Many of the same measures that improve your building’s energy performance also boost productivity by enhancing the comfort of occupants. For building owners, better management of existing systems can produce immediate savings: better temperature control, use of non-toxic cleaners, and improved indoor air quality can help tenants reduce losses from employee absenteeism due to illness. A comfortable environment can help attract and retain tenants.

For employers, better management of energy use for office equipment and efficient lighting are energy-smart practices that will deliver immediate payback with little or no cost to your business.

Whether you’re a building owner looking to find ways to save with your existing systems or improve energy efficiency with a renovation, or a tenant trying to reduce the impact your business has on the environment, everyone wins as waste and inefficiency are reduced with a sustainable approach to business practices.

For Building Owners:

Start with existing standards and guidelines for energy-efficient workplaces. As part of its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, the U.S. Green Building Council offers rating systems for Commercial Interiors and Existing Buildings that directly address energy use in tenant spaces. Click here to visit the LEED website

Once you have a basic understanding of these tools, your next step should be to conduct a comprehensive assessment of your energy and office product use. Any such assessment should be designed to raise energy-use awareness throughout the organization and should also consider sustainable strategies that are less harmful to the environment than your current practices. Forms for data collection can be found at the Energy Information Administration website: click here to find out more…

Tips to help you reduce your carbon footprint at the office:

• Lighting – Install lights sensors so that lights in sporadically used spaces turn off automatically when not in use and replace low efficiency lighting with higher efficiency flourescents.
• HVAC System – Schedule heating and cooling systems to go on during pre-determined hours; let the system run hotter or cooler in off-hours, depending on the season.
  a. Use natural heating and ventilation if possible
  b. Set the temperature a degree or two warmer in the summer and a degree or two cooler in the winter
  c. Clean air filters regularly and have your system tuned annually by a licensed contractor
  d. When it’s time to replace your old equipment, choose a high efficiency system
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Reducing, reusing, and recycling at your building helps conserve energy, and reduces pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from resource extraction, manufacturing, and disposal.
  Provide bins for recycling paper, bottles, cans, and cardboard.
  a. Post notices in a common place and/or send them via e-mail rather than printing copies for each tenant
  b. Before printing, edit all documents as thoroughly as possible
  c. Develop memos, letters, and documents in space-efficient formats to reduce page count
  d. Buy or lease printers and fax machines with the capacity for double-sided printing
• Cleaning Supplies
  Switch to products that are non-toxic and buy in bulk to minimize packaging waste.
• The Office Kitchen – Avoid using paper plates and plastic utensils by providing dishes and utensils.Back To Top

For Tenants, Employers, and Employees:

It’s still a good idea to start with the LEED program information. While the systems were developed for use by design professionals and building owners and managers, becoming familiar with their respective categories and methodology can be helpful. The U.S. D.O.E. Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) program also has useful resources for commerical and residential buildings. Click here to visit the EERE website

Obviously, changes to a building’s maintenance and operation program will require the cooperation of the building owner. Just remember (and be sure to remind your building owner), actual cost savings from reduced energy use and environmental improvements to workspaces almost always translate into happier tenants and a more marketable commercial space — a win-win for building owners and tenants alike.

With a basic understanding of the LEED rating systems, you can develop a list of energy-saving and product-substitution opportunities; obviously, each organization will have its own list, tailored to its own circumstances.

Tips to help get you started:

• Manage office equipment energy use better
  Office equipment and electronics use energy even when idle or on stand-by. To save energy at work, activate the power management features on your computer and monitor, unplug laptop power cords when not in use and turn off equipment and lights at the end of the day. Consider using a power strip that can be turned off when you’re done using your computers, printers, wireless routers and other electronics.
• Lighting
  Replace those incandescent bulbs with compact flourescents. Encourage your building owner to install lights sensors so that lights in sporadically used spaces turn off automatically when not in use
• Look for ENERGY STAR labeled products for the Office
  When buying new products for your office at work or at home, look for ENERGY STAR-qualified office equipment, such as computers, copiers, and printers, in addition to more than 40 product categories, including lighting, heating and cooling equipment and commercial appliances.
• Use less energy for your commute
  Switch to public transportation, carpooling, biking, telecommuting and other innovative ways to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on your way to and from work.

