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What Goes Up Must Come Down: The Sorry State of Recycling in the Airline Industry
Key findings include:
- No airline recycles all of the major recyclables: aluminum cans, glass, plastic, paper.
- No airline has a comprehensive program for minimizing onboard waste.
- No airline has a comprehensive program for minimizing or composting food waste.
- All airlines offer over-packaged snacks with wrappers that aren’t always recyclable. None of the airlines are working with manufacturers to think out of the box or bag to reduce this waste.
- No airline provides good public information about its recycling programs. Their websites and sustainability and annual reports all lack transparency and details about the waste they generate and how they are addressing it.
- No airline provides a regular report showing metrics on how it is progressing, or not, toward its recycling goals.
However, in this overall dismal picture, there are a few highlights:
- Delta recycles aluminum cans, plastic bottles, plastic trays, beverage cups, newspapers, and magazines on flights landing at many of the nation’s major airports.
- While American Airlines has limited in-flight recycling initiatives as a company, the American Airlines flight attendants took it on themselves to create an aluminum can recycling program that benefits charity. Their leadership shows all airlines that recycling can be done—and it can create both social and environmental benefits. Kudos to the American Airlines flight attendants!
- British Airlines set a bold goal of sending zero waste to landfills in the UK by 2010. Although it has a long way to go, it shows that airlines can lay out a big vision and develop real strategies to reach it.
- While Southwest’s in-flight recycling is limited, Southwest’s on-ground recycling includes batteries, electronics, and used oil.
- Virgin America has eliminated in-flight magazines to prevent waste (reducing waste is even better than recycling), and it has an in-flight green team that works to increase sustainability awareness.
Click here to read the full report(pdf) from Green America.
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Job Title: Senior Program Leader, Climate Change and Energy
Would you like to work at the forefront of climate change adaptation? Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences has an immediate opening for a talented Senior Program Leader to join our team. As one of the nation’s oldest independent environmental research centers, Manomet is developing innovative models for businesses and communities to forge new partnerships for creating a sustainable planet. For more information, please visit our website at www.manomet.org.
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New Organic Rules Ban Intensive Confinement Dairy Feedlots
(from the Organic Consumers Union)
After years of claims that the organic dairy "access to pasture" requirement was vague and couldn't be enforced, the USDA NOP has finally come out with a rule that bans intensive confinement feedlots and requires that organic cows get at least 30% of their feed from grazing for at least four months out of the year.
Read more about the history of the organic dairy pasture fight and the new pasture rule victory.
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Taconic Range Rattlesnakes
Thursday March 11, 6-7pm
Bartholomew’s Cobble Winter Lecture Series
SHEFFIELD - The Trustees of Reservations invite the public to a free winter lecture series at Bartholomew’s Cobble Visitor Center. The goal of the series is to bring together the local community for a deepening conversation about special Berkshires landscapes and their stories and to invite participation in their protection and care.
Next on the schedule is a Thursday March 11 program from 6-7pm with rattlesnake researchers Tom Tyning from Berkshire Community College and Anne Stengle from UMass Amherst. They will share information about their work to monitor local populations of one of the most endangered animals in the northeast.
“Rattlesnake populations have plummeted mostly due to poaching and wanton killing but also loss of habitat that they need,” according to Tyning. “The Taconic mountains provide us with a really good opportunity to study these animals in a pretty wild condition.”
Trustees of Reservations Conservation Ranger Rene Wendell says that he expects this to be one of the most popular talks in the series. He says, “Tom Tyning is world renowned for his work with reptiles. The more people know and understand the creatures in the environment around them, the better they can protect and take care of them.”
Anne Stengle will be studying local population dynamics and ecology of timber rattlesnake for the next 3-5 years as part of her PhD program. This summer she did some preliminary work with Tom Tyning. “We were able to implant radio transmitters on a number of snakes and begin measuring and taking blood samples and looking at their movements and behaviors.” explains Tyning.
Tyning notes that public attitudes towards rattlesnakes appear to be shifting. “More people are in favor of snakes, supportive of the research, and having a symbol of wilderness in their region. Nobody wants to encounter one close, but you seldom have to.”
Wendell encourages families to bring their children to the talk. “Children are naturally fascinated with all things wild. They will enjoy the sense of humor and the wealth of knowledge that these speakers bring to this subject.”
