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1,200 manufacturers and 4,000 retail showrooms offer Energy Star energy efficient products. Six companies – Best Buy, Home Depot, Maytag, Philips Lighting Company North America, Sears, and Whirlpool – are offering customer incentives to promote the use of energy efficient products. – This month, Best Buy offers free delivery and financing incentives on Energy Star appliances (clothes washers, dishwashers, refrigerators). – Home Depot is advertising Energy Star Windows with educational displays and promotions. – Maytag is discounting Energy Star clothes washers by $100 starting early next year in concert with a public education campaign. – Philips Lighting Company NA. is discounting Energy Star compact fluorescents at Home Depot. Bulbs will cost under $10. – Sears offers free delivery and free financing on all Energy Star appliances. It will feature new Energy Star heating & cooling systems. – Whirlpool will feature a new SERP (U.S. Department of Energy Super-Efficient Refrigerator Program) refrigerator that is 35 percent more efficient than the U.S. standard. It will be available in the 2nd quarter of 2000.
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American Airlines is the first airline company to adopt the ten-point code of corporate environmental conduct known as the CERES Principles. By endorsing the CERES Principles, American strives toward continuous environmental improvement in all of its operations, and commits to annually reporting on that progress through the standardized disclosure framework developed by CERES and its constituents. Improvements will be in areas where the company is already working, such as recapturing and recycling chemicals used in de-icing, employing electric and renewable energy ground vehicles at airports and retiring old, noisier aircraft. “We cant use anything but fossil fuels, so our improvements are bound to be incremental,” American spokesperson Chris Chiames said. Americans first environmental report using CERES guidelines will be produced next year. According to Brad Sperber of CERES, “Americans decision to engage with CERES is indicative of the new pressures transportation is beginning to feel.” The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes recent study of aviations role in global warming has contributed to increased scrutiny, he added. The aviation industry’s distinct environmental challenges include local noise and air pollution, hazardous waste management, fuel efficiency, and global warming. http://www.ceres.org
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European manufacturers of energy efficient office machines will be able to carry the U.S. EPA Energy Star label starting this spring. The EPA and EU are jointly reviewing certification requirements and may release more stringent guidelines next year. Personal computers in Europe will continue to carry the flower eco-label.
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The Wisconsin state legislature passed the “Reliability 2000” bill, known as R2K, making it the first state to create an independent energy efficiency fund and a renewable energy requirement without deregulating its utilities. The Renewables Portfolio Standard starts at a half percent by the end of 2001 and increases to 2.2 percent by the end of 2011. This will triple the amount of non-hydro renewables (400 MW), enough to meet the entire electricity needs of 204,000 homes and to reduce air emissions equal to taking 145,000 cars off the road. The bill also creates a “public benefits” fund that sets aside about $80 million a year for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and environmental research. Find out more at the Customers First! website: [sorry this link is no longer available]
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Arlington County, Virginia is the first local government to reference the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system in official policy. The county, which is a member of the USGBC, voted to allow developers preferential treatment in their requests for bonus density if their projects achieve a high LEED rating. The policy takes effect in April, when LEED 2.0 is slated for release. Source: Environmental Building News
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The Green Century Balanced Fund, with a total return of 30.55 percent for one-year ending September 30, was ranked #6 of all 421 balanced funds tracked by Lipper Analytical Services, Inc. Jackson Robinson, the portfolio’s manager and President of Winslow Management Company, stated, “In a year of relatively lower returns for many stocks and mutual funds, many of the proactive environmental companies in which the Fund invests shone, such as AstroPower and Vestas Wind Systems in the alternative/renewable energy sector. This success puts hard numbers behind our belief that green companies may have a competitive advantage.” A total of US$2 trillion is now invested in a socially responsible manner, representing about 13 percent of the $16 trillion total of funds under professional management. The fastest growing component of socially responsible investing is the growth of portfolios that employ both screening and shareholder advocacy, in which shareholders use their ownership positions to mold corporate action. [sorry this link is no longer available]
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On November 12, in San Francisco, a new organization was formed – the World Green Building Council. Its purpose is to foster the development of national green building councils around the world to develop and promote standards, rating and certification systems, performance measures, technologies, products, and resources in green building and construction. Currently there are formal councils in the U.S, Japan, Spain and Korea. A new website will help members communicate and will include a “tool kit” to provide a model for countries interested in forming their own national green building councils. The next World Green Building Council meeting is currently scheduled to be held March 30-31, 2000 in Paris, France. The website will be: http://www.wgbc.org. For more information, contact Michelle A. Crozier, WorldBuild Technologies.
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Kinko’s and Time Warner have joined the growing list of businesses running on renewable energy. Kinko’s signed on with GreenMountain.com for its 75 California stores and for several branches in Pennsylvania. Time Warner chose Commonwealth’s Green Power for its 1700 accounts in the Los Angeles area. The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power has signed up over 20,000 customers for its green power program and predicts the program will reach 200,000 customers in the next two to three years. The utility supplies customers with free compact fluorescent light bulbs to offset the six percent green power premium with lower electric costs. The City of Palmdale, California also announced it is switching to Commonwealth Energy’s green power program. Customers in regulated states will be able to access green power through The Center for Resource Solutions’s – the group responsible for Green-e green power certification – new “Green Pricing Accreditation Initiative.” Utilities that offer verifiable green power options to customers in regulated states can receive accreditation. Participating utilities must meet stringent environmental standards and must undergo an annual independent audit.
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Mobile phone users in Australia can now return handsets, batteries and accessories from major suppliers like Ericsson, Nokia, and Philips, to local recycling stations, thanks to the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA). New phone equipment from participating vendors will carry a surcharge of AUD$1 (US$.63) to pay for the program. It will benefit vendors as well since Australia is changing from its older analog cellular phone network to a cellular network; as customers recycle their older equipment they will purchase phones designed for the new network. More than 400 retail stores in the country will serve as collection points. A Melbourne-based recycler will remove hazardous battery components and melt the plastic and metal pieces. AMTA collected 100,000 batteries in six months during a pilot phase. The group is considering including computer laptops and two-way radio phones in the recycling program if suppliers get involved. Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association: [sorry this link is no longer available] To learn about a similar program in Europe, read last month’s Spotlight section.
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IKEA announced it is working with its suppliers to ensure that, by September 2000, the solid wood used to make its products does not originate from ancient forests unless it carries Forest Stewardship Council certification. “Our long term goal is to ensure that all wooden products comes from well-managed forests. The first step is to see that no solid wood is coming from ancient forests,” said Susanne Pulverer Bergstrand, environmental manager for the IKEA Group. Two companies – Wickes Lumber and HomeBase – targeted as part of the “Foolish Five” by Rainforest Action Network (RAN), quickly made commitments this month to stop selling old growth wood products. HomeBase and Wikes, the sixth and tenth largest U.S. home improvement retailers respectively, will end such sales by 2001. The remaining “Foolish Five” – home improvement companies that sell old growth wood products – are 84 Lumber, Menard’s and Payless Cashways. RAN has been applying relentless pressure on the industry group since its two-year campaign resulted in Home Depot’s August announcement that it would stop selling old growth wood products. A long list of corporations have made similar commitments including 3M, Dell, IBM, Kinko’s, Levi-Strauss, Mitsubishi Motors America, Mitsubishi Electric America, and Nike.
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