·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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Read the full story in the Chicago Tribune.

Solutions for everyday household problems sometimes come in unusual packages — like a bag of walnuts. To conceal scratches in wood furniture you could use any number of proprietary products. But crack a few walnuts, rub the oily meat back and forth across a scratch, and the blemish fades away.

Home remedies aren’t scientifically tested, checked by a government agency or even listed on a label. They thrive on word of mouth because they work for most people most of the time, and allow you to pass up expensive products that may not even work as well as a walnut.

Read the full story in Technology Review.

If you’ve recently replaced your cell phone, you’re not alone. More than half a billion cell phones were swapped for newer models in 2007, according to a study by the research firm Gartner. In the past, these phones might have been tossed in the garbage or just stashed in a drawer, but an increasing number of cell-phone vendors are promoting take-back programs, which make recycling an easier option for consumers. A discarded phone has a good chance of landing at ReCellular, the nation’s largest cell-phone recycling facility, which is based in Dexter, MI. If the phone’s in good shape, it’ll be refurbished. Otherwise, it will head to Sims Recycling Solutions, a smelter outside of Chicago.

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

• Follow-Up: How Can China’s Wind Power Industry Be Growing So Fast?
• Algae: Biofuel of the Future?
• Inside Renewable Energy podcast: Questioning America’s Most Ambitious Renewable Energy Law
• The Cacophony in Today’s Energy Policy Debate
• Bringing Solar to the Mainstream Through Customer Education
• Renewables Are Booming: Is a Bust Inevitable?

Looking for ways to raise money for your non-profit organization while helping the environment? Take a look at Greenraising, which allows non-profits to register as affiliates and receive a portion of the funds raised through sales of green products offered on the web site.

The Wall Street Journal had a story on Greenraising and other green fundraising startups in their July 15 issue. See “Businesses Emerge to Help School Fund-Raisers Go Green”.

Read the full story in EERE News.

An Energy Star campaign to promote the recycling of refrigerators has resulted in an art exhibit that is filling the Great Hall of the National Building Museum with old refrigerators. “The Art of Recycling: The Coolest Act in Town” exhibit opened on August 25 and features about 50 old refrigerators that have been decorated by students, institutions, utility companies, private organizations, and individuals. Visitors to the exhibit can vote on the models they like best, and a panel of judges will select the top three entries based on which is the coolest, makes the best use of recycled materials, is the most creative, and portrays the campaign theme best. The exhibit continues through September 2, at which time the winners of the judges’ awards and the “Viewer’s Choice” awards will be recognized. Located in Washington, D.C., the National Building Museum serves as a venue for informed, reasoned debate about the built environment and its impact on people’s lives. See the DOE press release and the National Building Museum Web site.

Read the full post in the New York Times Bits blog.

Venture capital got a prime-time spot at the Democratic National Convention when Nancy Floyd, founder and managing director of Nth Power, a San Francisco clean-tech venture capital firm, addressed the crowd Tuesday. She argued that Barack Obama’s energy policy would help energy entrepreneurs and the nation’s economy.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

A Celebration of Illinois Rivers Through Education, Recreation, and Conservation

On Saturday, September 20, a statewide celebration of our precious resources will occur in towns across Illinois. It’s Our River Day will feature dozens of activities and events promoting recreation, conservation and education about Illinois rivers.

The goal of It’s Our River Day — which will be held on the third Saturday of every September — is to boost awareness of rivers by offering hands-on conservation activities as well as lively recreational opportunities. Broad citizen participation is needed to protect this natural resource, and It’s Our River Day is an important organizing tool for private and public agencies concerned with protecting this asset.

For details on the many “It’s Our River Day” activities on September 20, call the Lt. Governor’s Office at 312-814-5220 or visit www.cleanwaterillinois.org.

Read the full post at Sustainable IT.

If you’ve got an idea rolling around inside your head for a technological approach to helping the environment, improving education, spurring economic development, or advancing health care, Intel might have $100,000 for you. Just make sure your solution has Intel inside.

Earlier this month, the chipmaker announced its Inspire-Empower Challenge though which it’s calling on individuals and organizations to put forth “the best technology solutions to address four areas of global need – education, healthcare, economic development, and the environment.” Winners for each category will receive $100,000 in seed money to transform their vision into reality.

Read the full post at Sustainable IT.

Put a dent in your travel expenses with technologies for remote desktop administration and collaboration.

Read the full post at Sustainable IT.

Devising an energy budget and measuring datacenter efficiency among key strategies.

Read the full post at Sustainable IT.

Switching over to various IP-based services is saving the academy more than a million dollars in redundant equipment and cabling

Read the full story in American City & County.