After the rattlesnake program, the last talks of the free Cobble lecture series will be a February 28 program titled Visions of Iron with Dick Paddock. Then there will be a March 25 illustrated program on rare plants of Massachusetts with Jennifer Garrett. Pre-registration to each talk is encouraged to 413.229.8600. For directions, please call, or E-mail bcobble@ttor.org, or check www.thetrustees.org.
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The Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC) seeks an Executive Director. The mission of MACC is the education of and support for Conservation Commissions across the state. MACC supports science-based laws and regulations that protect wetlands, water resources, open space, and other natural resources. The Executive Director is the Chief Executive Officer and is responsible for promoting and implementing the MACC Strategic Plan, including the roles of education, advocacy, and fundraising. The Executive Director reports to the Board of Directors, and will work with a staff of 3.5 FTEs. The successful candidate will have an understanding of Massachusetts environmental law, regulations, and policy; an understanding of non-profit management and fundraising; a passion for natural resources, and will have excellent presentation and writing skills. For a full description of the position, please visit our website at: http://maccweb.org/resources_jobs.html
All cover letter and resume submissions must be electronic and addressed to: staff@maccweb.org
Submissions will be accepted until April 15th.
No phone calls Please.
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Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions
http://www.maccweb.org
10 Juniper Road
Belmont, MA 02478
USA
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MassDevelopment/Strolling of the Heifers Small Farm Loan Deadline March 19th
MassDevelopment/Strolling of the Heifers Small Farm Loan Program
will accept prequalified applications through March 19th for loans ranging from $3,000 to $15,000. These funds will help farmers finance capital investments and meet operating costs. The program is open to farmers throughout Massachusetts. MassDevelopment and The Carrot Project will jointly administer the program.
For more information, please go to www.thecarrotproject.org or contact Dorothy Suput at 617-666-9637 or at dsuput@thecarrotproject.org
Loan Application
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$2M in Federal Funds Dispensed Locally for Green Energy Projects
from State Senator Ben Downing's Press Pass e-newsletter
On Wednesday the Governor announced the award of over $13 million in federal stimulus funds to help 111 communities statewide invest in clean energy and energy efficiency projects, reducing long-term energy costs, increasing energy independence and creating jobs.
Senator Downing is pleased to highlight 16 local projects which will move forward due to an investment of $2.08 million in ARRA funds throughout his district:
Adams: This project is a 7 kW solar PV installation to be placed on the wastewater treatment plant in Adams, which is one of the town's largest consumers of electricity. This is the town's first solar project and the town estimates it will generate 7,966 kWh of electricity and avoid 7,997.86 lbs of CO2 annually.
The Southern Berkshire Regional School District will use grant funding to purchase and install a new building automation system, install demand-controlled ventilation in the school gymnasiums, cafeteria, and auditorium, and perform retro-commissioning on the components of the existing system. The town estimates that 3,508 gallons of heating oil and 35,802 kWh of electricity will be saved.
Becket will implement thermal efficiency measures at the Becket Fire Station #2 and the Ambulance Garage, including a boiler replacement and building envelope improvements. The measures will allow the town to reduce fossil fuel energy consumption by an estimated 28,100 lbs of CO2, a 48% reduction.
Charlemont is using funding towards a performance contract to improve energy efficiency in the town hall building, which is 117 years old. The entire project comprises three buildings with a total estimated annual CO2 savings of 62,980 lbs.
Conway will used grant funding to leverage the replacement of the boiler at Town Hall, which is part of a $250,000 performance contract with Siemens.
Egremont will use grant funding for thermal efficiency improvements at the Town Highway Garage and to add additional insulation and replace the heating system at the Highway Garage Building. Egremont will also install pole-mounted Solar PV installations which will generate 3.2-16 kW of clean power to the city. Total town operating budget savings as a result of these projects is estimated to be $6,500 annually.
Lee will implement thermal efficiency measures at the Central Fire Station and the South Lee Fire Station, including boiler upgrades and building envelope improvements. Both projects will reduce CO2 emissions by an estimated 43,510.31 lbs annually.
A grant of $121,278 will be awarded to Middlefield for a boiler replacement and window replacement project at Middlefield Town Hall.
New Ashford will use grant funding to implement building envelope improvements by adding insulation in the Town Hall building.
