What's New in P2?

2008 PPRC Webinars for P2 Professionals
This year PPRC will be putting on a number of informative webinars for P2 professionals on a variety of topics including Safer Alternatives in Dry Cleaning, Lean/Green 101, Green Chemistry, Energy Efficiency (Beyond the Light bulb) and more!
www.pprc.org/webinars/2008webinars.cfm

Northwest Companies Keeping Close Eye on Energy Tax Credits (09/24/2008)
In Seattle and across the Pacific Northwest, entrepreneurs and others betting their future on renewable energy are breathing a sigh of relief as Congress appears poised to finally renew tax credits that many see as a lifeline.
seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/380267_renewables24.html

Now it's Easier to Recycle Fluorescent Bulbs in the Puget Sound Area (09/23/2008)
Bartell Drug announced Monday that it has begun accepting compact fluorescent lights, or CFLs, for recycling free at all 56 of its stores in the Puget Sound area.
www.heraldnet.com/article/20080923/NEWS01/709239922/-1/rss02

Our Viewpoint: Environmental Stewardship Good for Business (09/23/2008)
The high cost of energy has changed the calculus of decision-making for businesses that want to use fewer resources, cut their energy consumption and dispose of less trash. Meanwhile, this is a challenging economic time for many businesses. Some changes take time to pay off, such as investing in a LEED-certified office building that will prove more energy-efficient over the long run.
www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080923/OPINION/809230325/1
048

Firms Warned About Climate Change (09/22/2008)
Companies that fail to tackle climate change could lower the value of their businesses, a report by the UK's Carbon Trust suggests.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7628312.stm

Portland Again Tops a Sustainable Cities List (09/22/2008)
Portland, Ore., has done it again, topping SustainLane.com's new ranking of the 50 biggest American cities in order of their environmental and social sustainability.
dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/portland-again-tops-a-sustainable-cities-l
ist/

Power From the Restless Sea Stirs the Imagination (09/22/2008)
For years, technological visionaries have painted a seductive vision of using ocean tides and waves to produce power. They foresee large installations off the coast and in tidal estuaries that could provide as much as 10 percent of the nation's electricity.
www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/business/23tidal.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Recycling on the Farm (09/22/2008)
Over the last 30 years, plastics have become indispensable on America's farms. They save farmers time and money. The problem is agricultural plastics are filling up landfills. In some places, farmers actually burn the plastic. That releases dangerous chemicals into the air. David Sommerstein reports on a new effort to bale plastics and recycle them.
www.environmentreport.org/story.php3?story_id=4170

Three Quarters of Firms Embrace Emissions Reporting (09/22/2008)
The vast majority of the world's largest firms are now committed to cutting carbon emissions and are reporting their carbon footprint on an annual basis, but business leaders remain convinced that more guidance from government is required if they are to deliver deep cuts.
www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2226609/three-quarters-firms-embrace

EPA Must Limit Builders' Water Pollution (09/19/2008)
The Environmental Protection Agency is obliged by the Clean Water Act to protect the nation's waterways, beaches and drinking water from pollution caused by real estate development and should set standards for limiting construction runoff by the end of next year, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cleanwater19-2008sep19,0,4915271.story

Portland Area Must Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - or else (09/19/2008)
For two decades, Portland-area businesses have been politely asked to recycle. On Thursday, the Metro council gave that plea more of an edge, voting to mandate that the region's cities and counties pass laws requiring businesses to keep recyclable paper, cardboard and drink containers out of the trash.
www.oregonlive.com/environment/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/12217947145800.xml
&coll=7

Seattle Recycling More Commercial Food Waste (09/19/2008)
In the past two years, the amount of food kept out of landfills through the city of Seattle's commercial organic composting efforts has more than tripled. The number of participating businesses has jumped from 330 to more than 800.
seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/379713_organics19.html

Airports Go For Green With Eco-friendly Efforts (09/18/2008)
From Low-Flush Toilets to Turbines and Solar Panels, Airports Making Green Updates
abcnews.go.com/Travel/BusinessTravel/story?id=5819602&page=1

