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529     2012-05-18    “Natural Investments” Best in the World Business for Creating Positive Social Impact.

Natural Investments has been recognized as “Best for the World’ in a list of U.S. businesses with less than 10 employees creating the most overall positive social and environmental impact. Natural Investments and the other ‘Best for the World’ businesses earned a score in the top 10% of all Certified B Corporations with 10 employees or less, and, on average, 50% higher than the average score of nearly 2,000 other sustainable businesses that have completed the B Impact Assessment. The B Impact Assessment, governed by the nonprofit B Lab, is the most rigorous, comprehensive, and comparable independent assessment of overall corporate impact in the country, and shows the relative value businesses create for society by comparing nearly 200 individual metrics on corporate impact on workers, consumers, suppliers, community and the environment.

Reference(s):   (HopeDance, 2012,   )
Link(s)*:  http://www.hopedance.org/index.php/home/money-news/2470-jay-coen-gilbert)         

529     2012-05-18    Clean Energy Victory Bonds Proposed to Finance Renewable Energy Production.

Clean Energy Victory Bonds (CEVBs) are proposed U.S. Treasury bonds that will finance the production of innovative energy technologies in the US. The group Green America is promoting the idea in a new campaign to convince Congress to create the necessary legislation. Americans could purchase Clean Energy Victory Bonds from the US Treasury to help fund the rapid deployment of renewable energy projects and energy efficiency upgrades. CEVBs would enable anyone with savings to help put new renewable projects on the ground. They would offer flexible redemption options between 12 months and 30 years and create a safe investment for Americans that pays a competitive rate of return. More than 1,500 people replied to Green America's recent call asking who would invest in Clean Energy bonds given the chance.

Reference(s):   (Green America, 2012,   )
Link(s)*:  http://www.cleanenergyvictorybonds.org         

529     2012-05-18    Opower Uses Normative Messaging to Drive Energy Efficiency Gains.

Opower has married high-tech number crunching to low-tech behavioral psychology to produce “home energy reports” that are sent directly to mailboxes along with electricity bills. Opower algorithms sift through data streams provided by energy companies and compare monthly customer electricity use to that of 100 hypothetical “neighbors” — houses similar to in size, age, and location. The reports include a monthly “Neighbor Rank,” from 1 to 100: a graph shows consumption in relation to the average, with language that affirms downward trends and warns against upward ones. In essence, Opower has made energy conservation a matter of keeping up with the Joneses. Behavioral psychologists call this kind of tactic “normative messaging.” It works because humans are both attuned to how others act and sensitive to what others approve — even when they claim not to be. Opower profits by selling its services to large investor-owned utilities, especially in the twenty-six states where utilities now have long-term efficiency standards to meet.

Reference(s):   (Miller-McCune, March-April 2012,   )
Link(s)*:  http://www.psmag.com/environment/whos-saving-electricity-in-your-neighborhood-39932/         

528     2012-05-11    Sustainable Practices 2012 Now Available On-line.

After eleven-plus years of being distributed solely via an expansive list serve to over a thousand readers in twenty+ countries, Sustainable Practices 2012 Newsletter is now also available on-line at the website: http:// www.sustainablepractices.info. The website includes a complete archive of the over 500 issues of the Newsletter dating back to October 2000. In addition, the website includes a search function that allows visitors to key in suggested themes such as “energy” or “water” or add another word or phrase of choice and see all past issues that have featured the theme(s). The website was graciously constructed and the archival data painstakingly entered by “Friend of Sustainable Practices” Ms. Laura Kemp, an environmental engineer with the US Army Corps of Engineers in Portland, Oregon. After many false starts on the part of the Newsletter editor, the website has finally been completely brought up to date and is now accessible for readers.

Reference(s):   (Sustainable Practices 2012,   )
Link(s)*:  http://www.sustainablepractices.info         

528     2012-05-11    Court in Lyon, France Finds Monsanto Guilty of Chemical Poisoning.

A court in Lyon, France has ruled in a landmark case in favor of the people over Monsanto, finding the biotech giant guilty of chemical poisoning. In the case decided by the court, grain grower Paul Francois stated that Monsanto failed to provide proper warnings on the Lasso weedkiller product label which resulted in neurological problems such as memory loss and headaches. The court ordered an expert opinion to determine the sum of the damages, and to verify the link between Lasso and the reported illnesses. The result was a guilty charge, paving the way for further legal action on behalf of injured farmers. Since 1996, the agricultural branch of the French social security system has gathered about 200 alerts per year regarding sickness related to pesticides. However only 47 cases were even recognized in the past 10 years.

Reference(s):   (Reuters, February 13, 2012,   )
Link(s)*:  http://www.reuters.com/ article/2012/02/13/us-france-pesticides-monsanto-idUSTRE81C0VQ20120213         

528     2012-05-11    American Prairie Reserve Moves Steadily Toward a 3.6 Million Acre Bison Reserve.

