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You can tour “Sustainable Sweden” with a group of 50 colleagues (at most), from August 4-19. Sustainable Sweden hopes to attract people from around the world to share their experiences as they get an inside look at the world’s leader in combining ecology and economy. The themes will be municipality planning, renewable energy, eco-tourism, and ecological business. The tour will be organized around what’s happening with Agenda 21, The Natural Step, and sustainability initiatives in Sweden. You can go for one of the 9 day segments or for the entire 16 day tour. In the first segment, the group will visit southern Sweden, including Stockholm, Gothenburg and smaller communities such as Hallefors. Hallefors is an example of a community which turned itself around using The Natural Step principles. The community also uses the “Factor 10” concept and Max-Neef’s Basic Needs as tools to make their activities more efficient. The second segment focuses on northern Sweden’s small, sustainable villages. In the mountain community, Sorsele, for example, the eco-municipality concept has been used to create hundreds of jobs. The tour group will also visit companies and educational institutes. A registration deposit is needed by June 2001. For more information: Ira Sundberg, ira@esam.seTorbj??Lahti, […]
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Now that the business case for sustainability is on firm ground companies need to learn how to integrate the complex issues involved. An effective way to do this is through on-line learning. The Foundation for Business and Sustainable Development, the educational arm of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), is building the Virtual University for Sustainability on the Internet. [sorry this link is no longer available]There are presently three introductory web-based courses. Corporate Social Responsibility is a 5-hour, self-paced course that teaches senior managers how to develop a corporate social responsibility policy and manage ethical issues. It exposes participants to recent concepts, tools, and best practices regarding social responsibility. The Sustainable Business Challenge began as a collaboration between the WBCSD and the international student organization AIESEC to discover what students entering the workforce need to know to become business leaders in sustainable development. 16,000 students and employees worldwide have completed the resulting Sustainable Business Challenge Internet exam. The WBCSD Foundation has updated this on-line learning experience course and developed an accompanying text book that is being used as a standard text by businesses and universities.The issues are presented from the perspective of a fictional corporation as key personnel […]
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The US Department of Energy, in cooperation with the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB), has established the $1.25 million Hemispheric Sustainable Energy Fund (HSEF) to help governments throughout Latin America and the Caribbean meet their energy needs through clean energy projects. The fund enables the creation of a multimillion dollar “family of funds” to help commercialize sustainable energy projects. HSEF will help regional clean energy projects by financing their feasibility studies, market analysis, and project appraisals so clear the way for additional financing from the IDB or other financial institutions. Theresa Fariello, DOE’s deputy assistant secretary for international energy policy, says, HSEF is designed to encourage contributions from other donor countries and private organizations. The private sector stands to benefit greatly from HSEF because the fund will condition the markets for private sector investment and create new project opportunities throughout the region.” Priority will be given to projects that demonstrate the potential to attract future private investment and strengthen a country’s commitment to sustainable energy policies and reform. The IDB will administer the funds for eligible institutions such as national and local governments, non-governmental organizations, and regional organizations. The Energy Department will oversee the process. To be selected, a project must: […]
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Bass Hotels & Resorts has reduced its water and energy consumption and attending costs by as much as 50 percent in their hotels worldwide. How do they do it? They have produced a CD-ROM to share their experience: it covers engineering, laundry, kitchen and garden operations, renovating and building new hotels, energy audits, benchmarking, and case studies. It demonstrates how to make an environmental management program work for owners, operators, employees and the environment.The Hong Kong Hotels Association offers a CD-ROM and environmental training manual for hotels in Hong Kong. The package includes an environmental management manual and good practice guides to energy, water and waste management, indoor air quality and environmental legislation. It has been distributed free of charge to all members. It is endorsed by UNEP and the International Hotel and Restaurant Association as a cost effective way to get ISO 14001 certification. Bass Hotels & Resorts: Reiner Boehme, reiner_boehme@interconti.comHong Kong Hotels Association: James Lu, hkha@att.net.hk
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Help for Small & Medium-Sized BusinessesThe “Efficient Entrepreneur Calendar” looks like an ordinary hardcopy calendar with days and weeks and months. But to “smaller” businesses, it is much more. It guides you in implementing an EMS month-by-month, by introducing performance measures that are easy to assess and evaluate. Companies can measure where their inefficiences are (how much energy, water and raw materials they consume; how much pollution they produce), where costs can be reduced and employee and customer satisfaction improved. Companies can learn how to make simple process and product adjustments and how to communicate their achievements to their stakeholders.The calendar is available in English, French and Spanish. It was developed by UNEP’s Division of Technology, Industry and Environment and the Eco-Efficiency and Sustainable Enterprise Group at the Wuppertal Institute in Germany [sorry this link is no longer available][sorry this link is no longer available]In cooperation with the U.S. EPA, NSF-ISR has developed a set of practical EMS implementation guides and case studies. One report, geared toward small and medium-sized organizations, describes the experiences of 18 businesses and government agencies of various sizes and types. (Environmental Management Systems — An Implementation Guide for Small and Medium-Sized Organizations.) On the other […]