EPA to Launch Web Portal to Green Resources for Retailers (09/18/2008)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to launch a Web portal to information and resources about environmental compliance, pollution prevention and other green issues specific to retailers, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) said.
www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/18/epa-web-portal-green-resources-retailers

France Throws Out "Picnic Tax" (09/18/2008)
France has dropped plans to introduce a so-called "picnic tax", French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Thursday, looking to head off controversy over the eco-friendly measure.
www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSLI7355420080918

Google and General Electric Team Up on Energy Initiatives (09/18/2008)
Google and General Electric said on Wednesday that they would work together on technology and policy initiatives to promote the development of additional capacity in the electricity grid and of "smart grid" technologies to enable plug-in hybrids and to manage energy more efficiently. The companies said their goal was to make renewable energy more accessible and useful.
bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/google-and-general-electric-team-up-on-energy-
initiatives/?ref=technology

Reliable Rainwear (09/18/2008)
If you've lived in the Pacific Northwest, you may shudder at the sight of Gore-Tex raincoats, the region's semi-official uniform. Global warming may have given Seattle more sunny days, but there's still reason to shy away from Gore-Tex, namely, environmentally-persistent perfluorochemicals (PFCs).
www.thegreenguide.com/doc/117/rainwear

State Warms to Greenhouse Gas Emissions Plan (09/18/2008)
Wednesday, California officials served up their official economic analysis of the state's ambitious global warming plan: By 2020, it would boost the state's expected $2.6-trillion gross product by $4 billion, create 100,000 additional jobs and increase per capita income by $200, the state Air Resources Board concluded after months of complex modeling.
www.latimes.com/business/la-me-climate18-2008sep18,0,5416425.story

Bill Gates Invests in Algae-Based Biofuels (09/17/2008)
Bill Gates' Cascade Investment is putting money in Sapphire Energy, one more firm trying to make second generation biofuels out of algae. The company announced that it has raised more than $100 million. Not bad for a 1-year old company.
www.treehugger.com/files/2008/09/bill-gates-invests-in-algae-biofuels-sapphire-e
nergy.php

Search Is On For Idaho Biofuel Crops (09/17/2008)
The Idaho National Laboratory and the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation are looking for crops that can be grown in Idaho to produce biofuels.
www.idahostatesman.com/localnews/story/505743.html

Washington May Wipe Out Driveway Car Washing (09/17/2008)
In a pollution-fighting effort already in place in some Puget Sound communities, the state wants most Clark County residents to drop the bucket and shelve the detergent. Why? Because the runoff contains soap, chemicals and oil, and it all ends up in streams, rivers and lakes.
www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/washington_may_wipe_out_drivew.html

Consumers Get Little Guidance on Disposal of Medication (09/16/2008)
Evidence suggests that drugs flushed down toilet damage the environment and reach drinking water supplies.
www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/nation/09/16/0916pharma.html

Drug Takeback Programs Stymied by Federal Regs (09/16/2008)
When her father died in 2004, Adrienne Tissier faced the sad task of cleaning out his belongings -- clothes, furniture, bags of medication. The drugs, including painkillers and sedatives, prompted a tricky question: Where to toss them?
www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/16/america/NA-FEA-US-PharmaWater-Flush-II-Takeba
cks.php

Is America Ready to Drive Electric? (09/16/2008)
Rebecca Lindland, a senior auto analyst for the research firm Global Insight, is a fan of both electric cars and GM's plug-in Volt. "This is not a George Jetson future," says Lindland. "This is ours." But that future is still a ways off.
www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1841378,00.html

New Carbon Material Multiplies Renewable Energy Storage (09/16/2008)
Engineers and scientists at the University of Texas at Austin have achieved a nanotech breakthrough in the use of a carbon structure one atom thick that they say could pave the way for widespread installation of wind and solar power.
www.ens-newswire.com/ens/sep2008/2008-09-16-091.asp

