·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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For a full-color, graphic version of this newsletter, go to
http://www.greenercomputing.com/enewsletter.

HP Unveils New Data Center Services
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55745
Hewlett-Packard has expanded its data center services to include more support for consolidation, virtualization and energy efficiency.

Green IT Growing in Priority, Cost a Major Concern
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55740
A UK survey finds green computing is among the major priorities for companies, but cost and lack of performance benchmarks is holding it back.

Lenovo Increases Amount of EPEAT Monitors
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55733
The electronics maker is the only company with EPEAT gold certified monitors, meeting high environmental criteria.

Uptime Institute Sees Data Center Energy Use Exceeding EPA Predictions
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55725
Although the EPA is predicting IT to use 110 billion kilowatt hours by 2015, a third of the Uptime Institute’s network members are using energy at a faster rate than the EPA expected.

Aperture Survey Finds Data Centers Wary of Green Claims
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55717
Aperture Research Institute’s latest survey shows that although data centers professionals are looking to cut energy, many are wary of vendors using green marketing to promote products.

Green IT Tools
http://www.greenercomputing.com/web_guid.cfm?LinkAdvID=97500
GreenITtools.com aims to encourage discussion and implementation of ‘green’ IT practices in small- to medium-sized businesses. It offers a platform for discussion and creative problem-solving to encourage IT departments to take on environmental responsibility while at the same time increasing the efficiency of their IT asset base.

Read the full story in the Rutland Herald.

Ten northeastern states hoping to crack down on power plants and other large-scale greenhouse gas emitters announced plans Monday for a carbon dioxide allowance auction, to be held Sept. 10.

The participating states in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative — Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont — want to sell allowances as part of a cap-and-trade program to take effect beginning Jan. 1, 2009.

The latest issue of Renewable Energy Weekly is now available. Highlights include:

• U.S. on the Verge of a Small Hydro Boom?
• Energy Thinking at the World Sustainable Energy Days
• Desert Sunrise: Concentrating Solar Power Makes Worldwide Progress
• Will Wyoming’s Future Be Black or Green?
• Tracking the Cape Wind Debate
• China Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development Report: February 2008
• Britannia to rule the waves? Ambitions for offshore

Read the press release.

Free and green. Those are the goals of a pilot program launched today by the U.S. Postal Service that allows customers to recycle small electronics and inkjet cartridges by mailing them free of charge.

The “Mail Back” program helps consumers make more environmentally friendly choices, making it easier for customers to discard used or obsolete small electronics in an environmentally responsible way. Customers use free envelopes found in 1,500 Post Offices to mail back inkjet cartridges, PDAs, Blackberries, digital cameras, iPods and MP3 players – without having to pay for postage.

Postage is paid for by Clover Technologies Group, a nationally recognized company that recycles, remanufactures and remarkets inkjet cartridges, laser cartridges and small electronics. If the electronic item or cartridges cannot be refurbished and resold, its component parts are reused to refurbish other items, or the parts are broken down further and the materials are recycled. Clover Technologies Group has a “”ero waste to landfill” policy: it does everything it can to avoid contributing any materials to the nation’s landfills.

Read the press release.

Business for Social Responsibility BSR) has released Drinking It In: The Evolution of a Global Water Stewardship Program at The Coca-Cola Company. Researched and written by Linda Hwang and other members of BSR’s Environmental Research & Development team, this new study explores the role of the private sector in responsible management of water resources.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing additional options to a 2006 proposal for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) under the Clean Water Act. This supplemental proposal will close April 7.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) strengthened cooperation for research, development, and deployment of energy technologies aimed at promoting increased energy efficiency.

The parties signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) establishing a framework for close coordination to advance the common goal of satisfying the nation’s growing electricity needs by improving energy efficiency and promoting the adoption of electric energy demand response programs.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

The Superior Energy Performance partnership, a public-private collaboration that includes representatives from U.S. industry, the Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the American National Standards Institute, launched in 2007 a new online resource that provides manufacturers with a comprehensive listing of energy efficiency and conservation resources.

Whole Foods is looking for Chicagoland kids ages 8-17 to host an exclusive new online video podcast program (www.youtube.com/wholefoodsmarket) called Whole Earth Generation, an online series of 10-minute shows created for kids, by kids, to raise awareness for the environment. The chosen correspondent will be one of six from around the country selected to host an episode of the weekly program, running through April Earth Month. Kids have the opportunity to audition face-to-face with a panel of eco-minded judges by attending the one-day open audition and expressing their green on camera…”how they plan to green their family, neighborhood, school and more.”

Auditions will be held this Saturday, March 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at our Northbrook store (Willow & Waukegan Rd). For more information visit (www.youtube.com/wholefoodsmarket).