  Encourage your employer to enroll in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Best Workplaces for Commuters and to offer commuter benefits that address limited or expensive parking, reduce traffic congestion, improve employee recruiting and retention and minimize the environmental impacts associated with drive-alone commuting.

  If you do drive, find out the fuel efficiency of your vehicle using the Department of Energy (DOE) and EPA fuel economy Web site, and make more environmentally-informed choices when purchasing your next vehicle by using EPA’s Green Vehicle Guide.

• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
  Recycle office paper, newspapers, beverage containers, electronic equipment and batteries. Reducing, reusing, and recycling in your office helps conserve energy, and reduces pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from resource extraction, manufacturing, and disposal.
  Use two-sided printing and copying; buy supplies made with recycled content; and recycle used printer cartridges. For your old electronics, investigate leasing programs to ensure reuse and recycling or donate used equipment to schools or other organizations.

  If you’re an employer, provide bins for recycling paper, bottles, cans, and cardboard.
  a. Post notices in a common place and/or send them via e-mail rather than printing copies for every employee
  b. Before printing, edit all documents as thoroughly as possible
  c. Develop memos, letters, and documents in space-efficient formats to reduce page count
  d. Buy or lease printers and fax machines with the capacity for double-sided printing
  e. The Office Kitchen – Avoid using paper plates and plastic utensils by providing dishes and utensils

• Cleaning Supplies – Use products that are non-toxic and buy in bulk to minimize packaging.
• Awareness
  Let everyone know that you’re making changes to reduce your impact on the environment. If you’re an employer, provide information to help employees conserve at home as well as the office, such as mortgage subsidies for energy-efficient homes, fuel efficient vehicle purchasing, composting, and recyling in the community.
• Innovate
  Motivate your employees or colleagues to come up with new ways to save energy

(according to whatsmycarbonfootprint.com)

In two centuries, people will still want to drive cars, fly in airplanes and have lighting in their houses. “Everybody I know thinks there will be big price increases with the end of easy oil and there’ll be a struggle over the resources,” he said Monday. The young scientists in the audience “need to figure out how to keep that struggle from turning into a hot war.”

Toward that end, Laughlin established some principles about hydrocarbons such as gas, oil and coal: everyone wants the cheapest gas possible; when oil runs out, prices will fluctuate but can be managed with technologies in development; and when coal ultimately runs out, further innovation will have to happen to keep society stable.

“Why not just use less coal?” he asked. He showed a graph that linked burning carbon with an increase in gross domestic product, or GDP, for several countries. “This is why nobody wants to go first” when it comes to cutting nationwide carbon use, he added. “We will never have a no-carbon economy.”

Another reason we’ll never fully escape carbon: existing and developing technologies can ease some aspects of the energy-source problem, but the laws of physics create a barrier for others. For instance, nuclear power, solar and wind can keep the lights on when hydrocarbons are no longer widely available. “Right now nobody likes nuclear power, but who do you think would vote against nuclear power if you gave them a choice between nuclear and the lights won’t go on?” asked Laughlin. Coal can be converted to gasoline, if necessary, as the Germans did during World War II using a process developed by Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch in the 1920s. But no other fuel currently offers the energy density—the energy per unit weight—that jet fuel provides for airplane flight. “It’s fundamentally impossible to improve on jet fuel because it would break the laws of physics,” pronounced Laughlin. “You can’t have airplanes unless you make hydrocarbon fuel.”

Laughlin said the Fischer-Trophsch process, which produces liquid hydrocarbons by passing carbon monoxide and hydrogen over iron or other catalysts, can use different feedstocks. In the 1940s, the Germans used coal. Today, several plants are coming online that start with natural gas instead of coal for a better carbon footprint. A couple of the largest are a Shell facility in Malasia and one in Qatar. In the future, there will be other feeds, such as plant materials.

