Author: Tom Kessler

From Green Right Now Reports

If you’re one of the 57 million Americans who ride a bike, mapping your daily commute, exploring new trails, and planning recreational rides should be easier with a new online tool from Google, which has added biking directions in the U.S. to Google Maps.

Google says the feature, announced at this week’s National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C.,  has been the most requested addition for Google Maps. The service includes step-by-step bicycling directions, bike trails outlined directly on the map and a new “bicycling” layer that indicates bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly roads.

The new bicycling layer for Google Maps, accessible from a drop down menu at the top of the map, will display an overlay of the various bike-friendly roads and trails around town. Google says the layer is color-coded to show three different types of paths:

• Dark green indicates a dedicated bike-only trail;
• Light green indicates a dedicated bike lane along a road;
• Dotted green indicates roads without bike lanes but are more appropriate for biking, based on factors such as terrain, traffic, and intersections.

Google says it has partnered with the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, a nonprofit that creates networks of trails from former rail lines, to provide information on bike trails in more than 150 cities. The company  says thousands of miles of trails in the U.S. have been added directly onto the map to help cyclists better plan their routes.

“The demand for trail maps and information has never been higher, especially as more people recognize biking as a viable, inexpensive and healthy alternative to driving,” Rails-to-Trails President Keith Laughlin said in a statement. “Sharing our trail data is an exceptional way to introduce the world to what 150,000 RTC members and supporters already know—biking is the ideal way to get where you’re going. The addition of biking directions to Google Maps makes life easier for bikers, whether they are commuting to work or biking for fun, and it can introduce our network of trails to a whole new audience of cyclists-to-be.”

Google says the biking directions feature is available on desktop versions of Google Maps. A mobile version is being planned.

Tom Stehn of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service transports one of the 23 Cranes that died in Texas during the winter of 2008-2009. (Photo: PRNewsFoto/The Aransas Project)

From Green Right Now Reports

An environmental group called The Aransas Project said it filed a federal lawsuit today in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas against officials of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in their official capacities for violation of the Endangered Species Act.

The officials are being sued for illegal harm and harassment of Whooping Cranes at and adjacent to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The defendants named in the suit in their official capacities are the three TCEQ Commissioners, the agency’s executive director, and the TCEQ’s South Texas Watermaster.

The Aransas Project group said the Whooping Cranes that winter on the Texas coast have suffered increased deaths as the result of the TCEQ’s mismanagement of water rights.

“The harm that the Whooping Cranes have experienced is a direct result of TCEQ’s failed oversight of its water rights permit programs in the Guadalupe River Basin where too much water is being taken out of the Guadalupe and San Antonio Rivers, especially during low flow conditions,” TAP attorney Jim Blackburn said in a statement.

The group said a lack of freshwater inflows to the bays from the Guadalupe and San Antonio Rivers, especially during times of low flows, has resulted in very high salinity levels and depleted food and water sources for the Cranes. The 2008-2009 year was the worst in recent history for the Whooping Crane, the group said. It reported a death toll of 57 birds, a loss of 21.4 percent of the flock—of which 23 deaths, or 8.5 percent of the flock, occurred in Texas during the birds’ winter at Aransas.

The Aransas-Wood Buffalo flock of Whooping Cranes that winters on the Texas coast is the only natural wild flock remaining in the world, the group said. The flock had increased from 16 birds in the early 1940s to a high of 270 in the spring of 2008.

This is the latest salvo against the TCEQ for what many see as failures in its environmental oversight role. The City of Fort Worth recently stepped in to manage its own air tests of natural gas wells because the TCEQ has been slow to do so.

Blackburn said that TAP had been hopeful that an alternative to litigation might emerge during that time, but TCEQ has failed to act. “It’s become apparent that the only way we’re going to see any water left for the bays and the Cranes is through a plan ordered by the court,” he said.

The environmental group said its membership has continued to grow during its fight with TCEQ, adding more than 20 new member organizations including all four local governmental entities in Aransas County, both the Republican Party and the Democratic Club in Aransas County, as well as statewide and national organizations that include the International Crane Foundation, Environment Texas, Texas Conservation Alliance, the American Bird Conservancy, and three Texas chapters of the Audubon Society.

From Green Right Now Reports

The U.S. Green Concrete Council has just released the industry’s first-ever comprehensive resource on concrete and sustainability. “The Sustainable Concrete Guide—Strategies and Examples” is a guide to strategies for the best use of concrete in high-performance, long-lasting, green buildings.

