What's New in P2?

EPA, DOT, HUD Set 6 Principles for Sustainability (06/24/2009)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan have teamed up to help improve access to affordable housing, more transportation options, and lower transportation costs while protecting the environment through the Partnership for Sustainable Communities.
www.eponline.com/articles/72527

Putting A Financial Spin On Global Warming (06/24/2009)
Urging Congress to cast carbon dioxide as a pollutant will constantly swim against the tide of public opinion, an Oakland, Calif. think-tank urges. Instead, solving global warming should be cast as an economic opportunity in need of government investment.
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105834436

P&G, Eastman Chemical Among Winners of Green Chemistry Awards (06/22/2009)
The winners of the 14th annual Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards were announced today, with five winners from industry and academia taking home prizes for innovations in developing non-toxic chemicals and chemical processes.
www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/06/22/green-chemistry-awards-2009

UC-Berkley Catalogs Transportation's Emissions (06/22/2009)
Researchers from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, have created a framework to help calculate the true environmental cost of travel. The new framework incorporates less-considered environmental impacts including the damage done by the power plants generating electricity for train travel and upkeep of train stations to the intensive energy costs of airport runway construction and ore extraction undertaken to build a car.
www.eponline.com/articles/72517

Cows Burp Less, Cut Greenhouse Gasses (06/20/2009)
Vermont dairy farmers Tim Maikshilo and Kristen Dellert, mindful of shrinking their carbon footprint, have changed their cows' diet to reduce the amount of gas the animals burp -- dairy cows' contribution to global warming.
www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/sciencemedicine/story/DACF9FD71649B7D
6862575DC00167BFE?OpenDocument

From the Ashes of '69, a River Reborn (06/20/2009)
Monday is the 40th anniversary of the Cuyahoga River fire of 1969, when oil-soaked debris floating on the river's surface was ignited, most likely by sparks from a passing train. It became a galvanizing symbol for the environmental movement, one of a handful of disasters that led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and to the passage of the Clean Water Act.
www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/us/21river.html?ref=global-home

City of Seattle Halts Biodiesel Purchases, Looks for Greener Fuel (06/19/2009)
The city of Seattle has temporarily stopped buying biodiesel fuel for its fleet of vehicles because of concerns that the soy-based mix it was using was more harmful to the environment than regular diesel.
www.seattlepi.com/local/407384_fuel19.html?source=rss

Mazda's New Paint System Cuts VOC Emissions by 57 Percent (06/18/2009)
Mazda began using a new paint system at a Japanese facility that it claims carries the smallest environmental footprint of any water-based paint system being used today.
www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/06/18/mazdas-new-paint-system-designed-fewer-voc-emis
sions

30 'New' Toxic Chemicals to Avoid (06/17/2009)
California has identified 30 chemicals that may cause cancer, reproductive problems and other serious health concerns.
www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/toxic-chemicals-47061601

Recalibrating the Human Carbon Footprint From Wastewater (06/17/2009)
New evidence shows that "fossil carbon" derived from pharmaceuticals, food, personal care products, and more could be much more prevalent in the environment than previously thought and could skew current models of the global carbon cycle.
pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es9016393

Get small: Can hamster power save the world? (06/15/2009)
In the spring of 2003, Dan Fink got a hamster named Skippy to power a nightlight. As the owner of a company that generates electricity close to home and in small batches, Fink talks about electrons the way other people talk about their favorite bands and believes our ignorance about watts and volts has gotten us into trouble
www.hcn.org/issues/41.11/lets-get-small

Solar Plane Aims for 36-Hour Flight (06/15/2009)
A prototype of the Solar Impulse, an aircraft powered entirely by the sun, is expected to be unveiled on June 26 at an airfield near Zurich in Switzerland.
greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/solar-plane-aims-for-36-hour-flight/

Ethical Electronics Recycling Certifiers Can Now Be Accredited (06/12/2009)
Electronics equipment recyclers can now seek certification to a set of national criteria designed for protection of the public and the environment against unethical practices.
www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2009/2009-06-12-093.asp

McIlvaine Predicts Larger Mercury Control Market (06/12/2009)
Since the promulgation of the Clean Air Mercury Rule, there have been two developments that promise to make the mercury control market even bigger. But, ironically, they have also caused uncertainty and inertia in the short-term.
www.eponline.com/articles/72427

Congress Abandoning Obama Clean Energy Goals (06/10/2009)
Congress is all but abandoning President Barack Obama's goal of producing fully one-quarter of the nation's electricity from renewable sources -- wind, solar and the like -- by 2025, though a push for at least some increase is making headway.
www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/06/10/congress_abandoning_ob
ama_clean_energy_goals/

