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Find your car’s gas mileage and green scores on new EPA website
Green Right Now Reports
The EPA has issued a new fuel economy guide for consumers that goes beyond the already standing website, fueleconomy.gov.
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Tags: · car ratings, Chevy Suburban, EPA, gas mileage, green cars, Honda Insight, tailpipe emissions
Cobb County, Kohler and Lowe’s recognized for water conservation
Green Right Now Reports
The Cobb County Water System in Marietta, Ga., and Kohler, maker of water faucets and other plumbing supplies, have won government recognition for their water-conserving ways.
The EPA named them among its “WaterSense” Partners of the Year. The program highlights the many ways in which organizations can advocate for saving water:
- Cobb County water officials teamed up with Kohler, Lowe’s Home Improvement stores and others, to promote Georgia’s tax holiday for WaterSense products. WaterSense products include such things as water sensors for sprinkler systems to stop needless watering; low-flow shower heads and faucets, and toilets that use less water.
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Tags: · Cobb County, EPA, Kohler, Lowe's Home Improvement Stores, Water Conservation, WaterSense
From collars to coats: A compendium of chemicals in consumer goods
September 18th, 2009 · No Comments
By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now
Lead in toys is scary enough, but that’s only the start. Now, you might need to take a second look at your handbag, your car, your pet’s bed and even your clothes. The non-profit group Healthy Stuff reports that their recent tests of 900 everyday consumer products turned up some toxic [...]
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Tags: · chemical testing, chemicals in cars, chemicals in pet goods, Ecology Center, EPA, Healthy Stuff, HealthyStuff.org, purses, purses chemicals, testing consumer goods chemical, Toxic chemicals
Deutsche Bank, Intel, Kohl’s and Mohawk honored for green power use
September 17th, 2009 · No Comments
From Green Right Now Reports
Four major corporations were named “Green Power Partners of the Year” this past week by the US EPA:
Deutsche Bank AG — In 2009, the company made an annual purchase of 160 million kilowatt-hours of wind-derived renewable energy certificates (RECs), which represents 100 percent of the electricity needs for its U.S. operations. Worldwide, Deutsche Bank bought 515 million-kilowatt hours of green power.
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Tags: · biomass power, Deutsche Bank, EPA, green power, Green Power Partners of the Year, green power purchasing, Intel Corporation, Kohl's, Mohawk, RECs, renewable energy credits, Wind Power
Energy Star TVs will have to meet higher test
 The EPA announced today it has revised the qualifications for televisions to achieve the Energy Star label, requiring TVs to be 40 percent more energy efficient than conventional models.
The new requirements raise the bar on how energy efficient a TV must be to earn the Energy Star label. They require TVs to use less energy when turned on, ensure a satisfactory level of brightness and curb power associated with downloading program guide data. The EPA says this will translate to greater savings for consumers and the environment. If all televisions sold in the United States met the new Energy Star requirements, Americans would save $2.5 billion annually in energy costs while reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to the emissions of about 3 million cars, the agency says.
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Tags: · Energy Star, EPA
Preliminary toxic chemical data now available to public
By Harriet Blake
Green Right Now
The EPA earlier this week issued a partial list of toxic chemicals released in the United States between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2008. The preliminary data, part of the Toxics Release Inventory, is now available to the public. It includes nearly 650 chemicals that have been emitted by more than 23,000 industrial facilities. The chemicals came from metal and coal mining, electric utilities and commercial hazardous waste treatment, among others.
The initial list accounts for about 80 to 85 percent of the data to be collected. EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson says that once the EPA has completed gathering the data, a national analysis will be released. By publishing the preliminary data, the EPA wants to demonstrate that the agency has open communication with the American public.
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Tags: · Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, EPA, Toxic chemicals, Toxics Release Inventory
Cruise ship pollution concerns environmentalists
August 3rd, 2009 · 1 Comment
By Harriet Blake
Green Right Now
“Don’t let the vacation ruin the destination.”
These words of wisdom hail from environmentalists who have legitimate concerns about ocean pollution due to cruise ship dumping.
Cruise ship vacations have gained in popularity in the last decade, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which states that the industry has grown nearly twice as fast as any other means of travel during that time frame. And, at the same time, the average ship size has been growing at about 90 feet every five years. Ships used to average about 3,000 passengers, but today some carry as many as 8,000.