The guide includes case studies, technical data and references, and numerous practices that can be implemented immediately, the Council said. In addition to general overview of basic,the drills down to such topics as carbon footprints, thermal transmission, stormwater management, and how to reduce, reuse and recycle.

The last part of the guide profiles 12 projects throughout the U.S., all of which utilize sustainable concrete practices and techniques.  The profiles include three specific types of structures: parking structures and parking lots; single-family and multi-family residential structures; and commercial, institutional, and industrial structures.

The book was written by Andrea J. Schokker, professor and head of the civil engineering department at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Schokker is a member of the Board of Direction for the American Concrete Institute and is the chair of the ACI’s committee on the sustainability of concrete.

The U.S. Green Concrete Council was established in 2009 with the purpose of disseminating information on sustainable concrete.

“The Sustainable Concrete Guide—Strategies and Examples” can be purchased through American Concrete Institute website.

From Green Right Now Reports

Clean energy and Fortune 500 executives arrived in Washington D.C. today for the fifth and final leg of the “Race for American Jobs: Clean Energy Leadership,” a coast-to-coast virtual race to drive home the economic and job-creation benefits of national climate and energy legislation.

Sponsored by We Can Lead, a coalition of business leaders from 30 states who are pushing for new  energy and climate policies in the United States, the  the four-week campaign included events in Oregon, Colorado, Ohio and New Hampshire, before moving to Washington.

A “race” baton, calling for swift passage of comprehensive climate legislation, was delivered at Congressional today on Capitol Hill. The baton was signed by executives from Best Buy, Nike, Starbucks, Levi Strauss, Jones Lang LaSalle and Stonyfield, and others from clean energy companies, union leadership, and investor and youth groups.

The group believes that comprehensive climate and energy policies such as those that passed in the House could create up to 1.9 million jobs nationally from 2010 to 2020, including up to 26,000 jobs in Oregon and 61,000 jobs in Ohio, according to a recent study by the University of California.

“The time to act is now,” Sarah Severn, director of stakeholder mobilization for Nike Inc., which hosted the first leg of the cross-country race Feb. 16 at its Oregon headquarters, said in a statement. “The U.S. needs legislation that gives clean energy entrepreneurs an even playing field to compete globally for innovation and job creation.”

Jim Hanna, director of environmental impact at Starbucks, said “the sooner we develop national climate policies, the better equipped we’ll be to compete in the global race for clean energy and create new jobs here at home.”

From Green Right Now Reports

Live Earth today announced a series of concerts in April as part of the Dow Live Earth Run for Water to raise awareness and funds to help solve the global water crisis. Melissa Etheridge will headline the event in Los Angeles and Rob Thomas will perform in Atlanta.

Organizers said the events will take place in nearly 100 cities across 50 countries around the world on April 18. Additional artists will be announced for events in Chicago, Minneapolis, and New York.

Dow Live Earth Run for Water will include a 6km run/walk (the average distance many women and children walk every day to get water), along with a water education village and other live musical performances.

Etheridge, who won an Academy Award winner for Best Song for the Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth, said she believes “strongly that it is our duty as a society and as individuals to preserve our planet and its resources.”

“I want to lend my name and time to this event because the global water crisis is an environmental issue that affects nearly one billion people on the planet and through this event we can raise awareness and money to help address it,” Etheridge said in a statement.

Funds raised from the events will benefit Global Water Challenge, a coalition of non profit organizations working to bring clean, safe drinking water to millions of people worldwide, including projects that provide clean drinking water to communities in Haiti, Central America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Live Earth said that beginning today it will donate $1 for each U.S. registration received through March 23 for a special Haiti relief fund through GWC coalition partners CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Population Services, and UNICEF to implement safe drinking water programs on the ground in Haiti. People interested in supporting the Haiti relief fund should register for a Dow Live Earth Run for Water run/walk event in the U.S. before March 23, using promotional code HAITI.

The Los Angeles Dow Live Earth Run for Water event will be held in Exposition Park, near downtown Los Angeles, with the 6km course starting on Exposition Park Drive, turning onto Figueroa and traveling three kilometers toward downtown, turning around at 17th Street for the return three kilometers, and ending in the Water Village in Expo Park. Starting time for the run is 8:30 a.m.

From Green Right Now Reports

New scientific findings on the Greater Sage-Grouse are a  “wake-up call” about the bird’s dwindling numbers and its vanishing sagebrush habitat, reports the National Wildlife Federation.

