globlal warming

THE RECYCLABLE TRANSFER PACKAGING ROUNDTABLE

Did you know...?

2,000,000,000 lbs of mostly virgin tree fibers form cardboard boxes used to ship perishable foods to grocers, restaurants, and prepared meal producers, and they are then dumped or burned.
1,700 railcars of nonrenewable petroleum waxes are used to coat these boxes, making them nonrecyclable and noncompostable because these waxes block the screens and felts essential to forming a smooth sheet on a paper machine.
Cost competitive chemistry exists from a dozen manufacturers to substitute these wax-based water and oil based barriers
Global Green has gathered several of them in a Roundtable coalition along with those who make perishables boxes, pack them, distribute and retail their content, several recycled paper companies who want these boxes to be recyclable.



Did you know?

Typical building construction, use, and demolition, as well as the manufacturing of building materials, contribute significantly to environmental problems. In the United States, buildings account for:


36% of total energy use
65% of electricity consumption
30% of greenhouse gas emissions
30% of raw materials use
30% of waste output (equal to 136 million tons annually)
12% of potable water consumption
A typical 1700 sq. ft wood frame home requires the equivalent of clear cutting one-acre of forest
Despite all these intensive inputs, we are not constructing healthy buildings. More than 30% of buildings in the US have poor indoor air quality, a serious problem given that most people spend about 90% of their time indoors. A 1990 study by the American Medical Association and the U.S. Army found that indoor air quality problems cost U.S. businesses 150 million workdays and about $15 billion in productivity losses each year. The World Health Organization puts the losses at close to $60 billion.

By the year 2010, another 38 million buildings are expected to be constructed in the US, bringing our country’s total to over 100 million. The challenge is to build those new buildings, and renovate the older ones, in ways that reverse these unhealthy trends. Fortunately, there are ways we – as consumers, designers, builders and product manufacturers – can respond to this challenge. By building green, we can assist in preserving natural habitats, watersheds, and ecosystems, protect air and water quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and solid waste, all while conserving natural resources and creating healthier indoor and outdoor environments.

Green building also has tangible economic and public health benefits. These include lower operating costs via reduced energy and water utility bills, and reduced maintenance and replacement costs due to greater durability of materials. The use of non-toxic materials in residential construction is especially important in protecting children from respiratory and other diseases.

In commercial settings, green building results in improved occupant health and comfort (primarily due to indoor air quality measures and daylighting) which in turn leads to higher produc-tivity, less absenteeism, and reduced insurance costs and liability risk.


On the hierarchy of human needs, shelter is second only to food. Everyone wants a place to live. One of the best and easiest ways to lessen the impact on the planet of fulfilling that need is to build environmentally-sound structures. Not only can we improve the global environment, building green can improve your local environment.

what makes products green??????

The products and materials in Global Green USA’s Green Building Resource Center save energy, conserve water, protect natural resources, contribute to a healthy indoor environment, and reduce buildings’ impact on the community.


Because each project is different and each person’s reasons for building green are different, priorities need to be set when selecting specific products.

It is important to carefully compare the characteristics of the products displayed in the Center. The choices you make will be the result of these comparisons and often priorities differ depending on the specific environmental issues in your community. For example, in one place the most pressing concern might be overflowing landfills while in another it could be contaminated stormwater runoff. For children and some individuals, limiting exposure to toxic chemicals in the home is a major priority. Understanding these differing priorities is key in determining what green material is right for your project.

Green building is as much about design strategy as about selecting green materials.

Integrated design – thinking about how a building works as a system and designing that system to be environmentally-friendly – is a key part of green building. Certain products, particularly those that deal with energy, are not inherently green but can used in ways that enhance the environmental performance of a building. For example, a dual-pane, low-E window may not be green in terms of its material components or manufacturing process, but if used strategically it can reduce energy use by maximizing the collection of winter sunlight and blocking out the summer sun. Some design considerations that will help you choose the right materials include building orientation, use patterns, durability, and local availability.