FTC Fights "Green" Claims (06/10/2009)
The Federal Trade Commission, in its ongoing attempt to crack down on companies claiming the "green" attributes of their products, has charged Kmart Corp (NYSE: KM), Tender Corp. and Dyna-E International with making false and unsubstantiated claims that their paper products were "biodegradable."
www.sustainableindustries.com/breakingnews/47607172.html

Amsterdam: A Smart City Goes Live (06/08/2009)
The Dutch city's eco-friendly infrastructure has new power hookups for electric cars, solar panels, and household wind turbines
www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jun2009/gb2009068_275981.htm?chan=globalb
iz_europe index page_top stories

High-Speed Solar Train Proposed as Tucson-Phoenix Connection (06/08/2009)
The idea of a high-speed train that runs on solar power is still in its early stage, but the project's creators are pitching the idea to area cities and potential investors.
www.azstarnet.com/business/292000

Defending BPA (06/05/2009)
Bisphenol-A has an image problem. The chemical, known as BPA, has been linked to health problems ranging from cancer to obesity. But as lawmakers from Capitol Hill to California consider banning BPA in some products, industries that use it to line the cans of food and beverages are mounting a campaign to persuade the public that BPA is safe.
www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=09-P13-00023&segmentID=1

Building the Smart Grid (06/04/2009)
Energy: By promoting the adoption of renewable-energy technology, a smart grid would be good for the environment--and for innovation
www.economist.com/science/tq/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13725843

Third Time Lucky (06/04/2009)
Industrial biotech: A "third wave" of biotechnology is arriving. Will it be able to avoid a poor reception from the general public this time around?
www.economist.com/science/tq/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13725783

Companies Show Little Awareness of Climate Change Risks, Report Finds (06/03/2009)
Two new studies from investor group Ceres, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Center for Energy and Environmental Security assess the major impacts climate change could have on global companies, and calls on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to set standards for climate-related risk reporting.
www.greenbiz.com/news/2009/06/03/companies-climate-change-risks

Funding Struggle for Mercury Monitoring (06/03/2009)
In the hallways of a conference in Guiyang, China, Nicola Pirrone -- the director of Italy's CNR-Institute for Atmospheric Pollution Research -- will be trying to rustle up support for a global network to monitor mercury pollution.
www.nature.com/news/2009/090603/full/459620b.html

Futurehaus (06/03/2009)
An Oregon-based company is building a house you can heat with a blow-dryer.
wweek.com/editorial/3530/12628/

New Calculators Quantify Benefits of Pollution Prevention (06/03/2009)
PA's Pollution Prevention (P2) Program has developed two new calculators that can now be found in the Responsible Purchasing Guide for Green Power--RPN's guide to help institutions understand and compare green power based on sound analysis of environmental impacts and on concerns regarding cost, quality, and supply of green power.
www.responsiblepurchasing.org/news/news_detail.php?config[r311][instance_uid]=25
4

UL Environment Validates First Product (06/02/2009)
The world got a new eco-label June 1 when UL Environment Inc. announced it validated the environmental claims Serious Materials makes for its product called EcoRock. It is the first product claim validated by Northbrook-based UL Environment, a wholly owned subsidiary of 115-year old Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a leading tester of product claims and safety standards.
www.sustainableindustries.com/breakingnews/46665887.html

July 14, 2009
Waterborne Coatings Webinar (Online)


July 22, 2009
Webinar: Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Your Business -- Recognizing and Mitigating Your Risks (Online)


August 18-20, 2009
2009 EPA Community Involvement Training Conference (Seattle, WA)


August 30 - September 2, 2009
Alliance of Hazardous Materials Professionals Annual Conference (San Diego, CA)


October 28-29, 2009
2009 Western U.S. Pollution Prevention and Sustainability Conference (San Diego, CA)


December 7-8, 2009
2009 Northwest Environmental Conference & Tradeshow (Portland, OR)

Opportunity for NW Businesses - Intensive Efficiency Workshop for 5-8 Facilities
Apply by July 31st, 2009 for an opportunity to be one of only five to eight facilities to participate in a pilot program that will result in reduced energy expenses, improved operational efficiency, and increased ROI on energy projects. If selected to partner with the U.S. Department of Energy and the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, your facility will be eligible to receive tens of thousands of dollars of guided expertise to develop a nationally recognized energy management system tailored to your site.
www.energyimprovement.org/pilot.html

The GLRPPR Blog
The GLRPPR Blog is meant to facilitate and encourage networking and information exchange among P2 professionals and others in the Great Lakes region and beyond who are interested in promoting sustainability principles in industry and everyday life.
lib.wmrc.uiuc.edu/glrppr-blog/