The Real Story on Organic Dry-Cleaning (09/16/2008)
In everything from fruit to furniture, consumers have a choice between conventional or organic goods. And increasingly, the option is available in dry cleaning, an industry known for its use of hazardous chemicals, namely the volatile solvent perchloroethylene, known as perc.
www.nysun.com/style/the-real-story-on-organic-dry-cleaning/85914/

Google Search Finds Seafaring Solution (09/15/2008)
Google may take its battle for global domination to the high seas with the launch of its own "computer navy". The company is considering deploying the supercomputers necessary to operate its internet search engines on barges anchored up to seven miles (11km) offshore.
technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article4753389.ece

Receding Waters Leave Toxic Mix (09/15/2008)
As the search continued here for people killed or stranded by Hurricane Ike, the authorities said Monday that they were faced with much larger challenges than simply clearing roadways and restoring electricity before they could let residents back onto this debris-strewn island.
www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/us/16galveston.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&pagewan
ted=all&adxnnlx=1221591661-/6KHW7JxerM5I9TnCUntBg

France Considers a 'Picnic Tax' on Disposables (09/14/2008)
Plastic forks, disposable diapers, drafty houses -- if it hurts the environment, make it cost more. That's the message France's government wants to send with a raft of proposed new taxes.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26706242/

Products Derived From Natural, Nontoxic Ingredients - Once Seen As Fringe - Are Now Mainstream (09/14/2008)
In a fresh take on the pre-World War II slogan, "Better Living Through Chemistry," small chemical companies and giant corporations, including BASF and Rohm and Haas, are implementing the tenets of green chemistry, creating safer substances that won't seep into our bloodstream, endanger wildlife or pollute resources.
www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-greenchem14-2008sep14,0,2276532.story

Unused Drugs Flushed Into Drinking Water (09/14/2008)
U.S. hospitals and long-term care facilities annually flush millions of pounds of unused pharmaceuticals down the drain, pumping contaminants into the United States' drinking water, according to an ongoing Associated Press investigation.
seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/379153_pharmawater15.html

Buyers of Low-fuel Cars Get a Sales Tax Exemption in WA (09/11/2008)
A new sales tax exemption that encourages Washington car shoppers to choose hybrids and alternative-fuel vehicles will save them an estimated $18.6 million over the next two years.
seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/378818_greencar12.html

Scientists Discuss Plastics in the Oceans During Tacoma Conference (09/11/2008)
Nobody likes looking at pictures of baby sea otters strangled by cast-off, plastic, six-pack loops or albatrosses who died trying to digest discarded cigarette lighters and old toothbrushes. It's wrong to litter the oceans with plastic debris - and you don't have to be a scientist to see it.
www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/478762.html

Making Jet Fuel From Algae Oil is Very Green (09/10/2008)
There may not be peanuts and pretzels anymore on airplanes, but someday there may be algae oil. Solazyme - a South San Francisco startup focused on producing oil from algae - said Tuesday that it had produced the world's first algal-derived jet fuel.
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/09/BURK12R1VB.DTL

Xerox, DuPont and Bosch Free More Than 50 Eco-Patents for Public Use (09/08/2008)
When the World Business Council on Sustainable Development in January 2008 launched the Eco-Patents Commons in partnership with IBM, Sony, Nokia and Pitney-Bowes, it was an unprecedented step in the development of clean technologies.
www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/09/08/xerox-dupont-bosch-eco-patents

Movement Wants Fewer PVC Office Products (09/07/2008)
TheGreenOffice.com - a San Francisco online office supply store - has become the first retailer in its industry to stop selling products made from polyvinyl chloride, including those familiar vinyl binders. And environmentalists hope that the move will spur a similar shift away from PVC among other office products stores.
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/06/BUIS12MQCD.DTL

Food Service Group to Help Kitchens Go Green (09/05/2008)
FoodServiceWarehouse.com has launched its Going Green Program, an industry-vetted program aimed at helping commercial kitchens cope with the costs and complexities of going green. Through educational resources, rewards, and the industry's only free certification process, the company helps commercial kitchens cut energy costs, conserve water, and reduce their environmental impact.
www.eponline.com/articles/67177?recipid%3B=