There is no perfect green material. Trade offs are inevitable!

Building materials have multiple impacts on the environment, both positive and negative. One common way to assess these impacts is through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which considers the full range of a product’s environmental impacts, from resource extraction to manufacture and then through installation and ultimate disposal. This type of analysis allows for comprehensive and multidimensional product comparisons. With flooring for example, LCA weighs the resource-extraction impacts and durability of hardwoods with the manufacturing impacts, emissions during use and potential recyclability of carpet.


Defining whether a building material is “green” is not an exact science. But there is still a role for objective analysis and testing.

Most of the materials in the Center are included in GreenSpec, a database of approximately 2000 environmentally-friendly building products published by the Environmental Building News. GreenSpec screens its products based on standards and testing procedures established by third-party groups with an interest in green building. This scientific analysis helps to separate green products from “greenwashed” products.




Within the Center, those products which have made it through this filter are divided into five basic green building categories.

Save Energy

Products that either reduce heating and cooling loads, such as building orientation, high-quality windows, and insulation.
Products that use less energy, such as Energy Star-rated appliances, efficient heating and cooling systems and florescent lamps.
Products that produce energy, such as solar electricity generation systems.
Conserve Water

Products that conserve water above and beyond what is required by law, such as dual-flush toilets and under-sink flow restrictors
Products that consume less water, such as native landscaping and drought-tolerant plantings.
Contribute to a Safe, Healthy Indoor Environment


Products that don’t release significant pollutants into the building, such as no-VOC paints, formaldehyde-free cabinets, and non-toxic caulks, sealers and adhesives, CRI Green Label carpets and pads.
Products that block the spread of or remove indoor pollutants, such as duct mastic, effective ventilation equipment, and air and water filters.
Products that warn occupants of health hazards, such as Carbon Monoxide detectors and humidity sensors.
Protect Natural Resources

Products with recycled content, such as carpet, tile, wallboard, and wood replacements made from polystyrene.
Products made from agricultural waste material, such as wheat straw, sunflower stalks, and rice hulls.
Products that reduce material use, such as drywall clips and concrete pigments that turn concrete slabs into finished floors.
Products made from rapidly renewable materials, such as bamboo flooring, natural linoleum, cork and textiles made from wool, sisal, hemp and organic cotton.
Wood products from sustainably managed forests, certified according to the principles of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Salvaged products, such as bricks, lumber and plumbing fixtures.
Reduce Buildings’ Impact on the Community

Products that mitigate the effects of stormwater runoff, such as permeable pavers, green roofs and cisterns.
Products that provide easy access to alternative modes of transportation such as bike racks and storage units.
Products that do not require chemical pesticides or treatment, such as plastic lumber, physical termite barriers and native vegetation.
Products that contain no dioxin-producing polyvinylchoride (PVC) or ozone-depleting HCFCs.




WATER LESS
Fix leaky faucets and toilets (A small leak from a faucet can waste 50 gallons of water a day and a leaky toilet can waste 260 gallons a day.)

Always wash full loads of clothes and dishes. (Washing machines use 30 to 60 gallons of water for the wash cycle)

Install high efficiency showerheads, faucets and toilets. (High efficiency showerheads, which cost about $15, can reduce water use by 50%. Water efficient toilets use 50 to 80% less water.)

Water lawns and gardens in the evening or early in the morning to avoid excessive evaporation. (On average, about 35% of household water goes to tending yards)

Replant your yard with native wildflowers, shrubs, grasses and groundcovers.(Native plants are less-water intensive especially in arid climates)

Use fertilizers and pesticides sparingly and carefully. (Residential use of pesticides accounts for about 8% of all pesticide applications. Urban runoff accounts for about 14% of common water pollution and just over half of that is due to residential use of fertilizers).
SUPPORT WATER WISE PUBLIC INVESTMENTS Upgrading and repairing infrastructure can reduce the amount of water wasted in urban areas and allow cities to extend services to other areas.
As much as 60 percent of water is lost through leaky pipes.