The Yucaipa Valley, Calif., Water District (YVWD) will begin “water banking,” which involves purchasing additional water to store underground in reserve against times of drought. However, the plan will come at a cost to users and developers.

Read the full story in the Los Angeles Times.

Chrysler and three lead wheel weight makers agree to the phaseout in a settlement of a suit brought by an environmental group, which contended the car parts threatened drinking water.

Read the full story from the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies.

The inability of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to carry out its mandate with respect to simple, low-tech products such as children’s jewelry and toy trains bodes poorly for its ability to oversee the safety of complex, high-tech products made using nanotechnology, according to a new report released by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN).

Read the data sheet from Environment Canada.

The environmental and public health concerns that arise from the chemical treatment of wood have brought about the development of greener alternatives.

PCI Industries Inc. has created a heat treatment technology for wood (the PerdureTM technology) that does not require any added chemical agents and which sterilizes and protects the wood against microorganisms and insects (except termites), and improves its dimensional stability.

This technology, an ecological substitute for chemically treated wood, extends the service life of the wood and can be used on all species. Also, the heating process alters the colour of the bulk wood, leading to the production of exotic wood substitutes.

Read the full story from the Queensland University of Technology.

Stained glass windows that are painted with gold purify the air when they are lit up by sunlight, a team of Queensland University of Technology experts have discovered.

Associate Professor Zhu Huai Yong, from QUT’s School of Physical and Chemical Sciences said that glaziers in medieval forges were the first nanotechnologists who produced colours with gold nanoparticles of different sizes.

Professor Zhu said numerous church windows across Europe were decorated with glass coloured in gold nanoparticles.

Read the full story in the New York Times.

Clean energy’s dirty secret is that while generating it is getting easier, moving it to market is not.

Read the full story from WTVG.

Science students at Clay High School will soon have a way to measure the wind and how much power it can produce.

Proposals due: October 24, 2008
Proposals Selected: December 15, 2008
Funding available: May 1, 2009 through August 31, 2010

The Illinois Water Resources Center (IWRC) requests proposals to fund one graduate student from a college or university in Illinois who is conducting research that will lead to publication of a thesis related to Illinois water resources issues.

Graduate students from colleges and universities in Illinois who are enrolled as of August 2009 are eligible to apply. IWRC will fund one M.S. or Ph.D. student at 50% for 9-12 months to conduct research on Illinois water resources issues. Funding is available for a 9 to 12 month period between May 2009 and August 2010.

IWRC will pay the departmental student stipend rate, fringe benefits, tuition, and fees for the selected student. The student’s department must provide travel, supplies, space, equipment, and all indirect costs, which can be used as match. The matching requirement for IWRC grants is two non-federal dollars for each federal dollar received.

The proposal must be submitted by a faculty member. The graduate student to be funded should be listed as a co-PI. Proposals to support unknown future graduate students will not be considered.

The September 2008 issue of Biomass Magazine is now available. Highlights include:

• Dealing With Disaster Debris
• Furfural: Future Feedstock for Fuels and Chemicals
• Is Biomass Harvesting Sustainable?
• Oceans of Biomass
• Biomass, Wind, Coal, Hydro, Petroleum …
• Building Sustainable Communities
• Applying Patents in the Developing Biomass Industry

Read the full story at News.com.

How’s this for a tantalizing possibility: rather than install solar panels on your roof, the lost heat from your furnace could power your home.

That’s not yet a product, but a growing number of scientists and clean-tech companies are trying to coax usable energy from smokestacks and other waste-heat sources.

A global push toward energy efficiency is prodding more industrial outfits to reuse heat from their operations that would otherwise be lost to the skies.

Meanwhile, improving thermoelectric technology that converts heat into electricity is being fitted onto everything from car exhaust pipes to furnace flues.

It’s a sign that energy efficiency, which often takes a backseat to renewable energy or alternative fuels, is getting more attention from technology innovators.

Read the press release.

Carnegie Mellon University researchers are urging companies to embrace new methods for following the trail of dangerous carbon emissions that are responsible for much of the world’s global warming threats.

Because there is no universally accepted way of calculating someone’s carbon footprint, dozens of carbon calculators have sprung up on the Internet in the past few years creating confusion and inaccurate information. In addition, accepted frameworks for tracking industry carbon emissions rely on “tiers” of increasingly broad scope. Tier one generally includes emissions by the company’s own activities, such as burning gasoline in fleet vehicles or natural gas in its facilities. The second tier boundary expands to include emissions from electricity and steam purchased by the company. Tier three includes all other emissions, including the entire supply chain of goods and services.

