So for a topical, colorful and close-at-hand example of what’s at stake,consider the poinsettia.
More than 60 million poinsettias are likely to be sold this holiday season,making the plant a ubiquitous symbol of the multidimensional changes requiredfor our society to become green.
Regan Cronin lives with the energy dilemma facing small businesses. Sheowns and operates the Good Earth Greenhouse, where I work part time, whichincludes a garden center in River Forest and a nursery in Lockport.
Recently Cronin noted that energy costs are projected to increase 40percent over the next five years – a fact that led her to ask, “How will thatimpact my poinsettia crop?” The plants are a large part of Cronin’s yearlysales. She grows 33 varieties – roughly 8,000 potted plants each year – andsells them wholesale and at her garden center. Larger nurseries might grow25,000 to 30,000 of the plants.
Poinsettias were originally cultivated in their native area, subtropicalMexico, by the Aztecs. To grow them in an Illinois greenhouse requirescarefully controlled conditions.
In July, rooted cuttings arrive by truck. Head grower Tom Culak describeshis growing methods as “the most earth-friendly possible,” including the useof a preventive biological fungicide in place of standard drenches (in which aliquid fungicide is applied to the soil).
He grows the plants “dry” (similar to their low-rainfall natural habitat).”The plants tell me when they need water or other care,” he says. This alsohelps avoid chemical overuse.
But climate control is where energy costs and environmental factorsconverge. Poinsettias cannot survive below about 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Theyprefer night temperatures between 58 and 68 degrees, and they can’t tolerateexcessive heat. Culak and his crew nurture them in 70,000-square-foot”polyhouses” that are 25 years old. They are not insulated, and they must becooled by large fans and heated by natural gas.
During summer, the fans run nearly 24 hours a day. In fall, fans and heatalternate. By November, the heat runs constantly.
Cronin is conscious of both costs and the environment. So the effects ofglobal warming and the projected rise in energy prices have forced a series ofdecisions upon her: Should she tear down the old greenhouses and rebuild, ormerely retrofit? Which alternative energy sources should she investigate? Orshould she change crops to something that uses less energy?
But then, Cronin wonders, what about her wholesale customers? Would shelose their business? And how could she afford the changes?
In our market-driven culture, “customer demand” often becomes shorthand forsocial customs and traditions. We Americans celebrate holidays by buyingthings. Fittingly, the custom of displaying poinsettias in December is aresult of effective marketing.
Joel Roberts Poinsett was ambassador to Mexico when he first brought theplants to his greenhouses in South Carolina in 1825. For years, poinsettiaswere sold mostly as outdoor plants in warm climates.
But during the 20th Century, the use of fossil fuels for climate controland transportation, and the use of petrochemical fertilizers and syntheticgrowing aids meant poinsettias could flourish nearly anywhere. Paul Ecke, aCalifornia grower, bred new varieties and marketed the plants intensively asliving symbols of Christmas.
Today more than $220 million worth of the plants are sold every year.Poinsettias are taken for granted; we buy them at school and churchfundraisers, give them as gifts and use them to decorate corporate offices,hospitals and homes. Their production helps provide jobs for thousands. Theirpurchase and use is a tradition rooted in our energy-unconscious past, poweredby marketing, and considered by millions to be part of the way things are, andindeed should be. Yet it is a tradition almost completely dependent on fossilfuels.
No matter how she answers her questions about growing poinsettias, Croninfaces a dilemma that belongs to all of us, every day, no matter where we liveor what our livelihood.
In his book, “Collapse,” Jared Diamond says societies that attempt to keepbusiness and culture going “as usual” rather than adapt to changingenvironmental circumstances are in danger of failure.
So where will our change originate? Do we all attempt to keep going asbefore, or are we willing to revamp our market-driven cultural constructs andmove toward eco-effectiveness? Who will pay for the changeover? How can smallbusiness owners make expensive alterations yet make a reasonable profit?
When considering climate change and oil depletion, it’s easy to talk of”paradigm change”; easy to blame the Republicans or Democrats; easy to cast”the corporations” as the enemy or, conversely, to claim that “the freemarket” will somehow solve our energy and environmental problems. What’sdifficult is to move from discussing abstractions to finding solutions ineveryday life.
The next time you buy an inexpensive, disposable poinsettia, whether intraditional red, cheery pink, or creamy white, think about these things. Thatbeautiful plant is more than just a seasonal decoration.
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