Boston, Massachusetts avoided having to divert two large rivers to increase its water supply by repairing leaky pipes and installing water-saving fixtures in public buildings.

Water treatment plants can be modernized so that they are more efficient and recycle wastewater for non-drinking water use.

Conservation of land can help improve water quality
Protecting watersheds is less costly than trying to make polluted water safe for drinking.

Cities can also treat wastewater more inexpensively through the use of wetlands.
CHOOSE WATER WISE FOOD & FARMERS Worldwide, agriculture accounts for more than 70 percent of freshwater consumption, mainly for irrigation of agricultural crops. Farmers can make several changes in how they use irrigation water, such as switching to drip irrigation, which reduces the amount of water used by 30-70 percent while increasing crop yields. Another way to reduce the amount of water used for irrigation is to adjust our diets
Seek out and support local farmer's markets. They reduce the amount of pesticides and fungicides used on foods that wind up in our water supplies. (Of the 28 most commonly used pesticides, at least 23 are carcinogenic and wind up in our water supplies).

Eat less meat (Producing a quarter pound hamburger requires at least 100 gallons of water) (It takes 15,000 tons of water to produce a ton of beef, while a ton of grain only requires 1,000 tons).
PROTECT OUR WATERWAYS More than half of the world's major rivers are being seriously depleted and polluted. Sadly much of the pollution comes from non-point source pollution or the run-off from individuals. We can change that by:
Reduce household pollutants by cutting down and properly disposing of herbicides, pesticides and cleaning products. Never pour oil, engine fluids, cleaners or household chemicals into storm drains or down the sink.

Always be sure that used motor oil is recycled or disposed of properly.

Reduce pollution from cars and trucks. (An estimated 44 percent of water pollution comes from land-based pathways. An additional 33 percent is airborne pollution that is carried by winds)
SUPPORT SMART WATER POLICIES
Invest in smart water infrastructure and technologies
Increase environmental regulations of polluting industries
Tell government leaders to fulfill financial pledges for clean water
Ensure that water is not treated as a commodity.



Here in the United States, threats to our water supplies are exacerbated by urban and agricultural runoff, pesticide and toxic pollution, clearcutting of forests, and by overconsumption of aquifers, rivers and streams.
Recent federal proposals to relax Clean Water standards, including allowing increases of mercury pollution from power plants while reducing funding to domestic and international water conservation and pollution-prevention measures are only exacerbating the problem at home and abroad.

A recent survey found that clean fresh drinking water is more important to the majority of Americans than any other issue. While we invest billions of dollars in highways, airports and other infrastructure programs, the Bush administration has proposed cutting the EPA's Clean Water funding.

We must demand that our political leaders invest in clean water protection and take actions ourselves to reduce our water use. Fortunately, there are simple things everyone can do to conserve water and reduce pollution:









Global Green USA: Stemming Climate Change

Global Green seeks to create a value shift to reconnect humanity with the environment. For details, click here to view one-pager .


Global Green’s innovative threefold climate strategy includes:

1) SHOWING THE HUMAN FACE OF GLOBAL WARMING
Global Green USA led a scientific, political, and celebrity delegation to the Arctic that included Salma Hayek and Jake Gyllenhaal to learn more about the impacts of global warming on the Inuit people.

Global Green USA partnered with Brad Pitt to highlight the impacts of global warming on the citizens of New Orleans and call for the green rebuilding of the city.

2) ADVOCATING FOR SMART CLIMATE SOLUTIONS
Global Green promotes smart climate solutions through high-profile initiatives including its annual Red Carpet/Green Cars Oscars campaign, where celebrities arrive at the Academy Awards in fuel-efficient vehicles instead of gas-guzzling limousines.

Global Green’s “Smart Green Building Solutions” that save money and improve health and the environment have been featured on Good Morning America, the Today Show, and dozens of other national media outlets educating the public about ways they can help stop global warming.