Greater-Sage Grouse (Photo: U.S. Geological Survey)

Last week, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), announced that the Greater Sage-Grouse will have to wait in line for Endangered Species Act protection behind higher-priority species. The agency deemed the bird’s status to be  “warranted but precluded,” a designation that means the bird qualifies for Endangered Species Act protection (it is “warranted”) but it will not be acted upon immediately.
Federal land managers will continue to treat the sage-grouse as a “sensitive species” and monitor its numbers and health throughout its range in 11 Western states.

Most populations of Greater Sage-Grouse have been declining for years due to pressure from energy development, grazing, farming, invasive species, fires, herbicides and more recently the West Nile virus. A recent analysis found that 20 of 27 sage-grouse populations have declined since 1995.

The USFWS did not hide its reasons for holding back on full protection for the sage grouse, citing the need to not interfere with energy development. If the grouse had ESA protection status, its habitat could not be degraded, by oil drilling for instance, without a full review of impacts on the bird.

“We must find common-sense ways of protecting, restoring and reconnecting the Western lands that are most important to the species’ survival, while responsibly developing much-needed energy resources,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said.

Gas and oil companies can help find a balance, according to a spokesman for EnCana Oil, who said that company is taking measures to mitigate development effects on the bird.

“We proactively take steps to protect wildlife, both in terms of the Best Management Practices we employ and by engaging third party experts to better understand, address and minimize impacts to wildlife,” said Byron Gale, vice president of environment, health and safety for EnCana Oil and Gas (USA).

Gale said the company uses the latest research to reduce the impacts of drilling and has designated $21.5 million to the Wyoming Wildlife and Nature Resource Trusts to protect wildlife and natural resources. EnCana prides itself on all that it does for wildlife, he said.

Still, environmentalists see the grouse’s dwindling population as a bad portent for Western landscapes, where sagebrush habitat protects many species, such as  pronghorn antelope and mule deer.

“Unfortunately, sagebrush is the most overlooked and under-appreciated Western landscape,” said Kate Zimmerman, senior policy analyst for the National Wildlife Federation in Colorado. “If we don’t pay attention to what science is telling us, sage-grouse and other sagebrush species — even pronghorn antelope — could end up in deeper trouble. Losing this unique habitat would also be devastating for the many people who enjoy outdoor recreation or rely on tourism in sagebrush country.”

Although the USFWS science-based ruling was encouraging because it recognizes the sage-grouse’s plight, it doesn’t fully address how the birds will be supported to prevent continuing declines, said Ben Deeble, sagebrush habitat expert with the National Wildlife Federation in Montana.

“A business-as-usual approach isn’t going to conserve the sage-grouse or its sagebrush habitat,” Deeble said. “Now that the federal government acknowledges the decline of sage-grouse, we need to ensure that its land-management agencies reconcile their energy-development practices with the latest wildlife science. And we need strategies to cope with the impacts of drought, fires and invasive species brought on by climate change.”

Deeble hopes that state and federal officials, and landowners, will collaborate to solve this problem.

“A few governors have already taken steps to protect sage-grouse in their states, and we need to build on that momentum,” Deeble said. “Now we need partnerships on both public and private lands to properly manage and enhance the best remaining habitats.”

After giving the public 90 days to comment on its proposal, the USFWS is expected to publish a final finding within a year.

The HY-KERS vettura laboratorio (experimental vehicle). (Photo: PRNewsFoto/Ferrari North America, Inc.)

By Tom Kessler
Green Right Now

At the Geneva Auto Show this week Ferrari, a company whose products are normally associated with red, flashed a bit of green. And we’re not just talking about the paint job.

Ferrari’s HY-KERS vettura laboratorio (experimental vehicle) is a hybrid version of the 599 GTB Fiorano that slips in a high-voltage electric motor capable of producing 100 horsepower.  The test car reduces CO2 emissions by 35 per cent.

The iconic company says the hybrid project is aimed at ensuring that Ferrari will be in a position to comply with future CO2 emissions standards, particularly in urban environments. City driving is traditionally where sports cars typically become major fuel hogs because their engines are designed for maximum efficiency and performance at high RPMs rather than the low revs and low engine loads of city driving.

Ferrari says it has employed its racing experience to adapt an advanced, lightweight hybrid drivetrain to the 599 with the aim of ensuring that vehicle dynamics are unaffected. The car’s flat lithium-ion batteries are positioned below the floorpan, resulting in a lower center of gravity than in the standard car.

The company employed its legendary F1 racing experience in the design, engineering and construction of the electric motor. By optimizing the longitudinal and lateral dynamics of the car, Ferrari says it was able to enhance traction and brake balance. The motor also features a unique cooling and lubrication system for maximum efficiency under all operating temperatures and loads.

