to send light through a series
of large plastic fibers that look
something like plexiglass cables.
The lights don’t create heat or
ultraviolet rays, both of which
degrade fragile papers, so they’re
suited for use in museums and
other archival areas. A single
70-watt metal halide lamp connected to the company’s fiber
optic system can replace the
output of eight normal 50-watt
bulbs; better yet, the lights
consume one-third the amount
of energy of even the most miserly fluorescent bulbs. To date,
most of Fiberstars’s customers
have been hotels, casinos, and
retailers—but if all goes well,
consumers could be next.
20
NATURALAWN
FREDERICK, MARYLAND
At least 78 million American
households blanket their yards
with pesticides in search of
the suburban emerald dream
lawn—and we’ve got the polluted
groundwater to prove it. Pesticides have been linked to birth
defects, neurotoxicity, and liver
and kidney damage, and exposure
to pesticides increases the likelihood of childhood leukemia by
sevenfold. After nine years in the
field as a manager for Chemlawn,
where he was surrounded by coworkers who were frequently sick,
Philip Catron decided he’d had
enough and launched a lawn-care
franchise that eschewed the use of
pesticides altogether. Today, the
company is the country’s largest
organic-based lawn care business,
with more than 50,000 clients in
24 states. NaturaLawn’s customers have collectively prevented
millions of pounds of pesticide
usage—and their lawns look so
lush that you’d never know the
difference.
plentymag.com Feb/Mar/07 | 55