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Tuesday, August 09, 2005
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Column by Bill Valentine urging architects to design smaller, more efficient buildings. [Source: GreenerBuildings.com]
10:41:33 AM Google It! 
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In 2003, the CTFCA decided to study the issues that face Canada's urban transit systems in making the transition from the diesel-powered fleets of today to the hydrogen fuel cell-powered fleets of the future. The resulting study, published in 2005, helps industry identify business opportunities for hydrogen fuel cell-powered transit systems. The study pinpoints major transition costs for urban transit systems, including the capital cost of fuel cell-powered buses and the conversion of existing facilities or the building of new ones. It also discusses key economic and infrastructure challenges.
The bottom line? The study finds that fuel cell-powered buses are expected to be able to carry out urban transit duties with performance and reliability that are comparable to or better than their diesel counterparts. Although the acquisition cost of a fuel cell-powered bus will be more than that of a diesel-powered bus, the lifecycle cost, including the cost of acquisition, maintenance and fuel, will be comparable. [Source: GreenBiz.com]
10:40:05 AM Google It!
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After careful consideration of consumer behavior and usage, yogurt maker Dannon has elected to remove the plastic overcaps from its six-ounce cups. The company estimates that the package redesign, which will be implemented in October, will save 3.6 million pounds of plastic per year. [Source: GreenBiz.com]
10:38:56 AM Google It!
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With cleaner water, many critters have decided they also like a downtown river view. As for tree damage, leave it to beavers. [Source: Chicago Tribune, 8/5/05]
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Deadline: September 1 and March 1, annually (Letters of Inquiry)
Through its Giving Voice program, the Starbucks Foundation (http://www.starbucks.com/foundation/), a philanthropic vehicle of the Starbucks Coffee Company, will fund programs for youth, ages 6-18, that integrate literacy with personal and civic action in the communities where they live.
The Starbucks Foundation invites Letters of Inquiry from qualifying organizations that work with underserved youth in one of two areas: 1) Arts & Literacy -- programs that innovatively address literacy and learning for the 21st century, provide high standards of excellence in mastering basic skills, and promote youth voices through a variety of venues; and 2) Environmental Literacy -- programs that offer place-based approaches to addressing environmental literacy and empower youth to be heroes for a sustainable environment in their own communities.
The foundation supports registered, nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charitable organizations in the United States, as well as Registered Charities in Canada, that deliver services to youth and address at least one of the program's action areas.
Grants range from $5,000 to $20,000.
Visit the Starbucks Foundation Web site for program information, application procedures, and eligibility questions.
RFP Link: http://fconline.fdncenter.org/pnd/3498/starbucks
10:36:36 AM Google It!
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Deadline: September 15, 2005
The NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education (http://www.nfie.org/) invites applications for the Read Across America Library Books Awards.
These $5,000 awards help public schools serving economically disadvantaged students purchase books for school libraries. The foundation makes these awards on behalf of the National Education Association (http://www.nea.org/), with support from Warner Brothers, Inc.
Applicants must be a practicing pre K-12 teacher or education support professional in a U.S. public school and a member of the National Education Association. In addition, at least 40 percent of the students in the applicant's school must be eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program, and the applicant must agree to serve as the contact person for the award and all related public relations activities.
The NEA Foundation will make approximately thirty-six awards of $5,000 each. Funds may be used only to purchase books and other reading materials for public school libraries.
Visit the NEA Foundation Web site to download an application form.
RFP Link: http://fconline.fdncenter.org/pnd/3504/nfie
10:35:44 AM Google It!
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This recent study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Volume 294, No. 4) finds that the rate of illness linked to pesticides and similar chemicals is on the rise in U.S. schools.
10:30:16 AM Google It!
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The National Environmental Education & Training Foundation (NEETF) is a not for profit organization dedicated to advancing environmental education in its many forms. NEETF is conducting the Pediatric Environmental History Initiative, a multi-year campaign to make the process of environmental history-taking a routine practice for health care providers. This will enable health care providers to address environmental conditions that may prevent a child from reaching optimum health, increase public awareness of environmental exposures and improve communication between health professionals and the public on environmental exposure-related disease.