But don’t look for a green Dancing Horse just yet — it will likely be several more years before this new hybrid technology shows up in a production car.

(Photo: Gap)

From Green Right Now Reports

Cotton Incorporated, a cotton-industry funded research and marketing company, announced today that it will partner with Gap to launch a denim-recycling drive in about 1,000 Gap stores across North America and Puerto Rico.

From March 5 through March 14, consumers can donate old denim that will then be given a “new life” by being converted into UltraTouch natural cotton fiber insulation and donated to communities in need.  The two-week denim drive is part of Gap’s “Recycle Your Blues” event, where customers who donate denim will receive 30 percent off new denim purchases from Gap, GapKids or babyGap through March 14.

The in-store program also will be featured on Gap’s online consumer site, as well as at Cotton. From Blue to Green.

From Green Right Now Reports

AT&T today announced it will switch to more eco-friendly packaging for its wireless device accessories and the company will require manufacturers of its mobile phones to reduce the environmental impact of future handsets.

The Dallas-based company said it estimates that the packaging improvements for device chargers, cases, batteries and data cables will help to avoid more than 200 tons of wasted plastic and paper in 2010.

AT&T will work with its suppliers of mobile phone accessories to use less plastic and paper in packaging. Batteries and data cables will come in recyclable paper boxes rather than plastic “clam shell”-style packaging . The packaging for protective phone cases and car chargers will change to slimmer packaging. The changes will eliminate more than 60 percent of the paper and more than 30 percent of the plastic previously used for accessory products, AT&T said.

In addition to containing less paper and plastic, the improved accessory packaging will be printed using non-petroleum-based inks.

“These improvements are sound business decisions, but more importantly, they significantly reduce the impact of this packaging on the environment,” Jeff Bradley, senior vice president of devices, said in a statement. “This is a small but meaningful next step that AT&T decided to take, and we are pleased to deliver new packaging alternatives that are recycled, can be recycled, and generate less waste.”

In 2009, AT&T introduced environmental requirements and goals for the manufacturing of wireless devices. Those requirements begin to take effect for new wireless phones this year and must be fully met by the end of 2011. These include:

• AT&T’s suppliers must reduce packaging, use non-petroleum based inks and use recycled materials for in-box documentation of new devices.
• Seventy-five percent of new devices will be at least 65 percent recyclable. By weight, most of the new phones AT&T sells will be made of materials that can be recycled when the phones are retired.
• A majority of new devices will comply with the GSMA Universal Charging Solution. This change will allow consumers to use a single, more energy-efficient charger with most new devices.
• All new devices must comply with the European Unions’ Restriction of Hazardous Substances mandate. This directive restricts the use of lead, mercury, and other hazardous materials used in electronic equipment.
• Suppliers will be required to assert that all devices delivered to AT&T have avoided virgin materials mined in conflict zones within the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

You can get information about how to recycle with AT&T at www.att.com/recycle.

NEW: Search the GREEN BUSINESS DIRECTORY for local eco-friendly businesses

Williams currently has evacuated tube solar collectors on Fort Hoosac, a graduate dorm. (Photo: Williams College)

From Green Right Now Reports

The Roberts Environmental Center at Claremont McKenna College has released an analysis of sustainability reporting for the Top 50 U.S. liberal arts colleges. The report contains a compilation of Pacific Sustainability Index (PSI) scores evaluating the environmental and social reporting of these colleges. PSI scoring is based on the transparency, intent, and performance for both environmental and social issues.

The top 10 in overall sustainability reporting are:

1. Williams College

2. Bucknell University

3. Amherst College

4. Colorado College

5. Gettysburg College

6. Bard College

7. Haverford College

8. Wellesley College

9. Mount Holyoke College

10. Oberlin College

Using the Top 50 liberal arts colleges according to U.S. News and World Report in 2009, the research for the report is based entirely on material released on the colleges’ web sites. This is the REC’s second report on College and University sustainability reporting. The first, in 2007, evaluated only a few institutions because, at that time, sustainability issues were not widely reported on college and university web sites.

The report’s ranking was created by REC analysts evaluating each college’s web site using the PSI and sector specific questions. The index uses a systematic questionnaire to assess the quality of sustainability reporting and is divided into environmental and social categories that contain three types of information: intent, reporting, and performance.

From Green Right Now Reports

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, April 22, 2010, Aaron Brothers Art & Framing is sponsoring a kids’ art contest themed Coloring Earth Green. Entries will be accepted in Aaron Brothers stores from February 28th until April 18th. Approximately $26,000 in prizes will be awarded to kids and their schools – including a Grand Prize trip to the Crayola Factory for two students and their families.

