Browsing environmental news sources so you don't have to. Contact Laura Barnes (lbarnes@istc.illinois.edu) with questions, comments, and suggestions.
Follow ENB on TwitterRead the full story in the New York Times.
Free bikes or bike-sharing programs have cropped up on campuses nationwide, aimed at reducing traffic and parking shortages on campus and improving community building.
For a full-color, graphic version of this newsletter, go to http://greenbiz.com/enewsletter.
USPS Saves $5 Million Annually With Transportation Consolidation
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/20/usps-transportation-consolidation
By using a transportation optimization system developed with IBM, the USPS is improving routes and delivery loads within its vast network.
Argentina Makes Environmental Insurance Mandatory
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/20/argentina
Argentina’s government is the first in the world to require that companies involved in potentially hazardous activities purchase insurance covering environmental damage to the country, according to a report from Reuters news service.
California Unveils Latest Plan to Curb Emissions
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/17/california-unveils-latest-plan-curb-emissions
The proposed scoping plan, which must be approved in December, aims to meet an overarching goal embodied in the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the country’s most populous state to 1990 levels by 2020.
Summit Shows Varying Approaches to Green Manufacturing
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/17/summit-shows-varying-approaches-green-manufacturing
Business and government came together at a San Francisco event to discuss strategies and best practices for bringing sustainability to manufacturing.
Survey of S&P 100 Identifies Best Practices for Sustainability Communications
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/16/survey-sp-100-identifies-best-practices-sustainability-communications
Interactive marketing agency imc2 examined at how the S&P 100 companies communicate their sustainability efforts, developing what it considers best practices for engaging stakeholders and increasing transparency.
Rocky Mountain Institute, AASHE, Colleges Seek Best Weapons to Battle Climate Change
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/15/rmi-aashe-colleges
The Rocky Mountain Institute and the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education are partnering with a dozen colleges to study best practices in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other strategies to battle climate change.
DHL Says Small Efficiencies Can Deliver Big Carbon Savings
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/16/dhl-carbon-savings
The global logistics giant says strategies to shrink carbon footprints should exploit savings and efficiency opportunities in every link of the supply chain, no matter how far flung.
Payless Adds a Shade of Green to Its Footwear
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/15/payless-green-footwear
The retailer is adding a brand of shoes designed with a range of environmental considerations in mind.
Starbucks Runs Into Water Waste Controversy
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/10/15/starbucks-runs-into-water-waste-controversy
A controversy erupted last when a United Kingdom newspaper reported that millions of gallons of water was being wasted by Starbucks each day because of its policy of keeping taps running non-stop at to clean utensils. The company has since ordered the taps be turned off as it searches for alternatives.
Rochester Institute of Technology Offers the First Green Doctoral Program
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/01/01/first-green-doctoral-program
The first doctoral degree in sustainability will be offered by the Rochester Institute of Technology, which has received New York state approval for the green doctoral program.
E-Billing: the Most Overlooked Green Practice?
By Anne Moore Odell
http://www.greenbiz.com/feature/2008/10/20/e-billing-most-overlooked-green-practice
Billing clients and consumers electronically saves time, money, and the environment. So why are you still sending paper bills?
How to Create a Culture of Change
By Jennifer Beauchamp
http://www.greenbiz.com/column/2008/10/20/how-to-create-a-culture-change
The human dimension may get labeled as the softer side of sustainability — often the toughest tenet to measure, and sometimes the most difficult to implement. But by keeping a few steps in mind, it can also be the driving force behind the environmental change that businesses must adopt in today’s world.
The Four Dimensions of Greennness
By Paul Schwarz
http://www.greenbiz.com/column/2008/10/15/the-four-dimensions-greenness
As more companies embrace corporate responsibility and environmental stewardship, they are beginning to realize that becoming a greener company takes more than a simple check-the-box approach.
Greening Campuses, but Not Classrooms
By Joel Makower
http://www.greenbiz.com/column/2008/10/13/greening-campuses-not-classrooms
The conversation on college and university campuses about environmental issues has grown more robust in recent years.
