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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From Green Right Now Reports

Whole Foods Market announced today that it purchased 776 million-kilowatt-hours of renewable energy credits from wind farms — equal to 100 percent of its electricity use in its North American operations. The company said nearly 90 percent of this year’s purchase will help fund E.ON Climate & Renewables’ recently-completed Texas-based Panther Creek wind farm.

The Panther Creek wind farm iis 50 miles east of Midland in Big Spring, Texas. It began operating in 2008, and its final phase of construction was recently completed. The project is built and operated by EC&R North America, a renewable energy developer headquartered in Chicago, with development offices in Austin and Denver. The remaining RECs come from a number of different wind farms in locations across the U.S. and Canada. The total purchase of 776,115,000 kilowatt hours, the largest to date by a U.S. retailer, was made in partnership with Boulder, Colo.-based Renewable Choice Energy.

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By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

One of the nation’s leading environmental organizations, The Sierra Club, released their Third Annual Sierra Cool Schools list in the September/October issue of The Sierra Magazine.

The 135 schools were graded on a 100 point scale, and given final grades of A+ to F. There were eight categories that were taken into account:

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From Green Right Now Reports

Signaling that the American marketplace may be at a tipping point, a new survey from Pike Research finds that 48 percent of consumers say they would be “extremely” or “very” interested in purchasing a plug-in hybrid that has a 40-mile range on a single charge.

“Plug-in hybrids match the driving requirements of most consumers we surveyed,” Pike’s managing director Clint Wheelock said in a statement. “Eighty-two percent of respondents drive 40 miles or less per day, with an average daily driving distance of 27 miles.”

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From Green Right Now Reports

Exxon-Mobil Corporation, the world’s largest publicly traded oil and gas company, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Denver to violating the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) in five states during the past five years, the Justice Department announced.

The company has agreed to pay fines and community service payments totaling $600,000 and will implement an environmental compliance plan over the next three years aimed at preventing bird deaths on the company’s facilities in the affected states. According to papers filed in court, the company has already spent over $2.5 million to begin implementation of the plan.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Mayor Thomas Leighton won the 2009 Mayors’ Climate Protection Awards, the U.S. Conference of Mayors announced today.

The awards, sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., recognizes mayors for innovative practices in their cities designed to increase energy efficiency and curb global warming. An independent panel of judges determined the winners from a pool of 140 applicants.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Dell and Goodwill Industries International announced they are expanding Reconnect, a free drop-off program for consumers who want to responsibly recycle any brand of unwanted computer equipment.
The program is adding 451 new donation sites in seven states — Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and West Virginia. The program also will expand in Wisconsin to the Southeastern and South Central parts of the state.

Reconnect is now available in 18 states, plus the District of Columbia.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Odwalla is continuing its successful plant-a-tree program by donating $100,000 worth of trees to be planted in state parks in California, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Utah, Ohio, Texas, Maryland, Michigan and Virginia.

Visitors to www.parkvisitor.com/odwalla can choose their preferred state to receive a tree — no contribution or registration is required. The trees will be used to support important reforestation and planting initiatives across the country.

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From Green Right Now Reports

Cars.com recently released its second Green Cities Index, ranking cities on their interest green vehicles. The list was calculated by evaluating the number of hybrid searches as a percentage of overall car searches in each market, then ranking them.

West Coast buyers, particularly the Pacific Northwest, showed the greatest interest in hybrid vehicles. Eight of the top 10 cities on the list are in Oregon, California or Washington, with Eugene, Ore.; Portland, Ore.; and Santa Barbara, Calif., taking the top three spots.

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By Sommer Saadi
Green Right Now

Do not underestimate the excitement of Earth Day. Trust us. There is a lot to look forward to this year – the Green Apple Festival and Earth Day Network are making sure of it.

The two organizations have teamed up to put together the largest Earth Day festival in America. The event will take place April 17 to 19 (the weekend before the official Earth Day on April 22) and features simultaneous service events in ten major cities across the nation including New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.

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By Sommer Saadi
Green Right Now

Want to spend the summer restoring a wildlife habitat on the Dolores River? There is a camp for that. Or would you prefer learning first-hand how to cultivate a thriving organic farm? There is a camp for that, too.

With more than 5,000 overnight camps and more than 1,400 teen tours across the nation, there is a camp to suit the interests of almost every child. But we’re not talking basic glue noodles to paper, play tether ball and call-it-a-day sort of camps. We’re talking traveling the world, adapting to foreign cultures, nurturing wildlife and embracing conservation.

And the best part is these summer options are incorporating green practices and green teachings into every aspect of their programs.

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By Laura Elizabeth May
Green Right Now

Berkeley Farmers Markets announced Monday that it will be the first farmers market to eliminate the use of plastic bags and packaging from their three weekly markets. They will be hosting a Zero Waste Event on April 25 from 10 a.m. – 3p.m to kick off the new campaign.

“Berkeley, a city known for its progressive politics, is once again taking the lead by phasing out plastic bags and packaging at its farmers’ markets,” said Ben Feldman, Program Manager of the Berkeley Farmers’ Markets, in a statement. The plastic bags are harmful for the environment and can take up to 400 to 1000 years to break down. The markets now encourage shoppers to bring their own cloth bags or previously used paper or plastic bags.

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