Banana peels are famous for causing slips, but now scientists find they could keep pollutants from slipping into your water.

Banana peels are famous for causing slips, but now scientists find they could keep pollutants from slipping into your water.

Past research had shown that coconut fibers, peanut shells and other plant materials could remove potentially toxic heavy metals such as lead and copper from water. Mines, factories and farms can all generate such waste, with the potential to harm one’s health and the environment. And current methods for purifying water of heavy metals are expensive, with some materials used in the process being poisonous themselves.

Scientists at São Paulo State University in Brazil and their colleagues wanted to see if banana peels could also act as water purifiers. This material already has a surprising number of potential uses, including polishing items like silver and leather shoes.

The researchers found that minced banana peel performed as well or better at removing copper and lead than many other filtering materials, quickly removing both from water in the Paraná River in Brazil.

They noted that a purifier made of layers of minced banana peel could be used up to 11 times without losing its metal-snagging properties. Synthetic materials can be reused more times, but natural materials are dramatically cheaper and do not require chemical processing to work.

The scientists detailed their findings online Feb. 16 in the journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.

This story originally published in: LiveScience.com

Reading a good book is one of our oldest and most treasured pastimes, and it’s no surprise that avid supporters of the green movement love to read about the environment and society’s impact on it. The concept of recycling our paper and plastic products goes hand-in-hand with the ability to recycle the knowledge that we learn from books.

I recently discovered a site called Biblio.com that sells over 50 million used, out of print and hard-to-find books…

Reading a good book is one of our oldest and most treasured pastimes, and it’s no surprise that avid supporters of the green movement love to read about the environment and society’s impact on it. The concept of recycling our paper and plastic products goes hand-in-hand with the ability to recycle the knowledge that we learn from books.

I recently discovered a site called Biblio.com that sells over 50 million used, out of print and hard-to-find books from over 5,500 professional and independent booksellers worldwide. It’s the perfect site for college students to find classic novels for Literature class, or for anyone to find that book that just doesn’t seem to be in the larger chain stores. If this isn’t jaw-dropping enough, it’s also the first-ever eco-friendly bookstore around!

Going for the Green

One of the greatest accomplishments of this small, self-financed company located in Asheville, North Carolina is that it has managed to become a globally-recognized online bookstore that receives nothing put positive praise from its clients and customers. This is not only because it offers excellent service and products, but also because it is dedicated to literacy and the fight against global warming.

It currently uses a process called ecosend, which is an eco-friendly way to ship their books. The company has partnered with Native Energy to offset the emissions created by the shipment of every book purchased through the site. But it doesn’t stop there! Biblio.com even offsets its entire business operations, from its everyday office energy consumptions to the CO2 released from employee vehicles.

Native Energy calculates the total carbon footprint created by Biblio.com, and then Biblio.com purchases carbon credits and invests in alternative energy projects sponsored by Native Energy. All of the projects support sustainable development.

To make this company even more amazing, they also created a non-profit organization called BiblioWorks, which sets up community libraries in impoverished nations such as Bolivia and provides children with a wealth of books and computers to advance their education.

Support This Local Bookstore

There are not many companies that offset their entire business practices, as well as create non-profit organizations, so I applaud Biblio.com for their overwhelming accomplishments. If you’re in search of a used or rare book, or you just want to support an eco-friendly company, then check this site out!

We’ve all heard the familiar saying, ‘Milk: It does a body good.’ Well, there’s something else from a cow that’s doing the farmers and people of Vermont good: manure.

We’ve all heard the familiar saying, ‘Milk: It does a body good.’ Well, there’s something else from a cow that’s doing the farmers and people of Vermont good: manure.

The people of Vermont have discovered a renewable energy source that is reliable, easy to acquire and friendly to the environment.

Through the use of new technologies that can capture methane gas in cow manure to generate electricity, these ‘Cow Power Farms‘ are quickly becoming the talk of the town.

The Farms

Right now these farms in Vermont all have over 500 cows to help with the cow power process.