A grant of $64,575 will be awarded to New Marlborough for thermal efficiency measures, including insulation, air sealing, and window replacements at the Town Hall and Town Garage, resulting in approximately $4,906. in oil savings, and a 26% annual savings for the Town.
North Adams and Clarksburg will install a 38kW solar PV system on the Northern Berkshire School District's Drury High School which is estimated to reduce carbon emissions by 39,631 lbs annually.
A grant of $150,000 will be awarded to the Town of Otis for thermal efficiency measures at the Otis Town Hall and the Waste Water Treatment Plant, including boiler upgrades and building envelope upgrades.
A grant of $20,000 will be awarded to the Town of Sheffield for thermal efficiency measures at the Town Hall and the Police Department, including insulation, windows, caulk and weather strip ducts, repair cracked windowpanes and insulate hot water piping.
A grant of $66479 will be awarded to the Town of Stockbridge for a 5 kw PV array at the Department of Public Works building, a water source heat pump at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, and an upgrade to the heating and hot water system at the Interlaken Fire House.
A grant of $51,102 will be awarded to the Town of Tyringham to implement thermal efficiency measures (heating system upgrade and insulation) at the Town Hall/Highway Garage, Fire Station, Library/Post Office and School House (now Town Offices). The Town estimates that the completion of the projects will reduce the town's fuel oil consumption by 27% and propane consumption by 42%.
A grant of $106,120 will be awarded to the Town of Washington for thermal efficiency projects at the Town Hall, including a more energy efficient boiler and building envelope insulation; and at the Highway Garage, including energy efficient garage doors.
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February 26 – EPA Technical Assistance Available to Communities for Smart Growth / Climate Change Efforts
Friday, February 26 at 2 pm Eastern
Toll Free: 1-877-366-0711
Passcode: 72199919#
Background materials for call: http://www.climatecommunities.us
Join Climate Communities and ICLEI USA this Friday, February 26 at 2 pm Eastern for a discussion on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Smart Growth Implementation Assistance (SGIA) program. EPA is seeking applications from communities, regions and states that want to develop in ways that reflect the principles of smart growth and meet environmental and other goals. Selected communities or states will receive assistance in the form of a multi-day visit from a team of experts organized by EPA, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and other national partners to work with local leaders. Topics of interest for this year's solicitation are:
- Climate Change
- Role of land use or development patterns greenhouse gas reduction efforts
- Planning for adaptation to and mitigation of climate change
- Equitable Development: Projects that address barriers to smart growth access and choice
- Financing and Planning Infrastructure Investments (such as coordinated planning to fund streets, sewer/water, telecommunications)
- Hazard Mitigation Plans
- Keeping future growth out of flood prone areas
- Coordination of local, regional, state resources
- Removing local barriers to implementing LEED-ND projects
- Suburban Retrofit
- Residential strategies to accommodate more housing choice and density
- Redeveloping outdated commercial with mixed use development
- Improving walkability and connectivity
- Transportation Solutions for:
- Rural communities
- Communities with transit, but not rail
As you may know, EPA, HUD and DOT developed the interagency Sustainable Communities partnership to help communities provide more transportation choices; promote equitable, affordable housing; enhance economic competitiveness; support existing communities; coordinate and leverage federal policies and investment; and value communities and neighborhoods. This request is being coordinated under the Sustainable Communities partnership. Staff from HUD and DOT will assist in the provision of EPA’s technical assistance.
EPA plans to assist three to four communities over a period of twelve months. Award announcements are anticipated for fall 2010. Letters of interest must be submitted to EPA no later than Friday, April 9, 2010.
On the February 26 call, Kevin Nelson with EPA’s Smart Growth Office will provide an overview of the SGIA program, showcase previous SGIA technical assistance recipients and highlight EPA’s role in the interagency Sustainable Communities partnership.
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Grassroots Initiative Request for Proposals
Third Sector New England is offering a unique opportunity for three (3) nonprofit organizations in the Massachusetts and Rhode Island areas to be a part of a capacity building initiative. TSNE’s Consulting Program is undertaking this work as part of our ongoing commitment to support smaller social change organizations with limited budgets.
This project is underwritten by TSNE.
