Author: casel

News Bit: Buds to Suds

“Fans of beer will soon have yet another reason to imbibe, when a new partnership between Anheuser-Busch (now AB-inBev) and a company called Blue Marble Bio takes off. The two firms have launched a venture to convert brewery waste into a group of carboxylic acids that have a wide variey of commerical uses, including the manufacture of shaving creams and soaps. This renewable source of carboxylic acids will help the chemical industry along as it transitions out of petroleum-based formulas, and as a side benefit, the process also yields biogas that will be used to generate renewable electricity.

With the new venture, Anheuser-Busch also pushes the “green beer” movement up a few notches beyond the kind of measures that have becom expected from resopnsible beverage companies, such as water conservation, waste reduction and the intallation of renewable energy.”

Read more HERE.

Source:  TriplePundit.com

RecycleMania Results: Week 1

RecycleMania Week 1 Results
This year, UW – Green Bay is participating in three different categories of the ‘competitive’ division of RecycleMania:  Grand Champion, Per Capita Classic, and Waste Minimization. 

  • The Grand Champion category combines trash and each of the core recyclable materials to determine a school’s recycling rate as a percentage of its overall waste generation. To be ranked in this category, schools must provide their trash, paper, cardboard, cans and bottles weight. The winner will have the highest recycling rate, which means that they not only have reduced trash disposal through waste prevention, but also have a strong recycling program for the acceptable materials.
  • The Per Capita Classic is the original and most recognized RecycleMania competition format. In this category schools compete to see which can callect the largest combined amount of paper, cardboard and bottles and cans on a per person basis. Results are calculated by dividing recyclng weight figures with the full-time equivalent (FTE) student and staff population of the school.
  • In the Waste Minimizationcategory schools compete to see which produces the least amount of both recyclables and trash on a per person basis. Where other categories recognize school efforts to collect the recyclables generated on campus, this competition focuses on thier efforts to reduce the amount of waste generated, including recyclables. Results are calculated by combining the core recyclable materials (paper, cardboard, cans, bottles) and with the total trash weights for a campus and dividing this number with the campus’s population figure. Schools are recognized based on the lowest overall per person quantity.

 

 

 

To sort and view rankings for yourself, visit www.recyclemania.org .

News Bits: Green Cheeseheads

This is a few weeks old, but worth the read!

“As we prepare to enjoy this Sunday’s Super Bowl rematch between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, let us spare a moment to memorialize the dear dispatched Green Bay Packers. But give the Packers’ organization credit: they’re not sitting home pouting. Instead they’re using the early playoff exit as an opportunity to get started on improvements to Lambeau Field, which included recycling the stadium’s aging scoreboard, according to Green Bay, Wis., ABC affiliate WBAY.

The Packers are working with Waste Management (it must be more than sheer coincidence that the two organizations sport identical yellow and green color schemes) to recycle the enormous device. An estimated 90 percent of the scoreboard is recyclable, including steel, aluminum, vinyl, wiring and circuit board materials and LEDs, although it will have to be shipped to Minneapolis for processing since Waste Management’s Milwaukee recycling center is not large enough for the job.

To quote a cheeky commenter on WBAY’s website, ‘This is not the first time the Packers organization has tried throwing something out and where their trash ended up in Minnesota.’

Ouch.”

Source: Waste360.com

News Bits: Greener (Brown) Toilet Paper and the Elusive Green Consumer

The latest from Mark Gunther of GreenBiz.com:

“I’d like to believe that we can shop our way to be a better world. It’s unlikely. If our economy is going to become more just and sustainable, change will have to come from the top down, not from the bottom up.

This roll of toilet paper explains why.

Called Moka, this bathroom tissue comes from a company called Cascades, which is headquartered in Montreal. It’s made from 100 percent recycled paper, and it has a lower carbon footprint than conventional toilet paper. Moka costs less to manufacture than ordinary white toilet paper and uses less bleach. And it works fine. Trust me – the company sent me a sample roll.

