Green News You Can Use

Dr. Nocera at MIT is reserching the ability to capture energy through photosynthesis, so that we can harness solar energy at night
A cap and trade system for carbon emissions is looking like it is gaining consensus as the best option for  accounting for externalities of pollution, but how much will it cost our society?
More on [...]

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The Road to Carbon Neutrality

Contributed by John Leys and Mike Amodeo

Sherwood Design Engineers has taken another big step to becoming a truly carbon neutral firm. Sherwood as a company has spent quite a bit of time over the past few years greening up operations at all levels. This has included certification as a San Francisco Green Business, and the [...]

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Tough on dirt, but…

Adventures in Office Greening, Vol 1, Issue13
The Suit Makes the Man

The Problem:
85% of the 35,000 dry cleaning businesses in the U.S. still use the toxic solvent perchloroethylene (perc), which is known to cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, and has been linked to reproductive problems, including miscarriage and infertility in men, as well as disorders of the [...]

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We should really lose 25 pounds

Adventures in Office Greening, Vol 1, Issue 11

Sure, we’ve already lost 50.
In July, before we started composting, recycling correctly, or separating electronic and hazardous waste, we threw away an average of 100 pounds per month (four 5-day weeks).
In November we averaged 50 pounds per month.
Zero waste would be an ultimate goal. But let’s take [...]

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The Phantom Menace – Part 2

Adventures in Office Greening, Vol 1, Issue 10

Here is what I found on phantom energy use, which is caused by appliances that consume power even when they are turned “off”:
There is a device called the Kill-A-Watt that measures the rate of electricity consumption by various devices. This device was used to test common “vampire” appliances [...]

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Using Every Last Piece

Adventures in Office Greening,  Vol 1, Issue 9

If you work in a large office building like we do in the New York building, that you probably have a janitorial staff that handles cleaning the bathroom, and most importantly, loading the toilet paper holder. Its a very tricky job when you have a large roll of [...]

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Hold the Bag

Adventures in Office Greening, Vol 1, Issue 8

More and more I’ve been thinking about bags.
That’s kind of sad, I know. But now I’ve been making an extra effort to bring my two bags with me to the grocery store. I even have a little fold up one. It’s actually made things easier, [...]

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Just Scrap It

Adventures in Office Greening, Vol 1, Issue 7

We go through a ton of paper at our office, and a lot of it ends up in the recycling bin.
Mike H. took our waste reduction one step further and set up a scrap paper bin by the plotters. He decided that we should start collecting it [...]

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Haz Mat Threat

Adventures in Office Greening, Volume 1, Issue 6

Why should you be afraid of these pickle and sauerkraut jars?
Because they are filled with old paint thinner.
I have a whole box of them, plus accelerant, some varnish, and some other things you would need if you were an artist by trade.
However, the artist no longer [...]

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Flip This!

Adventures in Office Greening, Volume 1, Issue 5

I have a fondness for home remodeling TV shows. The ones where they take a less than perfect house and pretty it up.
I cringe, however, when they take a sledgehammer to well-constructed, but out of date cabinetry. Then I cringe some more as they throw it [...]

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