Agriculture alone won’t be sufficient as a source—for the U.S., the required area would be slightly bigger than the state of Texas. But a combination of sources, perhaps including saltwater-grown plants, could get us there in the relatively near term. “Oil will disappear and there’ll be no change at the gas pump because there’ll already be technologies in place,” predicts Laughlin. “The good news is once you build these [Fischer-Tropsch] plants, you can use anything, including garbage, for the biofuel conversion. The big problem is the initial capital cost.” We can adapt the facilities over time.

Eventually, said Laughlin, today’s situation, where energy is relatively costly and carbon is cheap, will be reversed: “200 years from now there will be a new industry that doesn’t exist now. 200 years from now, energy scarcity is not the problem; carbon scarcity is the problem.” What then?

Ultimately, predicts Laughlin, we will learn how to reclaim carbon from air. That carbon could feed into a modified Fischer-Trophsch process. “This development is good news if it happens, and I think it will happen,” he concluded.

By Mariette DiChristina

(according to scientificamerican.com)

Eating all your vegetables was a lot better for you in the ’50s. Store-bought veggies weren’t as pretty back then, but according to USDA data, they were packed with a lot more nutrients than their modern counterparts. The likely reason for the nutritional drop is that hybrid crops are often bred for size and color, not nutrients. Below, the stats for a few crops that have gone to seed.

Arsenic is a poisonous chemical element found in minerals and it is present in oil. High levels of arsenic in seawater can enable the toxin to enter the food chain. It can disrupt the photosynthesis process in marine plants and increase the chances of genetic alterations that can cause birth defects and behavioural changes in aquatic life. It can also kill animals such as birds that feed on sea creatures affected by arsenic.

In the study, a team from Imperial College London has discovered that oil spills can partially block the ocean’s natural filtration system and prevent this from cleaning arsenic out of the seawater. The researchers say their study sheds light on a new toxic threat from the Gulf of Mexico oil leak.

Arsenic occurs naturally in the ocean, but sediments on the sea floor filter it out of seawater, which keeps the levels of naturally occurring arsenic low. However, arsenic is also flushed into the ocean in wastewater from oil rigs and from accidental oil spills and leakages from underground oil reservoirs.

In the study, the researchers discovered that oil spills and leakages clog up sediments on the ocean floor with oil, which prevents the sediments from bonding with arsenic and burying it safely underground with subsequent layers of sediment. The scientists say this shutdown of the natural filtration system causes arsenic levels in seawater to rise, which means that it can enter the marine ecosystem, where it becomes more concentrated and poisonous the further it moves up the food chain.

The scientists say their work demonstrates how the chemistry of sediments in the Gulf of Mexico may be affected by the current oil leak. Professor Mark Sephton, from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, says:

“We can’t accurately measure how much arsenic is in the Gulf at the moment because the spill is ongoing. However, the real danger lies in arsenic’s ability to accumulate, which means that each subsequent spill raises the levels of this pollutant in seawater. Our study is a timely reminder that oil spills could create a toxic ticking time bomb, which could threaten the fabric of the marine ecosystem in the future.”

Wimolporn Wainipee, postgraduate and lead author of the study from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, adds:

“We carried out our study before the leak in the Gulf of Mexico occurred, but it gives us a big insight into a potential new environmental danger in the region. Thousands of gallons of oil are leaked into the world’s oceans every year from big spills, offshore drilling and routine maintenance of rigs, which means many places may be at risk from rising arsenic levels, which could in the long run affect aquatic life, plants and the people who rely on the oceans for their livelihoods.”

For their research, the team analysed a mineral called goethite, one of the most abundant ocean sediments in the world, which is an iron bearing oxide.