In practice, most companies reporting their greenhouse gas emissions opt to use only tier one or the tier two boundary. To put the implications of this boundary decision into context, Carnegie Mellon researchers H. Scott Matthews, Chris T. Hendrickson and Christopher L. Weber, have developed a new method that estimates the amount of greenhouse gas emissions across all tiers of the entire supply chain for all industries.

Read the full post at Lifehacker.

A small addition to your shower head can save you time, money, and water: a simple shutoff valve can toggle the water flow off and on without undoing your carefully-calibrated mix of hot and cold on the faucet itself. When you want to save water (and money on your water bill), you can quick switch off the water while you soap up or leave conditioner in using a shower head shutoff valve. Last summer we covered how the Navy Shower prevents waste water and decreases your water bill. A shutoff valve can have the same effect, and it’s dead simple to install. Here’s how I did it in my shower.

Over at Instructables, blightdesign demonstrates how to transform cereal and other similar boxes into gift boxes. Thanks to Lifehacker for the pointer.

Read the full post at Lifehacker.

The various yellow and white pages organizations deliver a whopping 540 million unsolicited books every year, and web site YellowPagesGoesGreen aims to prevent this gigantic and obsolete waste of paper from landing at your doorstep.

DCEO’s Illinois Recycling Grants Program is now accepting applications for traditional and e-waste recycling. Application deadline is December 22, 2008. Visit http://www.illinoisbiz.biz/dceo/Bureaus/Energy_Recycling/Recycling/ for more information.

The Center for a New American Dream has developed a bottled water cost calculator. See how much energy and money you can save by switching to reusable containers of tap water.

Read the full story from HealthDay.

Recently discovered so-called free radicals that are attached to small particles of air pollution could cause lung damage and perhaps even lung cancer, researchers report.

If confirmed through further research, the finding could help to explain why nonsmokers develop tobacco-related diseases like lung cancer, said lead researcher H. Barry Dellinger, the Patrick F. Taylor Chair of environmental chemistry at Louisiana State University.

It has been known for years that free radicals exist in the atmosphere, and these atoms, molecules and fragments of molecules can damage cells. It had been thought that these particles, which can be produced by combustion, exist for less than a second and then disappear.

Read the full story from HealthDay.

High levels of arsenic in urine may be linked with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, researchers report.

The findings, published in the Aug. 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, are the first to link low-level exposure to arsenic with type 2 diabetes prevalence in the United States.

Read the full story in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s News Blog.

Ben Shneiderman, a professor of computer science at the University of Maryland at College Park, says he was happy to give a guest lecture at Stanford University this past spring, but he was concerned about the environmental impact of his flight across the country to get there.

So when he submitted his receipts for reimbursement by Stanford’s Symbolic Systems Program, the group that had invited him, he included a charge for a small donation to the Carbonfund.org Foundation to offset the trip’s impact.

Read the full story in the Chicago Tribune.

There are plenty of ways to cut your carbon footprint, whether it’s driving less or buying an energy-efficient refrigerator. But the British Medical Journal, in an editorial last month, urged a more controversial one: having fewer children.

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

• Hydrogen Projects Finding Mixed Funding Sources
• Renewable Energy Collectors May Be Right Under Our Feet
• US Government Investing up to US $24M To Bring Solar Energy Online
• The Transition to Second Generation Ethanol
• Mileage Costs of Plug-in Hybrids
• US Geothermal Development Up 20% in 2008
• An Attractive Option

In this month’s This Green Life, Sheryl Eisenberg investigates book trading sites.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability are joining forces with some cities to help them voluntarily report their greenhouse gas emissions and other climate change-relevant data, according to an Aug. 10 press release.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

Devastating declines of amphibian species around the world are a sign of a biodiversity disaster larger than just frogs, salamanders, and their ilk, according to researchers from the University of California, Berkeley.

In an article published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers argue that substantial die-offs of amphibians and other plant and animal species add up to a new mass extinction facing the planet.

New report from the National Wildlife Federation.

This comprehensive study by National Wildlife Federation and Princeton Survey Research Associates International reviews trends and new developments in environmental performance and sustainability at 1,068 institutions. It recognizes colleges and universities for exemplary efforts and awards academic letter grades (A through D) for collective, national performance on environmental literacy, energy, water, transportation, landscaping, waste reduction and more. The report analyzes collective trends in the areas of management, operations, and academics.

With 27 percent (more than one quarter) of U.S. colleges (presidents, administrators, and facilities managers) responding, the 2008 survey is the nation’s largest study to date created to gauge trends and new developments in campus sustainability. It was also the first study of its kind when conducted in 2001.