TSNE consulting services will offer three organizations:
- An organizational assessment: A participatory process by which the organization develops a shared understanding of its current position, and key stakeholders develop recommendations with specific action steps to strengthen the organization
- 25 hours of work with a consultant: We will offer 25 hours of direct technical assistance to each organization to implement two to three priorities based on the results of the organizational assessment
All work will take place April to July 2010.
Who Should Apply?
- Grassroots, community-based, constituent-driven organizations in the Massachusetts and Rhode Island areas (we reserve the right to choose organizations based on geographic proximity to enhance organizational learning)
- Organizations with a social change mission
- Organizations with an annual budget of $500,000 or less
- Organizations with at least one staff person
A change from last cycle is that current TSNE Fiscal Sponsorship projects, Diversity & Inclusion Initiative grantees and Capacity Building Fund grantees are eligible.
To Apply
Applications will be accepted online only. The application deadline is March 1, 2010. (If you haven't applied for a grant from TSNE in 2009-2010, then you will be prompted to create an account when you arrive on the landing page.)
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Mass Audubon Environmental Budget Recommendations
Mass Audubon delivered their Fiscal Year 2011 budget recommendations to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Some sobering facts about the budget:
- The Commonwealth invests less than a penny on the dollar for environmental programs – or 0.62% of the state budget.
- Funding for environmental agencies has decreased 22% since FY01.
- The Department of Environmental Protection has lost 325 staff since FY04 (peak of 1,215) and has seen an 18.6% drop in funding over the past two years.
- The Department of Conservation and Recreation has lost 170 positions, or 18% of its staff, and has seen a 25% drop in funding since FY09.
- According to a Beacon Hill Institute Report, we spend less than half the national average on parks and recreation – or $62.90 per person compared to the national average of $138.72.
To read Mass Audubon's full budget recommendations, click here.
BEAT Note: BEAT believes that we should give two cents for the environment - that is two cents of every dollar should go to environmental programs. Nothing is more important than having pure air to breath, fresh water to drink and play in, clean land that to grow food, and healthy ecosystems to provide wonderful places full of plants and animals that in addition to being great places to walk and enjoy, also help prevent pollution, stop flooding, clean water and air, and take up carbon. Two cents of every dollar to make Massachusetts a place that stays fit to live in!
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A Small Price for a Large Benefit
New York Times Topics: Global Warming
Organizers of the recent climate conference in Copenhagen sought, unsuccessfully, to forge agreements to limit global warming to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. But even an increase that small would cause deadly harm. And far greater damage is likely if we do nothing.
The numbers — and there are many to choose from — paint a grim picture. According to recent estimates from the Integrated Global Systems Model at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the median forecast is for a climb of 9 degrees Fahrenheit by century’s end, in the absence of effective countermeasures.
That forecast, however, may underestimate the increase. According to the same M.I.T. model, there is a 10 percent chance that the average global temperature will rise more than 12.4 degrees by 2100, and a 3 percent chance it will climb more than 14.4 degrees. Warming on that scale would be truly catastrophic.
Scientists say that even the 3.6-degree increase would spell widespread loss of life, so it’s hardly alarmist to view the risk of inaction as frightening.
In contrast, the risk of taking action should frighten no one. Essentially, the risk is that if current estimates turn out to be wildly pessimistic, the money spent to curb greenhouse gases wouldn’t have been needed to save the planet. And yet that money would still have prevented substantial damage. (The M.I.T. model estimates a zero probability of the temperature rising by less than 3.6 degrees by 2100.) <more>
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YSI Foundation “Minding the Planet” Grant
The YSI Foundation (http://www.ysi.com/ysi-foundation.php) proudly announces its 5th Minding the Planet grant. Our 2010 grant will go to an organization that focuses on improving its local water quality while having a specific mission to positively affect regional or statewide water resource policy and decision making. Since 1990, YSI has publicly demonstrated commitment to its core values and good corporate citizenship through its 501(c)(3) Foundation. The Foundation grants have funded a variety of projects, including university environmental science scholarships, large scale restoration projects, a wetlands data center, and interactive child focused exhibitions related to protecting our water resources.
Last year’s winner, the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida funded a graduate student project, which will analyze nutrient and continuous dissolved oxygen data from five National Estuarine Research Reserves in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and Florida Atlantic coast to determine the rate of primary production and net ecosystem metabolism.