The farms are:

• Blue Spruce Farm in Bridport ‘ in 2006 produced 1.3 million kWh of electricity
• Green Mountain Dairy Farm in Sheldon ‘estimated to produce 1,828,000 kWh of electricity a year
• Montagne Farm in St. Albans – expected to produce 1.4 million kWh of electricity a year
• Newmont Farms in Fairlee – estimated to produce about 1.4 million kWh of electricity a year
• Pleasant Valley Farm in Richford – expected to produce 3.5 million kWh of electricity a year

These farms get a portion of the money from customers to help fund the cow power process and future renewable energy developments.

How Does Cow Power Work?

There’s a nice cartoon that illustrates how the cow power is created. Here are the steps summarized:

• Cows are housed in free-stall barns to easily collect waste
• The manure is pumped into a digester that captures the methane, and this gas is used to fuel the generator and to heat the milk house
• The solids and liquids are separated and bacteria is destroyed
• Solids replace sawdust for bedding and composting
• Liquids (which are odorless) are spread in the field as fertilizer

You can see the full process here.

The use of manure to generate electricity has become so popular that in an article in CNNMoney.com, the Long Trail Brewing Company has signed a contract to become the largest commercial customer of Cow Power.

If the whole idea of Cow Power wasn’t genius enough, you can even buy a t-shirt with a clever slogan on it to support the program:

Since one cow’s waste can power enough energy to light two 100-watt light bulbs for 24 hours, and excess waste can be used for commercial farming, this seems like a win-win deal for the farmers and citizens in Vermont.

Although this list was published in the summer of 2010, it was deemed appropriate to showcase this list to our Green Student U readers seeing as the year is ending. The success story of green initiatives brought on by multiple cities governments around the US proves that pollution strategies and energy savers can make the US a green country!

Although this list was published in the summer of 2010, it was deemed appropriate to showcase this list to our Green Student U readers seeing as the year is ending. The success story of green initiatives brought on by multiple cities governments around the US proves that pollution strategies and energy savers can make the US a green country!

These cities were chosen on a number of factors. Their economic successes were made possible by their dedication to quality of life, increased energy efficiency and the reduction of city government expenditures over the next 10 years.

The list is as follows:

1. Austin, TX
2. Boston, MA
3. Chicago, IL
4. Columbus, Ohio
5. Dallas, TX
6. El Paso, TX
7. Long Beach, CA
8. New York, NY
9. Oakland, CA
10. Portland, OR
11. San Francisco, CA
12. Seattle, WA

Ultimately, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels prevailed over rival North Carolina State Wolfpack—as well as trouncing Sears, J.C. Penney and Sheraton.

The playing field: a national competition sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency to see which commercial building could trim its energy use the most over 12 months. The EPA will report Tuesday that ranking first was a dorm at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

Ultimately, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels prevailed over rival North Carolina State Wolfpack—as well as trouncing Sears, J.C. Penney and Sheraton.

The playing field: a national competition sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency to see which commercial building could trim its energy use the most over 12 months. The EPA will report Tuesday that ranking first was a dorm at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The strategy at UNC’s Morrison Residence Hall wasn’t as sexy as a winning three-point shot at the buzzer—but tweaks to its heating and cooling equipment, an expanded solar-powered hot water system, lighting upgrades and persistent coaxing of students to dial down hot water usage in the laundry room helped the dorm cut its energy consumption by almost 36% and shave more than $250,000 off its bills. Similar moves are being implemented campus-wide.

“The big lesson for us is that efforts need to include occupants as well as the maintenance personnel of buildings,” says Chris Martin Jr., director of energy management for the university. “Otherwise, eventually the savings will be lost.”

Indeed, for all participants who did well, change happened at a macro level, such as weather-stripping, better lighting and thermal-imaging cameras to identify heat leaks. But the real challenge was coaxing occupants to change ingrained behaviors, such as expecting offices chilled to 68 degrees in the summer. On average, 30% of the energy used in the nation’s 4.8 million commercial buildings is wasted, the EPA says.

The contest’s runners up included Sears Holdings Corp.’s Glen Burnie, Md., store and a J.C. Penney Co. Inc. store in Orange, Calif., with 32% and 28% energy-use reductions respectively. Bringing up the rear of the 14 participants with less than 2% drops were the Sheraton Austin Hotel in Texas and the Virginia Beach Convention Center, Virginia Beach, Va.

Sears, for instance, wielded thermal-imaging cameras to detect and minimize heat generated by equipment powering the store. It also replaced worn or missing weather-stripping and ensured heating/cooling appliances were clean and running properly.