‘It’s beneficial for us, for consumers and for the environment,’ says Isabelle Faivre, US Marketing Director for Cascades.

The trouble is, you can’t buy Moka in a store.

That’s because Moka is being, er, rolled out exclusively in the away-from-home market. That is, it’s being sold to distributors who supply office buildings, schools, colleges, hospitals, restaurants and hotels. ‘Companies have that need to look green, to make them feel better about themselves,’ says Faivre. But consumers aren’t ready to accept off-color bathroom tissue.”

Source:  Greenbiz.com

Read more on the issues of changing consumer behavior HERE.

How have your consumer habits changed? What is important to you in making the decision to buy a product?

News Bit: Hershey Achieves Zero Waste to Landfill at 3 Plants

The Hershey Co. said three of its manufacturing facilities achieved zero waste-to-landfill (ZWL) status.

The Hershey, PA based candy retailer said in a news release that two plants in Hershey and another in Hazelton, PA, recycle about 90 percent of operational waste generated. The remainder of the waste goes to nearby Pennsylvania waste-to-energy incinerators in Bainbridge and Harrisburg.

“We achieved ZWL at these facilities through a rigorous process of eliminating waste, recycling and convertings waste to energy,” said Terence O’Day, senior vice president of global operations for Hershey.

The company’s Hazleton plant achieved ZWL status this month. Its West Hershey plant became a ZWL facility in October 2011. In addition, an ongoing $200 million to $225 million expansion of the facility is a ZWL project. The company’s Reese plant, located in Hershey, achieved ZWL status in 2010.

Hershey said it aims to continue improving its recycling and energy efficiency progrmas at all of its U.S. facilities.

Source:  waste360.com

SPECIAL NOTE: Hershey Kiss wrappers are recyclable!

2012 Climate Fellowship Postings Are Now Available from Clean Air – Cool Planet

Clean Air-Cool Planet (CA-CP) Fellowships are 10-week, full-time summer positions that pair excetionally talented students with challenging, real-world projects to advance innovative climate change solutions and leadership. Fellows are provided mentorship, networking opportunities and a stipend.

DEADLINE for accepting applications is February 24th! 

The list of 2012 Fellowships is exciting and diverse, including the following:

  • Haas Climate Fellowship: Climate Preparedness for Coastal New Hampshire Towns (NH)
  • Lamprey Climate Fellowship: Charting Emissions from Food Services (CHEFS): Supporting Sustainable Decisions
  • Impact of Climate Change on Population Dynamics of Emergent Pathogens (NH)
  • Fostering Innovation in Financing State and Local Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Initiatives (CT)
  • Using the Campus Carbon Calculator to Highlight Coal Dependence Impacts and Alternatives for Colleges and Universities
  • Climate Preparedness for New Jersey – Data Directory (NJ)
  • and more…

If you are or know a college student (upper-class undergrad or graduate) looking for a challenging and rewarding summer experience, for details about the projects and applications process, please visit HERE.

Share Your Ideas for Recycling, Reusing, and Reducing!

Do you have any suggestions, practical ideas, creative usage or other ideas on how to reduce your consumption of ‘stuff’, reuse/recycling the ‘stuff’ you do have in new ways rather than throwing it into the trash to go live in a landfill?

Here’s a few things to get you started:

  • Buy a reusable water bottle and refill from the Union’s ‘hydration station’ or any water fountain. Saves money, reduces plastic waste, reduces oil usage  (come to see “Tapped: The Movie” at the EMBI Green Innovations Conference on April 19th – it’s free! – and informative).
  • Make sure you use the duplex setting when you print – save some paper – and be sure to recycle the paper in the proper bin when it’s ready to go.
  • Earn some cash for your old electronics – visit Gazelle.com to see if you can sell them your old iPhone, x-box, or other electronic items.

What are your ideas – do you have one simple idea you can share?