·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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Read the full story in the Christian Science Monitor.

In Springfield, Mo., college students are about to see quite vividly how much energy they consume. Piles of coal will be on display in proportion to what’s needed each day to power their dorms, computers, and dining halls.

At Radford University in Virginia, students may stumble upon a mock fight between a windmill and a smokestack (costumes courtesy of the campus Green Team).

At the University of Vermont in Burlington, audience members will be encouraged to bike or walk to a one-woman show in which the fictional first lady calls for a boycott against sex until the nation starts a serious dialogue about climate change.

The creative tactics are designed to draw students into a series of events this coming week known as Focus the Nation: Global Warming Solutions for America. Organizers bill the culminating day, Jan. 31, as the largest teach-in in the nation’s history, drawing parallels to the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s and ’70s. More than 1,500 institutions, most of them colleges and universities, will host classes, documentaries, performances, energy-saving competitions, and discussions with political leaders.

Read the press release.

What are the human health and environmental risks and benefits of nanoscale chemical products? That’s what EPA wants to find out with its just-announced Nanoscale Materials Stewardship Program (NMSP). Engineered nanoscale materials range in size from 1-100 nanometers (nm), and may have very different properties than the same materials at a larger scale.

Read the press release.

Corporate Express US Inc., part of the Dutch-based Corporate Express NV (NYSE: CXP), announced today that it is now fueling the majority of its delivery truck fleets in Colorado and Kansas with Blue Sun’s Fusion B20 biodiesel — an ultra-low sulfur fuel comprising 20% virgin oilseed-based biodiesel, from renewable US-grown crops, and 80% petroleum diesel.

Read the press release.

GreenPrint Technologies announced today the launch of GreenPrint World, a new version of its paper-saving software available for free to home users worldwide. The company estimates that with widespread use the software could save over 100 million trees and reduce greenhouse gasses by over 300 million tons globally.

For a full-color, graphic version of this newsletter, go to
http://www.greenbiz.com/enewsletter.

Wal-Mart Announces Next Steps in its Green Evolution
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36582
Wal-Mart wants to make its most energy intensive products 25 percent more efficient in the next three years, as well as set higher environmental standards for its suppliers.

No More Plastic Shopping Bags for Whole Foods
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36577
Whole Foods Market plans to completely phase out plastic grocery bags across the company by Earth Day.

Adjustments to Agriculture May Help Mitigate Global Warming: Report
By Alana Herro, Worldwatch
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36562
A recent report from Greenpeace details the direct and indirect effects of agriculture on climate change and suggests how the sector can move from being a major greenhouse gas emitter to being a carbon sink.

Electric Trucks Deliver Coca-Cola in Uruguay
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36581
A Coca-Cola distributor is integrating electric trucks into a new delivery network.

Lockheed Expands Into Energy Conservation Market
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36557
Lockheed Martin is expanding its business operations beyond military applications to capture a chunk of the private energy-management market. In the past year, Lockheed more than doubled sales of energy conservation services to private companies.

Woolworths Works to Reduce Refrigerant Emissions
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36574
In its bid to hold its carbon emissions at 2006 levels, Woolworths of Australia will incorporate new practices related to refrigerant at all of its new supermarkets.

Gregory FCA Launches Green Marketing Division
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36573
Called G3, the division will work to promote companies specializing in green technology, renewable energy, and environmentally-focused products and services.

E.U. Sets Ambitious Goals to Address Climate Change
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36579
Under the newly released proposals, European countries will aim for a 20 percent reduction in their emissions by 2020, using carbon credit trading, automotive emissions limits, renewable energy and energy-efficient heating and cooling as key strategies.

Renault, Nissan Explore Electric Car Infrastructure in Israel
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36580
Nissan and Renault plan to partner with an American-Israeli entrepreneur and the Israeli government to bring electric cars to the masses in a business model reminiscent of the cell phone.

Alcoa, Baxter, G.E. Ranked Among Most Sustainable U.S. Corporations
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36583
One-hundred global corporations were named to the fourth annual list by Global Knights and Innovest Strategic Value Advisors.

