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| 344 2008-04-18 Firm’s “Non-Eco” Product Labels Signal Still-Insufficient Environmental Concern. |
| The Kokuyo Group of leading Japanese manufacturers and marketers of office equipment and stationery has placed “Non-Eco” labels on its own brand of products in its 2008 catalog of stationery and furniture. The purpose was to honestly indicate their own still-insufficient concern for the environment. The Group has decided to develop and sell their products based on the principle that environmental consideration should not be an added value but taken for granted as normal procedure. Kokuyo intends to identify and indicate how many “Non-Eco” products remain in stock as way of raising environmental awareness within the Group as well as among its customers. |
| Reference(s): (Japan for Sustainability, April 11, 2008 ) Link(s)*: http://www.japanfs.org/db/2047-e |
| 344 2008-04-18 “Alliance for Restoration Ecology” Helps Communities Reduce Use of Land. |
| Two Tucson scientists affiliated with the University of Arizona’s Desert Laboratory have initiated the Alliance for Restoration Ecology to help the average Tucsonan reconnect to the city’s true desert landscape. Larry Venable and Michael Rosenzweig intend the Alliance to extend knowledge developed in the laboratory to the greater Tucson community. Using principles developed in their species diversity work, they want to give citizens help in building habitat linked to specific species. They want the community to be able to turn to the Alliance for “special nature recipes” – such as what to plant if you want to attract more quail or hummingbirds to an area. Expertise from the Desert Lab will be used to enhance urban nature as well as empower people in their own neighborhoods. |
| Reference(s): (Tucson Weekly, November 22, 2007 ) Link(s)*: http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=103462 |
| 344 2008-04-18 “New Forests” Aims to Optimize Timberland and Forest Ecosystem Services. |
| The forestry investment management firm “New Forests” investment philosophy is unique in seeking assets that deliver traditional timber returns as well as returns from emerging environmental markets such as carbon, water quality and biodiversity. Its “beyond timber” strategy has New Forests working to uncover and optimize the multiple layers of value provided by traditionally under-valued land-based assets such as water filtration, soil regulation, and recreation. |
| Reference(s): (New Forests, 2008 ) Link(s)*: http://www.newforests.com.au/about/aboutus.htm |
| 343 2008-04-25 World’s First Stand-Alone, Utility-Grade, 100% Renewable Power System. |
| Research. business and municipal partners in Japan recently succeeded in providing the world’s first stand-alone operation of a high-quality, utility-grade electric power system using electricity generated form 100% renewable energy sources. Mitsubishi Research Institute, Mitsubishi Electric Co., and Hachinoe City cooperated in providing off-grid electricity generated from photovoltaic, wind and biomass gasification power to six major facilities for eight days. The pilot program demonstrated that it is possible for a stand-alone renewable energy network, separate from the utility grid, to supply utility-grade voltage and frequency. |
| Reference(s): (Japan for Sustainability, April 4, 2008 ) Link(s)*: http://www.japanfs.org/db/2036-e |
| 343 2008-04-25 Slovak Scientist Finds Earthworm Enzyme Destroys PCBs, Phenols and DDT. |
| A Slovak scientist, Oto Sova, has succeeded in using enzymes from a Californian earthworm, Eisenia foetida, to remediate soils contaminated with petroleum derivatives or, most ambitiously, toxins such as phenols, cresols, DDT, and even PCBs. Ground-up in a solution called Enzymmix, the mixture works in situ, either by being sprayed directly on contaminated surfaces or by being injected into the ground through plastic tubes. Sova's remedy has been successfully tested at gas stations, on airport runways, and at other contaminated sites in five European countries. |
| Reference(s): (World Ark Magazine, March/April 2008 ) Link(s)*: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/heifer/worldark_20080304/ http://www.nrdc.org/onearth/05spr/frontlines4.asp |
| 343 2008-04-25 Ecowaters Text Profiles 50+ Eco-wastewater System Success Stories. |
| A new book from Ecowaters, “Reusing the Resource: Adventures in Ecological Wastewater Recycling,” profiles more than 50 successful ecological re wastewater recycling systems, complete with 300+ color photos and diagrams. The systems use plants to stabilize, clean, filter and consume wastewater or discharge it to be used again to flush toilets, nourish plants, provide fuel, while sequestering carbon and nitrogen. One system is a large, regional wastewater recycling plant producing effluent so clean that it is used to grow strawberries sold throughout the United States. |
| Reference(s): (Ecowaters, 2008 ) Link(s)*: http://ecowaters.org/rtr.html |
| 342 2008-04-11 “Low Impact Living” Site Offers Green Home Calculator. |
| The Low Impact Living website offers a wide array of products, practices and service providers to help meet a homeowner’s environmental goals. Now, the site features an online green home calculator that allows users to input data on house size, energy, water, travel, waste, storm water and other unique resource use categories. With these data, the calculator provides a Low Impact Living Index that gives each user a numerical score as well as a comparative ranking compared to an average American home. The calculator also allows users to select from dozens of efficiency technologies and lifestyle changes that would, if implemented, incrementally improve the user’s index and ranking. Finally, for each improvement identified, the site offers a selection of commercially available products and sources for each. |
| Reference(s): (Low Impact Living, 2008 ) Link(s)*: http://www.lowimpactliving.com/ |
| 342 2008-04-11 Zero-VOC Paint to be Sold Exclusively at Home Depot. |
| Fresh Aire Choice is a new paint brand without volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found exclusively at Home Depot stores. Fresh Aire Choice comes in 65 of Home Depot’s most popular colors and carries a lifetime warranty on performance and appearance. Fresh Aire colorants are VOC-free as well as the paint, making Fresh Aire the first to be VOC-free from start to finish. The Greenguard Environmental Institute, a nonprofit organization that establishes stringent indoor air standards for indoor products, has certified Fresh Aire Choice paints. The paint cans, labels, packaging and color strips are both recyclable and made from recycled-content materials. |
| Reference(s): (Metaefficient.com, March 2, 2008 ) Link(s)*: http://www.azfamily.com/3tvexclusives/stories/phoenix_craft_corner_031408_paint.54b7e40e.html |
| 342 2008-04-11 “Green Chip Stocks” Finds Niche in Social Justice and Sustainable Living Firms. |
| “Green Chip Stocks” is a new investment advisory service aimed at directing funds toward the next generation of renewable energy and natural foods companies. Green Chip Stocks offers conventional investment services as well as special reports on national and international markets in renewable energy and other sustainable product sectors. The service aims to be a “catalyst for the first real social-impacting profit trend of the 21st century.” Interested parties can receive a free “Green Chip Review” e-letter through the service’s website. |
| Reference(s): (Green Chips Stocks, 2008 ) Link(s)*: http://www.greenchipstocks.com/about |
| 341 2008-04-04 Prix Pictet Creates Global Sustainability Photography Prize. |
| The Prix Pictet is a major new global prize in photography that focuses on sustainability. The Prize is being sponsored by Pictet & Cie, in association with Financial Times. A single annual prize of 100,000 Swiss francs will reward photographers and the images they use to tell stories of urgent global significance. Each year the Prix Pictet will focus on a distinct sustainability theme. The theme for 2008 is water. |
| Reference(s): (Prix Pictet, 2008 ) Link(s)*: http://www.prixpictet.com/ |
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Sustainable Practices 2007 is a weekly information service, which has been highlighting innovations in technology, social, and governance models, and sustainable best practices since 2000. It is compiled from publicly available sources and provided by David Schaller, 520-665-1767, daschaller@mac.com
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