Monday, October 25, 2004

[Schools] Here are our Environmental Award winners, runners-up Report of Iredell (NC) County's annual environmental awards. Recepients include several educators. 3:23:46 PM Google It!    [Schools] Everything old is new again What is eCycling? Panasonic knows the answer. Residents recently were encouraged to recycle unwanted and obsolete electronic items such as computers and television sets at Panasonic's Secaucus headquarters on Meadowlands Parkway. Panasonic is a charter member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Plug-In to eCycling program to inform the public about recycling electronics. The event, held Oct. 9, was covered by Kid Witness News, the Huber Street School's television news program for young news reporters. [Source: Secaucus (NJ) Reporter] 3:19:02 PM Google It!    [Energy Efficiency] Buildings getting 'smarter' as energy costs skyrocket Buildings are getting smarter -- and the next generation of building materials is expected to do even more. Windows could trap the sun's energy to heat water. Sensors that measure the carbon dioxide exhaled by people in a room could determine whether the air conditioning needs to be turned up. [Source: Chicago Sun-Times] 3:16:08 PM Google It!    [Schools] Northland City Awarded for Pollution Prevention For the past seven years, Superior has created a network of programs that aim to reducewater pollution. Now Wisconsin is using that city's knowledge to expand those programs statewide. The programs are for both kids and adults. In the city of Superior, waste water treatment is part of the 5th grade curriculum. That includes a trip for each class to the treatment plant. Sixth graders build rain gardens, which reduce storm water runoff that can carry pollution into area waterways. Homeowners can also take advantage of this idea. [Source: KDLH News, Duluth MN] 3:07:12 PM Google It!    [Grants] 2005 National Competitive Grants Program Seeks Proposals The Request for Proposals for the FY 2005 National Competitive Grants Program authorized by section 104G of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 has been released.  The RFP may be obtained either by going to https://niwr.org/ and clicking on "View the RFP" under "National Competitive Grants Program" or by going directly to https://niwr.org/2005_104G_RFP. The niwr.org site will be available to accept applications under the RFP by November 1, 2004.  The closing date for proposals to be filed on the web site by principal investigators is 5:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time, February 22, 2005. The closing date for approvals of the applications by Institute Directors is 5:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time, March 4, 2005. These deadline dates are about 1 week earlier than last year, to accommodate the NIWR Annual Meeting. 3:03:54 PM Google It!    [Meetings] 2005 Greening of the Campus Conference Ball State University's 2005 Greening of the Campus conference is the sixth in a series dating from 1996. The theme for this event is "Extending Connections." Once again the conference seeks to host paper, poster, and workshop presentations that illustrate the important role colleges and universities play in cultivating the awareness, understanding, and/or ability of students, faculty, professional staff, and their many public constituencies to enhance the health, integrity, and long-term sustainability of the places where they live and work. Submission Timetable: Abstracts due from authors: February 11, 2005 Authors notified of acceptance: March 11, 2005 Full papers due from authors: August 12, 2005 3:01:20 PM Google It!    [Illinois Environment] Environmental Almanac with Rob Kanter The Environmental Almanac, a new radio series on WILL AM 580, is now available on the Environmental Council Web site. You may read or listen to the show at www.environ.uiuc.edu/EnvironmentalAlmanac.html. 2:59:35 PM Google It!    [Meetings] Ecological Restoration: Funding Opportunities for Partnership in the Great Lakes Paul Horvatin, a program leader in the USEPA's Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) will speak at 12 PM on 29 October 2004 in 150 Animal Sciences Lab. The seminar is entitled, Ecological Restoration: Funding Opportunities for Partnership in the Great Lakes. Paul will be available for follow-up interactions with faculty and students at 1 P.M. Refreshments will be served. 2:57:34 PM Google It!    [Corporate Sustainability] The Sustainability Metrics This publication is designed to help companies set targets and monitor the progress of their sustainability performance year on year. It aims to provide a coherent set of measures to assess the impact of industrial activity. The publication introduces a set of indicators that can be used to measure sustainability performance of an operating unit, such as a process plant, a group of plants, part of a supply chain, a whole supply chain, a utility or other process system. The format recommended is consistent with the framework set forth by the Global Reporting Initiative. 2:54:51 PM Google It!    [Green Products] Duraflame Unveils New Firelog Made with 100% Renewable Resources Faced with a shrinking supply of petroleum wax and a rise in woodburning fireplace restrictions by air quality districts in the American West, Duraflame's product development team set out this past year to determine how to make the next generation of manufactured firelogs. The result is a firelog comprised completely of renewable resources that produces very little smoke -- the All Natural Firelog. 2:53:30 PM Google It!    [Antibiotics] Antibiotics used for growth in food animals making their way into waterways A Colorado State University study is the first to show that antibiotic drugs used specifically for enhancing growth, preventing diseases and increasing feed efficiency in food animals, such as cattle, are making their way into public waterways. The study, which identifies antibiotics in waterways that come from both human and animal uses, is the first to pinpoint drugs specifically from animal sources. For example, the antibiotic monensin, used exclusively in agricultural applications for growth enhancement in cattle, was used as a marker in the study and was measured only in waterways located near animal feeding operations. 2:50:03 PM Google It!    [WMRC in the News] 15 companies receive awards for work in cutting pollution Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn visited Glen Ellyn Thursday to honor 15 companies and organizations for helping to fight pollution in Illinois. Fermilab, Abbott Laboratories and an Arlington Heights-based health-care manufacturer were among the Chicago-area recipients of the Governor's Pollution Prevention Awards at Abbington Distinctive Banquets. The awards ceremony was hosted by the Waste Management and Research Center, a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. [Source: Daily Herald (Suburban Chicago)] 2:46:51 PM Google It!    [Corporate Sustainability] Manager's Notebook: Communicating Environmental, Health and Safety Value Environmental, health and safety (EHS) managers are keenly aware that their careers and longevity within their organizations are dependent upon their ability to demonstrate that they bring something of value to the table beyond just the donuts for a meeting. It's a subject in need of considerable attention, especially in today's tight economy. The authors examine how to identify the communication barriers that impede real progress. [Soufce: Environmental Protection Magazine] 2:43:52 PM Google It!    [Phytoremediation] The 'green' side of pumpkins -- purging pollution from contaminated soils While parents and youngsters are busy carving jack-o-lanterns in preparation for Halloween, Canadian scientists are hard at work on another way to use the popular yellow-orange plant. New research shows that pumpkins can clean up soil contaminated with DDT and other pollutants. [Source: Environmental Protection Magazine] 2:42:22 PM Google It!    [Environmental Science] Researchers Study Effects of Road Deicing on Environment In northern regions of the globe, roads can be a major source of contamination of surrounding soils and water bodies as a consequence of spreading road salt, sand and other materials for winter road maintenance. [Source: Environmental Protection Magazine] 2:40:13 PM Google It!    [Alternative Energy] Great Lake Could Cool Syracuse Buildings A group of community leaders wants Syracuse to become the first city in the United States to cool its downtown buildings with lake water, saving millions of dollars in energy costs. [Source: Syracuse (NY) Post-Standard] 2:36:36 PM Google It!    [Alternative Energy] Is Sewage an Untapped Energy Resource? A Toronto researcher says most communities are underestimating a potential source of cheap electricity – raw sewage. [Source: Great Lakes Radio Consortium] 2:34:26 PM Google It!    [Climate Change] WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Recent storms, droughts and heat waves are probably being caused by global warming, which means the effects of climate change are coming faster than anyone had feared, climate experts said on Thursday. [Reuters: Science] 2:30:21 PM Google It!

© Copyright 2005 Laura L. Barnes. Last update: 10/25/2005; 12:07:14 PM.