The contest is open to legal residents of Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Texas and Washington who are 5 to 12 years of age on Feb. 28, 2010.

Aaron Brothers said it will offer teachers a complimentary kit that contains “Green Thought Starters” — ideas, fun facts and “eco-easy” tips to be green and to raise awareness of the natural environment. Teachers may download or request the free teachers kit, which includes “Coloring Earth Green” art entry examples and the Green Thought Starters Kit.

To enter the Coloring Earth Green contest, artists should create artwork that focuses on the planet and the protection of the environment. To be eligible, the piece of art must be unframed on 9 inch by 12 inch paper. Artists are welcome to use any medium, including paint, crayons, markers and three-dimensional objects. Finished artwork can be entered at any Aaron Brothers store. In addition to the original artwork, each child will need to submit a completed entry form, which requires parent/guardian consent. Complete contest rules and a store locator can be found at www.aaronbrothers.com .

Each Aaron Brothers store will display its entries, and two winners will be selected from each store during a voting event April 24th and 25th. The two categories are 5-8 years old and 9-12 years old.

The winning entries from each store will be posted online for the nation to vote May 5th to May 21st. Online voting will determine the Grand Prize, Second Prize and Third Prize winners. Winners will be announced around May 28th.

Global warming skeptics have had a field day lampooning irregularities in data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — arguing that climate change is essentially a hoax. But dramatic images just released by NASA provide a compelling reminder that humans are having a real and profound impact on their environment.

From floods and droughts to heat waves and ice melt, NASA says the impact of a warming world is being manifested in many ways that have been clearly documented by its satellite cameras. These images, some of which date back almost a decade, are published with the permission of NASA. You can see a larger image on the NASA site by clicking each picture:

Image taken on April 12, 2009 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite. (Photo: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team)

The Wilkins Ice Shelf is a thick slab of ice on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula. Since 2008, it has experienced several breakups. NASA says the ice began to rapidly retreat in February and in May another breakup occurred. Fresh cracks appeared on the shelf in late November 2008 and by the beginning of 2009, a narrow ice bridge was all that remained to connect the ice shelf to ice fragments fringing nearby Charcot Island. NASA reports that bridge gave way in early April 2009. This image was taken just days after the ice bridge rupture. “Since ice reflects light from the sun, as polar ice caps melt, less sunlight gets reflected into space,” NASA says. “It is instead absorbed by the ocean and land, increasing surface heat budgets and fueling further melting.”

(Photo: Dr. Louis Herman | NOAA)

From Green Right Now Reports

A draft plan unveiled this week proposes to legalize commercial whaling for the first time since a 1986 moratorium made it illegal to hunt whales for commercial purposes. The plan was drafted by member countries of the International Whaling Commission, an international body that meets annually to set global policy on whaling and whale conservation.

The draft plan proposes to bring all whaling under the control of the IWC and legalize the activity in exchange for limitations. Those include reducing catches significantly from current levels, limiting whaling operations to those members who currently take whales and establishing caps to within sustainable levels for a 10 year period. there also would be enhanced monitoring and control measures.

Three IWC member countries – Japan, Norway, and Iceland – have never observed the moratorium  and have continued to hunt whales. In recent years, Japan has recruited votes at the IWC to lift the ban on commercial whaling.

Several IWC members have been meeting in private since late 2009 to craft the proposed compromise. The draft proposal will now be considered at an IWC working group meeting in St. Pete Beach, Fla. beginning March 2. A version of the proposal will then be considered by the full membership of the IWC at June’s annual meeting in Agadir, Morocco.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare was immediately critical of the plan, saying it will provide “long-term conservation of whaling, not whales.”

“In return for insignificant, short-term concessions from Japan, Iceland and Norway, the IWC would legalize commercial whaling in the 21st century,” Patrick Ramage, IFAW’s Whale Program Director, said in a statement. ”This deal would be a sea change in a quarter century of whale conservation. It puts science on hold, the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary on ice, and no restrictions whatsoever on the international trade in whale meat. And after ten years, all bets are off — no more moratorium and much more whaling.”

From Green Right Now Reports

Plans are taking shape for Earth Hour 2010, the annual event in which landmarks around the world switch off their lights as a symbol of their commitment to resolving the issue of global warming.

This year’s event will be held at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 27. Among the participating global icons for 2010 are CN Tower in Toronto, Table Mountain in Cape Town, the Grand Palace in Bangkok and the world’s second tallest building, Tapei 101. U.S. landmarks that will go dark include the Golden Gate Bridge, Empire State Building, Mount Rushmore and the lights of Las Vegas.