3) DEMONSTRATING CLIMATE ACTION FOR COMMUNITIES
Global Green is pioneering efforts to build green schools and green affordable housing and is promoting solar power for low-income communities that are most impacted by the threats of global warming.

Global Green insured that Californias landmark Climate legislation incorporated provisions to benefit low-income families.

clean transportation!!!!

The 450 million vehicles on the road today account for half of the world's total consumption, generate nearly one fifth of greenhouse gas emissions, and have pervasive effects on land use and air quality. Personal transportation (i.e., home use) is responsible for 30 to 50% of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, 33% of toxic water pollution, and over 45% of toxic air emissions. In addition, fueling passenger cars accounts for more than one quarter of world oil consumption.

Building roads for all those cars also creates a lot of environmental problems, fragmenting habitat, consuming resources for their construction, and generating water pollution from runoff. In the U.S., roads and parking lots occupy one half of urban space. That much land, if dedicated to food production, could produce enough grain to feed 200 million people per year.

Light trucks and sports utility vehicles (SUV) are all the rage today, but have severe implications for the environment. The average new light truck or SUV gets lower gas mileage and does not have the same emissions standards as a new passenger car, meaning it will emit more pollutants than a new car.

Of course, there are ways to navigate through our daily lives with less environmental impact while still enjoying the open road- with smarter driving habits, one day our roads could indeed be much more open!

global solarfund!!!!!!!

Overview

Join Global Green USA (GG USA) and Green Cross International (GCI) presented the call for a $50 billion global solar fund in Bonn at the intergovernmental Renewables 2004 conference (read press advisory). The Fund is also presented at the International Forum of Cultures ("The Peoples Forum") in Barcelona, Spain on June 2. GCI Chairman Mikhail Gorbachev is presenting the Solar Fund at the Energy Dialogues portion of the Forum to highlight a ways to drive down the cost of solar for the energy poor in the developing world, and to reduce peak demand in urban centers.

Main Objective(s)

Create sufficient funding for solar photovoltaic systems and the use of photovoltaic systems to drive down the cost.
Increase the quality of life in rural areas in the developing world.
Increase electricity system stability in urban centers worlwide.
Promote energy security and stability for a peaceful future, as well as reduce existing and future greenhouse gas and air emissions
Establish USD 50 Billion Global Solar Fund
Set a concrete global goal and vision for increasing the implementation of photovoltaic systems. (To date these goals have been established at the regional or national level).
Support photovoltaic systems, which are particularly applicable to rural areas in the developing world, as solution for 2 billion energy impoverished indviduals around the world.
Expected Results

Reduction in the price photovoltaics to below 10 cents/KWh, thus making the technology comparable to other energy generation options.
Improved quality of life in rural areas of developing countries where electricity plays a major role in imroving access to clean drinking water, and increased grid reliability in urban areas globally.
Financially feasible option for large-scale solar-generated hydrogen.
Target Area /Place

Rural areas and cities in developing world in particular Africa, urban centers in industrialized world with constrained grids, bad air pollution.

Financial Tools

The Global Solar Fund will be financed by local, regional, and national governments through a variety of financial tools. These include grants, loans, tax incentives, and development bonds.The Fund will also include industry commitments to reduced cost installations.

Monitoring Process and Time Frame

The Fund is a 10-year effort. Commitments to the Fund will be tracked by a central agency (e.g., GEF) and managed under the auspices of the United Nations. Green Cross will also monitor commitments to the Fund and advocate for additional commitments. 50% or more of the Fund will be dedicated to the energy impoverished developing world - in rural areas and cities -- through the multi-lateral central agency, and coordinated bi-lateral commitments. Installations in urban centers in industrialized countries that are funded and coordinated locally will also be tracked by the agency.



green buildings schoos and cities !!
The Green Building Cities and Schools Program is fostering sustainability within urban environments by changing patterns of natural resource consumption through four initiatives:

Greening Affordable Housing Initiative
Green Schools Initiative
Local Government Green Building Initiative
Sustainable Energy
Zero Energy Affordable Housing
Global Green USA establishes collaborative partnerships with local governments, affordable housing organizations, and other public and private entities to facilitate the development, adoption, and implementation of sustainable policies, programs, and practices. These partnerships inform and direct education, policy development, and advocacy efforts at the local, state, and federal levels. Global Green USA also partners with housing developers and public agencies to 'green' select affordable housing projects.