The team carried out experiments in the laboratory that mimicked conditions in the ocean, to see how the goethite binds to arsenic under natural conditions. They discovered that seawater alters the chemistry of goethite, where low pH levels in the water create a positive change on the surface of goethite sediments, making them attractive to the negatively charged arsenic.

However, the scientists discovered that when they added oil, this created a physical barrier, covering the goethite sediments, which prevented the arsenic in the oil from binding to them. The team also found that the oil changed the chemistry of the sediments, which weakened the attraction between the goethite and arsenic.

In the future, the researchers plan to analyse other minerals such as clays and carbonates that are sediments on the ocean floor. Sediment content varies from ocean to ocean and the researchers will analyse how oil affects their ability to bind to arsenic after a spill.

(according to sciencedaily.com)

How can you get there all the time? How can we repeat those creative episodes which seems to have no real connection with one each other? Is there anything capable to make our inspiration run on auto-pilot? In today’s post I’ll try to respond to some of those questions.

First of all, the main answer is “Yes”. I think we can re-create inspiration whenever we need it. Didn’t say this is going to be easy, but it’s possible. And second, I think inspiration is not something outside, something you can reach to. It’s something inside, something that you have to learn to let out.

We’re creatives beings, we modify our world in ways it was never modified before. And inspiration is our normal state as human beings. The only reason we can’t always be in that flow is because we’re blocking it. Consciously or, most of the time, unconsciously. We’re building perception walls around our core in order to behave like civilized citizens in the society or because we’re too afraid to let out our full potential. We’re finding excuses and we’re inventing lies, just to avoid the fact that we are inspired people, ready to change the world with a smile. And when we really need that internal power, we can’t find it anymore. It was already buried by our own social conventions or internal fears.

The good news is that you can overcome these blocks. You can find ways to remove the walls and freely manifest your entire potential. Here are 9 verified techniques to boost your inspiration whenever you need it. They’re all based on the approach that we don’t have to search for inspiration but merely remove the blocks in front of it.

1. Free Writing

Start with a blank piece of paper. Put it in front of you and start writing whatever crosses your mind. Don’t bother about grammar or punctuation, just follow your thoughts as close as you can. Write everything you think, regardless of the connection with that specific project you have to work on. In the beginning you’ll find it a little difficult to focus and maybe even struggle a bit to identify your thoughts. But once you wrote several sentences, a surprising flow of thoughts will emerge. You’ll be surprised by the noise in your head. You have so many thoughts in the background and getting them out of your head will seem to last for ever. At some point, the noise will start to lower. Your thoughts will be outside your brain and your focus will slowly start to shift towards your project. Keep writing until you surprise yourself writing your great ideas about your current project.

2. Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is a fantastic creativity booster. As opposed to linear documents, mind maps are more like graphs, with nodes of information which in turn holds other nodes of information. You can create a mind map for a book, describing each chapter as a node, or for a project, defining each feature as a node. Whenever you have the time to re-create your project, do it with a mind map. Start with the title and then add nodes with features or goals. You can use a software program for that or you can use a blank paper, the physical support doesn’t really matters. One of the biggest things about mind maps is that you see all the project at once. And out of this perspective, from the height of bird-eye view, something will start to change in your project. You’ll start to see new connections, missing links or unnecessary clutter. Before you know it, you will work on your project and feel inspired.

3. Switching Work Places

Ask for a day out of office from your boss and go out. Start to work at home, for instance. Switching work places will have a beneficial effect on your brain. There will be a lot of new stuff to be processed, a lot of your immediate focus will be on the new stimulus around you, so you won’t have enough to keep the roadblocks in place. That’s the mechanism. Whenever you’re surrounded with something new, your internal strings are loose. And that’s a good news if you’re searching for some inspiration. The trick here is to chose your alternative workplaces wisely enough so they will give you plenty of comfort while still challenging your focus with new stimulus. Don’t spend too much time only at home or at the office. Move on, find other places. I had very good results while working in public libraries as well as in coffee shops.