This year the Foundation is pleased to fund a locally-based group whose water quality improvement efforts are impacting wider reaching policies and decisions. While there are many groups focused on improving their own water resources, this grant is designed to help an organization that acts on a local level in order to support the efforts of one or more other regional or state stakeholders. The Foundation believes it is important to support the efforts of organizations that synthesize their efforts with other organizations in order to have a more widespread and effective effort towards improved water quality for everyone - upstream and down.
Applications are due by Friday, March 19, 2010 at 5:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time.
Only electronic applications will be accepted. All applications must be emailed to smiller@ysi.com by no later than this time.
Goals of Grant
The YSI Foundation will award $25,000 to a U.S.A. organization that demonstrates a clearly defined water quality improvement project that affects further reaching regional or statewide policies or decision making. The Foundation defines such projects as those including the following key components:
- Have a clear goal for improving the local water quality.
- Have demonstrated how their organization has impacted regional and/or statewide policy or decision making. Is the local project used as a model for a larger reaching project?
- Clearly engages local and regional/state stake holders or perhaps members of the local project also serve in a role for further reaching regional/state projects.
- Have a clear vision for further development of their program.
Examples of the types of projects and programs that are eligible for funding with this grant include, but are not limited to:
- Local Riverkeeper program that serves as a model and mentor to other regional/state programs or helps establish standards for regional watershed protection.
- A local lake group whose activities affect regional/state waterway uses.
- Hypoxic zone study with the results impacting regional/state upstream activities or policies.
Funding period:
- The grant will be awarded at the 2010 National Water Quality Monitoring Council's (NWQMC) Seventh National Monitoring Conference in Denver, Colorado, April 25-29, 2010 (see http://acwi.gov/monitoring/).
- One grant will be awarded for $25,000 to the selected organization.
- Grant monies must be spent within three years of receipt. Those monies not spent must be returned to the YSI Foundation for redistribution to other grants.
Eligibility for grant:
- Must be a 501(c)(3) organization, a governmental organization, or an educational institution.
- Organization must conduct work in area(s) relevant to grant theme.
- Preference will be given to those organizations that demonstrate an ability to attract matching funds and have a sustainability plan in place.
- Preference will be given to those organizations who will commit to publishing and also presenting their work at NWQMC in 2012.
Grant timeline:
- Solicit grant applications: February 22 – March 19, 2010
- Grant applications due: March 19, 2010
- Selection process: March 19 – April 9, 2010
- Grant award announced: April 25-29 at NWQMC Conference in Denver, CO
- The grant award recipient will be notified prior to April 12th so arrangements can be made for them to accept the award in person at the NWQMC Conference. The YSI Foundation will be able to help with travel to the NWQMC Conference if necessary.
Application:
There is no official application form. The grant application should contain no more than five (5) pages of text, written in English, including any figures or tables (but not including the cover page - see below). Out of respect for our environment, the Foundation requires that proposals be submitted electronically. The grant application must include the following information at a minimum:
- Grant cover page (attached).
- Statement of the purpose, mission, or charter of the organization.
- Copy of IRS tax-exemption letter (if applicable)
- Brief statement of qualifications of project manager (if applicable).
- Scope of work and project’s impact, goals, and clearly defined objectives, including items such as:
- the anticipated regional/state impacts
- identification of specific regional/state changes resulting from the local project
- specific regional/state collaborations to complete the project
- stated plan, or goals, for creating a larger regional/state impact
- Proposed schedule and budget.
- Other than the page limit, there are no requirements for formatting of the application.
Responsibilities of grant recipient:
- Submit annual accounting of grant to YSI Foundation.
- Create a final project report describing the goals of the grant, the activities undertaken to achieve goals and objectives, difficulties encountered, work products, and funds spent. The final project report is to be completed within 90 days of the end of the funding period, or within 3 years of receipt of funding, whichever comes first. Include photo documentation.
- Create a final financial report showing the final balance sheet.
- Recipients agree to be featured in news articles about their projects, written and submitted to the media by YSI.
- Recipients agree to work with YSI to publish their work and present their work at NWQMC in 2012. Acceptable forms of publication include peer-reviewed journals, publicly available agency/institution reports, or grey literature.
- Recipients agree to provide YSI with a copy of any final publication(s) resulting from this funding.
