海角大神

Talk about multitasking -- sunflowers planted on previously blighted vacant lots are providing not just beauty, but it's hoped that they will also be able to remove contaminants from the soil and provide green jobs, plus 鈥� as a bonus 鈥� the seeds can be harvested and turned into environmentally friendly biofuel.

That's a pretty big order even for such a large plant. But projects planting sunflowers in vacant lots are already under way in and . And may be next.

So far, the nonprofit group that's behind all this, , has with a number of organizations 鈥� including Carnegie Mellon University. : reclaim vacant land, empower communities, and translate ideas into action.

Will Bradshaw of Green Coast Enterprise, a partner with GTECH in New Orleans' Project Sprout, that sunflowers were chosen specifically for the project becauset they "create hope. People have a direction connection to them," he said. They remember their grandmothers or other relatives growing sunflowers. And they signal a brighter future.

Scientists aren't necessarily agreed on lead from soil, so turning sunflower seeds into biofuel seems the most promising green possibility.

But that's not the whole point of the project. "There's a real possibility," Mr. Bradshaw , "to help people envision their neighborhood and their spaces in new ways."

And that's a good argument for those who would like to see the sunflower considered for the national flower, as we discussed earlier this week.

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