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

When Printing, Every Design Choice Matters
By Jonathan Bardelline
http://www.greenbiz.com/podcast/2008/08/21/when-printing-every-design-choice-matters
Until the day of the paperless business arrives, companies have plenty of options to reduce the impact of their graphic design and printing operations. Debra Rizzi explains how Rizco Design is helping clients make better choices.

High Fuel Costs Leading to More Efficient Supply Chains: Report
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/27/high-fuel-costs-more-efficient-supply-chains
High fuel prices are causing the country’s manufacturers, retailers and logistics providers to rethink their transportation strategies, such as shipping larger loads, boosting inventory and moving freight along coasts and inland waterways to reduce road transportation.

Mitsubishi Bets Big on Solar
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/27/mitsubishi-bets-big-solar
Mitsubishi Electric Corp. will spend millions of dollars quadrupling production of photovoltaic cells to take advantage of the skyrocketing demand for solar power caused by high fuel prices and climate change concerns.

U.K. Manufacturers Increase Green Focus, Gaps Exist Between Large And Small Companies: Survey
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/25/uk-manufacturers-green-focus
Manufacturers in the United Kingdom are overall more focused on recycling and energy efficiency, but smaller companies are finding more difficulties spending time and money on such issues.

Wal-Mart Ramps Up the Green Factor at New Stores in Canada
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/28/wal-mart-ramps-up-green-factor-new-stores-canada
New Wal-Mart stores in Canada will slash energy consumption by 30 percent under a high-efficiency design program that takes effect in February.

Promise of Sustainable Forestry Ends Tree-Sitter Protest
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/26/sustainable-forestry-ends-tree-sitter-protest
A timber company in northern California has a new owner, new name and new outlook on how to manage forests, bringing an end opposition from activists.

New York Offers Utilities Incentives to Reduce Customer Energy Use
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/27/new-york-utilities-incentives
The New York State Public Service Commission will offer almost $27 million to electric utilities that establish productive energy efficiency programs for customers.

The Body Shop Taps Green Roots in Ad Campaign
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/25/the-body-shop-taps-green-roots-ad-campaign
The “Nature’s way to beauty” campaign coincides with an expanded launch of a product line called “Wellbeing” that reportedly will be sold in 100 percent post-consumer recyclate (PCR) plastic bottles.

P2 Institute to Help N.Y. Businesses Improve Practices
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/26/p2-institute-help-ny-businesses-improve-practices
The New York State Pollution Prevention Institute opened its doors to the public last week, offering a peek at the center that will help businesses reduce toxic chemical use and improve green manufacturing.

‘Green’ Pay-as-You-Drive Car Insurance Proposed in California
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/29/green-car-insurance-proposed-california
Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner wants to make pay-as-you-drive coverage available to California motorists as an insurance option that he says will encourage people to drive less and help reduce  greenhouse gases.

Xcel Makes CO2 Disclosure Agreement
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/28/xcel-makes-co2-disclosure-agreement
One of the largest U.S. utilities agreed to give its investors a thorough analysis of the financial and physical risks it faces from climate change.

75 Green Businesses You Can Start to Make Money and Make a Difference
http://www.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.

Sustainability for Manufacturers: Driving Profitability and Growth
http://www.greenbiz.com/resources/resource/sustainability-manufacturers-driving-profitability-and-growth
Sustainability is an increasingly common theme in the business and trade press, at conferences, and in everyday conversation. This white paper encourages manufacturers to integrate sustainability into their corporate strategy to drive both profits and growth.

Taking Green Initiatives to the Next Level
By Dana Sanchez
http://www.greenbiz.com/feature/2008/09/02/taking-green-initiatives-next-level
Once your company has gathered up all the low-hanging fruit, what comes next?

A Watt is a Terrible Thing to Waste
By Marc Gunther
http://greenbiz.com/column/2008/08/27/a-watt-a-terrible-thing-waste
I’m writing this post on my Apple PowerBook G4, which ordinarily does very well what I need it to do-except that right now it is sitting on my lap and giving off enough heat to keep me warm on a cool day.

But Was It the ‘Green Olympics?’
Deborah Seligsohn
http://greenbiz.com/column/2008/08/26/but-was-it-the-green-olympics
At the close of what was promised with much fanfare to the the greenest Olympics ever, did Beijing manage to achieve their goals, and is it a signal that China can pursue both economic growth and a cleaner environment?

Schooling Ourselves on Sustainability
Brad Allenby
http://www.greenbiz.com/column/2008/09/01/schooling-ourselves-sustainability
Educating students about sustainability — and training them to develop the solutions that will make it a reality — has never been more important than right now. Unfortunately, without radical changes to the education system, the leaders we need may never appear.

