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What are El Niño and La Niña, and why should you care?

Hope Barton Waste Management & Environmental

There are records of the El Niño weather phenomenon dating as far back as the 16th century when the Spanish came to Peru. For centuries, local fishermen have noticed that in years where the temperature was warmer, they caught more fish.

Implementing a sustainable manufacturing plan at your facility

Alan Kelsky Manufacturing

The goal of sustainable manufacturing is producing products in ways that have a minimal negative influence on the environment. In order to accomplish this, manufacturers use processes that reduce and prevent greenhouse gases, conserve natural resources and energy and do not harm workers or consumers.

What will it take for transition to lower-GWP refrigerants?

Andrew Gaved Facilities & Grounds

I have written before about how the combination of the forthcoming bans on higher-GWP refrigerants in the European F-Gas regulations and mandated reductions in the HFCs being sold into the EU are in danger of catching the end-users on the hop. Simply put, if customers don't soon convert to lower-GWP options, they will be faced with two troubling possibilities.

Plant-based food packaging to combat food waste

Bambi Majumdar Waste Management & Environmental

Almost 795 million people go without proper nourishment everyday globally. That means 1 out every 9 people on earth don't have enough to eat. But before we tackle this problem and actively think of food security, we have to combat food waste at the individual level. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has estimated at least a third of all food produced is wasted.

Making an integrated heating and cooling strategy work

Andrew Gaved Facilities & Grounds

We have talked here before of how the European Union's heating and cooling strategy — currently out for consultation — could be a driver for bringing the respective industries closer together for the common good of energy reduction. Now, the European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE), which represents the heating, cooling and refrigeration industry in Europe, has published a series of recommendations for how it believes the strategy can be made even more effective.

Restaurants are taking on green initiatives, but do consumers care?

Linchi Kwok Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

Sustainability and serving locally-grown and organic food are two big food trends in the restaurant industry, as suggested by the National Restaurant Association. Restaurateurs are actively responding to such trends by implementing various green initiatives in operations.

Living large in tiny houses

Dave G. Houser Waste Management & Environmental

Tiny houses have been making big news in recent years, with TV coverage on networks like CNN, HGTV and FYI, articles in House Beautiful, Country Living, Mother Earth News and BusinessWeek, and countless appearances on YouTube, Pinterest and other social media forums.

K-12 schools shifting focus toward environmental studies

Bambi Majumdar Education

Dominion Resources, an energy company based in Virginia, recently announced a plan for $1 million in educational grants. The grants will focus on outstanding environment, energy and workforce development programs in K-12 schools within the company's geographic footprint.

Green and smart growing up together

Michael J. Berens Interior Design, Furnishings & Fixtures

While "smart" homes remain a vision more than a reality, new smart products and services continue to flow into the market. Refrigerators that alert you when you've run out of milk or stoves that text you when the roast is done have gotten a lot of media attention. Along with their "wow" factor, they offer a certain level of convenience and control, although at a price beyond the reach of most consumers.

USDA invests in nanotechnology to increase food safety, combat waste

Bambi Majumdar Food & Beverage

Food insecurity around the world has meant that millions of people are unsure of where their next meals are coming from. Yet in America, 40 percent of food that is bought is thrown away and 26 percent of the produce doesn't even reach grocery stores. When these figures are reflected against how many regions suffer from drought and uneven food production, the need for a balanced food sustainability and management program seems more imperative than ever.

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