Vigilance by store staffers played a role, too. “One of the biggest things that doesn’t cost money and the reason we were successful was getting store teams to turn off lights and close doors,” says Michael Brown, director of environmental sustainability for Sears, which operates some 3,900 stores, including Kmart.

At the J.C. Penney store, signs and stickers exhorting staffers—dubbed the “Orange Power Rangers”—to pay attention to energy consumption, including turning off curling irons and coffee makers in the salon. Aggressive measures with lighting paid off, including new occupancy sensors in back offices and stock rooms and replacing some 425 hot halogen bulbs with more efficient LEDs (light emitting diodes). The store saved about $44,000 in energy costs during the competition.

The EPA’s contest was held at a juncture when the agency’s well-known Energy Star program needs to buff its credibility after a government report found loose verifications standards for claims made by manufacturers of products bearing the Energy Star label. Rules are being tightened. To ensure contestants in the building competition didn’t fudge, the EPA says it required 24 months of utility-bill statements for verification.

Baltimore City is set to launch a new green energy efficiency and conservation program called The Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge, which will challenge various neighborhoods to reduce their energy consumption over the next nine months.

Baltimore City is set to launch a new green energy efficiency and conservation program called The Baltimore Neighborhood Energy Challenge, which will challenge various neighborhoods to reduce their energy consumption over the next nine months.

Working with the Baltimore Community Foundation, an organization that helps businesses and donors carry out charity work, and using a grant of $500,000 donated by Constellation Energy Group Inc., Baltimore’s leading supplier of energy services, the city will aim to reduce its total energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by the year 2015.

The Plan

So, how is this new energy conservation program going to work? Here’s some information:

• Participating neighborhood households will receive free or subsidized energy-saving kits that come with information on energy conservation.
• The households will sign a waiver allowing Baltimore Gas & Electric Company, which is a subsidiary of Constellation Energy Inc., to measure their energy consumption before, during and after the pilot.
• Neighborhoods will be assigned “captains” that will recruit volunteers to educate neighborhood residents on energy use.

Sounds like a good plan, right? We think so, and we hope that if the new energy conservation program works, that it will extend out to the rest of the state and maybe even the nation.

Source: WBALTV.com

Visiting the zoo has always been a favorite pastime for Americans because they get to see exotic animals from other countries. In fact, over 80% of the cities in the U.S. have their very own zoo complete with animals, rides, refreshments, and….animal waste?

It’s true. Zoos create millions of pounds of animal waste each day, and one of those zoos is the Miami Metrozoo. But the zoo has come up with a “zoo doo” recycling waste plan that takes the waste from animals and composts it into fertilizer.

Visiting the zoo has always been a favorite pastime for Americans because they get to see exotic animals from other countries. In fact, over 80% of the cities in the U.S. have their very own zoo complete with animals, rides, refreshments, and….animal waste?

It’s true. Zoos create millions of pounds of animal waste each day, and one of those zoos is the Miami Metrozoo. But the zoo has come up with a “zoo doo” recycling waste plan that takes the waste from animals and composts it into fertilizer.

Miami Metro’s Biggest Contributor

The Metrozoo says it produces about 4,000 pounds of animal waste per day, and all of that is composted into fertilizer that is used to grow food for the zoo animals.

It’s not a surprise that one of the zoo’s biggest producers of animal waste is the Asian elephant Dollop, who creates about 500 pounds of waste a day!  Other animals that contribute to the “zoo doo” are giraffes, rhinos and zebras.

This is a great way to recycle animal waste into organic and all-natural fertilizer. The zoo says that it might even start selling its fertilizer to South Florida farms.

Maybe before long we’ll all be seeing “zoo doo” in a Home Depot near us.

Source:  Just News

The Keep a Child Alive Community, which works to save the lives of children affected with HIV/AIDS around the world, along with STA Travel, a discount student travel agency, have created a new commercial contest geared towards high school and college students.

It’s all about combining creativity with humanitarian efforts to provide proper AIDS medication to effected children.

The Keep a Child Alive Community, which works to save the lives of children affected with HIV/AIDS around the world, along with STA Travel, a discount student travel agency, have created a new commercial contest geared towards high school and college students.

It’s all about combining creativity with humanitarian efforts to provide proper AIDS medication to effected children.