4. Ask Why?

That’s a process I learned from my 3 year old girl. Just ask “why?” until you have nothing more to answer. “Why do I have to make this website?”, “Because I signed a contract.” , “Why did I sign the contract?”, “Because I liked the project.”, “Why I liked the project?”. You go the idea, just play it until you can’t answer anymore. As for the other tip, this one will force your brain to work on what it already knows, let it out question by question and gradually make room for your creative solutions. Even if you think it’s pretty easy to get to the end of the questions, I can assure you it’s not. You’ll be surprised how inventive you can be when it comes to your own motivations. But when you really reach the point “no more answer”, that’s a real breakthrough, believe me. That is the moment you can actually start to work on your project.

5. Find Similarities

Find the closest projects to your assignment and watch them. If it’s an ecommerce website, find the best 5 ecomerce websites and start staring at them. If it’s about a fashion website, find the best 5 fashion websites and start scrutinizing them. This is not intended to make you blatantly copy other people’s work, but to start an internal vibe on your future project. Sometimes you need a starting note just like a musician. All songs are made from the same notes, it’s the specific combination that makes them valuable and uniques. It’s the same in every other area. You use the same tools and instruments like every other people. You work with ideas the same way a musician works with notes. So, find a place to get a decent “E” or “F” and see if it’s matching your internal vibe. Find that specific note and play your own song.

6. Postpone It For A Short While

One of the things that worked pretty well for me was to short term postpone some of the projects I had. Of course, if the context allowed that. If there was a heavy deadline, I couldn’t do this, obviously. But whenever I had enough time to start a project and didn’t had any inspiration at all, I left it in my inbox and reviewed it every morning until something kicked out. Postponing it will cheat a little bit on your internal blocks, it will make the project fly “under the radar“. It’s like keeping a low profile until you find your best opportunity. If you take out the strain on that project a little bit, your internal guardians will start to think it’s not that important and will stop blurring it. You will soon realize you had that brilliant idea about how to kickstart it all the time. It was there from the beginning, but it needed a little time to grow up.

What change can we effect? What’s the difference we want to make in the world?

Gandhi said, “In a gentle way you can shake the world.” Here are some things to think about how to do just that …

1. Know that all significant change throughout history has occurred not because of nations, armies, governments and certainly not committees. They happened as a result of the courage and commitment of individuals. People like Joan of Ark, Albert Einstein, Clara Barton, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison and Rosa Parks. They might not have done it alone, but they were, without question, the change makers.

2. Believe that you have a unique purpose and potential in the world. It’s not so much something to create as to be discovered. And it’s up to you to discover it. Believe that you can and will make a difference.

3. Recognize that everything you do, every step you take, every sentence you write, every word you speak-or DON’T speak–counts. Nothing is trivial. The world may be big, but there are no small things. Everything matters.

4. To be the change you want to see in the world, you don’t have to be loud. You don’t have to be eloquent. You don’t have to be elected. You don’t even have to be particularly smart or well educated. You do, however, have to be committed.

5. Take personal responsibility. Never think “it’s not my job”. It’s a cop-out to say, “What can I do, I’m only one person.” You don’t need everyone’s cooperation or anyone’s permission to make changes. Remember this little gem, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.”

6. Don’t get caught up in the how of things. If you’re clear on what you want to change and why you want to change it, the how will come. Many significant things have been left undone because someone let the problem solving interfere with the decision-making.

7. Don’t wait for things to be right in order to begin. Change is messy. Things will never be just right. Follow Teddy Roosevelt’s timeless advice, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

8. The genesis for change is awareness. We cannot change what we don’t acknowledge. Most of the time, we aren’t aware of what’s wrong or what’s not working. We don’t see what could be. By becoming more aware, we begin the process of change.

9. Take to heart these words from Albert Einstein–arguably one of the smartest change masters who ever lived: “All meaningful and lasting change starts first in your imagination and then works its way out. Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

10. In order for things to change, YOU have to change. We can’t change others; we can only change ourselves. However, when WE change, it changes everything. And in doing so, we truly can be the change we want to see in the world.