The non-profit,American Prairie Reserve (APR), is moving steadily toward creating the largest wildlife reserve anywhere in the contiguous 48 states. It is working in Montana to rebuild a vast native prairie of 3.6m acres where an enormous herd of wild buffalo can roam free once again. APR is currently spending about $6m a year, largely on land. Later this year it will own or lease 270,000 acres. In only 14 years from now, thanks largely to the buffalo’s natural fecundity, APR will have over 5,000 buffalo, the largest conservation herd on the planet. Significantly, this herd will be entirely free of cattle genes—unlike most existing buffalo herds in America, which have interbred with domestic cattle. Officially, the American buffalo is now a type of livestock. But one day, if APR gets its way, its buffalo will be declared wild animals again.

Reference(s):   (The Economist, March 17, 2012,   )
Link(s)*:  http:// www.economist.com/node/21550292         

527     2012-05-04    New Dining Guide Rates Restaurants on Pay and Benefits Paid to Staff.

Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROCU) has written the National Diners’ Guide 2012: A Consumer Guide on the Working Conditions of American Restaurants. “Consumers will now routinely ask if they are eating free-range chicken,” says Saru Jayaraman, co-director of ROCU. “Well, we want them to ask if their servers are getting paid sick days, too.” The Guide uses criteria such as how much the line cooks and servers are paid, do they receive sick leave, and whether their employers offer them chances to rise up the ranks. In 2010, Restaurant Opportunities surveyed 4,300 kitchen workers, 66 percent of whom said they cooked or served food on the job while ill because they wouldn’t collect a paycheck if they stayed in bed.

Reference(s):   (Business Week, 2012,   )
Link(s)*:  http://www.businessweek.com/ magazine/foods-great-but-does-the-chef-get-vacation-02092012.html         

527     2012-05-04    Poland Announces Complete Ban on Monsanto’s GMO Corn.

Following the anti-Monsanto activism launched by nations like France and Hungary, Poland has announced that it will launch a complete ban on growing Monsanto’s genetically modified strain MON810. The announcement, made by Agriculture Minister Marek Sawicki, sets yet another international standard against Monsanto’s genetically modified creations. In addition to being linked to a plethora health ailments, Sawicki says that the pollen originating from this GM strain may actually be devastating the already dwindling bee population. “The decree is in the works. It introduces a complete ban on the MON810 strain of maize in Poland,” Sawicki stated to the press. Nations are continually taking a stand against Monsanto, with nations like Hungary destroying 1000 acres of GM maize and India slamming Monsanto with ‘biopiracy‘ charges.

Reference(s):   (Natural Society, 2012,   )
Link(s)*:  http://naturalsociety.com/poland-ban- monsantos-genetically-modified-maize/)         

527     2012-05-04    CNT Pilots a Green Infrastructure Portfolio Standard in Two Midwest Cities.

The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) has been working with officials in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Grand Rapids, Michigan to develop a new way to manage stormwater in developed urban settings: the Green Infrastructure Portfolio Standard (GIPS). The GIPS pilot program is modeled on the Renewable Portfolio Standard and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard policies used to encourage renewable energy and energy efficiency use, respectively. The GIPS is intended specifically to help developed areas scale up green infrastructure practices relatively quickly, since stormwater regulations that apply only to new developments or redeveloped sites are inadequate for this purpose. A goal, for example, could be that the installed green infrastructure retain an additional 1 percent of the runoff from the area that occurs from a one-inch rainfall. That would mean retaining roughly 15,000 more gallons of runoff each year for every 1-inch rainstorm.

Reference(s):   (Center for Neighborhood Technology, 2012,   )
Link(s)*:  http://www.cnt.org/news/2012/04/02/the-nation’s-first-green- infrastructure-portfolio-standards/         

526     2012-04-27    EV and Plug-ins Handbook Showcases Best Practices Across Japan.

The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has released a compendium of electric vehicle (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHV) best practices. In the first phase of the "EV and PHV Towns" best practice handbook, the ministry published eight characteristic initiatives including the introduction of EV taxis, EV and PHV initiatives in the tourism industry, as well as the awarding of Eco Points (a Japanese government green benefits scheme) to EV users. In one such initiative in Kyoto, tourists use EV and PHV taxis and rental vehicles when visiting 27 temples and shrines mainly in the Kyoto City area. These tourists are then offered souvenir gifts and preferential treatment at the participating temples and shrines while taxi and rental car companies donate a portion of their profits towards capital funds for preserving important cultural properties in the municipality of Kyoto. Other initiatives included a world-first trial in of an "EV helper" which is an EV for rescuing other EVs which have empty batteries. The car has a fast-charging battery charger built-in to the back seat.

Reference(s):   (Japan For Sustainability, 2012,   )
Link(s)*:  http:/www.japanfs.org/en/pages/030495.html         

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