Over the past decade, Global Green USA has established itself as a national leader in promoting green building practices in the affordable housing community. Through our Greening of Affordable Housing Initiative (GAHI), we work extensively with non-profit community development corporations, architects, financial institutions, and government agencies at the local, state, and national level.

Green affordable housing directly benefits individuals and families in need by reducing energy bills and creating healthier living environments. Affordable housing developers and operators gain through higher quality, more efficient, and more durable buildings.

Through the Greening Affordable Housing Initiative, Global Green works to encourage the adoption of green building strategies and materials in affordable housing. Working with green building and affordable housing organizations, Global Green provides information and education on the practices and components of green affordable housing, cost issues and financial strategies, and relevant policy initiatives. Global Green has conducted over 30 workshops on greening affordable housing; facilitated over 25 green building charrettes; and authored publications and case studies.

Global Green has provided technical assistance to nearly two dozen affordable housing developers nationwide, including for the Nueva Vista Family Housing project in Santa Cruz, CA and the recently completed Plaza Apartments in San Francisco. Currently Global Green is also collaborating with the Habitat for Humanity New York City affiliate’s Atlantic Avenue project in Brooklyn, a LEED-Home pilot project.

GAHI is engaged in a range of endeavors locally and nationally to encourage the development of green affordable housing, including:

Consulting with Habitat for Humanity on their Operation Home Delivery program which will rebuild over 3,000 homes in the hurricane devastated Gulfcoast region.
Conducting design charrettes for affordable housing developers across the country.
Providing technical assistance to non-profit developers on utilizing green building strategies.
Developing and advocating for the inclusion of green building criteria in affordable housing funding mechanisms, such as the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee and the Los Angeles Housing Trust Fund.
Participating as a national partner in the Enterprise Community Partners’ Green Communities Initiative, a five-year $555 million initiative to build more than 8,500 environmentally healthy homes for low-income families.
Authoring the “Making Affordable Housing Truly Affordable” report, which provides an analysis of green building criteria in state qualified allocation plans (each state’s guidelines for allocating low-income housing tax credits) nationally.


A green school, also known as a high performance school, is a community facility that is designed, built, renovated, operated, or reused in an ecological and resource-efficient manner. Green schools protect occupant health, provide a productive learning environment, connect students to the natural world, increase average daily attendance, reduce operating costs, improve teacher satisfaction and retention, and reduce overall impact to the environment.

The Need for Green Schools: Schools districts in Southern California are embarking on a major wave of facility construction, planning to build approximately 200 new schools in the next several years. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) alone has plans to construct 150 new schools. How these schools are built will have a tremendous impact on student performance, teacher and staff working environment, district operating and maintenance costs, and the region’s environmental quality for decades to come.

Green schools lessen the impact of building construction on the environment and set an example for future generations that environmental quality is essential to our long-term well being. They also have benefits in several key performance areas:

Protect Student and Teacher Health – Schools designed with attention to proper ventilation, material selection, acoustical quality and other indoor environmental factors, can expect improved student and teacher health and higher attendance;
Better Student Performance – Attention to site planning and adequate daylighting has been shown to heighten student performance by as much as 25%;
Lower Operating Costs – Operating costs for energy and water can be reduced by 20% to 40%, allowing more money to be used for teacher salaries, textbooks and computers;
Provide a Unique Educational Opportunity – When advanced technology and design in new schools are made visible, buildings can become teaching tools and important features of science, math, and environmental curriculum.


