·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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Read the full post at GreenerDesign.

There have been two big announcements recently regarding eco labeling and certification — one that’s causing quite a stir and one that’s happened relatively quietly. Both represent a big opportunity for the organizations involved and one represents potential danger.

Read the full story at GreenerDesign.

The United Kingdom’s Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has unveiled a series of pilot programs designed to test reusable packaging for retail items.

The trials are intended to explore the commercial viability of the reusable packaging to determine the amount of materials needed for their use and the amount of waste generated. Several retail environments will be used, such as supermarkets and home improvement locations.

Read the full story at GreenerComputing.

It was likely only a matter of time, but the global economic downturn has taken its toll on green IT projects, according to new research from Forrester.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

The accidental discovery of a bowl-shaped molecule that pulls carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the air suggests new possibilities for dealing with global warming, including genetically engineering microbes to manufacture those CO2 “catchers,” a scientist from Maryland reports.

An article on this subject is scheduled for the August 3 issue of the American Chemical Society’s Inorganic Chemistry, a bi-weekly journal. To access the article, visit http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/ic802454w J. A. Tossell notes in the new study that another scientist discovered the molecule while doing research unrelated to climate change. Carbon dioxide was collecting in the molecule, and the scientist realized that it was coming from air in the lab. Tossell recognized that these qualities might make it useful as an industrial absorbent for removing carbon dioxide.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

The Sustainable Remediation Forum (SURF) on July 14 issued the first comprehensive, independent assessment of sustainable remediation — a movement to encourage environmental cleanups that minimize carbon emissions, conserve fossil fuels, and still remove potentially dangerous contaminants from soil and water.

The Sustainable Remediation Forum White Paper is being published in a special summer 2009 issue of Remediation Journal.

This guide contains federal emission standards for on-road and nonroad vehicles and engines, and related fuel sulfur standards.  Each table includes the standards, useful life, warranty period, and the availability of averaging, banking, and trading (ABT).  In addition, the applicable Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) citations are provided.

EPA’s Climate Leaders program announced today that three more of its industry partners are being recognized for meeting their greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals. Exelon Corp., Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) and Raytheon Co. have found cleaner sources of energy, reduced energy consumption, increased production of renewable energy and retired old equipment, all in an effort to reduce their contribution to climate change.

“We congratulate the members of the partnership upon meeting their goals to confront climate change.  EPA’s Climate Leaders are some of the largest and most competitive companies in manufacturing, finance, information technology and other major sectors of the economy,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.  “They’re proving that they can be both industry leaders, and leaders in the fight against climate change.”

In addition, 15 companies have set new goals including: American Packaging Corp., Capital One Financial Corp., Caterpillar Inc., Clorox Co., CSX Transportation Inc., Design Continuum, Ecolab Inc., FetterGroup., Genzyme Corp.,  Mack Trucks Inc., Nortel, Novelis Corp., Pfizer Inc., Raytheon Co. and Sun Microsystems Inc. EPA is also welcoming 60 new Climate Leaders to its ranks. EPA estimates that the GHG reductions by Climate Leaders Partners will prevent more than 50 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents per year, which is equal to the annual emissions of more than nine million vehicles.

As the country’s largest GHG goal-setting program, Climate Leaders is an EPA industry-government partnership that works with companies to develop comprehensive climate change strategies. Launched in 2002, the program has expanded from 11 charter members to 284 companies that represent more than eight percent of total annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Program partners represent a broad range of industry sectors and companies with a combined annual revenue equal to 12 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product.

More about the program, including a complete list of new and existing partners and their goals: http://www.epa.gov/climateleaders

Read the full story at Knowledgespeak.

STM publisher Elsevier, Netherlands, has announced the ‘Article of the Future’ project, an ongoing collaboration with the scientific community to redefine how a scientific article is presented online. The project takes full advantage of online capabilities, allowing readers individualised entry points and routes through content, while exploiting the latest advances in visualisation techniques.

The Article of the Future is set to launch its first prototypes this week, revealing a new approach to presenting scientific research online. The key feature of the prototypes is a hierarchical presentation of text and figures so that readers can elect to drill down through the layers based on their current task in the scientific workflow and their level of expertise and interest. This organisational structure is a significant departure from the linear-based organisation of a traditional print-based article in incorporating the core text and supplemental material within a single unified structure.

Read the full story in the Los Angeles Times.

A cash-strapped conservation credit program run by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has stopped paying vendors and customers for installing water-saving toilets and appliances.

Though the program has been deemed highly successful, demand for the rebates has increased threefold over the last two years.

Read the full story in Waste Age.

U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., have introduced legislation to increase the recycling of electronics and to reduce the use of hazardous materials in the products.

The Electronic Device Recycling Research and Development Act “would provide research grants to find ways to deal with the growing amount of e-waste, much of which contains hazardous materials and should not be dumped into landfills,” says a press release from Klobuchar’s office.