Read the full post at Environmental Capital.

The search engine’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, is investing $10.25 million in a pair of companies working on “enhanced geothermal systems” — basically running water through hot rocks to get steam for electricity.

It’s the latest push in Google’s plan to develop renewable energy that’s cheaper than coal, and which has already led to $30 million in wind and solar investments.

Read the press release.

Thunderbird School of Global Management’s third annual Global Sustainable Innovation Summit opens early registration today. The global competition draws the brightest graduate-level students from top universities around the world, and requires students to develop sustainable and innovative business solutions to real-world challenges presented by sponsoring companies. The winning team receives a $20,000 prize and the title of “Global Champions of Sustainable Innovation.” Last year, the challenge attracted 118 teams from 59 universities in 15 countries. The 2007 championship team was from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

Registration is open until noon Oct. 5 to accommodate university start dates around the world. Graduate students enrolled in master’s level business programs can sign up and find information at http://www.sustainableinnovation.thunderbird.edu. Teams will be comprised of three to five students. Early registration ends noon Sept. 20 and is $100 per team. After noon Sept. 20 team registration will be $150.

Read the full story in the New York Times.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is seeking to put wind turbines on New York City’s bridges and skyscrapers and in its waters as part of a push to develop renewable energy.

Read the full story in the Pensacola News Journal.

The Escambia County School District is working with the Leadership Pensacola Class of 2008 on its “Live Green Escambia” class project, which is placing about 3,300 recycling bins in 54 schools throughout the district.

Schools that participate in the program will receive 1 cent for every pound of solid waste recycled.

Read the full story in Popular Mechanics.

It’s clear that not enough Americans are recycling their televisions. What’s not so clear is how “green” the recycling process has become — unless it gets a new life in another country. In his biweekly trends column, PM’s senior tech editor crunches the numbers on the real death of the boob tube.

Read the full story in USA Today.

Students arriving on campus this month are seeing green — and not just from the money they’re spending on tuition.

For example, students coming to George Washington University in Washington, D.C., will start their school year with the university’s first “Green Move-In.”

Rose Dunnegan, the university’s property manager, says the program follows the success of last semester’s “Green Move-Out.” Student and staff volunteers recycled thousands of pounds of clothing, household items, food and “e-cycling” materials, including cellphones, batteries and computer parts, Dunnegan says.

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

• Creating Realistic Expectations for Renewable Energy
• Japan Players Bet Big on Emerging Thin-film Solar
• Inside Renewable Energy podcast: Pickens’ Plan and California’s Proposition 10; Auctioning Environmental Commodities
• Will US Solar Businesses Weather the Coming Storm?
• Why is Community Choice Aggregation So Promising?

Read the press release.

In one of its boldest green initiatives yet, Neenah Paper has contracted to convert wood and fiber waste into steam energy to power its largest fine paper mill. The Neenah Green: Change Comes from Within environmental campaign gave impetus to the development of broader mill-based solutions such as this state-of-the-art facility. Located at the company’s Whiting Mill, the fossil fuel-free steam energy system will be built by Vision Power, a Florida-based independent energy services company, and is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2009.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

How much energy we use to produce food could be cut in half if Americans ate less and ate local foods, wolfed down less meat, dairy and junk food, and used more traditional farming methods, says a new Cornell study.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

The Washington Department of Ecology is developing a system for the state’s large sources of greenhouse gases (GHG) to report their climate-changing emissions, according to an Aug. 5 press release.

Read the press release.

AIGA, the professional association for design, today issued an ambitious call to the next generation of creative thinkers in its first annual Aspen Challenge, “Designing Water’s Future.” In association with INDEX: and Circle of Blue, the international contest challenges cross-disciplinary student teams to develop design solutions that explore new ways of understanding and responding to the global water crisis.

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

From Sprawl to Smart Growth: Sacramento as a Case Study
By Matthew Wheeland
http://greenbiz.com/podcast/2008/08/14/from-sprawl-to-smart-growth
Mike McKeever, the executive director of the Sacramento Council of Governments, talks to GreenBiz Radio about implementing the area’s widely praised smart growth strategy and how smart growth is changing how businesses plan their own growth.

JCPenney Adds Solar and Wind Power to Its Green Program
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/15/jcpenney-adds-solar-and-wind-power-its-green-program
J.C. Penney Company is advancing its environmental program by hosting solar power systems and a wind turbine and by setting a goal of attaining Energy Star status at 200 or more stores by 2011.