Website Gives Businesses Basics, Resources on Climate Change
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36571
The Global Environmental Management Initiative has set up a new website sharing the basics of how climate change relates to businesses.

FTSE Launches Global Eco Index
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36566
The FTSE ET50 Index is made up of 50 of the largest green tech companies around the world, the latest in a growing wave of environmentally-focused investment products

World Leaders Call for Global Climate Change Effort, Strengthened Public Governance
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36589
Business and foreign leaders called for strengthened public governance frameworks that will boost corporate global citizenship and fuel the fight against climate change.

CSR Jobs Report
http://www.greenbiz.com/toolbox/reports_third.cfm?LinkAdvID=96939
Net Impact and Ellen Weinreb CSR Recruiting analyzed 1,255 CSR job openings posted between January 2004 and June 2007. The goal of this analysis is to inform MBAs and companies about the CSR jobs market.

Heineken Makes Sustainability a Natural Fit
From the World Business Council on Sustainable Development
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/reviews_third.cfm?NewsID=36590
In this case study of the global brewer and beverage-maker, Heineken shows how it has been able to set ambitious targets and achieve significant results on improving its environmental performance while boosting its triple bottom line.

The Dangerous Rise of Carbon Fundamentalism
By Brad Allenby
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/columns_third.cfm?NewsID=36591
A recent string of harsh public statements and policy proposals addressing climate change — including, but not limited to, the comparison of climate change deniers to Hitler — does show just how widely accepted global warming has become. Although vehement public acceptance moves us closer to action, it may also serve to stifle productive dialogue on possible solutions or strategies on the crisis.

Green Pathways to Sustainability
March 10–12, Indianapolis, IN
Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre
www.nehsconference.org

Join the graphics arts community in Indianapolis and discover how you can become a sustainable green printer. More than just lectures, NEHS’08 is the largest industry event of its kind. You’ll participate in fresh, innovative programs and events to get your brain growing and your ideas flowing.

Gain valuable information that your company can utilize immediately:

• What it takes to become a sustainable green printer
• How to join the SGP Partnership
• Recent updates on electrical and fire safety
• Best practices when conducting an accident review or responding to an OSHA citation
• The CTGs affecting the printing industry
• International standards and regulations
• How to make your workplace safer

Who should attend?

• Environmental, health and safety managers
• Human resource managers
• EHS equipment and services suppliers
• Government technical assistance providers
• Anyone else interested in sustainability

Read the full story from the Associated Press.

The federal government is running behind on developing ways to measure highly toxic chemicals in the Great Lakes that accumulate in fish, creating health risks for people and wildlife that eat them, congressional investigators say.

Read the full story in the Tillsonburg (ON) News.

Even though the Ontario government has lifted the moratorium on offshore wind development, one consultant predicts turbines won’t be popping up in Lake Erie any time soon.

The Big Green Challenge is now open for applications.

Climate Change is one of the most pressing issues of our time. The Big Green Challenge will encourage not-for-profit groups and organisations to come up with new approaches to reducing CO2 emissions in their communities. We’re looking for ideas that can be proven to work and that have the potential to be replicated across different communities across the UK.

If you know any one who may be interested in entering the competition, please refer them to www.thebiggreenchallenge.org.uk – or help us spread the word about the Big Green Challenge by joining the Facebook group.

Applications should be submitted via the Big Green Challenge website by 29 February 2008.

Read the full experimental activity in Science News for Kids.

Juice boxes with different dimensions — height, width, and depth — can carry the same amount of beverage. Figure out which company uses the smallest amount of box material to deliver a given quantity of juice.

Read the full story in Der Spiegel.

The European Union has announced plans to increase the use of gas and diesel produced from plants. But the critique against biofuels is mounting. Many say they are even more harmful than conventional fossil fuels.

Vinod Khosla has written a series of posts on biofuels over at Gristmill. They are:

• Biomass, Part I: Where will biofuels and biomass feedstocks come from?
• Biomass, Part II: Better agronomy for energy crops
• Biomass, Part III: The most critical assumption on cellulosic biofuels: yields

Read the full post at WorldChanging.