How to Navigate the Green Seas
By Tilde Herrera
http://www.greenbiz.com/podcast/2008/10/17/how-navigate-green-seas
GreenBiz.com Executive Editor Joel Makower discusses his new book, “Strategies for the Green Economy: Opportunities and Challenges in the New World of Business.” He offers three keys to help companies assess how well they are doing and answer the question: How good is good enough?
The State of Sustainability Communication
http://www.greenbiz.com/resources/resource/the-state-sustainability-communication
This survey looks at how S&P 100 companies are communicating their sustainability efforts, identified which industries are making bigger strides than others and provides best practices for effective communications.
The Quick & Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools: Second Edition
http://www.greenbiz.com/resources/resource/guide-green-cleaning-schools-second-edition
This online guide from the Healthy Schools Campaign offers sections on sustainability, green cleaning for food service, integrated pest management, new technologies and more ways to make schools as healthy and clean as possible.
Read the full story in Technology Review.
With catalysts created by an MIT chemist, sunlight can turn water into hydrogen. If the process can scale up, it could make solar power a dominant source of energy.
Via Docuticker.
Commercial Building End-Use Consumption Data Tables for 2003
Source: Energy Information AdministrationEnd-use consumption data tables for the 2003 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) are now available. The tables (in PDF, Excel, and HTML formats) show major end-use consumption for electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, district heat, and major fuels for all commercial buildings and non-mall commercial buildings. End-use consumption is the disaggregation of total consumption into consumption specifically for uses such as heating, cooling, lighting, water heating, and office equipment.
With the press of a large ‘I/O’ button and strobe lights simulating a “powering up” sequence, officials of the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) and University of California, San Diego ushered in the next era of data-intensive computing by dedicating a new, energy-efficient building extension as a key resource for UC San Diego and beyond.
Read the full story in Products Finishing.
In contrast to regulators, who have (at least until very recently) been concerned almost exclusively with emissions from coatings when they are applied, sustainability-conscious customers want to know about the whole life-cycle of the products they purchase. In other words, they care about the coating from cradle to grave: what environmental impacts occurred when the raw materials of the coating were extracted and refined, when the coating was formulated, when it was applied to the coated product, and when the coating solids are disposed of at the end of the product’s life.
What does this mean for finishers? First and foremost, finishers, like all manufacturers, are going to be expected to know a lot more about their supply chain.
EPA has finalized reporting requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). These changes were proposed on June 8, 1998 and include clarification on how to report hazardous chemicals in mixtures, and changes to Tier I and Tier II forms. Facilities subject to these regulations, as well as state emergency response commissions, local emergency planning committees, and fire departments should become familiar with the new regulations. The final rule does not address EPA’s proposed exclusion from particular notification requirements under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and EPCRA for releases of hazardous substances to the air where the source of the release is animal waste at farms. That proposal will be addressed in a separate rulemaking package.
Information on the final rule: http://www.epa.gov/oem/content/epcra/index.htm
Read the full story in BusinessWeek.
Business is booming at Supreme Asset Management & Recovery, one of the nation’s largest recyclers of electronic waste. Inside a cavernous warehouse in the industrial section of Lakewood, N.J., workers in T-shirts grapple with newly arrived truckloads of old computer monitors, keyboards, printers, and TVs: tons of e-waste that contains dangerous lead, mercury, and cadmium. Such major manufacturers as Panasonic and JVC and municipalities like Baltimore County, Md., and Westchester County, N.Y., have paid Supreme to dispose of their digital detritus, relying on the company’s assurances that the work is done safely.
But as the e-waste industry proliferates—some 1,200 mostly tiny companies generated revenue of more than $3 billion last year—it has also become enmeshed in questionable practices that undercut its environmentally friendly image. Next year the volume of e-waste will probably surge. In February, U.S. consumers must switch from analog to digital television service, a move that is expected to result in the mass junking of analog TVs.
The latest issue of Renewable Energy Weekly is now available. Highlights include:
Read the full story in Environmental Protection.
University of Calgary climate change scientist David Keith and his team are working to efficiently capture the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the air, using near-commercial technology, according to a recent press release. Keith and a team of researchers showed it is possible to reduce carbon dioxide using a relatively simple machine that can capture the trace amount of CO2 present in the air at any place on the planet.
