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The Office of Policy and Reinvention of the U.S. EPA offers an international directory of organizations and contacts related to sustainable business. It is available in PDF format and is updated monthly. It covers national initiatives, policy & business organizations, NGOs related to labor and human rights and the environment, monitoring organizations and programs, financial organizations, foundations, media, and academia. Michael J. Kane: kane.michael@epa.gov [sorry this link is no longer available]
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For the first time since the 1940s, when the air quality in Los Angeles became a public concern, the city issued no Stage 1 smog alerts this summer (the most dangerous level of smog). Instead, Houston won the honor of being the most smoggy U.S. city, with 44 Stage 1 alert days. The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) Texas chapter blames it on Texas Governor George Bush’s cozy relationship with polluters. The group claims Bush allowed industry to “write loopholes to allow their smokestacks to avoid regulation.” PEER’s website reveals internal memos that document how Texas air quality laws were weakened for the benefit of key industry players. Watch this website for ongoing stories related to Bush’s environmental record. Texas Peer: http://www.txpeer.org Source: Environment News Service: [sorry this link is no longer available]
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Shri Shakti Alternative Energy Technologies (SSAET) received US$2.2 million in seed money to open 300 energy retail stores across India. They will sell solar thermal and PV systems, solar cookers and water pumps, instant gas water heaters, and energy efficient products and appliances. SSAET is a subsidiary of Indias largest private distributor of liquefied petroleum gas. The company sells solar lanterns, power packs and home lighting systems, and offers customer financing and service. Two stores are already operating. One in Kakinada was financed by the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency and another in Hyderabad was financed directly by Shri Shakti. The seed money is a combination of loan, equity and grant, and comes from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), as part of the $25 million Photovoltaic Market Transformation Initiative. The Initiative was created in 1998 to spur solar energy markets in India, Kenya and Morocco. This marks the first investment; others are in the works for all three countries. Source: Environment News Service: [sorry this link is no longer available]
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The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy sorts through the thousands of major home appliances and heating and cooling systems on the market and picks out those that are most efficient in their annual Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings. This year’s top-rated refrigerators, clothes washers, dishwashers, air conditioners, and heat pumps are posted at their website. Information on furnaces, boilers, and water heaters will follow soon. An efficient clothes washer, for example, saves about 100,000 gallons of water and $750 -$1200 in energy and water bills during its lifetime. Similarly, a top-rated central air conditioner consumes a third less power than a standard model. ACEEE produces a number of other useful guides on remodeling, efficient commercial & office equipment, and the Green Guide to Cars & Trucks. There is a very useful Home Energy Checklist for Action on the website too. If you are in New York State you can search the online NY State Energy Efficiency Directory on the Alliance to Save Energy website (check out the other useful features on this site). You can search for service providers by type of product, type of service, company name, or region of the state. Across the world in […]
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200 million pounds of used carpet a year will be converted to 100 million pounds of recycled nylon at Evergreen Nylon Recycling, a new joint venture between AlliedSignal and DSM Chemicals North America. Even including collection costs, the companies project the recycled resin will cost the same or less as virgin material. Established recyclers will collect used carpet and bring it to the Augusta, GA. plant, which is expected to open late this year. Carpet carrying AlliedSignal’s “Infinity” label will be available sometime in 2000. At first it will consist of 25 percent recycled fiber with the goal of reaching 100 percent recycled fiber when volume permits. Contact Heather Sheehan at AlliedSignal.
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This September, Progressive Investment Management launched Portfolio 21, the first U.S mutual fund that consists of companies chosen for their leadership and commitment to sustainability. The portfolio of companies show a commitment to sustainability through their business strategies and investments, practices of using and developing clean energy sources, resource efficiency and environmental management, ecologically superior product lines, and their role in influencing industry toward sustainable practices. Each company is scored against standards tailored to its industry group. Progressive worked with Susan Burns, Natural Strategies Inc. to translate The Natural Step principles of sustainability into a concrete set of criteria. Progressive believes companies that employ these principles are more efficient and profitable today and are positioned to prosper in the future. “We’re looking for companies that see environmental sustainability as a business opportunity in addition to a stewardship issue,” says chairman Carsten Henningsen. “There are no absolutely sustainable companies. We have identified those we believe have the greatest potential and highest commitment to work toward a sustainable future.” Portfolio 21 is a world-wide fund that invests in companies of all sizes. There are 30-40 stocks in the portfolio now, including Mitsubishi Electric, Astropower, Scandic Hotels, Electrolux, and Ballard Power Systems. U.S. […]
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Does using renewable energy, or a particular type of renewable energy, make sense in a given situation? Making a preliminary assessment is quick and convenient using free Internet shareware, RETScreen (Renewable Energy Project Analysis Software). RETScreen, developed by Natural Resources Canada, runs on Microsoft Excel and enables users to evaluate annual energy production, costs and financial viability of renewable energy projects anywhere in the world at a fraction of the cost of conventional pre-feasibility studies. The Passive Solar Heating model, for example, can be used to examine the difference in heating and cooling energy consumption between a proposed passive solar building (retrofit or new construction) and an identical conventional building. The original version, released in 1998, allows assessments for wind, small hydro, PV, solar air heating and biomass. An upgraded 1999 version provides modules for passive solar heating, solar water heating and ground-source heat pumps. The software also includes NASA satellite weather data – the amount of solar energy that strikes the surface of the earth, global temperatures and wind speeds – critical information for determining the amount of energy a project can produce. RETScreen: [sorry this link is no longer available]
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Almost simultaneously, General Motors and Ford announced plans to require suppliers to achieve ISO 14001 environmental certification. All GM’s suppliers must be certified by December 31, 2002. Ford is asking only manufacturing suppliers (about 5000 companies) to meet this commitment – by July 1, 2003. In a survey of its suppliers, Ford found the majority plan to obtain certification over the next few years. Ford is the first automaker to achieve ISO certification world-wide – 140 plants in 26 countries.
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Every time you switch mobile phone companies you are given a new telephone. The European Union is looking at take-back programs for the millions of discarded phones. In its pilot program in Sweden, UK telecommunications company, Ectel, collected 35,000 phones in 1997, at a cost of about $1 per phone. Now the company is expanding the service into Britain, with plans for Spain and Italy. Cell phones will be returnable at some 400 UK collection outlets or by mail to increase collection rates from the present 5,000 a year. Ectel believes heading off legal mandates with a voluntary program will be more cost effective for the company. Switzerland’s program mandates a $3 surcharge on new phones to cover recycling.
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Three online directories can help you locate recycled office furniture dealers in your area. ReSources.com lists brokers of used, refurbished and remanufactured furniture in its ReCycled Furniture Directory. There is also an inventory of used furniture on the website. I clicked into “Seating” and found like-new conference tables and files, and office chairs with full warrantees from Herman Miller and Kohl. You can also browse through the Furniture Dealer Directory at Workspace Resources for recycled office furniture dealers and refurbishers, or the Office Furniture Recycler’s Forum’s member directory. Interior designers routinely request samples to help clients choose textiles. What can be done with these materials at the end of a project? The Association of Contract Textiles Sample Return and Reuse Program places sample-deposit boxes with hundreds of design firms. Designers ship full boxes to a North Carolina nonprofit, Watauga Opportunities, that sends the samples back to their manufacturers and mails the participating design firm a replacement collection box. Contract Interiors Network: http://www.ReSources.com Workspace Resources: http://www.workspace-resources.com Office Furniture Recycler’s Forum: [sorry this link is no longer available] Association for Contract Textiles: http://www.contract-textiles.com
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