Read the full post at Eco-Geek.

Dell’s new Studio Hybrid has received EPEAT Gold, which means the desktop meets all 23 required criteria, plus at least 75% of the optional criteria listed by the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool. The Studio Hybrid is a cool, tiny desktop – about 80% smaller than standard desktops – and it uses about 70% less energy. What little energy it does use is used efficiently, meeting Energy Star 4.0 with its 87% efficient power supply. That adds up to some great savings on electricity over time.

The greenness goes beyond the desktop itself, since the packaging uses 95% recyclable materials, and you can send the machine back to Dell for free recycling using a kit that comes with the system. It’s great to see manufacturers making it so easy for users to complete the loop on their electronics.

Read the full post at Greentech Media.

It’s a dimmer switch that potentially could save megawatts of power.

HID Laboratories, a Silicon Valley startup armed with technology from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has developed a digital ballast for controlling high intensity discharge (HID) lights, the bright bulbs that illuminate stadiums, streets, industrial and big box retailers. American River Ventures, out of the Sacramento region, recently invested in the firm.

Read the full story in the New York Times.

An experimental Web site allows users to upload the data they want to visualize, then try sophisticated tools to generate interactive displays.

Try Many-Eyes.com.

Read the full story in the Los Angeles Times.

Lead, mercury and arsenic were found in the traditionally Indian herbal mixtures at levels that would surpass California safety guidelines, says a researcher who is calling for FDA curbs.

Read the full story in the Boston Globe.

The city’s largest property owner – spurred by high energy prices and rising demand from tenants – is seeking “green” certification for all of its office buildings, marking a major milestone in Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s push to make Boston the nation’s most environmentally friendly city.

Read the full story in Products Finishing.

In the finishing industry, “green” is a term used (or sometimes over-used) to describe the move toward more environmentally friendly and safe coating materials and processes. Increasingly strict federal, state and local environmental and worker safety regulations have required coating formulators to look at modifications to solvent-based coating formulations or find solutions using water-based technology.

According to Randy Funston, president of Excalibur Paint & Coatings Ltd. (Wichita Falls, TX), development of green coating materials has been the main project of the company’s R & D laboratory since its inception nearly a decade ago.

“We set out to develop a protective coating that would meet demands on two global fronts: the needs of the commercial industry and the green coating movement to address air quality and health and safety factors,” Funston says.

To do it, Excalibur assembled a team of three developmental chemists with a combined 120 years’ experience in the paint and coating industry. The result of their efforts is Aqua-Thane, a patent pending, 2K water-borne acrylic polyurethane technology with performance properties said to meet or exceed those of high-performance solvent-borne systems without the associated health and safety hazards.

Read the full story in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Since before Wyatt Earp gambled with Doc Holliday in Tombstone, Arizona, and the rich and famous flocked to Monte Carlo casinos on the Riviera, poker chips have been weighted down with lead, a toxic metal. In the latest showdown under the voter-adopted state anti-toxics law, an Oakland nonprofit with a a long string of notches in its environmental-safety belt two weeks ago forged a clean poker chip agreement with a major manufacturer and 21 casino owners to get the lead out.

Read the full story at News.com.

The Democratic Party has boasted that its convention here will be “the most environmentally-sustainable” gathering in the party’s history, complete with a director of sustainability, low-power lighting in some areas, and calculations of carbon footprints.

Some of the goals include diverting 85 percent of waste that would normally go to a landfill, finding hundreds of people to sort waste into recycling-compost-landfill containers, and devising what The Wall Street Journal described as “lean ‘n’ green” catering guidelines that say food described thusly must not be fried and shall contain three of the following colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple, and white.

That was the claim. And it has worked to a large extent: a troika of trash containers (again, recycling, compost, and landfill) dot the convention complex, even in areas that aren’t officially part of the event. Drinking straws are made from corn and biodegradable. Room keys for hotels are made of wood. Delegates are buying carbon offsets.

But reality doesn’t always match expectations. Bikes aren’t permitted inside the convention’s security perimeter, so golf carts and other vehicles are used. The wooden card keys proved buggy, and some were replaced with more-reliable plastic. Fried mini-donuts were prominently on sale inside the Pepsi Center. Party VIPs and celebrities told their decidedly non-green town cars and GMC Yukon XL mega-SUVs–rented from limo provider A Class Above Transportation–to idle, with engines and air conditioning on, in the nearby pickup area. (What self-respecting conference-goer wants to climb into a GMC Yukon when it’s a toasty 93 degrees in the shade?)