The actions shown by cities of the world and their inhabitants are crucial to leading a low-carbon resolution to climate change, says Earth Hour Co-Founder and Executive Director, Andy Ridley. He noted that the C40, a climate leadership group of many of the world’s largest cities, says that cities are responsible for up to 75 percent of the world’s carbon emissions.

“So their role in addressing what is unequivocally the greatest threat to the planet today is absolutely vital,” Ridley said in a statement. “By turning the lights off their landmarks for Earth Hour, cities are reflecting the aspirations of their citizens as a community that has resolved to take action on global warming.”

Earth Hour began as a one-city initiative in Sydney in 2007, when 2 million people switched off their lights.  By 2009 it had grown into a global event that included the Great Pyramids, Eiffel Tower, the Coliseum, Christ the Redeemer statue, Buckingham Palace, Beijing’s Olympic Stadium and many more world-famous landmarks as 4,159 cities, towns and municipalities in 88 countries participated.

From Green Right Now Reports

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa today confirmed earlier reports that the city will partner with RecycleBank to launch an incentive program that will reward households for Blue Bin recycling. Initially, a pilot program will serve 15,000 single family homes along selected routes in the West Valley and North Central sections of the city.

The program is designed to encourage additional Blue Bin recycling.

In announcing the pilot program, the mayor said it is designed to encourage additional Blue Bin recycling, increase recycling rates and put meaningful savings in the pockets of participating residents.

“The City of Los Angeles has worked tirelessly to ensure that recycling is accessible to every single resident. Los Angeles’ ambitious environmental agenda is one of the reasons why we already recycle more than any other big city in America and why we will be the cleanest, greenest big city in America,” Mayor Villaraigosa said in a statement. “To reach our goal of zero waste, we are building innovative partnerships that will employ outside resources. We are proud to be the biggest city to work with RecycleBank, since the program will motivate residents to recycle more and will pump money directly back into the local economy.”

RecycleBank measures the amount of material recycled in a community and converts that amount into points that can be redeemed for rewards at hundreds of local and national RecycleBank Reward Partners. Rewards come in the form of groceries, gift cards, school supplies, restaurants, among other choices. RecycleBank works to involve local merchants so residents can enjoy savings while helping the local economy.

There also is an option to donate reward points to local schools through the RecycleBank Green Schools Program. National RecycleBank partners include retailers and brands such as Kraft Foods, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bed Bath & Beyond, Ruby Tuesday and CVS/pharmacy.

The goal of the pilot program is to elevate environmental stewardship, personal responsibility and volunteer action in recycling on a community wide basis. Residents in the pilot areas must sign up for their personal RecycleBank account, either online or by phone, to begin earning reward points.

Officials said the 12-month pilot program will be studied by the City’s Department of Public Works’ Bureau of Sanitation, which implements the city’s solid waste recycling and collection programs. The City will evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the program in raising its leading 65-percent diversion rate of residential and commercial waste out of the nation’s 10 largest cities.

The City said no money from the its general fund will be used for the test. Citywide, the residential Blue Bin recycling program collects an average of 4,600 tons of recyclables every week or more than 240,000 tons annually.

Reward points will be earned on a community weight based approach with points and rewards shared equally with participating households on each collection route. Once a RecycleBank member, program participants can redeem their points online, where they can also learn about their personal environmental footprint through recycling. Participants can also access their account information by calling the toll free RecycleBank Customer Care Center, 1 (888) 727-2978.

Currently, RecycleBank services more than one million people across 25 states and also provides service in the United Kingdom. These households have cumulatively saved more than 4.3 million trees and more than 292 million gallons of oil through their recycling efforts, according to RecycleBank.

From Green Right Now Reports

Darden Restaurants today announced that it has begun a system-wide sustainable restaurant design initiative involving the use of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards in its restaurant design process for all new restaurants and, where feasible, restaurant remodels.

The company, which operates 1,800 restaurants, said the initiative is part of its broader sustainability efforts aimed at limiting business impact on the environment while also enhancing the operational efficiency of its restaurants.

Darden’s three largest brands – Red Lobster, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse – are designing eight restaurants to achieve LEED certification from the United States Green Building Council. The company said it plans to apply learnings from those eight restaurants to new restaurants and remodels in the future.

“Our goal with this initiative is to utilize each of the eight restaurants as a learning lab,” Suk Singh, senior vice president of Development for Darden, said in a statement. “While we may not seek LEED certification for every restaurant we build or remodel, we can make a positive impact by learning from the eight restaurants where we are seeking LEED certification and applying best practices across our entire portfolio.”

