News stories abound with corporate carbon emission and energy reductions. But what’s real and what’s hype?
Today’s story that cruise line Costa has ”cut fuel and potable water consumption by five percent during the fiscal year starting in December 2007″ is notably a good step in the right direction. That they’ve also “increased its “special waste” (cooking oil, used batteries, neon lamps, photo developing fluid) recycling to 30 percent in 2008, up from 26 percent in 2007″ is a better news story.
But the one that really got my attention today was about SAP America’s new $90 million Philadelphia headquarters. When complete, it’s expected to have an energy and water savings of 40-50 percent, [...]
Corporate energy reduction – real or hype?
Turkey, Travel and Thankfulness
Only one day away, Thanksgiving is a time for many things:
swelling crowds in airports waiting for overbooked planes
a much needed break from hectic schedules, to do’s and last minute “critical” projects
spending time either alone wishing you were with loved ones or actually being with them and sometimes wondering what you were pining for
eating way too much food (whether alone or at a big feast) that you may regret the next day (or sooner!)
I may sound a bit jaded but I’m not really. I’ve done all the above and suspect many of you have as well, at some time or other.
This year, I’ll be spending Turkey Day with my family – parents, [...]
Minnesota begins pilot program to recycle old holiday lights
The Recycling Association of Minnesota has launched its Recycle Your Holidays light strand collection program. Now strands of older holiday lights can be placed curbside in recycling bins and business drop offs throughout the state.
Select retailers are accepting drop-off of these lights until January 10, 2010. Stores are also offering $5 coupons for every strand recycled at their locations.
This pilot program is being tested through Randy´s Environmental Services in Delano, MN to determine the program’s viability.
And the ways to recycle just keep growing. Next?
Penn students become reps for sustainability
A group of students at the University of Pennsylvania are about to become Eco-reps, volunteers from three Penn residence halls and one fraternity that educate their peers about sustainability and of Penn’s Climate Action Plan commitments.
Twenty seven students in all - ten students in U of P’s Hill College House, ten in Kings Court English College House, six in Rodin College House and one in Tau Epsilon Phi – are being trained to be sustainability ambassadors to fellow residents.
Dan Garofalo, the University’s sustainability coordinator, said “we believe motivated students who are interested in environmental issues can help their peers make better choices and decisions in their behavior as it relates to the environment.”
This group of committed eco-minded students will [...]
TerraCycle to recycle diaper packaging
The company that created a world-famous organic fertilizer from worm poop and has ”re-purposed” discarded product packaging is at it again.
TerraCycle created their Drink Brigade program two years ago, Since then, they’ve taken product packaging waste like candy and cookie wrappers and used drink pouches that would have ended up in landfills and given them a second life as lunchboxes, binders and portable speakers. They recently partnered with Kraft Foods UK to turn Kenco brand product packaging into frames, book covers and satchels.
Now TerraCycle has expanded again, this time partnering with paper goods company Kimberly-Clark- maker of Huggies brand diapers – to turn that product’s plastic waste into something useful. TerraCycle will”upcycle” the discarded plastic, creating new diaper bags. Keeping with their practice of creating [...]
Self-adjusting glasses for the poor
Though a bit of a departure, there was a story that came across my email today I felt was important for the impact of the subject.
The poorest people all over the world can ill afford to purchase eye glasses to see well. Now British scientist Josh Silver – a professor of physics at Oxford University – has come up with a method of creating inexpensive glasses that wearers can self-adjust to their own prescription.
The novel solution entails combining durable plastic lenses with a pair of clear circular sacks filled with fluid. A small syringe connects each sack to either “arm” of the eyeglasses. Wearers adjust the syringe’s dial to increase [...]
Waste reduction at JC Penney’s – no more big catalogs
Another consumer icon will soon bite the dust. JC Penney’s says it will eliminate their twice-yearly Big Book catalogs due to customer preference for online sales.
Officials at Penney’s say the change will likely result in a reduction in paper consumption of 25% to 30% .
“Big book catalogs have become less relevant as customers have embraced shopping online, where they have ready access to our entire assortment at any time on jcp.com,” said Mike Boylson, Penney’s Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer.
The company plans to instead produce smaller, targeted catalogs throughout the year and emphasize their digital presence. Also they’ll revamp existing catalogs to reduce paper use, utilizing low-weight paper with [...]
An eco-resort like no other
During my recent trip to Costa Rica, I visited three eco-resorts. All were based around the idea of sustainability, but how this played out was gloriously diverse.
You wouldn’t call Lapa Rios – the 2nd eco-resort on my “tour” -a luxury resort. Yet its charm and beauty make it a first class green destination.
Unlike Arenas del Mar, the eco-resort I’d visited prior to coming here, there are lots of “not here’s” for guests to know. These include:
no TV
no hairdryers or curling irons
no internet
“Why have (piped music), says General Manager Juan Pinto, “when you have the toucans, the macaws, and the howling monkeys?”
For those used to being ”plugged in”, it’s a system shock, [...]
Southwest Airline “ups” their sustainability quotient
Southwest Airlines, famous for their low fares and offbeat cabin announcements, is going boldly into the green horizon.
They’ve announced the addition of their green plane – a Boeing 737-700 which, they say, achieves a weight savings of of almost five pounds per seat, saving fuel and reducing emissions, and uses recyclable materials.
Some of these eco-friendly elements include:
recyclable floor carpet that can eliminate the total replacement of certain areas
recyclable, durable seat covers
a lighter weight foam fill from Garnier PURtec for seat back covers
a bulkhead product that’s more long lasting than their current leather one
aluminum aisle strips versus the standard plastic ones, which makes them recyclable, more durable and reduces waste
Sounds good [...]
New process uses less energy for desalination
Desalination – the ability produce much needed freshwater from seawater – has always been an expensive and energy-intensive proposition. But Vancouver, B.C. cleantech company Saltworks Technologies (http://3.ly/TXO) is about to revolutionize the industry.
Utilizing an innovative thermo-ionic energy conversion system, Saltworks will be able to reduce energy by harnessing low.temperature heat and atmospheric dryness. The system works best in the dry regions that need water.
“The greatest challenge for the desalination industry is to increase the energy efficiency of the process faster than the price of generating electricity from fossil fuels,” says industry tracker Global Water Intelligence (GWI) http://3.ly/R2p.
With their innovative Thermo-IonicTM energy conversion system, Saltworks’ patent pending technology will use up to 80 [...]