, said Brian Rosa, who works for the Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance.

Examples of products that can be listed in N.C. BiomassTrader include:

* Sawdust, wood chips and shavings
* Industrial pallets and crates
* Waste vegetable oil and grease (i.e. biofuels production)
* Old corrugated cardboard containers and paper waste
* Surplus and discarded food items (i.e. composting)
* Glycerin and other biodiesel production byproducts (i.e. soap production)

N.C. BiomassTrader aims to help develop biomass markets in North Carolina and increase job creation in the state’s biomass economy. The Web site is a spin-off of the free commodity trading site, N.C. WasteTrader, a 6-year-old site that steadily grew with numerous entries from users listing all kinds of commodities.

This week, Elon University will hold its 8th annual fall environmental forum, this time focused on sustainability in business. The forum will take place on Friday, with two tours scheduled to the Proximity Hotel and a New London farm where T.S. Designs in Burlington sources cotton for its North Carolina-made shirts.

Registration is $10 and still open to the public. Learn more about the events here.

The versatility and weakness of sustainability is that it means different things to people and attracts different motivations. It can be a source of business innovation, a marketing ploy, an aesthetic ideal, a response to better information, a new economic paradigm or a sociocultural aspiration.

For Graphik Dimensions Ltd., a High Point printing and frame supply company, sustainability is an opportunity to do what they do better. The 44-year-old company has stepped up efforts over recent years to reduce its waste stream, offer eco-friendly products and support worthy charities. A few months ago the company started offering warehouse sales to service the local artist/photography industry and cut back on waste.

"We're always looking for ways to not have stuff going into the landfill," said Robyn Feinsod, manager of marketing and merchandising for the company. "We're all about reduce, reuse, recycle."

Last week the company launched two eco-friendly picture frame collections made from bamboo, organic water-based stains, and matboard incorporating recycled content.  As part of the launch, the company ran a special (ending today) that provides 10 percent off to customers and donates 5 percent of the sales to American Forests’ Global ReLeaf program. Find a fulll list of the company's efforts here.

Feinsod acknowledged that one of the challenges of a business going green is defining what a green or sustainable product is.

"How you define an eco-friendly frame product, depending on your perspective, comes in a hundred shades of gray," she said.

For example, some customers prefer metal frames because the material can be recycled; while others steer clear of mined and/or non-renewable resources, she said. Some people prefer the quick-growing bamboo grass even though it's an invasive plant in the U.S. and is often imported from overseas. Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) has been criticized for years for containing formaldehyde, even though the product reuses wood production waste.

"In a million ways MDF is super green and good for the environment," Feinsod said.

This challenge ultimately makes sustainability a process, an education, a never-ending series of questions without firm and final answers; this can give the whole objective a sense of "running in place."  It's up to both business owners and consumers to ask questions about what they sell and buy and then make decisions based on their personal hierarchy of values. For example, a large family with tight finances might choose to use non-toxic homemade cleaning supplies. Someone else buys more effective supplies from the store even though it generates more waste. All choices come with advantages and tradeoffs.

What do you prioritize when buying products? Do you ever feel comfortable that what you buy (the reality) meets the ideal of living sustainably? 

Rob Clapper, president of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, planned to meet this morning with representatives from the Greensboro Merchants Association and Buy Triad First to find out how to support the young grassroots group. I picked his brain a little bit for my research on a piece about the "buy local" and relocalization movements.

Buy Triad First emerged this summer as a way for independent business owners in the Greensboro area to distinguish themselves from and compete with national chain stores. The network is currently affiliated with the national 3/50 Project, which encourages people to spend $50 at three locally-owned businesses, and founder Cinda Baxter spoke to the group this week in High Point.

Clapper told me that he is trying to figure out how to help the group get its message out without compromising the chamber's role of supporting all types of businesses that serve the Greensboro community. (Note: The chamber has its own Buy Local campaign too.)

The upside of the chamber and merchants association supporting Buy Triad First is that it has the potential to bring those two groups additional members. But the chamber doesn't want to use member dues to support non-member businesses.

"Unfortunately as an organization, the way the chamber is, that can't be our focus for the entire year," he said. "We want to serve as a conduit and support mechanism and not be perceived as a competitive program."

On another note, I asked Clapper if the local chamber has seen any fallout from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce/climate bill controversy. Last week, the N.C. Conservation Network, an environmental group supporting federal legislations limiting greenhouse gas emissions, held a teleconference with business owners opposing the national group's stance. Erik Lensch, President of Argand Energy Solutions in Charlotte, said his company was unlikely to renew its membership with the local chamber based on the U.S. chamber's position.