So with larger ships carrying more passengers, there is mounting concern about how this growth will affect the ocean’s marine life and water quality.
Recently the World Wildlife Federation’s Baltic Sea chapter recommended that area ports upgrade their facilities to cope with contamination from cruise ship sewage. The WWF said that Baltic-area ports are not keeping their facilities up-to-date in terms of disposing of cruise ship waste and suggested that the money being made by cruise ship tourism be spent upgrading the facilities, according to a report in the Environmental News Service.
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Tags: · cruise ships, dumping, effluent, EPA, Friends of the Earth, garbage, Oceans, Sewage, Travel, treated wastewater, untreated wastewater, Vacations, World Wildlife Fund
Liquid silicone: An eco-friendly dry cleaning solution
By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now
Once, people pounded clothes with rocks to get them cleaned. Now we’ve come full circle, with dry cleaning headed back to those Earthy roots.
Many people are familiar with the use of hazardous chemicals in modern dry-cleaning solution. The primary cleaning solvent used in most dry-cleaners is perchloroethylene or “perc”. The Environmental Protection Agency classified this petroleum chemical as a Toxic Air Contaminant and a probable human carcinogen and many environmentalists believe that the residue on your clothes can’t be a healthything.
Now there is a better alternative and believe it or not, it is made essentially from liquefied sand.
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Tags: · Carcinogens, dry cleaning, dry cleaning solution, EPA, GreenEarth Cleaning, New Jersey, New York, Nextcleaners, Perc, perchloroethylene, Silicone
Cancer experts urge prevention; ask for public listing of carcinogens
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
Calling the fight against cancer “one of the most notorious public health failures of the 20th century” four leading cancer and environmental experts called on Congress and the Obama Administration this week to acknowledge the role environmental carcinogens play in triggering cancer and dedicate more money to cancer prevention.
 In a letter to Congressional leaders, the national medical and scientific experts said they were concerned that prevention has received little attention in the Obama Cancer Plan. They noted that health care costs could not be brought under control without a better plan to fight the disease that claims 1,500 American lives daily and costs $89 billion a year to diagnose and treat. (Costs rise to $219 billion annually, when lost productivity and premature death costs are factored in).
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Tags: · American Public Health Association, Boston University School of Public Health, breast cancer, Cancer Prevention Coalition, CPSC, David Obey, Edward Kennedy, EPA, FDA, healthcare reform, Henry Waxman, Jerry Lewis, Joe Barton, leukemia, lung cancer, lymphoma, melanoma, Mike Enzi, MIT, National Cancer Institute, Nicholas A. Ashford, Obama cancer plan, OSHA, ovarian cancer, Quentin D. Young, Richard W. Clapp, Samuel S. Epstein, testicular cancer, Thad Cochran, thyroid cancer
Washing your car — without water
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
You know your car is a gas hound. But what about the water it requires?
 Keeping a car clean, whether you rinse it off in your driveway or get it scrubbed at a professional wash, uses buckets of agua, more than you might realize.
If you’re careful, washing your car at home might use 10 gallons of water, but probably more like 25 or 50. A car wash can use much more, in the range of 75 to 100 gallons.
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Tags: · Advanced Mobile, Autos, Chicago, Eco Suds, Eco Suds Hand Car Wash, Eco-Pit, EPA, Greener Businesses, Houston, Portland, San Diego, Seattle, Water Conservation, water efficiency
Drinking water, it should be simple
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
Drinking a glass of water. It should be a simple thing. But as we Americans wean ourselves from plastic water bottles a nd return to the tap, there are a new set of questions that arise.
The main one: How safe is tap water?
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Tags: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, Bottled Water, Drinking Water, EcoloBlue, EPA, ground water, National Drinking Water Week, water safety
EPA wants you to take action and tell somebody
During Earth Month, the EPA is promoting “Pick 5 for the Environment,” which encourages the public to commit to taking at least five actions to protect the environment. After picking your five personal actions, you can use social media sites Facebook, Flickr and YouTube to share tips and stories.
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Tags: · EPA, Facebook, Flickr, Social media, YouTube
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