Taking a good environmental history is a critical first step for addressing health conditions associated with environmental exposures. However, few health care providers are trained in environmental history taking. Several medical, nursing, and public health organizations have endorsed the Health Professionals and Environmental Health Education Position Statement, which calls for incorporating the ability to elicit an environmental exposure history into health care provider education and practice.
In order to provide the tools needed to incorporate environmental history-taking into medical and nursing training for clinicians, NEETF created a user-friendly environmental history form for health care providers treating pediatric patients. The form draws from the medical literature and current best practices and is supplemented by an environmental history primer. For more information visit http://www.neetf.org/Health/PEHI.htm.
10:29:21 AM Google It!
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The Healthy Schools Campaign will be hosting an Environmental Education Workshop in partnership with the Green Flag Program of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice on Tuesday August 30th from 9 am - 4 pm. The workshop will cover how Green Flag, a nation-wide program, works in school communities to make them environmentally healthy places. The goals of the program are to educate students about the connection between environment and health and provide concrete suggestions for how individuals and community-based organizations can improve their local schools. For more information on registration contact Guillermo Gomez at (312) 419-1810 or by email at ggomez@healthyschoolscampaign.org.
10:28:05 AM Google It!
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The Healthy Schools Campaign is looking for a few good people who are making a difference by using green products and processes to keep schools clean and healthy. They would like to acknowledge hard-working building engineers and janitorial service employees who are leading the way as "Green Clean Champions for Change" by enrolling them in their recognition and support program. If you know someone who deserves a pat on the back for his or her green cleaning efforts, let them know by calling Tammy Dillard-Steels at 312.419.1810 or by emailing tammy@healthyschoolscampaign.org.
10:27:16 AM Google It!
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A public-private effort to develop more fuel-efficient automobiles and eventually introduce hydrogen as a transportation fuel is well-planned and identifies all major hurdles the program will face, according to a report released Aug. 2 from the National Academies' National Research Council (NRC). Many technical barriers must be overcome and new inventions will be needed, with the program's most difficult long-term challenge is hydrogen storage in vehicles. However, the program, which was launched three years ago, has already made an excellent start, said the committee that wrote the report. [Source: Environmental Protection E-News]
10:25:26 AM Google It!
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From the article in E: The Environmental Magazine:
Critics praised the new Millennium Park in downtown Chicago when it opened last July, and visitors streamed in: a half million in the first week alone. Visitors exploring the 24-acre park were drawn to the shiny 110-ton abstract steel sculpture by Anish Kapoor, nicknamed “the bean,” and to Frank Gehry’s concert pavilion, a bandshell composed of stainless-steel ribbons surrounded by a green lawn designed to seat 7,000. One journalist called the park a “green miracle in the Windy City.”
But few writers noticed one of the greenest things about Millennium Park: it’s a living “green roof” of plants on top of a huge subterranean parking garage and commuter train terminal. With 120 living roofs built or planned citywide, including one on City Hall, Chicago is pioneering a trend that has taken off across North America. The impetus came from Mayor Richard M. Daley, a proponent of green technology who was impressed by the green roofs he saw when traveling in Europe—where they’ve been built for 30 years and have become commonplace.
10:22:25 AM Google It!
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This free, downloadable, online atlas, published in June 2005 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in cooperation with NASA, United States Geological Survey (USGS) and University of Maryland, provides visual evidence of Earth's environmental changes (such as land use, biological diversity, and climate) using satellite images, graphics and text. The focus is on the status and trends over several decades, both in physical and human geography, including those of the atmosphere, coastal areas, waters, forests, croplands, grasslands, urban areas, and tundra and Polar regions. Also available in hard copy from www.earthprint.com. [SEJ: Useful links]
10:14:37 AM Google It!