The Olive Garden in Jonesboro, Ark., which opened for business last month, is the first of eight restaurants the company is designing to meet LEED standards. It features a number of sustainable design elements, including:

• Recycled building materials – Supplies such as sheetrock, doors and windows were made from recycled content. The flooring features carpet squares made from 100 percent recycled materials.
• Increased use of natural light – Incorporating more windows more frequently into the building’s exterior reduces the need for artificial light.
• Energy efficient equipment and fixtures – Items such as Energy Star rated equipment and low-flow water nozzles in the kitchen, as well as automatic faucets in the restrooms, reduce energy and water usage. New LED light bulbs that utilize seven watts of energy and last up to 50,000 hours replace bulbs that used 75 watts and had to be changed two to three times a year.
• Reclaimed heat – To supplement the heating of hot water in the kitchen, heat expelled from the condensing units of the HVAC system and the Freezer/Cooler condensing units is reclaimed and used to heat water.

Darden, the world’s largest full-service restaurant company, recently opened its new corporate headquarters facility in Orlando which is on track to earn LEED Gold certification from the USGBC. It’s the largest LEED Gold new construction project in the state of Florida.

In addition to Red Lobster, Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse, Darden operates The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52.

From Green Right Now Reports

Martin J. Chavez, three-term former mayor of Albuquerque, has been named Executive Director of ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA, the nation’s largest membership organization for local governments committed to climate protection, sustainability, and clean energy.

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability is an international association of local governments as well as national and regional local government organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable development. There is a growing national movement of U.S. cities, towns, and counties – from New York and LA to Oklahoma City – that are taking action to combat climate change, save energy, create green jobs, and make their communities more livable.

Chavez will direct ICLEI’s ongoing efforts to empower local governments with tools, resources, and expertise to achieve their goals.

“Mayor Chavez has very a strong record in the environmental, social justice, and economic development arenas,” Patrick Hays, ICLEI USA President and Board Chairman and Mayor of North Little Rock, Ark, said in a statement. “His drive and experience are perfectly suited to build and serve ICLEI’s 600+ local government members, and work with our federal and state partners.”

Chavez was considered one of the nation’s “greenest” mayors. He joins ICLEI during a period when the organization sais it is experiencing “unprecedented membership growth,” as more local governments seek help to lower their greenhouse gas emissions, plan for climate change, save energy and taxpayer dollars, create green jobs, and develop plans to improve sustainability and quality of life for their communities.

“ICLEI has a successful tradition of helping cities and counties do more and do better,” Chavez said in a statement. “I look forward to working with fellow local elected officials and professionals nationwide, and of course with the very dedicated ICLEI staff, to achieve measurable impacts in the years ahead.”

Restaurant organizations of all sizes are hungry for greater efficiency in their operations, the survey found.

From Green Right Now Reports

Sustainability practices that minimize the impact of restaurant operations on the environment appear to be gaining momentum as the foodservice industry finds ways to measure the return on its investment in green systems and technologies, according the results of a new benchmark survey from RSR Research.

The study, “The Better-Run Restaurant: Environmental Sustainability in Restaurant Retail 2010,” finds restaurant organizations of all sizes hungry for greater efficiency in their operations, particularly those solutions which cut energy costs, reduce wasteful packaging, and can be leveraged to “tell a green story” to diners. While the industry is still struggling to correlate top line revenue with green investments, it does recognize the bottom line benefits of cost savings from energy and waste management.

Notably, 58 percent of respondents said sustainability is a strategic initiative in multiple departments of their companies, and 54 percent said they expect a return on their investments in sustainable technologies or practices within three years.

The findings are based on a survey of 124 restaurant retailers conducted in late 2009. The report was produced in partnership with Nation’s Restaurant News.

“There are three reasons for restaurants to enact environmentally sustainable practices, according to our report: to save cost, to reduce waste, and to build a greener brand,” Steve Rowen, managing partner at RSR and co-author of the report, said in a statement. “In fact, the best performing restaurateurs believe green-minded consumers care enough about a brand’s environmental positioning to factor it into ‘where to dine’ decisions. As momentum builds, this creates a genuine opportunity to gain new business.”

