Re: Polymers- jello

**D* G* <d*@kos.net>**

Lynn Jenkins has just opened up an interesting level of the  
discussion; not only about this product but for a full range of other  
products and techniques.

In short, she's rather courageously said

"Clients expect pots to be beautiful all week without a consideration  
to the heat and dry weather. "
"Because their breakdown elements are toxic, I use them only in  
containers,
not directly in the garden."

"It's because of Soil moist and Osmocote that my container business  
has flourished."

I wrote about this product and the moral problem right here.
http://blog.douggreensgarden.com/2008/04/13/a-gardening-accident-waiting-to-happen/

I want to make it clear that this response isn't about Lynn.  It's  
about us all as humans, as inhabitants of this planet and more  
importantly as writers/leaders in the hort press.  Where do we make  
choices?  How do those choices get made?

Lynn has taken the stand that she can pollute because her business  
needs it.  She's open about it.  She says, it's just a little bit  
thought and she's defined her comfort level as I describe it in my   
blog post.  It really doesn't matter that the container soil will be  
discarded somewhere to degrade and pollute, it's just container soil  
and her customers need it.  She needs it to run her business the way  
it has been running.

Scotts is equally likely saying that they only pollute a "little bit"  
relative to the number of customers and shareholders they have.

We hold Scotts accountable but we don't hold ourselves accountable.

And is just a "little bit" OK?   One of the commenters in the blog  
post put it nicely when she talks about the factories that have to  
exist in order to produce the "little bit" that we all use.

The "little bit" because our customers expect it is one step in a  
slippery road straight to the polluted world we now inhabit.  We  
decide to pollute to meet unrealistic customer expectations be it  
wetting agents or big comfortable SUV's.

And the important thing is that we all decide where we take those  
steps in our own lives.  We all take "little bits" and we justify them  
to ourselves.  As I said in the blog, it's a problem we all face every  
morning when we put on non-organic clothes.

But as writers, we lead from the front in this increasingly  
environmentally conscious world.

What was it we used to say?  "You're either part of the solution or  
you're part of the problem".

My .02 on a rainy Friday morning here on the island.

Doug
Douglas Green
Online Garden Publishing
Blog:  http://blog.douggreensgarden.com
Home: http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com

On 2-May-08, at 5:45 AM, Lynn Jenkins wrote:

> With a container gardening business, polymers (Soil Moist is the
> brand I use) are absolutely necessary. Clients expect pots to be
> beautiful all week without a consideration to the heat and dry
> weather.  They do not work at all like jello...just put some in a
> glass and watch them absorb and then release the water.  Because
> their breakdown elements are toxic, I use them only in containers,
> not directly in the garden.
> They will  not float to the top if you place them just below the root
> level as you are filling the container. And don't overuse...blend
> them well  into the potting mix at root level...don't allow them to
> stay in a cluster.  It's because of Soil moist and Osmocote that my
> container business has flourished.
>
>

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