Environmental News

Lack of communication (and much-needed funding) often prevents water providers from efficiently and cost-effectively managing their energy use. Source: Water Efficiency, 5/22/13

Establishing a color-coding system through symbolization is a simple way to practice resource reduction and promote sustainable operation. Source: Cleaning & Maintenance Management, 5/17/13

A building energy labeling program that allows the industry to zero in on opportunities to lower building operating cost and make informed decisions to increase value has been expanded to include an As Designed label. Source: CleanLink, 5/24/13

St. John's Hospital in Maplewood, MN, is constantly seeking ways to improve its infrastructure in the most cost-effective ways. And when the stimulus-funded Commercial and Industrial Grant Program from the Minnesota Department of Commerce came along, it made energy efficiency easy. Source: CleanTechnica, 5/25/13

Sustainable packaging encompasses multiple initiatives, including producing effective solutions with minimum resources, protecting the product, transport efficiency and effective end of life management. What's encouraging is that each of the aforementioned can be accomplished one step at a time. Source: Environmental Leader, 5/23/13

Last week, TCO Development granted Samsung's Galaxy S4 the organization's first ever sustainability certification for smartphones. Source: Triple Pundit, 5/22/13

Policies are being crafted that will impact Renewable Portfolio Standards, the farm bill and green power financing. Here's how you can support these measures. Source: GreenBiz, 5/28/13

The world's largest real estate firm is running pilot tests of a solar-powered EV station and plastic waste compressor. Source: GreenBiz, 5/28/13

The Sustainable Purchasing Council is creating a framework for sustainable purchasing mirroring the LEED system for green buildings. Source: GreenBiz, 5/23/13

The National Pollution Prevention Roundtable's MVP2 awards are designed to recognize outstanding and innovative pollution prevention and green chemistry projects and programs. The application deadline for the 2013 MVP2 Awards is Monday, July 1, 2013. Source: National Pollution Prevention Roundtable, 5/24/13

Controversial electronics recycling fees in Ontario, Canada, have industry groups pushing for legislation reforms. Ontario Electronic Stewardship, the organization that oversees electronics recycling in the province, introduced a new model for applying recycling fees to electronics purchases May 1. Currently, OES collects so-called "eco fees" from the electronics manufacturers, retailers and distributors in the province, based on the amount of products they put into the market each month. The fees are then used to pay the companies responsible for collecting, transporting and processing used electronics, said Jonathan Spencer, executive director of OES. The eco fees are passed on to the consumer in the form of an increased point-of-sale cost. Last year OES collected about $58 million in fees and spent $83 million on recycling and refurbishing, intentionally running a deficit to eat up an existing surplus. The new funding model was designed to be based primarily on the actual cost of processing used electronics, and will be updated each year based on the previous year's costs. Formerly, fees were based on estimate. Under the new model, fees for some items decrease, while fees for other items increase. Many of the fees are a few dollars or less. A controversial point has been the significantly higher fee for large-screen display devices like televisions. The recycling fee for display devices smaller than 30 inches remained the same at $12.25. But the fee for devices larger than 30 inches jumped from $27.60 to $39.50. The higher fee is intended to cover the cost of recycling the televisions getting replaced, likely several years old and containing cathode ray tubes, which are expensive to process responsibly. Source: Waste & Recycling News, 5/23/13

The C-U Area Medicine Take-back Program will give area residents the opportunity to safely dispose of unwanted or expired medications 24 hrs. a day, 7 days a week, via collection boxes in the lobbies of the Champaign, Urbana, and University of Illinois Police Departments. The program is a partnership between the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, Champaign Police Department, Urbana Police Department, University of Illinois Police Department, Champaign County sheriff's office, the National Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal Program, the cities of Champaign and Urbana, Illinois American Water, the University of Illinois Student Sustainability Committee, the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, Champaign County Regional Planning Commission, Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department, WCIA and the Prairie Rivers Network. Source: The News-Gazette, 5/22/13

An eco-label called JUST aims to increase transparency in the building-materials business by providing buyers with information about suppliers' social justice, labor and social responsibility practices. "We are not satisfied with not knowing what we are buying," says Living Building Challenge co-founder Jason F. McLennan. "If we are going to eat on it or sit on it, we have a right to know what we are exposed to." Source: GreenBiz, 5/21/13

As demand for resources grows, a strategy that focuses solely on food production while ignoring inefficiency and waste will not be enough. Source: Ensia, 5/15/13

The Obama Administration released updated Principles and Guidelines (P&G) for federal investments in water resources to accelerate project approvals, reduce costs, and support water infrastructure projects with the greatest economic and community benefits. The modernized P&G will allow agencies to better consider the full range of long-term economic benefits associated with water investments, including protecting communities against future storm damage, promoting recreational opportunities that support local businesses, and supporting other local priorities as well as their water delivery, navigation, and flood prevention functions. Climate change provisions are included as well. The updated P&G will foster consistency and informed decision-making across federal agencies engaged in water resources planning. The draft Guidelines will be available for public comment until June 27, 2013. Source:

Does the retail chain measure up? EDF's Bentonville office weighs in. Source: GreenBiz, 5/17/13

The tool gives facilities a score for their water management efforts by shedding light on water use and prioritizing opportunities for conservation. Source: GreenBiz, 5/20/13

Green building-rating systems have been around for well over a decade. The best known in the United States is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), the certification system administered by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED is for the "horizontal infrastructure" world of buildings. But what about "horizontal infrastructure" -- our roads, bridges, railways, landfills, water and wastewater-treatment plants, power-transmission lines, and public spaces in our cities and towns? Source: Governing, 5/20/13