Second Generation Tidal Turbines Promise Cheaper Power (09/04/2008)
Harnessing the vast energy of the UK's coastal tides could become much simpler and cheaper with a new design for the next generation of underwater turbines. The device, unveiled by a team of engineers from Oxford University, re-thinks the way power is generated underwater and the inventors believe it will be more robust, more efficient and cheaper to build and maintain than anything in operation today.
www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/04/waveandtidalpower.renewableenergy

Energy Star Claims Not Met In Consumer Reports' Tests (09/03/2008)
Lax standards and out-of-date test protocols that are not independently verified weaken the federal Energy Star program used to identify energy efficient appliances, according to a report in the latest issue of "Consumer Reports" magazine published Tuesday.
www.ens-newswire.com/ens/sep2008/2008-09-03-01.asp

Seattle Urges Deconstruction (08/30/2008)
To help boost recycling rates and reduce the amount of waste headed to landfills, the city of Seattle's Department of Planning and Development (DPD) wants to incentivize deconstruction as a viable means for building demolition.
www.sustainableindustries.com/breakingnews/26393059.html

Verdiem Edges Into Consumer Market (08/30/2008)
In an effort to help computer users curb their energy use and carbon emissions, Verdiem Corp. is making Edison, the company's new software for individual PCs, available to 10 million customers free of charge.
www.sustainableindustries.com/breakingnews/26837704.html

High Fuel Costs Leading to More Efficient Supply Chains: Report (08/27/2008)
High fuel prices are causing the country's manufacturers, retailers and logistics providers to rethink their transportation strategies, according to a new study.
www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/08/27/high-fuel-costs-more-efficient-supply-chains

Deal Would Allow State Oversight of Chemicals in California (08/25/2008)
An ambitious proposal crafted in the dwindling days of the legislative session would for the first time give state regulators broad authority to oversee chemicals in consumer products.
www.sacbee.com/111/story/1182566.html

How Green Is Your Roof? (08/19/2008)
Many 'green roof' schemes, which aim to make buildings more eco-friendly by turning rooftops into gardens, are failing because of a lack of basic research on their efficient installation and maintenance.
www.nature.com/news/2008/080819/full/news.2008.1048.html

How Can We Reduce Our Dependence on Foreign Oil (video) (08/14/2008)
T. Boone Pickens' 5 Minute Plan
link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1641244028?bclid=1641831933&bctid=16536
34930

DOE Report: Wind Power Capacity Up 46% (06/09/2008)
The U.S. Department of Energy Annual Report on U.S. Wind Power Installation, Cost, and Performance Trends finds that capacity increased by 46 percent in 2007, with $9 billion invested in plants in 2007 alone, making the United States the fastest-growing wind power market in the world for the third straight year.
www.eponline.com/articles/63666?recipid%3B=

October 16, 2008
Opportunities in Lean and Green Webinar (Webinar)


October 15-16, 2008
P2 Workshop for Businesses (Corpus Christi, Texas)


October 13-17, 2008
North American Hazardous Management Association's Annual Conference (Burlington, VT)


October 21-23, 2008
WASTECON 2008 (Tampa, FL)


October 23 & 24, 2008
Fostering Sustainable Behavior Workshop (Vancouver, BC)


October 26-29, 2008
2008 National Renewable Energy Marketing Conference (Denver, CO)


October 30, 2008
ECOSS's 15th Annual Dinner and Auction (Seattle, WA)


October 27-29, 2008
Lean to Green Manufacturing Conference (Portland, OR)


November 5-6, 2008
P2 Workshop for Businesses (Fort Worth, Texas)


November 18-20, 2008
C3P and NASA Technical Workshop (San Diego, CA)


November 19-21, 2008
Greenbuild International Conference and Expo (Boston, MA)


December 8-9, 2008
Northwest Environmental Conference & Trade Show (Portland, OR)


December 10-11, 2008
2008 WORC Annual Conference: Building Betters Soils (Yakima, WA)


May 18-20, 2009
Cleanmed 2009 (Chicago, IL)