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NEWMOA Launches Online Repository of P2 Data Collection Tools

The Northeast Waste Management Officials’ Association (NEWMOA) has developed an online repository to enable P2 and environmental assistance programs to share their P2 data collection tools so that they can learn from each other.  Users can search for P2 data collection tools based on the relevant sector or topic, type of P2 activity, or type of tool used.  They can also add their own data collection tools to the system.

Examples of P2 data collection tools include: surveys, worksheets, self-certification forms, protocols and standard operating practices (SOPs) for follow-up to P2 technical assistance visits, quality management plans (QMPs) and Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPP), and checklists that P2 programs use to collect information from their clients.

Visit the site at: www.newmoa.org/prevention/projects/datacol/index.cfm.

For more information, contact:

Rachel Smith, NEWMOA

(617) 367-8558 x304

rsmith@newmoa.org

Green Restroom Cleaning: Safer Sustainability

Cleaning restrooms within LEED guidelines presents unique challenges.

Author: Pat McClure

Business thought leaders like Peter Senge tell us that today’s successful organizations strive not just for profitability but also sustainability — meaning wisely using and re-using resources, as well as minimizing waste and negative environmental impacts.

Janitorial practices and procedures that protect personal health and the environment are great examples of this trend.

And, no part of your facility should be greener or cleaner than the restrooms.

Green restroom cleaning starts by developing strategies for purchasing products that do not harm the environment, reducing waste, maximizing safety systems, improving processes and measuring the results.

However, before you launch your green team, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with some essential concepts.

A successful program includes more than appropriate chemical and equipment choices.

It also calls for policies, procedures, training and shared-responsibility efforts.

Read the complete article at Cleaning & Maintenance Management online

New Advanced Biofuel Identified as an Alternative to Diesel Fuel

Researchers with the U.S Department of Energy (DOE)’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have identified a potential new advanced biofuel that could replace today’s standard fuel for diesel engines but would be clean, green, renewable and produced in the United States.

Using the tools of synthetic biology, a JBEI research team engineered strains of two microbes, a bacteria and a yeast, to produce a precursor to bisabolane, a member of the terpene class of chemical compounds that are found in plants and used in fragrances and flavorings. Preliminary tests by the team showed that bisabolane’s properties make it a promising biosynthetic alternative to Number 2 (D2) diesel fuel.

The rising costs and growing dependence upon foreign sources of petroleum-based fuels, coupled with scientific fears over how the burning of these fuels impacts global climate, are driving the search for carbon-neutral renewable alternatives. Advanced biofuels — liquid transportation fuels derived from the cellulosic biomass of perennial grasses and other non-food plants, as well as from agricultural waste — are highly touted for their potential to replace gasoline, diesel and jet fuels. Unlike ethanol, which can only be used in limited amounts in gasoline engines and can’t be used at all in diesel or jet engines, plus would corrode existing oil pipelines and tanks, advanced biofuels are drop-in fuels compatible with today’s engines, and delivery and storage infrastructures.

Read the complete article at Science Daily

Green Purchasing for Existing Buildings An Initiative of the Responsible Purchasing Network

Join RPN for a free kickoff-webinar that will demonstrate how purchasing decisions can lead to greener buildings.  The webinar will highlight practical strategies for evaluating the sustainability attributes, performance and cost of environmentally preferable building maintenance products.

REGISTER TODAY! 

Webinar attendees in EPA Regions 1, 4, 7, and 9 FREE technical assistance to help advance be likely to yield measurable environmental results in reducing energy, water, or pollutants. If your project is chosen, RPN’s staff supplies, facilitate cooperative contracting opportunities for green building products or services, or undertake another initiative designed to dramatically boost the use of green building maintenance products.

To stay-up-to-date on RPN’s green building workshops, please visit www.responsiblepurchasing.org/

 

 

 

Solar Briefing: Walmart Plans Arrays for 75% of Calif. Stores

Walmart plans to complete rooftop solar arrays on more than three quarters of its California stores, with projects planned for up to 60 locations.

The planned projects will bring Walmart’s total number of solar installations in California to 130. Each array will provide 20 to 30 percent of the store’s electric needs, the company says.

When complete, the installations are expected to generate up to 70 million kWh of renewable energy per year, the equivalent of powering more than 5,400 homes and avoid more than 21,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

San Mateo, Calif.-based SolarCity will own, install and maintain the new solar power systems.

Walmart says its solar program has reduced energy expenses by more than $1 million.

Read the complete article at Environmental Leader

HELP YOUR SCHOOL REDUCE POLLUTION AND SAVE ENERGY!

Now that students are back in school, teachers and parents can help improve a school’s energy efficiency and reduce pollution by participating in EPA’s many voluntary programs such as Energy Star, Healthy School Environments, National School Bus Idle Reduction, and Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools programs.  Students can also become environmental stewards through EPA’s Pick 5 and reduce pollution around schools, College Game Day Challenge, OnCampus ecoAmbassadors, and MyEnvironment: search near your school.

Find out about other programs at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/school.htm.

Got drugs? DEA schedules National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

DEA

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has scheduled another National Prescription Drug Take Back Day on Saturday, Oct. 29, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. to provide a venue for persons who want to dispose of unwanted and unused prescription drugs.

Find a collection site near you.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. More than seven million Americans currently abuse prescription drugs, according to the 2009 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Each day, approximately, 2,500 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the first time according to the Partnership for a Drug Free America. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including the home medicine cabinet. More