Among the report’s more significant findings: a majority of respondents said they have either already incorporated green initiatives and technologies at their business or have them budgeted for 2010. These sustainable practices for 2010 include:

• 79% recycle raw materials
• 68% regulate energy use in their stores or facilities
• 67% promote eco-friendly items or ingredients in-store
• 65% reduce take-out/send-home waste
• 64% feature green processes such as ethically sourced products
• 60% incorporate green construction practices into new facilities and stores

When asked where they thought their biggest cost-cutting opportunities lay, respondents cited the kitchen, food preparation and packaging as offering the best-case scenarios. In fact, the larger the operation, the greater the cost-cutting opportunity perceived. Approximately 50 percent of those operating 100 restaurants or more cited this area as having the most potential, versus about one-third of smaller operators. Among those operating three to 10 restaurants, the opportunity to reduce transportation and delivery costs was ranked as most important.

From Green Right Now Reports

MIT’s Center for Transportation & Logistics will launch the Global LEAP (Leaders in Environmental Assessment and Performance) research consortium at its annual Crossroads Conference on March 25, in Cambridge, Mass.

Chiquita Brands and Lockheed Martin are the first commercial organizations to sign up for this new project to design supply chains that meet the sustainability goals that are redefining the way companies operate. Inaugural members have pledged comprehensive support for the new consortium including a financial commitment, in-kind resources, thought leadership, and active participation.

The consortium of top companies and experts in supply chain and the environment will address sustainability issues in relation to the key areas of energy, transportation, packaging/waste materials, natural resources, greenhouse gases, and water.

“We aim to understand how supply chains are going to change as they incorporate new perspectives on design and performance, specifically moving from traditional metrics of cost and service, into impact on the environment,” Edgar Blanco, research director of MIT CTL and executive director of MIT SCALE Latin America. “Those measures are not usually included in supply chain analysis but in the future we see a need for their inclusion, and the Global LEAP initiative is trying to give companies the right tools to do so successfully.”

White roofs cut energy costs. (Photo: PRNewsFoto/The Dow Chemical Company)

From Green Right Now Reports

Philadelphia wants to rally its residents and stoke the spirit of friendly competition among neighborhoods to green up their streets. The RetroFIT PHILLY “Coolest Block” contest, announced today at City, will encourage residents to update their energy-hungry black rooftops.

“Our Greenworks Philadelphia goal is to retrofit 15 percent of the city’s row home roofs, and the ‘Coolest Block’ contest is jumpstarting this effort,” Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter said in a statement.

Organized under the auspices of The Energy Coordinating Agency of Philadelphia (ECA) and the City of Philadelphia, with product and technology contributions from The Dow Chemical Company and the financial support from The Dow Chemical Company Foundation, the contest invites row home owners to enter to win energy-saving cool roof, air sealing and insulation upgrades for their entire block.

“Row homes have charm and character, and have long been a unique architectural feature of the city,” said Liz Robinson, executive director Philadelphia’s ECA, “but most were built without the advantage of modern building science or materials. The initiative to make them more energy-efficient, and in effect ‘greener,’ can help to improve the quality of life for the residents while saving them money on heating and cooling bills.”

Traditional black asphalt roofs soak up the sun’s heat and allow its transfer between the exterior and the interior of the house. White roofs, on the other hand, bounce off solar energy to prevent it from being absorbed into the roof and house in the summer. They can reduce the amount of energy needed to cool the living space and bring the cost of cooling a home down by as much as 20 percent.

These white “cool roofs” also are a proven way to combat urban heat island effect. The roof’s exterior is 50 – 80 degrees cooler on hot summer days, helping to lower high temperatures and improve air quality. The urban heat island phenomenon, aggravated by the large expanses of asphalt and black top, combined with relatively little vegetation or green space, can lead to heat-related illnesses during heat waves.

Dow, a co-sponsor in this initiative, will provide insulation and air-leak prevention upgrades to the homes on the winning block . According to the U.S. Department of Energy, proper insulation and air sealing of the home can reduce heating and cooling costs by as much as 30 percent. Air infiltration – which often occurs between walls and floors, around windows and doors, and through other gaps and cracks – can account for as much as 40 percent of heat loss in homes, according to the Department of Energy.

Contest entrants will be judged on a range of criteria, but blocks with the highest resident participation have the best chance of winning. Any Philadelphia row home resident is eligible to enter, but must submit a group entry through one “block coordinator.”  The coordinator may be self-selected or may be one of the city’s “block captains” who volunteer to organize block activities on a regular basis. Entrants must also submit a brief profile of their neighborhood and the future they envision for it.

Entries will be reviewed by a panel of judges that includes representatives from local media, environmental organizations, and the building industry. The deadline for entry is April 5, 2010. The winning block will be announced by May 10, 2010. In June, the winning block will receive a block party to celebrate.