The following is inscribed on the tomb of an Anglican Bishop in Westminster Abby (1100 A.D.) …

When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country.

But it, too, seemed immovable.

As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it.

And now, as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize: If I had only changed myself first, then by example I would have changed my family.

From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country, and who knows, I may have even changed the world.

Since my 10-point list above was inspired by Gandhi’s belief, it seems appropriate to end with another of his quotes: “Consciously or unconsciously, every one of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger and we will make not only our own happiness, but that of the world at large.”

by Michael Angier

(at positivepath.net)

This is money out of your pocket, and it’s bad for the environment: the electricity generated by fossil fuels for a single home — almost 8500 Btu’s annually for an average home, puts more carbon dioxide into the air than two average cars.

Tips to help get you started:

• Tuneup Your HVAC System
  Clean air filters regularly and have your heating and cooling equipment tuned annually by a licensed contractor to save energy and increase comfort at home. When it’s time to replace your old equipment, choose a high efficiency model, and make sure it is properly sized and installed.
• Efficient Appliances
  When you replace an appliance, look for products with an ENERGY STAR® label. ENERGY STAR-qualified products are available in more than 40 product categories, including lighting, home electronics, heating and cooling equipment and appliances. If your local utility supports appliance recycling, find out how you can participate.
• Be Water Wise
  Municipal water systems require a lot of energy to purify and distribute water. Don’t let water run while shaving or brushing teeth. Repair leaky faucets and toilets promptly. These simple actions can help households save hundreds of gallons of water each month: saving water, especially hot water, can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Be Smart with Power Management
  Did you know that your battery charger uses energy while plugged into the wall even when you’re not using it to charge your phone, laptop, or PDA? Unplug your appliances when not in use. Adjust power management settings for your computer to conserve energy. Consider using a power strip that can be turned off when you’re done using your computers, printers, wireless routers and other electronics. Turn off lights in unoccupied rooms.
• Replace Low-Efficiency Lightbulbs
  Replace incandescent bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL). Check the package to match the bulb type with your fixture to get the best performance and life from the CFL.
• Use Renewable Energy
  Solar energy can be used to heat homes, buildings, water, and to make electricity. Today, more than 200,000 houses in the United States take advantage of the sun’s energy. Find out about renewable energy incentives in your state: http://www.dsireusa.org/

More Smart Tips To Green Your Life:

• Buy Seasonal Produce
  Organic food tastes better and it’s kinder to the earth. Thirty percent of the fossil fuel used on farms goes into the making of fertilizers. Get greener by buying items grown or produced within 100 miles and you’ll reduce the amount of diesel fuel needed to ship food. You can get fresher food and help small-scale agriculture by shopping at neighborhood farmers’ markets.
• Think Before you drive…
  Save energy by carpooling, taking public transportation, riding a bike, or walking. Another way to reduce your carbon emissions is to combine errands when you do drive.
• Cars & Renewable Fuels
  Before buying a new or used vehicle, check out the EPA green buying guide: http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/. Highly fuel efficient cars, hybrids, and vehicles that use cleaner alternative fuels help reduce greenhouse gases emissions. Reduce pollution from your current vehicle by getting regular tune-ups and making sure your tires are properly inflated to achieve your vehicle’s optimal gas mileage.
• Reduce, Reuse & Recycle
  Recycle cans, bottles, plastic bags, and newspapers. Support recycling by purchasing items that are reusable and/or recyclable. When you recycle, you send less trash to the landfill and you help save resources that would be used in manufacturing non-recycled products.
• Spread The Word!
  Talk with your family and friends about climate change. Let them know the ways you’re changing your lifestyle to help prevent more climate changes.

The world depends upon the United Nations laws, which is dependent on every nations consistency of implementation. Any attempt by any one nation to create its own carbon trading scheme won’t work because it will lack worldwide investor certainty – the operating necessity for emissions trading. Everybody should know that, sooner or later – as the dangers of climate change begin to impact more noticeably – the UN must get involved in global emissions to override national interests.

