Amazon.com announced this week that it will now be featuring the EPEAT electronics rating system on its site for desktop computers, laptops, monitors, thin client devices and workstations. Standards listings for TVs, printers, fax machines and copiers are in the pipeline.
The site will identify products that carry the EPEAT rating and making it easy to browse products by rating level. Providing its customers with EPEAT ratings information, enables the consumer to select more environmentally friendly electronic products
EPEAT is a third-party rating system that analyzes products on 51 criteria. Products must meet 23 mandatory criteria, and they are awarded bronze, silver or gold ratings based on how many of the other criteria they meet. Key benchmarks address all facets of the products’ lifecycle, including elimination of toxic materials, recycled content, design for recycling, extended product longevity, increased energy efficiency, packaging and corporate responsibility, and availability of takeback and recycling services.
Products are rated Bronze, Silver or Gold according to the number of optional criteria they meet above the baseline of 23 required criteria. EPEAT maintains a verification system to ensure the accuracy of the product declarations and ratings.
To find EPEAT products at amazon.com, go to the Electronics Department and scroll down to the Green listings on the left bar – click on EPEAT Gold, Silver or Bronze to find products registered at each of the ratings levels.
Amazon has published the EPEAT information to more than 800 products on its site that have earned the rating.
Connecticut’s Official Climate Change Website reminds us of some of the simpler things we could be doing for a gentler footprint on the planet. Check out their website at CTClimateChange for links and more information.
What Can I Do?
There are lots of actions individuals can take to address climate change. Try some that are listed below.
CUT ENERGY USE AND COSTS AT HOME
CT offers many incentives for reducing energy use at home through the CT Energy Efficiency Fund.
Home Energy Solutions is an energy audit and weather sealing program for CL&P and UI customers who heat with electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, or propane. There is a $75 co-pay to receive this audit. A specialist will come to your home and perform an energy assessment, find and professionally seal critical air leaks, replace incandescent bulbs with compact florescent lamps, provide water conservation devices and more. Click here for information or an application or call 1-877-WISE-USE.
Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFL) are permanently sales tax exempt in Connecticut. Be sure to follow these guidelines on proper handling and recycling of CFLs. A ll Home Depot stores accept used CFLs for recycling.
Some CT homeowners are eligible for rebates of up to $500 for replacing furnaces with more efficient models. For more info, call the furnace rebate hotline at 1-866-940-4676.
www.ctsavesenergy.org and 877-WISE-USE provide additional information on energy efficiency incentives, including federal tax credits for energy efficient home improvements and incentives for efficient new home construction.
Click here for info on Energy Star retail products and discounted rates.
Click here for more tips on purchasing and using home electronics most efficiently.
SUPPORT CLEAN ENERGY Customers of CT Light & Power and United Illuminating can choose to support clean energy from wind power and small-scale hydroelectric power. Choose clean energy and you’ll be taking a big step towards cleaner air and healthier communities.
You can also encourage your town, business, faith community, and others to support 20% clean energy by 2010. Towns participating in CT Clean Energy Communities can earn solar panels.
CLEAN UP YOUR COMMUTE
About 40% of Connecticut’s greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation. Try some cleaner options:
Bike Everywhere and Bike to Work
Take the bus, train, or join a vanpool
Find commuting partners and enjoy commuting incentives through NuRide
Avoid unnecessary engine idling – If you’re stopped for more than 10 seconds, turn off your engine to save money and energy and leave the air cleaner.
View the “Waste Busters – Idling Myths” video.
BUY LOCALLY GROWN FOOD
Buy food that is grown locally to support Connecticut’s farmers and reduce food packaging and transportation emissions. You can buy locally grown food at many CT farms and farmers’ markets. Find out what’s in season and where to buy locally grown foods in your community at the BuyCTGrown website.
Schools can also buy local produce directly from farmers through the Farm-to-School program
RECYCLE
Recycling reuses resources, saves energy, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Contact your town public works department or DEP to find out how you can recycle more, compost and prevent waste. Find our more about how recycling reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
REDUCE SYNTHETIC FERTILIZER USE
A portion of nitrogen applied to soils is released as a greenhouse gas. Reducing the use of synthetic fertilizers also improves water quality and soil health. Adopt some tips from organic land care guidelines or use a certified organic landcare professional.
BUY AN ENERGY EFFICIENT VEHICLE
Any passenger car with an EPA rating of at least 40 mpg is sales tax exempt in CT. There are also federal income tax credits of up to $3,400 for hybrid vehicles.
Before you buy your next car, do some research on “greener” cars. You’ll save money on gas and contribute to cleaner air.
INSTALL CLEAN ENERGY AT YOUR HOME
The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund provides rebates on solar PV installations and a solar leasing program for CT residences. In addition solar thermal (including passive solar) and hot water systems, and geothermal systems are sales and property tax exempt in CT.
This past week the Environmental Protection Agency proposed new stricter standards for smog- related pollutants. The new standard would replace the one put into place by the Bush administration in 2008.
The proposal would set the standard for ground-level ozone at no more that 0.060 to 0.070 parts per million and would be phased into effect over a twenty year period. Regions with the worst smog pollution would be given more time to reach compliance that other areas.
Stricter emissions regulations would effect cars, trucks, trains, planes, ships construction equipment, factories, refiners, and landfills as well as hairspray, deodorant and other products sold in an aerosol form. In the east much of the smog related pollutants come from coal-fired power plants.
New rules could also lead to increased efforts to control the suburban sprawl of land development, resulting in more concentrated and well thought out new communities.
The proposed standards would bring substantial health benefits to millions of Americans that are suffering, especially the elderly and young.
Environmental groups say the proposed limits are within alignment with the level scientists say is needed to safeguard against increased respiratory diseases including aggravated asthma.
A ’secondary standard’ was also proposed by the Obama administration that would be seasonally based, to protect plants and trees from repeated exposure.
Open hearings will be taking place around the country for public comments. The EPA is expected to make a decision sometime in late summer.
As expected there has been push back from the various groups in the fossil fuel industry in particular, with regards to the costs that will be incurred. The EPA however, said that those costs would be offset by the benefits to human health and the cost savings experienced.
In announcing the proposals, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the agency was “stepping up to protect Americans from one of the most persistent and widespread pollutants we face. …Using the best science to strengthen these standards is a long- overdue action that will help millions of Americans breathe easier and live healthier.”
Deep breath everyone……… clean air something we should all expect? What do you think?
Many of you are familiar with the company Monsanto, which is a bio-tech company, intimately involved in our food system both in this country and around the world.
This movie was on French TV last year and has been circulating around the world. I became aware of it on something that had crossed my desk from Australia. The movie can be found in small segments on You Tube or here (and at Google Videos) in its entirety.
While it can be a bit dry at times, the information is well researched and pulled together. Most of the information is readily available on the internet at a vast assortment of places and would time a great deal of time to pull together. Thankfully, Marie- Monique Robin has done that for us and shares it here in: The World According to Monsanto:
Please post your thoughts in the comment section after reviewing.
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