Clapper said no businesses have withdrawn their membership from the Greensboro Chamber, although he has responded by e-mail to questions from a few members. Clapper said that while the local chamber is a member of the national association, its dues do not pay for political lobbying. The Greensboro Chamber has not taken a position on the proposed House and Senate climate bills.

"I am 99.999 percent sure that our dues for the U.S. Chamber are for professional development and educational programs," Clapper said.

In fact, the Greensboro Chamber is active in promoting green business practices and has partnered with the new Sustainable Greensboro, which I wrote about previously. The chamber will offer a speaker series on green technology in November and plans to participate in the Green Plus business certification program next year. I'll have more information about Green Plus later.

"Most of our membership know that we're committed to making Greensboro a better community," Clapper said. "We're doing what we can to begin and look at green opportunities and how we can make Greensboro a more sustainable community."

N.C. A&T will demonstrate to home gardeners, small farmers and locavores how to extend the growing season for tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers and spinach.

The techniques will be presented during a free Fall Small Farms Field Demonstration from 3:30-5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3 at the University Farm, 3136 McConnell Road. Production tips will also be offered on the care and management of strawberries, which are being planted now for spring harvest. Solar heating and other tips will be discussed and demonstrated.

Call 334-7956 for more information.

Downtown shoppers can cut back some of their packaging trash by picking up a free reusable tote offered by Downtown Greensboro Incorporated (DGI) as part of its efforts to promote the business district and reduce its waste stream. Shoppers get the totes by completing a voucher at particular locations.

The bags are decorated with DGI’s Fun & Lively logo and URL, www.downtowngreensboro.net, and are created out of a recyclable polypropylene material designed to have the strength of cloth. DGI initially ordered 250 bags.

The shopping promotion targets three Saturdays over a three-month period: Oct. 17, Nov. 21 and Dec. 19; however, shopping bags are available at Burton’s Pharmacy (120 E. Lindsay St.), Jules Antiques & Fine Art (530 S. Elm St.), Mack and Mack (220 S. Elm St.), and at Simple Kneads Bakery (227 S. Elm St.) by request, as well as at the DGI office (122 N. Elm St., Ste. 609) weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The oft-quoted Nielsen, a marketing and media information company, released today its latest Energy Trends report, which distilled from a 32,000-respondent online survey what drives Americans to pay for renewable energy/efficiency technologies. The survey largely confirmed what I'm sure many of you already knew:

* That people are primarily motivated by the prospect of saving money rather than fighting global warming or "saving the Earth;"

* That a tiny minority of Americans participate in green energy programs (such as N.C. Green Power) and that those who do are primarily young, solidly middle class, and liberals and moderates on the political spectrum. In fact, Nielsen found that only 3 percent of U.S. households participate in such programs, and of that number, 14 percent live in the Southern Atlantic region (i.e. North Carolina).

* Those who are interested in alternative energy prefer solar power, with the remaining options trailing by a large margin.

A couple statistics I did find interesting: 

* Many people don't understand Smart Grid technology but are interested in the prospect of managing their energy use online.

* Three percent of responding households reported their plans to purchase a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle once available, with an additional 25 percent indicating they plan to wait until the technology is proven and mainstream before purchasing. Only 15 percent reported that they plan to drive a gas-powered vehicle until they are unavailable. The rest replied that they are waiting until their current car needs to be replaced before considering that type of investment.

Any of you have thoughts on this or related consumer surveys? 

Tim Toben, a Greensboro native and clean energy proponent, will speak at Temple Emanuel at 6:30 p.m. on Friday as part of the synagogue's observance of Shabbat Noach. The event is open to the public.

Shabbat Noach, a time when Jews around the world read the Torah portion about the Flood, Noah, the Ark, and the Rainbow, occurs on Oct. 23-24, the same weekend that people all over the world will rally in support of reducing carbon emissions as part of the International Day for Climate Action. (Interestingly, members of Temple Emanuel in Winston-Salem are holding related events that weekend.)

Toben will speak on climate change, North Carolina's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and it's current environmental challenges, and opportunities for mitigation and advocacy.

Toben is a principal in the Greenbridge development in Chapel Hill as well as chairman of the N.C. Energy Policy Council and member of the N.C. Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change. He is also chairman of the Board of Visitors at the UNC-CH Institute for the Environment. Toben is the son of Carolyn Toben, who co-directs the Center for Education, Imagination and the Natural World in Whitsett. He and his wife also own and operate an Orange County organic vegetable farm that operates on a hybrid solar and wind renewable energy system.