envi.info/english: September 2008

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Energy-Star@work, new ENERGY STAR Tool

by Alessio Sciurpa

ENERGY STAR, the joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, for helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and good practices, has released a new tool.

The new web-tool, Energy-Star@Work, that follows that of two years ago Energy-Star @ Home, provides interactive suggestions on how to save and to maximize the energy in the office.

On the site of ENERGY STAR helpful tips that encourages them to discuss with colleagues about saving energy. A good communication initiative which uses both an amusing interface, and the word of mouth.

More...

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Being Green isn't a fad ... it's timelessly chic

by Alessio Sciurpa

Want to go green without giving up great style? Welcome to the world of Green Chic. Choosing to be green makes a real difference in the fight against global warming. But did you know that it's also hip, classic and stylish?

Writer Christie Matheson, in her fun and last book, reveals that being chic and saving the planet aren't mutually exclusive. In the book also a useful glossary for bringing a popular jargon, but technically, even those who until now had not interested in the green world.

Even if sometimes superficial, a fun way to bring a slice of the public on environmental issues. More...

European Week for Waste Reduction

Roberto Cavallo

The summer is over. Both the calendar and the weather conditions remind it to us. As I write in my "Less than 100 kilos" when you are on vacation, the relationship with the bin becomes more difficult and this seems to grow fatter and fatter at glance. So, now that we're back to everyday life, we can go back and pay attention to the waste we produce. In a period of continuous increases of any kind, exercises of waste reduction are certainly welcomed to our pocket. So drinking the tap water saves us a few hundred dollars a year, using washable diapers almost a thousand, doing home composting, if the municipality in which we live provide for it means also a waste tax reduction. These are some small every-day actions that we can begin to assess in view of the fourth edition of the European Week for Waste Reduction, which will take place next November, from 17th to 25th. But the entries are already open! Just surf the website www.menorifiuti.org or the websites of various partners of the organizing committee (www.assaica.org, www.federambiente.it). The registration procedure is very simple: just describe the action that will be put in place and send an e-mail to the Secretariat. This year there is also the chance to be rewarded for the action, when particularly interesting or innovative or virtuos, with a special Italian award. Join and spread the voice: there is need for lightness ... and then it is 3 years that Italy reach the second place behind France concerning the number of actions taken during the week, we try to win this year! RC