Organic sales to reach $670 million by 2011
The latest market research from Packaged Facts shows sales of organic fertilizers and growing media will take off over the next 5 years. Organics are currently a $360 million market. The report projects organics will see double-digit growth for each of the next 5 years, eventually reaching $670 million in 2011. Packaged Facts attributes this growth to grass-roots efforts by environmentally conscious baby boomers.

Program keeps hort plastic out of landfills
Missouri Botanical Garden's pot recycling program set a new record this year, collecting and recycling 70,000 pounds of horticultural plastic. Since the program started in 1997, more than 500,000 pounds of pots and trays have been saved from area landfills. William T. Kemper Center for Home Gardening at Missouri Botanical Garden leads the campaign to collect plastic containers, polystyrene and polypropylene cell packs and trays. The collection takes place over 6 weekends in May and June. Four local garden centers -- Waldbart & Sons, For the Garden by Haefners, Summerwinds at Timber Creek and Schmittel's Nursery -- take part in the collection effort.

Emerald ash borer quarantine expands
As of last Friday, the entire states of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio are subject to the emerald ash borer quarantine. USDA's APHIS more than doubled the previously quarantined area in an effort to contain the pest. The federal order restricts interstate movement of regulated articles -- including ash nursery stock, wood chips and firewood. The Beacon Journal reported on how Ohio garden centers are dealing with new regulations. Petitti Garden Center doesn't expect any problems from the quarantine. Richard Rouser, nursery manager at Donzell's Flower and Garden Center, told the newspaper that sales of ash trees have crashed and customers are choosing other trees instead.

Ex-employee challenges Scotts' smoking ban
A former employee is challenging Scotts Miracle-Gro Co.'s smoking ban, according to a report in The Boston Globe. Last year, Scotts announced a company policy forbidding employees to smoke. The measure was part of the company's Project Excellence, a cost-cutting program that included more product rollouts, headcount reductions and an effort to control health-care costs by eliminating smokers from payrolls. The lawsuit is unusual because it involves an employee who was terminated for engaging in legal activities away from the workplace, the Globe reported.

San Diego says no to Wal-Mart
San Diego's City Council decided to ban supercenter-sized stores, according to a report in the Union-Tribune. The council voted 5-3 to ban stores with more than 90,000 sq. ft. that use 10% of their space to sell groceries and other merchandise not subject to sales tax. The ban excludes membership stores -- like Costco and Sam's Club, which sell grocery items in bulk. Mayor Jerry Sanders plans to veto the council's decision, but the move will be largely symbolic. The council can override it with the 5 votes used to approve the ban.

More customers opt for debit/check cards
Debit/check cards will remain the favored form of payment this holiday season. According to Nat.'l. Retail Federation's Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, 39.1% of consumers will use debit/check cards most often when buying gifts, up from 34.3% in 2005. About 30% will rely on credit cards and, for the first time in 2 years, the number of people using cash has dropped. According to the survey, 24.3% of consumers plan to use cash as their preferred payment method (down from 28.5% in 2005 and 25.9% in '04).

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