Archive for November, 2008
November 17th, 2008
No, I’m not talking about dating. I’m talking about business, started by one business in particular.
The IMEC, or Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center, has started the nonprofit Waste-to-Profit Network in the Rockford area.
IMEC’s mission is to assist manufacturers in taking waste out of their processes, including inefficiencies.
So it makes sense that it has created a way to connect companies with byproduct synergies. Translation: One person’s waste is another person’s raw material.
Mary Hallock, IMEC’s manager of sustainable development and this program’s manager, said the network is mostly in recruiting phase right now.
For example, a glass manufacturer makes a special glass for appliance ovens that is coated to prevent melting. It was more cost-effective to dump leftover glass in a landfill than use the one recycler of that product in Pennsylvannia. But a countertop company now uses its broken glass for a product of its own.
Hallock said “several good things happened with this” beyond the eco-benefit of recycling 900 tons of tempered glass. For one, the glass company, Engineered Glass Products, is getting paid. For another, the countertop maker, Gilasi/Innerglow Surfaces, has a new product and meets green building requirements it hadn’t before.
“This is just a really exciting thing for us,” Hallock said. “It has a lot of potential.”
One less visible but tangible result could be attracting the next generation of workers, which resonates in the Rock River Valley. “Plus, it’s just the right thing to do. Someone has to address the problem that we’re pulling more out of the Earth than we can possibly replace.”
This is getting long for a blog post. Wait for part 2 until Tuesday …
P.S. We wrote an editorial about this initiative in September.
P.P.S. I wrote about a different green network here.
November 15th, 2008
This statement sounds so unbelievable that maybe people will start taking green issues seriously:
November 14th, 2008
I’m not sure whether InStyle’s whole section devoted to Going Green and Green Celebrities has more to do with the planet or the “stars” …
If you’re in it for the planet, here are a few ideas I saw when reading about Jessica Alba. Reading these mags is a guilty pleasure at the hair salon, I’ll admit.
P.S. Here’s a list of green causes supported by “stars.”
November 13th, 2008
On Wednesday, Natiotnal Philanthropy Day, one of my past Go Green subjects received an award from the local chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Here is what I saw on WREX’s site:
Outstanding Young Fundraising Volunteer - Stephanie Baliga
After her freshman year at the University of Illinois, Champaign, Stephanie embraced a meaningful, unpaid internship to raise money for Severson Dells while furthering their mission to connect more people to nature. She founded The Hall Creek Scamper, the “green” run/walk that raised $15,400 through her 400 hours of volunteer work over two summers. Her fundraising efforts resulted in increased program dollars and a raised public profile for Severson Dells.
Congrats, Stephanie!
November 12th, 2008
While auto workers and steel guys are being dumped out of formerly lucrative and lifelong jobs, the question is: Can the green energy boom (aka, wind turbine construction) fill the void? Depends on whom you ask, according to this NPR story. Even though it’s based in Ohio, I think the same issues are at play in the Rock River Valley. It all comes down to skills and salaries.
November 11th, 2008
Two times in the last month, I have received e-mails from people that have little taglines underneath their signatures like this.
“Please consider the environment before printing.”
“Save Trees. Print only when necessary.”
According to this article, this phenomenon is about a year old, which makes sense, because often things take a while before they get to Rockford.
From a Google search, it appears many think this is a silly thing to do. That was my first reaction. Like, “Well, duh!” But I know a few people in my office who print out just about everything. And there the poor printer sits, with piles of unclaimed printouts each day, waiting to be recycled on the other side.
Do you think putting "Please don't print" notes is a waste of time?
November 10th, 2008
Today, I see a story from our transportation writer, Thomas Bona, that the tollway plans to spend big bucks to convert existing interstate lanes into “green lanes” that would theoretically move faster.
… The $400 million “green lanes” program would convert existing lanes on portions of the Tollway system east of Illinois 59. Because of restrictions, Tollway officials hope those lanes would move faster, enticing drivers to car-pool and use mass transit.
Vehicles with at least two people in them would continue to pay existing I-PASS rates. Vehicles with only one person would pay a higher rate when using the “green lanes” — somewhere between 80 cents and $9 a pop (the range will actually be much smaller, but Tollway officials are legally required to advertise some range). Hybrids and “high miles-per-gallon” vehicles with one person in them would pay half what regular vehicles pay.
Passenger vehicles using conventional lanes would pay the same they are now.
Trucks and other commercial vehicles could only use the conventional lanes, and would pay 60 percent more than they do now. That would bring the average rate to 43 cents a mile in 2015, not far above the current national average of 39 cents …
I’m guessing that calling them “green lanes” instead of “carpool lanes” is more appealing these days.
November 7th, 2008
From the interesting press releases department:
If you have to plan an event, consider making it a green one, thanks to tips from Stratford University. Consider these possibilities:
– Composting the food scraps for local farms.
– Serving organic food that comes from sustainable sources.
– Using glass dishes instead of disposable ones, if possible. If disposables are more appropriate to the event, choose biodegradable ones.
– Securing a green building location for the event.
– Sending out green invitations, such as those that are tree-free, recycled, virtual, or contain seeds to plant.
– Opting for local organic flowers and plants for decorating.
– Encouraging use of public transportation during event itinerary when possible, instead of hiring dedicated vehicles.
November 6th, 2008
Sorry, Go Greenies, but I’ve neglected you just a tad in the last week due to the election.
Now that it’s over, I thought you might like to see what our future president think about energy and the environment.
Here are a few headlines. He’d like to:
- Reduce our Greenhouse Gas Emissions 80 Percent by 2050
- Ensure 10 percent of Our Electricity Comes from Renewable Sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
- Get 1 Million Plug-In Hybrid Cars on the Road by 2015.
Speculation is out there that he’d choose Arnold Schwarzenegger as his energy czar.
Environmental groups seem pleased with the outcome of the election, naturally, according to this roundup.
And just in case you missed his acceptance speech in Grant Park …
[flashvideo filename=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jll5baCAaQU/@@download.flv” /]
November 5th, 2008
I learned from the Nature Conservancy that a group of about 40 volunteers who have tended a restored prairie at Nachusa Grasslands south of Rockford, near Oregon, will celebrate by having a private potluck lunch at 1 p.m. and a public hike at 2 p.m. Saturday, respectively.
They have put in 9,000 hours planting, harvesting, milling, monitoring pollination of rare plants, fostering violets that feed endangered butterflies and running prescribed burns.
The press release says:
The few remaining prairies of the Great Plains can no longer survive without the efforts of people, and the efforts of the people at Nachusa have resulted in the continuous conservation and restoration of one of the largest surviving prairies in the Prairie State.
Find other hike info here. To RSVP, contact Becky Hartman at 630-309-2110 or bhhartman2001@hotmail.com.
Tour of Nachusa Grasslands Preserve, Illinois. Photo by Andrew Simpson/TNC
A Conservancy Restoration Ecologist leads a tour at Nachusa Grasslands, one of the Conservancy’s greatest ongoing success stories and one of Illinois’ largest and last surviving prairie landscapes. Photo by Chris Helzer/TNC
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