The UN IPCC wants a 60 per cent emissions cut, and only if the world gives the UN some teeth to endorse the IPCC target can emissions levels be reigned in.

ACTION PLANS
Every federal, state, provincial and local government must develop policies and programs that integrate energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean distributed generation into a clean, low-cost, reliable energy system for their businesses and residents.

By adopting the following measures government administrators can effectively reduce emissions of air pollution and greenhouse gases, save money, promote economic development, and create jobs.

Such policies and programs include:

• Efficiency standards that reduce energy consumption and therefore decrease the cost of operating appliances and equipment.
• Improving energy performance in residential and commercial buildings through revised building codes and improved building design, and operation practices.
• Setting electricity portfolio requirements for renewable energy and combined heat and power resources and technology.
• Removing obstacles to advance high-efficiency, clean distributed generation systems through the development of new electricity market rules.
• Establishing funding for cost-effective energy efficiency programs.

PROJECTS TO CUT EMISSIONS
Opportunities exist to conserve fossil fuels, improve energy efficiency, recover methane and sequester carbon. By developing implementing cost-effective clean energy and environmental strategies governments can achieve environmental and clean energy goals while achieving public health and economic benefits.

Through partnering with relevant agencies governments can develop and implement a comprehensive strategy for using existing and new energy policies and programs to promote energy efficiency, clean distributed generation, renewable energy and other clean energy sources that can provide air quality and other benefits.

Climate leaders can team up with individual companies to develop long-term, comprehensive climate change strategies and set corporate-wide greenhouse gas reduction goals and inventory their emissions to measure progress. Climate leaders should include corporations whose emissions represent more than eight percent of a nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

Industries can promote profitable opportunities for reducing emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Voluntary programs can overcome a wide range of informational, technical and institutional barriers to reducing methane emissions, while creating profitable activities for the coal, natural gas, petroleum, landfill and agricultural industries.

Projects can be devised to eliminate costly municipal solid waste and select industrial wastes, benefiting the bottom line for emissions managements and reducing the amount of waste deposited in landfills. Such projects should allow for waste reduction programs tailored to specific needs. Waste reduction can save organizations money through reduced purchasing and waste disposal costs.

GROWING TREES TO OFFSET EMISSIONS
Plants remove carbon dioxide from the air through a process known as carbon sequestration. Planting trees, practicing sustainable forestry, using conservation tillage on croplands and other agricultural and forestry practices can help slow the growth of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.

Many nonprofits and private sector companies and organizations are exploring ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by implementing sequestration and other agriculture/forestry projects. Multi-governmental programs are needed to support land use practices that help capture carbon dioxide as a by-product of cropland management of soils or forest management for timber.

WASTE MANAGEMENT
Solid waste disposal contributes to greenhouse gas emissions in a variety of ways. There are four main stages of the life cycles of products:

• Raw material acquisition (or virgin inputs), manufacturing, recycling, and waste management.
•  From the first stage—raw material acquisition (or virgin inputs)—emissions are released from the energy used from the materials’ extraction process, such as when oil and ore is extracted.
•  The second stage—manufacturing—is the process that transforms raw materials into products, which requires the combustion of fossil fuels for energy. In addition, some manufacturing processes release other GHGs.
•  The third stage—recycling—is the stage in which a product that has been used can be recycled into new products. While manufacturing products from recycled inputs still requires energy, fewer raw materials are necessary. GHG emissions are therefore offset by the avoided fossil-fuel use for raw material acquisition. In addition, for products that require wood or paper inputs, recycling reduces the need to cut down trees, increasing carbon sequestration in forests.
•  The fourth and final stage is waste management. If a product is not recycled at the end of its useful life, it goes through one of three waste management options: composting, combustion, and landfilling. All three use energy for transporting and managing the waste, but they produce additional GHGs to varying degrees and types.

(according to DailyPlanetMedia)