Food Industry Puts Green Initiatives on the Menu
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/13/food-industry-puts-green-initiatives-menu
A newly formed nonprofit wants to reduce the food industry’s ecological footprint by creating a network for companies to share best practices. Meanwhile, a Florida-based restaurant chain vowed to pursue organic food handler certification for every location.

Green Manufacturing Can Help ‘Move Business Forward’
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/15/green-manufacturing-can-help-move-business-forward
Manufacturers increasingly see green initiatives as a way to move business forward through cost savings, improved efficiency and reputation boost, according to a new survey from Eyefortransport.

Chrysler to Incorporate Green Features in Detroit Plant Expansion
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/14/chrysler-incorporate-green-features-detroit-plant-expansion
The environmentally friendly initiatives are expected to knock several dollars off the cost of producing each vehicle at the Jefferson North Detroit assembly plant. The location, which builds the Jeep Cherokee and Commander, will see a 285,000 square-foot expansion that will replace an existing body shop.

Shell’s ‘Sustainable’ Oil Sands Ad Ruled Misleading
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/15/shells-sustainable-oil-sands-ad-ruled-misleading
The U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority ruled against a Shell ad that referred to an oil sands project and refinery expansion as sustainable methods of providing energy.

U.S. Could Halve Fuel Consumption by 2035: Report
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/14/us-could-halve-fuel-consumption-2035-report
The U.S. could feasibly halve its gasoline consumption if the country switched to hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles by 2035, according to a new MIT report. For too long, automakers have focused on improving performance at the expense of efficiency.

Last Swath of Fort Ord is Turned Over to Local Group for a $100M Privatized Cleanup
By Leslie Guevarra
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/13/last-swath-fort-ord-turned-over-local-group-a-100m-privatized-toxic-cleanup
A 3,300-acre Superfund site at the once vast Fort Ord in Monterey County has moved from federal hands to a group of local authorities that will oversee a $100 million environmental cleanup funded by the U.S. Army and will set the stage for redevelopment.

Wal-Mart Looks for Stories Behind Green Products
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/13/wal-mart-looks-stories-behind-green-products
The retailer is gathering items for next year’s Earth Day promotion, hoping to give customers more information on how the products are better for the environment.

EPA Provides $500,000 to Green Brownfields
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/11/epa-provides-500000-green-brownfields
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s program to help green brownfields is providing more than $500,000 in technical assistance to 16 projects nationwide.

Long Beach Slashes Water Use, Offers Efficiency Rebates
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/12/long-beach-slashes-water-use
In the face of a severe drought and court-ordered limits on water imports from Northern California, the city has turned to education and rebate programs to curtail industrial and residential water use.

75 Green Businesses You Can Start to Make Money and Make a Difference
http://greenbiz.com/resources/resource/75-green-businesses-you-can-start-make-money-and-make-a-difference
Longtime green scientist and author Glenn Croston offers his ideas for 75 green businesses for entrepreneurs who want to do well by doing good.

Pulpwatch.org
http://greenbiz.com/resources/resource/pulpwatchorg
Pulpwatch.org provides an interactive map of pulp and paper mills, rating them on their environmental and social performance.

Investing in Water: Bringing Water to the Sea
By Anne Moore Odell, SocialFunds.com
http://greenbiz.com/feature/2008/08/18/investing-water-bringing-water-sea
Whether you wade into investing in water or dive in head first, the water industry offers investors many opportunities.

My Company Just Started a Sustainability Department — What Do I Do Now?
By Daniel Winokur
http://greenbiz.com/column/2008/08/18/helping-companies-grow-sustainability-department
Getting a green team off the ground is just the start. Here’s a handy primer to what it means to join in your organization’s efforts to go green — from basic definitions to taking dedicated action.

Climate Change: An Urgent Case for Altering our Practices
By Christopher Ratliff
http://greenbiz.com/column/2008/08/18/climate-change-urgent-case-change-practices
Although it seems that businesses of all types are at or nearing a tipping point in terms of concern about their environmental impact, we may also be on the verge of ecological tipping points that make drastic action all the more necessary.

Read the full story in Technology Review.

Making corn ethanol is an energy-intensive process, requiring fossil fuels to grow and harvest corn and to power the production plant. To make the process more energy efficient, researchers at Washington University are proposing to borrow a process used in breweries and wastewater treatment facilities: oxygen-less vats of bacteria that naturally feed on organic waste produced from the fermentation process.

Read the full story at News.com.

Bioplastics company Metabolix has devised what it hopes is an efficient way to manufacture its product: growing grass.

The company on Monday said that it has has created “significant amounts” of its bioplastic by growing it in the leaves of switchgrass. The details of the greenhouse trial are published in Plant Biotechnology Journal.