From Green Right Now Reports

Star Market at Chestnut Hill in Newton, Mass., recently became the first grocery store in the nation to receive US Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Partnership platinum store award. The advanced refrigeration technology in the new store, which is part of the Shaw’s line of supermarkets, significantly reduces its impact on climate change and the stratospheric ozone layer by cutting the use of refrigerants by 85 percent compared with the typical supermarket.

Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, called the store’s efforts “wicked cool.”

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Gucci Group said it plans to implement an industry-leading paper policy.

From Green Right Now Reports

Luxury brand Gucci Group said today it is joining forces with Rainforest Action Network and will eliminate all paper made from Indonesian rainforests and plantations and by controversial suppliers such as Asia Pulp and Paper. The company said this is a first step in its plan to implement an industry-leading paper policy.

Rainforest Action Network officials said they are pleased to sign up the famous luxury house in its ongoing effort to protect Indonesian and other endangered forests. Since the beginning of Fall 2009, RAN has been urging the fashion world to more closely examine their paper supply chains and to sever any connection with paper suppliers like Asia Pulp and Paper who are actively destroying Indonesia’s rainforests.

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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

While the world scrambles to find clean energy solutions, somewhere, every minute of every day, saws buzz through a forest, cutting down one of nature’s antidotes to carbon pollution.

Saving forests in the Congo will help save endangered gorillas (Photo: John Martin)

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From Green Right Now Reports

Owens Corning today announced that it is launching a new program that simplifies recycling asphalt shingles
for its preferred roofing contractors. The company said it will be the first roofing manufacturer to connect contractors with convenient recycling facilities through a national strategic alliance.

Based on a pilot conducted in Indiana, Owens Corning plans to will roll out the program nationally, starting in the Midwest. Contractors will pledge to recycle their shingle tear-offs.

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By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

If you’ve been taking your home green, you know how ideas can feed off each other. Someone gets picky about paper recycling; someone else becomes the food waste arbiter; pretty soon everyone has their eco-role and the household’s carbon footprint is shrinking.

Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants realized early on that green grows like that. The hospitality chain, with roots in San Francisco, has a history of putting eco-friendly ideas in place. Even before green hotel or green restaurant designations were developed, Kimpton was experimenting with eco-friendly practices at its San Francisco properties, such as the Hotel Triton, where motion sensors turn off lights and 60 percent of the waste gets recycled.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Kimberly-Clark Corp. and upcycling firm TerraCycle today announced they will partner on a program to enhance the sustainability performance of some of K-C’s product packaging. The new program also will create fundraising programs that benefit schools and communities nationwide.

The new program allows participants to earn funds for their selected charity of choice for every used piece of plastic packaging associated with Scott or Huggies brands that they collect. The collected plastic packaging will be upcycled into affordable, high-quality products available next year at major retailers nationwide, the companies said.

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A field monitor checks a gas meter for leaks. (Photo: Department of Energy)

From Green Right Now Reports

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell announced today that the first installment of $123 million in federal Recovery funds for weatherization will begin to be released Nov. 2, part of $253 million that the state will use for this purpose.

The Governor said the funding represents an unprecedented level of investment that will help to create new, “green” jobs, save money for struggling families, and stimulate local economic activity as weatherization agencies buy required material, vehicles and equipment.

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By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

The town of Greensburg, Kansas was destroyed after a tornado ripped through their community in May of 2007, but it is not only coming back stronger than before, but much greener.

One project currently taking place in Greensburg is the Chain of Eco-Homes. When completed, 12 homes will serve as a “living laboratory” for unique environmental building. Two Eco-Homes already exist, Silo Eco-Home, equipped with a vegetable garden green roof, and Solar Eco-Home, the winner of the 2005 Solar Decathlon Competition and donation from the University of Colorado.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Though the economy remains weak and the unemployment rate is still high, a new report released by the Chicagoland Green Collar Jobs Initiative cites the job creation potential of green collar jobs in the Chicago region.

The report highlights numerous policy opportunities – including climate legislation, additional resources for environmental programs, and changes to environmental standards – that may help spur the development of new green collar jobs throughout Chicagoland. The specific occupations most likely to experience significant growth are energy efficiency measure installers and auditors, primarily in response to the projected increase in the number of residential retrofits expected to be completed in the coming years.

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By Shermakaye Bass
Green Right Now

(HONOLULU) – Hawaii has found a new place in the sun. With a local in the White House and clean-energy tech booming, this sunny, windy island state is blossoming into an exotic garden of alternative power innovation with nearly $1 billion in clean energy projects underway. The aggressive new initiatives are driven by history and necessity.

Necessity, because Hawaii gets 90 percent of its energy from imported oil, while its isolation makes it vulnerable to frequent power outages (no neighbors to send in reserves – until wave power is tapped). Not-so-distant history, because native Hawaiian culture is rooted in respect for nature, a vibe that resonates “take no more than is needed and squander nothing that is taken”.

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By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in conjunction with the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and The Hospitality Industry Network (NEWH) asked interior designers to submit their plans for an eco-friendly guest room in their first-ever Sustainable Suite Design Competition.

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From Green Right Now Reports

A group of Ohio business leaders released a new economic analysis that says a stronge federal clean energy policy could create up to 61,000 jobs in Ohio, while increasing annual incomes by $992 and growing the state economy by $3.7 billion.

The new study was released the day before the beginning of US Senate deliberations on clean energy and climate legislation. The research — co-released with E2, the national investor coalition Ceres and the Clean Economy Network — was conducted by the University of California in collaboration with University of Illinois and Yale University. It examined of the impacts of three pillars of federal legislation: energy efficiency, renewable energy and limits on carbon pollution.

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