Contact for information and application submittal:
YSI Foundation
Attention: Susan Miller, Foundation President
1725 Brannum Lane
Yellow Springs, OH 45387
937-767-7241 ext. 406
email: smiller@ysi.com
YSI Foundation “Minding the Planet” Grant - Cover Page
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GE submits Evaluation of Example Areas to EPA
Here is a link to the General Electric Company's (GE's) submittal on February 12, 2010, titled: Supplement to Response to EPA's Interim Comments on CMS Report: Evaluation of Example Areas. The document is posted in the Rest of
River section of the EPA web site under the Corrective Measure Study heading and then under the Related Correspondence subheading:
http://www.epa.gov/region1/ge/thesite/restofriver/reports/cms/461087.pdf
The submittal is also available at the Public Information Repositories.
While there is no informal public input period on this document, interested persons are welcome to submit comments to EPA at any time during the Rest of River process. There will be an informal public input period scheduled following the submittal of GE’s Revised Corrective Measures Study.
Please contact Jim Murphy with any questions.
Jim Murphy
United States Environmental Protection Agency
New England - Region 1
Office of the Regional Administrator
5 Post Office Square, Suite 100
Mail Code ORA 20-1
Boston, MA 02109-3912
617-918-1028 (phone)
617-721-2868 (cell phone)
617-918-0028 (fax)
Murphy.Jim@epamail.epa.gov
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From Mass Audubon's Beacon Hill Roundup
Calendar Update
Please note that event details have changed for the public hearing mentioned in last week’s Roundup. The hearing is now at 1:00 in State House Room A-1. Updated information below.
Public Hearing
Eager to advocate for the environment? Then come testify at an upcoming public hearing held by the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture. The hearing will cover a host of environmental topics with over 50 bills to be heard. Included on the docket are bills pertaining to forestry, hazardous waste, and the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
View the full list of bills at:
http://www.mass.gov/legis/hearings/02-10-2010_DAILY_HEARING_LIST.htm
Hearing details:
February 25, 2010
1:00 p.m.
State House, Room A-1
Boston, MA
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EPA Increases Transparency of Proposed Regulations
from Water Headlines for the week of February 22, 2010
Water Headlines is a weekly on-line publication that announces publications, policies, and activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is launching a new Web site giving the public additional opportunity to participate in the agency’s rulemaking process, demonstrating President Obama’s commitment to more transparent and open government. The online Rulemaking Gateway serves as a portal to EPA’s priority rules, providing citizens with earlier and more concise information about agency regulations. It also allows users to search for EPA rules that relate to specific interests, including impacts on small business; children’s health; environmental justice; and state, local and tribal government.
Rulemaking Gateway provides information and updates on a monthly basis as new information becomes available. Time-sensitive information, such as notice of public meetings, is updated on a daily basis.
Rulemaking Gateway complements Regulations.gov, the federal government’s main portal for tracking rules from all federal agencies, by providing brief overviews of specific EPA rules and additional ways to search rules based on the phases they are in (e.g., pre-proposal, proposal), the topics they relate to (e.g., air, water), and the impacts they might have (e.g., impacts on small businesses or environmental justice). The new Web site offers a distilled “snapshot” of a rule, with just enough information for a citizen to determine his or her interest in the rule. The individual then can use Rulemaking Gateway links to Regulations.gov and to other EPA sources where comprehensive information is available.
In addition, EPA has established a Rulemaking Gateway discussion forum to allow the public to suggest enhancements to the site. The forum will be open through July 16, 2010, after which EPA plans to make enhancements based on ideas received.
More information on Rulemaking Gateway and the discussion forum: http://www.epa.gov/rulemaking/
More information on Regulations.gov Web site: http://www.regulations.gov
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EPA Awards $17 Million to Support Research on the Impacts of Climate Change
from Water Headlines for the week of February 22, 2010
Water Headlines is a weekly on-line publication that announces publications, policies, and activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is awarding nearly $17 million in Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grants to universities across the country to study the consequences of climate change on the air we breathe and the water we drink.
The agency solicited grants in four areas: Climate Change and Allergies, Climate Change and Air Quality, Climate Change and Water Resources, Climate Change and Carbon Sequestration
EPA brings leading-edge science to assess the consequences of climate change on human health, ecosystems, and social well being. One of the agency’s goals is to develop information and tools to make assessments on the overall impact of climate change.