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Via sustainablog:
Gil Friend's been the busy blogger this weekend, publishing three posts titled "Energy Juxtapositions." The first takes note of a Financial Times article (subscription required) on recent simulations of terrorist attacks on oil facilities. The findings of the simulation:
For the scenario, which included the evacuation of foreign workers from Saudi Arabia and unrest in Nigeria, analysts at Sanford Bernstein calculated that a 4 per cent reduction in world oil supply would increase prices by more than 170 per cent....
Oil facilities were too large to guard, the mock cabinet found, and diplomatic solutions were marred by unreasonable (in the eyes of the US) demands by countries such as Saudi Arabia, which among other things had demanded that the US stop putting it under pressure over democratisation. Gil also links us to John Robb's Global Guerillas blog and Joel Makower's recent post on why Americans aren't buying clean power.
Energy Juxtapositions 2 discusses the disappearance of the Hirsch report online. This report, released by the Department of Energy in February, paints a grim picture of peak oil in the United States, and provides the foundation for Richard Heinberg's article on the Oil Depletion Protocol.
Finally, Gil jumps into the debate we've been having here at sustainablog on nuclear energy, pointing to a recent San Franscisco Chronicle op-ed by Mark Hertsgaard that argues nuclear power doesn't meet the economic smell tests. Hertsgaard quotes Amory Lovins' critique of nuclear energy economics (which several of our guests have questioned), and makes a point that way too many critics seem unwilling to address:
On a more fundamental level, any defeat of nuclear power is likely to be short-lived if America does not confront what Diamond calls its core value of consumerism. After all, there is only so much waste to wring out of any given economy. Eventually, if human population and appetites keep growing -- and some growth is inevitable, given the ambitions of China and other newly industrializing nations -- new sources of energy must be exploited. At that point, nuclear power and other undesirable alternatives such as shale oil will be waiting...
Environmentalists have been afraid to talk honestly about consumerism ever since a cardigan-clad Jimmy Carter was ridiculed for urging people to turn down their thermostats in the 1979 oil crisis. But now that our species, through our carbon-fueled pursuit of the good life, has turned up the planet's thermostat to ominous levels, it's time to break the silence. We don't have to freeze in the dark, but neither can we keep consuming as if there's no tomorrow. Obviously, much to discuss here. I'll drop Gil a note asking him to join our conversation; in the mean time, let's hear what you have to say...
[sustainablog]
10:12:48 AM Google It!
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Deere & Co., the venerable maker of John Deere farm equipment, is investing in rural wind energy projects. [Energy]
10:09:21 AM Google It!
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Patricia Roderigue, owner of a Rutland home scheduled for demolition, believes mildew and asbestos have caused respiratory problems in her two children. [Environmental Health News]
9:53:13 AM Google It!
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Electronics manufacturers have 12 months to comply with stringent and costly new EU environmental laws. Some may not make it. [Environmental Health News]
9:51:34 AM Google It!
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Science Labs--High School
Source: The National Academies National Research Council
America's Lab Report: Investigations in High School Science
From press release: "The quality of science laboratory experiences is poor for most U.S. high school students, but educators can improve these experiences by following four key principles of effective instruction, says a new report from the National Academies' National Research Council. The shift would make lab activities more likely to help students reach important goals of science education, including cultivating an interest in science, developing scientific reasoning skills, and mastering science subjects."
Summary (PDF; 420 KB) [ResourceShelf's DocuTicker]
9:49:40 AM Google It!
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You can look but you can't buy. That was the word Friday from the solar energy corner of the Southwest Sustainability Expo at NAU. A worldwide shortage of solar panels has put most local projects on hold. [ENN Business Headlines]
9:46:08 AM Google It!
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Marty Metro's mantra is to rescue, reuse and recycle cardboard boxes. And, when there's time, he stops to plant a tree. Four years ago, Metro didn't just found a company with UsedCardboardBoxes.com he created an industry. His company now has warehouses in Pomona, Long Beach, Los Angeles and Tampa, Fla. [ENN Business Headlines]
9:45:33 AM Google It!
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© Copyright
2005
Laura L. Barnes.
Last update:
10/25/2005; 12:11:28 PM.
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