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An on-line guide to designing and constructing green buildings has been produced by the Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center (PPRC). Although it is geared primarily for commercial and institutional buildings, it also includes resources for residential projects. It begins with an introduction to the economic, environmental and social benefits of green buildings, and the holistic approach to designing buildings.Each chapter consists of questions to consider for the particular topic and then a comprehensive set of links related to the topic. It covers all the important substantive areas from transportation to codes, from materials to energy efficiency, from indoor air to demolition. There are links to resources for technical assistance, financial assistance, software, and news about green buildings. It leads you to case studies covering commercial, municipal, residential, brownfields and hospitality applications. Check it out: [sorry this link is no longer available]A new book from the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council, Low-Energy, Sustainable Building Design for Federal Managers, is designed to help government personnel meet the ‘Greening the Government’ executive orders and to make informed decisions on sustainable design strategies, renewable energy options, water conservation, operation and maintenance, and resource-efficient materials. [sorry this link is no longer available]org The group will […]
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November was a month of alternative fuel car debuts. The first of 750 Ford demonstration TH!NK city vehicles arrived – they are currently for sale in Scandinavia, and will be sold in the U.S. in 2002. The electric 2-seaters are designed for urban driving, with a range of about 53 miles (85 km) and a top speed of 56 miles per hour (90 km/h). Hertz will offer the vehicles in San Francisco to BART (their subway system) shared-car subscribers and as daily rentals at Fishermen’s Wharf. Ford will use 40 vehicles in Dearborn, Michigan as part of its car pool fleet. At the opening of the new 50,000 square-foot California Fuel Cell Partnership Headquarters in Sacramento, California, Volkswagen, GM, and Hyundai showed off their fuel cell prototypes. Volkswagen unveiled its first hydrogen fuel-cell car – Bora HyMotion (known as the Jetta in the U.S.) with a range of about 350 km (217 miles) on 3 gallons of hydrogen. It accelerates from 0 to 100 km/hour in 12.6 seconds reaching a top speed of 140 km/hour (87 mph). Hyundai’s entry was its prototype fuel cell-powered ”Santa Fe” SUV. And GM displayed the HydroGen1, a five-seat concept vehicle. It can reach a […]
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In an article in the Jan. 19 issue of Science, a U.S.-Brazilian team of biologists reported that as much as 42 percent of the Amazon River basin of Brazil will be seriously damaged or lost altogether in the next two decades if the country’s infrastructure development projects go forward as planned. The projects they refer to are part of the “Avanca Brasil” (Advance Brazil) program, which is intended to boost the industrial agriculture, timber and mining sectors of the economy by investing $40 billion in infrastructure projects from 2000 to 2007. William Laurance, a scientist with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, led a research team to systematically assess the effects of development trends and projects on the region. They developed comprehensive computer models that integrate current data on deforestation, logging, fires, mining, roads, parks and reserves with information about a host of existing and planned infrastructure projects, including the construction of railroads, highways and hydroelectric dams; the installation of power lines and gas lines; and the channelization of rivers. The authors suggest that “Rather than punching many new roads and highways into the remote frontier” that they invest in existing roads, public services and financial incentives that favor sustainable forest […]
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CARB FalloutJust a month after California Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Resources Board (CARB) voted unanimously to keep the 10 year old ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicle) mandate in place, General Motors filed a law suit to overturn the rules. GM claims CARB is ignoring auto makers’ costs and wants to test public acceptance of electric vehicles for five years instead of implementing the 2003 rules. The mandate encourages production of neighborhood EVs (small vehicles like Ford’s Th!nk) which can’t be driven over 35 miles per hour. GM claims this ”raises significant safety issues.” The company also expressed concerns that New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont may adopt the same standards. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the industry’s lobbying organization, in a surprising move, indicated it will work with CARB to implement the rules rather than join in the lawsuit. The CARB mandate requires that 10% of new vehicles sold in California be clean vehicles starting in 2003. The decision triggers similar legislation in states that have adopted California’s clean air laws – Massachusetts, New York and Vermont. The final rule gives auto manufacturers flexibility in how they meet the 10% requirement. Only two percent must be ZEVs, two percent must be hybrids, […]
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EU to Promote OrganicThe demand for organic foods is growing by 40 percent a year in the UK and much of Europe, according to the UK’s Soil Association, but it took the specter of the spread of Mad Cow Disease and a looming mountain of unwanted beef for the EU to actively promote it. In a dramatic shift from intensive farming methods designed to yield maximum beef production, the European Commission announced a plan to boost organic farming and reduce beef stock density. The plan includes incentives for farmers to plant organic fodder crops and subsidies for farms with fewer animals. Germany plans to boost organic farming to 10 percent of Germany’s farmland within five years by re-directing government subsidies to the tune of US$5 billion to organic farming. U.S. Releases Organic StandardIn the U.S., the final national organic standards were released on December 20. Then Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman called the 500-plus page document “the strongest and most comprehensive organic standard in the world.” There will now be an 18 month transition period for the industry to comply with the standard. Noted Katherine DiMatteo, executive director of the Organic Trade Association, “It’s a government program and we’ve voluntarily […]
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