No more leaky toilets: The Boston Housing Authority plans to spend $63 million on energy-efficient retrofits of public housing, part of $238 million worth of improvements for the city of Boston. The retrofits will take place in 13 public housing developments that range from Brighton to Charlestown. The goal of the retrofits will be to improve energy efficiency and save money over the long term. Planned improvements for the developments include:
more efficient LEDs and compact fluourescent lighting
cleaner natural gas burners to replace inefficient older boilers
low-flow toilets
improved heaters and thermostats
white reflecting roofs and solar panels to replace heat-absorbing tar roofs
Part of the energy-efficiency changes will involve public outreach, teaching public housing residents to conserve energy even though they do not pay utility bills.
Retrofitting buildings… [view entry]
Polar bears, bluefin tuna and shark species are among those who will receive no help as a result of the 15th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which has been taking place over the past week in Doha, Qatar. From March 13th to 25th the CoP addressed proposed regulations to restrict trade on the hides, parts, and meat of endangered species, and has unfortunately failed to protect many creatures in dire need.
Bans against fishing the Atlantic bluefin were turned down on Thursday. A staple of Japanese and Mediterranean food traditions, the bluefin tuna (of which there are three species) has been critically overfished. Conservationists cite the lack of a ban as a prime example of giving priority to commerce over… [view entry]
The critically endangered tiger could soon join the dragon as a zodiac creature that exists only in legend. The Chinese lunar calendar year known as the Year of the Tiger began on February 14th with only 3200 tigers left in the wild.
This number is down from 100,000 wild tigers in the year 1900. Current estimates say that China, where tigers originated from, has only 50 wild tigers remaining. However, international conservation groups are using the year designation to their advantage and planning to work together to restore tiger numbers, with a goal of doubling current numbers by 2022 through captive breeding, reserves and anti-poaching programs.
To mark the start of the Year of the Tiger, the Nepalese government expanded their Bardia National Park by 347 square miles… [view entry]
A New Scientist report highlights the dramatic differences between consumers’ perception of a company’s “greenness” and reality.
New Scientist investigated consumer perception via a 2008 Earthsense survey of consumer ratings, and compared those numbers to each company’s Trucost score, the estimated cost of its environmental impact as a percentage of its annual revenue. The resulting infographic is striking: you can see a clear divide between consumer perception and real performance of certain companies.
A few examples which standout are potentially perceived as being greener than they are Discovery Communications, whose environment-focused television programming probably influences consumer opinions, and Whole Foods Market, although the article defends them by pointing out that they haven’t yet released all of their emissions data.
On the flip side, some companies rated by… [view entry]
Posted on January 22, 2010, 3:13 PM, by Sarah, under
Recycling.
Slate Magazine’s recent Green Lantern article responds to a question I’ve often faced as a college student living in an electronics-centric world: How can I safely and ethically recycle my old electronics?
According to the article, the Basel Action Network estimates that 80 percent of “e-waste” collected for recycling in the U.S. is actually shipped to developing countries such as China or Africa. Most of this waste ends up in informal salvage yards, where workers use methods like acid application and incineration to obtain metals and other useful components of the electronics.
The first goal of an environmentally-minded electronics consumer should be to start with long-lasting items that can be repaired. Unfortunately, it is more than likely that new computer parts, appliances, music players and mobile phones will… [view entry]