More information about the grants and the grant awardees: http://www.epa.gov/ncer/climate
For the complete news release: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/e77fdd4f5afd88a3852576b3005a604f/806e135c0522699b852576cd006b4813!OpenDocument
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Shifting the Trash Burden
Holyoke takes the lead in a campaign to reduce waste at the source--manufacturers.
Valley Advocate
Thursday, February 18, 2010
By Maureen Turner
Chart showing how waste has changed radically
First, the good news: recycling rates in the U.S. are higher than they've ever been. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in 2008, Americans recycled or composted 83 million tons of the waste they generated—an average of 1.5 pounds per person per day. About one-third of the waste generated in the U.S. each year is recycled, up from 16 percent in 1990 and 6.6 percent in 1970.
But that still leaves an enormous amount of waste heading to strained landfills, incinerators and other waste disposal sites—the 83 million tons of trash that get recycled each year is overshadowed by the remaining 167 million tons that don't. EPA figures show that the majority of waste generated by Americans is made up of packaging and containers (30.8 percent), durable goods (18.3 percent) and nondurable goods (23.5 percent)—items that can be difficult, if not impossible, for consumers to recycle through their municipal waste systems.
Public and political pressure is building for a new approach to handling this waste, one that shifts the burden from consumers and municipalities to manufacturers, who would be forced to take responsibility for what ultimately happens to the products they make. Called "Extended Producer Responsibility," or EPR, the approach requires manufacturers to absorb the cost of collecting and recycling their products—a shift, it's hoped, that would motivate them to make more environmentally friendly products in the first place.
The EPR model has been embraced by the European Union, which has taken a leadership role on the issue. In the U.S., it's catching on more slowly, with individual states adopting laws that address some, but not all, product categories. But as more and more regions face the prospect of running out of places to put their trash, momentum is building for a broader approach.
Earlier this month, the Holyoke City Council signaled its support for that effort, passing a resolution that calls for the state Legislature to pass a bill that would require electronics manufacturers to bear the cost of recycling their products. In addition, the resolution called for a broader statewide EPR program that would include many more products.
Holyoke is the first community in Massachusetts to call for a statewide EPR program.
Read more in the Valley Advocate http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=11371
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Michelle Blackley, Senior Publicist
413-346-2184, michelleblackley@storey.com
Farm Film Feast: Five days of film, food, and discussion.
Eating locally continues to be a growing and necessary movement in the United States. Who produces it, how it reaches us, and how it affects our health, our environment, and our local and global communities are questions that are more important than ever before.
Storey Publishing in conjunction with Images Cinema, Williams College, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Mezze Restaurant is proud to present Farm Film Feast: Five Days of Film, Food, and Discussion in Williamstown, MA from March 10 to 14. More than a dozen films about food and related events will fill the schedule.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Cultural Council of Northern Berkshire, a local agency, which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency; and by Williams College, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Storey Publishing.
Themes for the long weekend include:
Wednesday, March 10 King Corn Rules!
Thursday, March 11 Berkshire Stories
Friday, March 12 A Fresh! Overview
Saturday, March 13 Eating Locally and Globally
Sunday, March 14 Celebrating and Closing
All films will be shown at Images for $5, unless otherwise indicated. An all-movie pass is available for $35. A portion of the proceeds will go to support the REACH Community Garden Project in North Adams, MA.
Speakers include Aaron Woolf, director of King Corn and Big River; celebrated documentary photographer Jason Houston; filmmaker Severine von Tscharner Flemming; and a panel discussion on farming in the future. For a separate admission, a dinner celebrating local farms will be held at 6:30 pm Saturday, March 13 at Williams College Faculty House. Reservations can be made at farmfilmfeast@storey.com.
Another opportunity to meet local farmers will be at “Carharrts and Cocktails” for hors d’oeuvres and cash bar from 4 to 6 pm Sunday, March 14 at Mezze Restaurant, Water Street, Williamstown, MA. Reservations are recommended but not necessary.
For more information, including a detailed list of films and events, visit www.farmfilmfeast.com or please contact farmfilmfeast@storey.com or Deb Burns at deb.burns@storey.com or 413-346-2120.
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