How green is your school? Who gets bragging rights? According to rankings published in the Sierra Club’s Sierra Magazine, the greenest schools are Green Mountain (VT), Dickinson (PA). and Evergreen State (WA). Rankings were based on 162 responses to an 11-page questionnaire sent to 900 schools.
Archive for the ‘Community’ Category
The nation’s greenest colleges
Thursday, August 19th, 2010Power from trash
Thursday, May 6th, 2010This New York Times waste-to-energy article focuses on New York City, which now trucks most of its trash to landfills in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and elsewhere. There it releases 1.2 million metric tons a year of greenhouse gases. New York City needs to produce less trash and to build waste-to-energy plants.
New laws would expand City’s recycling program
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010New York just announced it would expand its recycling laws for the first time since 1989. It would recycle more plastic, set up more public bins, and create drop-offs for hazardous waste. Mayor Bloomberg is expected to approve the bill, which would keep 8,000 tons of plastic out of landfills.
Next up: A smarter streetlight
Monday, April 19th, 2010Someone has invented a better streetlamp. It uses light emitting diodes (LEDs); it costs twice as much as ordinary lights and doesn’t save much electricity, but it’s smart enough to report on its condition, which cuts down on crews seeking failed lights. LEDs emit an appealing white light.
At upstate campus, saving energy is part of dorm life
Monday, April 19th, 2010Many people are familiar with the Energy Star label on appliances, but fewer know that buildings are rated too. In New York, dormitories at two colleges have earned Energy Star labels. Ithaca College has spent $1.3 million to upgrade boilers, insulate attics, and install submeters. Fraud is low.
In Portland, growing vertical
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010This New York Times article from January 31 documents a variation on the urban garden, one that will climb 200 feet up the side of a federal government office building downtown. It will use 60% less energy than comparable buildings, saving $280,000 per year. Renovation of the building will cost $133 million.
Report: Airline recycling in ‘sorry state’
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Here’s another article about airline trash. Green America, a environmental nonprofit, just found that most American airlines do little recycling, blaming airports’ lack of facilities. Delta and Virgin do best, earning B-’s. United and US Airways both get F’s. An average passenger leaves behind 1.3 pounds of trash, of which 20% is recyclable. Enough aluminum cans are tossed to build 58 new Boing 747s. European airlines do better. You can help by recycling your own cans, bottles, and newspapers.
Green Inc.: A utility will help homeowners go solar
Monday, March 1st, 2010TXU Energy, a Texas utility with 2-million customers, will enable Dallas homeowners to lease or buy rooftop solar power systems through Solar City, a California start-up that finances and installs such systems. Owners will lease a solar system for about $35 a month, or buy one for about $26,000.
Leaving the trash behind
Friday, February 26th, 2010It’s widely known that airplanes spew out a lot of greenhouse gas emissions. Less well known is that airlines generate 7.5 million pounds of trash daily; 75% could be recycled, but only 20% is. Some airports have recycling programs, but each one is different. Read the details in the article.
Americans are getting better at water conservation
Thursday, January 7th, 2010America has shown that it can change its environmental behavior. A report issued in October 2009 by the US Geological Survey indicates that America now uses less water than it did in 1980, when water usage peaked. The reduction seems attributable to increased awareness that water is a scarce resource, which has led western states especially to seek conservation measures in homes, fields, factories, and utilities. About 80% of the more than 400 billion gallons of water used daily in the U.S. go to generate electricity or to irrigate fields. It is encouraging that as water supplies dwindle due to global warming, American industry, agriculture, and even the general public, have taken steps to conserve water.