Environmental News

The Illinois Recycling Association (IRA) will provide a scholarship to students enrolled in Sustainability, Environmental Science or related studies. This year's scholarship is $1,500.00. Deadline March 31, 2010 Source: Illinois Recycling Association

Support for green construction and LEED certification dipped slightly in 2009 but remains strong across the past three years despite the recession, according to the latest green building survey by Allen Matkins, Constructive Technologies Group and the Green Building Insider. Source: GreenerBuildings, 3/11/10

As consumers, we define ourselves by the brands we keep. Like totem poles, they tell the story of who we are and where our allegiances lie. It's disappointing to see those brands rest on their laurels. We believe in them, but they give us no new reasons to believe. Examples are everywhere. Yearly car updates that are little more than new chrome. Detergents "improved" by the addition of a spout. In times of plenty and prosperity, we seem content to accept this glacial progress. Like our brands, we're happy when nothing rocks the boat.

But in times of crisis, everything changes. Source: GreenBiz, 3/11/10

Pioneering French physicists Marie and Pierre Curie have the curie, a unit of radioactivity, named after them. Renowned inventor Nikola Tesla is honored with the tesla, which measures a magnetic field. And now, the Rosenfeld, proposed as a unit for electricity savings, will be named after the man seen by many people as the godfather of energy efficiency, Arthur Rosenfeld. Source: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, 3/8/10

AASHE presents two Campus Sustainability Case Study Awards, one Student Sustainability Leadership Award, and one Student Research on Campus Sustainability Award annually. The awards are presented at an AASHE conference or other major gathering of the campus sustainability community. The deadline to apply for the 2010 Awards is July 1st, 2010. Source: AASHE

Call it the anti-"Amazing Race." Unlike the CBS reality show, which last October had its contestants dismantle electronics in the local fashion in Vietnam, the BBC program Inside Out this week offered the latest exposé of e-waste hazards.

The program, along with the launch of an e-waste redesign competition, mark the beginnings of what will likely become a flood of e-waste events and announcements in the run-up to the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22. Source: GreenerComputing, 3/10/10

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) signed into law a ban on the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) in baby bottles and sippy cups for young children. The law, which takes effect in June, makes Wisconsin the third state to keep the chemical out of children's products over safety concerns. The manufacture and wholesale of items containing BPA will be prohibited, and bottles and sippy cups will be required to be labeled "BPA Free." Source: Greenwire, 3/4/10

Officials from the Illinois Department of Public Health say that cancer rates are "significantly elevated" in Crestwood, a South Chicago suburb where residents unwittingly drank water tainted with cancer-causing chemicals for more than 20 years. Source: Greenwire, 3/5/10

American restaurant owners are concerned with environmental sustainability, but a report shows that they are more motivated by their public image than anything else. Source: Greenwire, 3/5/10

With 500 members in 42 states and 11 countries, the Eco-Dentistry Association has launched a certification program for green dental practices and named its two inaugural recipients. Source: GreenBiz, 3/9/10

Electronics giant Best Buy is attempting a new green feat by offering a recycling service for all customers, no matter where you bought your old electronics. Source: Environmental News Bits, 3/9/10

U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell 2.9 percent in 2008, according to a draft report that U.S. EPA opened for public comment today. Source: Greenwire, 3/9/10

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. We hear this mantra time and again. When it comes to carbon‹the "Most Wanted" element in terms of climate change‹nature has got reuse and recycle covered. However, it's up to us to reduce. Scientists at Harvard Medical School are trying to meet this challenge by learning more about the carbon cycle, that is, the process by which carbon moves from the atmosphere into plants, oceans, soils, the earth's crust, and back into the atmosphere again.

One of the biggest movers and shakers is the lowly cyanobacteria, an ocean-dwelling, one-celled organism. Source: Science Daily, 3/8/10

The Michigan Great Lakes Wind Council spent a year studying the issue of offshore wind farm locations before providing its recommendations to the state's legislature. Now that work is done, the council has scheduled three public meetings to learn what the public thinks. Source: Ludington (MI) Daily News, 3/9/10

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is hosting the 16th Annual WORKS! Conference on Recycling, Composting, Household Hazardous Waste and Renewable Energy on March 23-25 at the Courtyard by Marriott in Junction City. Source: Kansas Dept. of Health and Environment, 3/8/10

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has chosen Cincinnati to receive a $500,000 federal grant as one of 20 Climate Showcase Communities nationwide. The funds will help the city promote its plan to reduce greenhouse gases to people and businesses in greater Cincinnati through advertisements, promotions and development of a climate protection toolkit for use in local schools. Source: U.S. EPA, 3/5/10

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has chosen Chicago to receive a $500,000 federal grant to reduce energy use by hospitals as one of 20 Climate Showcase Communities nationwide. Source: U.S. EPA, 3/4/10

Twelve health organizations joined together in sending a letter to all members of the United States Senate urging Senators to oppose a Resolution of Disapproval that has been introduced by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) that would overturn the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) December 7, 2009 final endangerment finding on greenhouse gases. Source: American Public Health Association Legislative Update, March 2010

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment announced is accepting requests for funding for the 2010 Community Pollution Prevention (P2) Grants Program. A total of $250,000 in funding is available through the Michigan Community P2 Grant Program to provide matching grants to local governments, health departments, municipalities, and regional planning agencies to aid in the development of local climate action plans. Source: Michigan DNRE, 3/3/10

Yields of biodiesel from oilseed crops such as safflower could be increased by up to 24 percent using a new process developed by chemists at UC Davis. The method converts both plant oils and carbohydrates into biodiesel in a single process, and should also improve the performance characteristics of biodiesel, especially in cold weather. Source: Science Daily, 3/4/10

More homebuilders in the United States, especially the largest ones, are including green features in their standard packages as buyers demand energy efficiency. Source: USA Today, 3/2/10

Walmart announced a goal to eliminate 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its global supply chain by the end of 2015. This represents one and a half times the company's estimated global carbon footprint growth over the next five years and is the equivalent of taking more than 3.8 million cars off the road for a year. Source: Walmart.com, 2/25/10

The holiday-light recycling program offered by HolidayLEDs.com has been extended past its original Feb. 28 cut off date. Source: Waste and Recycling News, 3/2/10

Just as the American Southwest is striving to become the epicenter of the country's solar market, the Midwest is poised to lead in wind power. But both regions are facing the same, somewhat ironic hurdle: environmental groups who say renewable energy developments are anything but green. Efforts to install turbines in the Great Lakes have literally run into a wall of opposition. Source: GreenBeat, 3/1/10

The maximum potential to generate wind power in the United States is more than three times greater than previously estimated, according to a new study by DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The new analysis, developed in collaboration with AWS Truewind, LLC, is based on updated computer models and examines the wind potential at wind turbine hub heights of 80 meters and 100 meters. Source: EERE Network News, 3/3/10

The three major Detroit-based automakers--Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation (GM), and Chrysler--recently announced significant investments or changes as they move towards more efficient engines and vehicles. With an eye towards reducing fuel consumption and emissions, the companies are retooling some factories and redesigning vehicle powertrains. Source: EERE Network News, 3/3/10