Global Green USA works in partnership with local governments and other public entities to demonstrate the benefits of green building, outline options for establishing green building programs that protect local quality of life and the environment, provide training for staff and constituents, and encourage the development of incentives for green building projects. Current and past partners include San Mateo County and the Cities of San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Santa Clarita, and Irvine.

GG USA's Local Government Green Building Initiative offers:

Needs Analysis and Strategic Planning

Inventory current environmental programs and policies
Set green building program priorities
Conduct outreach with building industry stakeholders
Develop program options
Assess staffing and financial impacts
Conduct Commission and Council presentations
Green Building Program Design

Determine program structure and phasing
Develop educational materials
Identify incentives for participation
Develop marketing plan
Case Studies and Design Tools

Research and write case studies
Develop green building guidelines and design tools
Prepare local green building resource guides
Workshops and Training

Green Building 101
Green Building Program and Policy Development
Overview of Green Building Materials
Strategies for Greening Affordable Housing

sustainable energy !!!
The goal of the Sustainable Energy Initiative is to build a sustainable energy future through increasing conservation, improving efficiency, and raising the percentage of renewable energy in the nation's overall energy portfolio. The initiative includes public outreach on energy-efficient practices for homes and businesses, promoting green power, working to establish rigorous energy efficiency standards for federal and state agencies, and advocating for increased investment in renewable energy technologies at the state and federal levels.

About Green Power

Green power is electricity generated from renewable sources. It includes solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and small hydro. Renewable sources are more environmentally friendly than traditional electricity generation. Unlike fossil fuels they emit little or no air pollution and leave behind no radioactive waste like nuclear. Most importantly, they are naturally replenished by the earth and sun

Solar: Converting energy from the sun into electricity using photovoltaic panels and solar thermal plants.



Wind: Harnessing the power of the wind using turbines (wind power is the fastest growing renewable energy technology).


Geothermal: Use of steam that lies below the earth's surface to generate electricity.



Biomass: Releasing solar energy stored in plants and organic matter by burning agricultural waste and other organic matter to generate power.


Small Hydro: Use of flowing water to power electric turbines
(small hydro plants are less than 30 megawatts in size)



Find out more about green power here: http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/

What Is Brown Power?

Brown power is power generated from environmentally hostile technology. The vast majority of electricity in the United States comes from coal, nuclear, large hydro, and natural gas plants.

Brown power generators are:

The single greatest source of air pollution in the United States, contributing to both smog and acid rain.
The greatest single contributor of global climate change gases including carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide.
Consider these additional facts:

The average California household's annual use of electricity produces the same amount of smog the average car would generate if driven across country from Los Angeles to New York City, and about the same amount of global warming-causing carbon dioxide if that same car was driven a third of the way around the world.

It is estimated that 50,000 people in the United States die each year from heart and lung disease due to air pollution linked to the burning of fossil fuels to generate electricity.

zero energy aford housing----
An opportunity exists to lower the utility bill cost burden to low-income families by raising awareness and building a viable financial model for Zero Energy New Homes.

The burden energy bills present to low-income families United States is often staggeringly heavy. Families significantly below the poverty level have been shown to spend as much as 19% of their income on utility bills study. While in some areas of the United States as many as a quarter of evictions of low-income renters were due to inability to pay utility bills.

According to the California Energy Commission (CEC) approximately half of new multifamily affordable housing units constructed each year are energy efficiency enough to qualify for Energy Star certification. Further, the CEC estimates only 2% of affordable housing developers integrate renewable energy features into their projects. Low use of energy efficiency and renewable energy in affordable housing projects stems from a lack of awareness and viable financial models with which to implement these measures.

With funding from the CEC, Global Green and affordable housing partners A Community of Friends and Community Housing Works and their local utility providers, LADWP and SDGE, seek to develop zero-energy affordable housing units with off-the-shelf technology and a robust financial model that will replicable by affordable housing developers