Summer officially begins Friday, but the Garden State has been turning greener and more lush for weeks. Fields boast robust-looking rows of corn plants that seem to grow several inches every day, our favorite farmers markets are filling the bins with early lettuce and the first of the state’s namesake tomatoes, and some of us dream of the big South Jersey blueberries that are just around the corner.
In these days of bounty and the promise of much more to come, it’s sometimes hard to remember that not everyone can enjoy these gifts from nature and almost nobody gets them year-round. That’s why it can be inspiring to read about all the innovative urban gardening projects taking root around the globe.
In August, we brought you the story of William Sears and Vertifresh, a startup that’s growing lettuce, basil and other greens hydroponically, in retrofitted shipping containers in the heart of Denver’s industrial district. (read more…)
Wendy’s is streamlining its corporate IT systems by integrating Esri Business Analyst into its reporting at new locations. The geographic information systems software will help the quick-service chain in conducting market analyses and selecting new sites. “The company’s decision to integrate GIS as a scalable technology within its existing systems means that any staff member, from marketing to design, can gain the benefits of mapping intelligence without any training and at any time,” said Simon Thompson, Esri’s director of commercial business.
The software utilizes customized analytics, Esri demographics data and server GIS applications to create a mapping interface that allows staff to have easy access to sales records, demographics and other reports from any of the more than 6,500 existing chain locations. The new system also gives the company the ability to create predictive models and analyze potential restaurant cannibalization at new and existing restaurants, which span across America, the U.S. (read more…)
This series is sponsored by the Can Manufacturers Institute, where gray is the new green. Want to know the reason? Download our sustainability paper to learn more about how cans stand alone as the sustainable solution for 21st-century packaging. Pass it on. CanCentral.com/sustainability.
I never thought about it this way before, but the can of diced tomatoes I used in a recipe recently may once have played a tiny part in holding up a house, keeping a family’s clothes clean or delivering the carpool. Steel, like aluminum, is a metal that’s highly recyclable, and while cans are the most common usage for both metals, reused steel can come from and go into a host of other products, from car bumpers to building materials to big-ticket appliances.
The amount of steel recycled in the U.S. in 2012 totals more than 60 million tons so far and is growing, according to the Steel Market Development Institute. (read more…)
This series is sponsored by the Can Manufacturers Institute, where gray is the new green. Want to know the reason? Download our sustainability paper to learn more about how cans stand alone as the sustainable solution for 21st-century packaging. Pass it on. CanCentral.com/sustainability.
Beverage brands have been working on innovations and modifications that make their cans perform better and stand out in consumers’ minds.
British Columbia inventor Steve Archambault has created what he says will be the next generation can pop top, a “smart tab” that thirsty folks use to open the can in the normal fashion. Once their thirst is slaked, users swivel the tab around and it acts as a cork to stop up the can until thirst calls once more, as Beverage Daily reported this summer.
Cans closures have gone from sealed lids that had to be punctured with a can opener to the tabs of today; now, much of the latest innovation in the world of aluminum cans has shifted from sealing to temperature. (read more…)
Denver salad chain MAD Greens added a locally grown salad to the menu this summer, and while the limited-time Alferd Packer will be gone after Sept. 30, lettuce used to make it will be available year-round. This week, the company got its first produce order from Vertifresh, a local startup that uses hydroponic technology to grow lettuce and other greens in retrofitted shipping crates in a warehouse in an industrial part of the city.
Vertifresh founder and CEO William Sears got the company up and running this year, after licensing technology needed to grow lettuce and other leafy greens. The warehouse — he’s dubbed it a farmplex — holds five 20-foot-long repurposed shipping containers, each capable of turning out the equivalent of 2.5 acres of lettuce every 27 days, about half of the time of a traditional crop grown in soil, without using herbicides or pesticides, Sears said. He’s adding more of the stackable containers and expects to have between 25 and 30 in use by year-end. (read more…)
Twitter
Facebook
Linkedin
RSS