Here’s how it works:

• Using a digital camera, your iPhone or any other type of digital recording device, students will create a 60-second commercial that asks viewers to text the word “ALIVE” to the number 90999.
• This commercial will be uploaded to YouTube here.

For people who watch the commercial, once “Alive” is texted to 90999, $5 will be added to your mobile phone bill. This $5 will be donated directly to the Keep a Child Alive community, which will use the money to supply proper AIDS medication to children.

Want to know what the Grand Prize is? Two grand prize winners will win:

• A free round-trip ticket to Africa to work with the Keep a Child Alive community for one week in January 2010
• Free airing of their commercial on YouTube, the Keep a Child Alive website and other related sources

Here’s a contest submission that is now on YouTube:

The contest has been extended until June 1, 2009, so if you want to donate to a good cause and possibly visit Africa, give this video contest a try!

Source: Keep a Child Alive

Forum for the Future, a charity committed to sustainable development, recently awarded a $75,000 first place prize in its global climate change competition. And the first place winner is…the Kyoto Box, a solar powered cooker that’s helping people in developing countries cook their food and practice living an eco lifestyle.

Forum for the Future, a charity committed to sustainable development, recently awarded a $75,000 first place prize in its global climate change competition. And the first place winner is…the Kyoto Box, a solar powered cooker that’s helping people in developing countries cook their food and practice living an eco lifestyle.

Why make a solar powered oven?

So, why did the Kyoto Box win the first place prize? One big reason is that it only costs $6.60 to make, which makes it affordable for just about anyone in any country.

Another reason that it is a winner is that it’s easy to make. Each oven is made from:

• A few pieces of cardboard
• Black paint
• Tin foil
• An acrylic cover

That’s it! The acrylic cover traps the sun’s green energy, and then the black paint and silver tin foil absorb the heat. This solar powered oven produces heat that can be used to boil unsanitary water to make it drinkable, as well as to cook food.

The Kyoto Box also helps reduce the carbon footprint of the villagers by cutting down on pollution and lowering the cost of energy from fuel.

Want to see why this green product is so important? Check out this video on YouTube:

This is a great way to use solar power and solar energy, and we hope that the Kyoto Box will have a positive impact on the lives of people around the world.

Source: Yahoo! Green

As interest in taking environmental initiatives continues to grow, it seems that green festivals are popping up everywhere. But there’s one green festival that brings green products, career opportunities, news and more directly to a college campus, and it’s called the PLAYgreen Festival.

Hosted by Cal Recreational Sports, which is dedicated to enhancing the overall health and wellness of California residents…

As interest in taking environmental initiatives continues to grow, it seems that green festivals are popping up everywhere. But there’s one green festival that brings green products, career opportunities, news and more directly to a college campus, and it’s called the PLAYgreen Festival.

Hosted by Cal Recreational Sports, which is dedicated to enhancing the overall health and wellness of California residents, and held on the UC Berkeley campus, this live green festival provides college students and the surrounding community with the information that they need to live an active eco lifestyle.

Katherine Scherbel, who is an event coordinator for Cal Recreational Sports, provided this information to Green Student U:

‘Cal Recreational Sports has created the PLAYgreen Festival, the Bay Area’s premier eco-experiential event for 18-24 year olds and campus supporters who want to play, live and work a greener lifestyle.

Held February 20, 2009 on the UC Berkeley campus at the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, admission to the highly interactive eco-experiential event is FREE. Over 5,000 Cal students, campus and community supporters are projected to touch, taste, feel, experience and learn about the latest products, fashions, technology, services, travel, trends and educational and career opportunities from the very best local and national fair trade, eco-friendly and sustainable organizations.’

Some other cool aspects of the PLAYgreen Festival are:

• It has its own Green Shorts Film Competition and Festival, which is a video contest that features Bay Area residents living a green lifestyle.
• There’s an Eco Art Show, which is an art contest where people can submit an original piece of art made from post-consumer products.

If your school doesn’t have something like this then it doesn’t hurt to bring it up to the administration. Just have them check out the PLAYgreen Festival website on their own to see what a positive impact it can have on the community!

We’d like to thank Katherine for providing us with information about the PLAYgreen Festival. We hope that it is a success and will continue for years to come!