Environmental News

The electronics industry isn't about to stop making its high-demand products because of their environmental burden. But the industry recognizes the cascade of challenges it faces, so manufacturers, retailers, and government and nongovernmental organizations are on the road to finding solutions. Together, these stakeholders have begun developing new products that use fewer toxic materials. And they are devising ways to make recycling easier. But there is still a long way to go. That's where an interdisciplinary team of engineers from Purdue University and Tuskegee University hopes to help. They have initiated a comprehensive international effort to develop new materials and technologies to replace conventional electronics with more sustainable ones. Along the way, they are training a workforce of scientists and engineers to ease the transition. Source: Chemical & Engineering News, 4/1/13

Success in energy efficiency is something worth bragging about in Michigan. Source: Great Lakes Echo, 4/8/13

Toxic chemicals clinging to plastics could cause health problems for fish and other organisms in the Great Lakes. Source: Great Lakes Echo, 4/9/13

The Ohio State University is this year's Environmental March Madness national champion. Source: Environmental Leader, 4/9/13

The U.S. Air Force, the largest single energy consumer in the federal government, released its Energy Strategic Plan, which will continue its successful efforts in cutting energy use. Source: GreenBiz, 4/8/13

From lead-contaminated soil to respiratory illness--inducing air pollutants, Pilsen's industrial past and present have created problematic environmental and health issues for area residents. Source: Gazette Chicago, 4/5/13

Companies need to understand the impacts of chemical use on society and business. Source: GreenBiz, 4/8/13

Collaborative efforts between UT and Austin Water showed that purple is the new green at a celebration ceremony Wednesday to mark the completion of a project aimed to save water, cut costs and increase system efficiency. Source: Daily Texan, 3/28/13

EPA is looking to academic institutions to help build a diverse portfolio of practical and replicable projects that benefit communities, the environment, academic institutions, and the TRI Program. EPA welcomes the submission of any project proposal that advances the knowledge, use and understanding of TRI data and related information. In reviewing project proposals, EPA intends to place priority on these key project themes and objectives: --Pollution Prevention & Sustainability: Promote the use of TRI as a sustainable development tool and the adoption of pollution prevention (P2) technologies. -- Stakeholder Engagement: Cultivate relationships among stakeholder groups and improve the communication of TRI-related information. -- Technology and Data Mashups: Investigate the use of new technologies or analytic methods to integrate TRI data with other datasets to unlock the broader potential of TRI data. -- Environmental Education: Explore replicable ways to integrate TRI information into college and university classrooms. Source: Environmental News Bits, 4/8/13

The WateReuse Association is accepting abstracts for a new Industrial Reuse Specialty Conference to be held December 9-10 in Long Beach, CA. The conference will include discussions of sustainability policies, technology, best practices, and case studies for industrial users that receive municipally treated recycled water, as well as those performing on-site reuse or internal recycling. Abstracts are due May 3 and authors will be notified June 28 regarding the status of their abstract. Source: Water Reuse Association, 4/8/13

The toolkit of an energy auditor largely consists of technologies that have been around for decades. Though effective in the right hands, blower doors, thermographic cameras, etc. only provide a snapshot of the efficiency of a building. The trouble with this is that it doesn't help auditors anticipate exactly what effect different energy conservation measures will have on overall consumption. Instead, through experience and training, auditors give an estimate of how much a retrofit will improve the building efficiency, and then take another snapshot after the measures are installed. The hallmark of the growth of clean energy has been the relentless improvement of technology, but can the same be said for energy efficiency? Source: GreenTechMedia, 4/4/13

Chicago is set to be the next U.S. city to park-ify on one of its abandoned rail-lines. First proposed back in 1997, the 2.7 mile, 13-acre Bloomingdale Trail and Park is proposed for a stretch of abandoned railway trestle dating from 1910, which has been lying unused since the turn of the century. And, even though it is already being compared to New-York's High Line, the planners are adamant that the park will be an entirely different animal to its New York cousin. Source: ArchDaily, 4/3/13

For the fifth straight season, the NBA has teamed with the Natural Resources Defense Council to celebrate Green Week from April 4-12. In partnership with league sponsor Sprint, the NBA is working with its franchises to support initiatives that increase awareness and promote sustainable action by fans. Source: Green Sports Alliance, 4/8/13

The American Chemical Society (ACS) today announced awarding the first grants in a new initiative intended to increase understanding of the science underpinning global climate change among thousands of people around the country. Source: American Chemical Society, 4/7/13

Michigan State University needed something to measure the impact of different decisions against a set of key environmental metrics. Source: GreenBiz, 4/4/13

U.S. manufacturing has reduced energy intensity during the past decade, but an increase in output driven by natural gas will test manufacturers, writes Adam James, executive director of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute. Source: GreenTech Efficiency, 4/3/13

A manufacturer-run program for collecting mercury thermostats is failing to keep the heavy metal out of the trash in most states, according to a new report released today by two environmental groups: the Multi-State Mercury Products Campaign (MMPC) and the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI). Source: Environmental Leader, 4/4/13

Employees who participate in workplace sustainability programs are likely to promote sustainable practices at home, and encourage others to participate. And three out of four will make purchasing decisions based on a company's environmentally-conscious practices, a new study finds. Source: Environmental Leader, 4/4/13

Ford Motor Company says it is expanding its 3-Wet paint capacity by 50 percent this year, adding the environmentally friendly process to four more plants on three continents. It expects the process to reduce CO2 emissions between 15 and 25 percent at those facilities. Source: Environmental Leader, 4/4/13

Researchers at the University of Georgia have found a way to transform carbon dioxide trapped in the atmosphere into useful industrial products. Their discovery may soon lead to the creation of biofuels made directly from the carbon dioxide in the air that is responsible for trapping the sun's rays and raising global temperatures. Source: University of Georgia, 3/26/13

The largest harmful algae bloom in Lake Erie's recorded history was likely caused by the confluence of changing farming practices and weather conditions that are expected to become more common in the future due to climate change. Source: University of Michigan, 3/17/13