This is a rough draft of a long essay about why I believe building compact communities should be one of America’s highest environmental priorities, and why, in fact, our obsession with building greener cars may be obscuring some fundamental aspects of the problem and some of the benefits of using land-use change as a primary sustainability solution.

Read the full post at EcoGeek.

Whole Foods, which, for those of you who don’t have one, is the world’s largest eco-healthy food store, has just promised to completely stop using plastic bags. And while I like that they’re, y’know, considering these things, it turns out that their logic may be faulty.

So I decided to do a little research, and it turns out, the greenest thing about paper bags is the way people perceive them. Because they seem more natural, people think they’re better for the environment. Well, it’s a damn shame, but they’re wrong.

Whole Foods’ moving over to 100% recycled paper is actually going to be worse for the environment.

Date: February 1, 2008
Location:  McGraw-Hill Conference Center, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York City

Greener Gadgets is a one day conference featuring key representatives from some of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world, innovators from academic thinktanks, members of startups focused on renewable energy, and some of the leading minds in the word of sustainable design and business. Topics to be addressed include: design for sustainability, product life cycle management, take-back and recycling programs, energy efficiency, greener materials, and green lifestyle and product marketing. An attached gallery space will feature a green prototype office display and technology exhibits from companies on the cutting edge of green tech.

Read the full story in Scientific American. Thanks to Eco-Geek for the pointer.

Well-meaning scientists, engineers, economists and politicians have proposed various steps that could slightly reduce fossil-fuel use and emissions. These steps are not enough. The U.S. needs a bold plan to free itself from fossil fuels. Our analysis convinces us that a massive switch to solar power is the logical answer.

Read the full post at Eco-Geek.

For a while now I’ve been in communication with Brett Mosley, the guy who started “BuyMyTronics.com.” Brett’s a huge EcoGeek…he basically buys broken electronics, fixes them, and then sells them on EBay. It’s like recycling, but way better, because the gadgets get to keep living. He’s recently expanded his business to cover iPhones, Zunes, and gaming systems, and is about to expand even further into cell phones and laptops.

But Brett is upset, and that makes me upset. Apparently, the sixth generation iPods and the current iPod Nano have been designed to be 100% unfixable.

Read the full story in Science News.

The first accounting of who’s stomping on whom finds rich nations leaving supersized boot prints of ecological damage on poor countries, adding up to more than those nations’ debt to the wealthier countries.

Application deadline: 1 March 2008

In 2008, the Motorola Foundation will provide US$4 million in Innovation Generation Grants to organizations that engage U.S. K-12 students and teachers in innovation, science, technology, engineering and math. Applicants should consider the following criteria:

Funding priority will be placed on pioneering programs that:

• Engage students and teachers in innovative, hands-on ways
• Teach innovation and creative problem-solving skills
• Focus on girls and underrepresented minorities
• Engage Motorola employees as volunteers
• Take place in communities where Motorola has an employee presence in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas
• Demonstrate measurable outcomes
• Are less than two years old

Grant applicants may request up to $100,000. Select organizations may be asked to apply for larger grants. Grants will be for one year of project work, starting after June 2008. Any U.S. non-profit organization may apply. Schools and school districts may apply. At least 25% of total grant dollars will support new programming that has been operating for less than two years and is not simply an expansion of an existing program. Returning 2007 Innovation Generation Grant recipients must demonstrate that they have created new STEM partnerships with business, another non-profit organization or another foundation.

Apply online by 1 March 2008. Returning Innovation Generation Grant recipients also can apply through the Innovation Generation Network portal.

The Tech Museum Awards honor innovators from around the world who are applying technology to benefit humanity. Each year, candidates are nominated and then invited to submit applications. Individuals, for-profit companies, and not-for-profit organizations are eligible. International panels of judges review the applications and annually select 25 Laureates. Awards are presented in five categories: Health, Education, Environment, Economic Development, and Equality.

Five Laureates in each category are honored and one Laureate per category receives $50,000. Laureates are honored at an annual Gala event and inducted into the Tech Laureate Venture Network (TLVN). The TLVN is the extension of the Awards from an annual event to a year round program. The goal of the TLVN is to create opportunities for learning, networking, and exposure to assist the Laureates in furthering their work.