Online Bill Pay Saves More Than Just Trees

Scientific American points out that the benefits of online banking and billing reach beyond saving trees. Reducing paper use also reduces the resources needed to make, ship and discard the paper.

Imagine every US household opting to receive no paper bills or bank statements. The fuel saved (26 million BTUs) in this scenario would power San Francisco for a year, and 16.5 fewer trees would be cut down annually. 20,000 swimming pools full of water would be saved and 56,000 garbage trucks of solid waste would be eliminated. Air pollutants and particulates would be cut, contributing to increased air quality. And the cost? Just displacing a few electrons to receive your bills and statements online.

53% of households do their banking online already. If you're ready to go paperless, ask your bank, utility, phone and cable companies, etc. how to stop paper mailings on your account.

From: , Triple Pundit
Published August 20, 2007 09:41 AM

Green Farming and the Government

Calls Grow to Subsidize Green Farming

by Dan Charles

Dan Charles, NPR

Art Thicke (right) says the current farm subsidy system encourages farmers to grow crops that damage the environment. Also pictured: Tex Hawkins (left), of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Chad Crowley (center), who works on Thicke's farm.

Farm Subsidies: Key Facts

Under the current federal farm-subsidy system, cotton and rice farmers can get up to hundreds of dollars per acre in production subsidies. These farmers would be unlikely to get as much money if the U.S. switched to a system that subsidized them for improving the environment instead.

-- The federal government expects to pay farmers just over $24 billion in 2005, a new record.

-- The subsidies are distributed through a variety of programs. Some payments kick in when crops fail, or when prices for key commodities, such as corn, fall below a target level. Others are based solely on how much a farm produced in the past.

-- Five crops -- corn, wheat, cotton, soybeans and rice -- account for two-thirds of all subsidies. Vegetable growers and ranchers get very little government money.

-- Large commercial farms, which account for 9 percent of all farms, get more than half of all subsidies.

Farm Subsidy Distribution

Enlarge

Source: USDA

The chart above looks at direct government payments to farmers. Agricultural areas that rely heavily on subsidies include:

• the Corn Belt, where corn and soybeans dominate
• the southeastern Coastal Plain, source of cotton and peanuts
• the lower Mississippi River, where cotton and rice are grown
• west Texas and southern Arizona, where cotton is important
• California, where rice and cotton are important

More from Dan Charles

• 'A Modest Step Toward Green Payments'

Morning Edition, July 11, 2005 · The federal government is expected to pay $24 billion in farm subsidies this year. Critics, including quite a few farmers, say taxpayers shouldn't pay for corn or cotton surpluses. Instead, they say the funds should go toward things that benefit the public, such as cleaner water and a healthier environment. Dan Charles has the first of two reports for Morning Edition.

Web Extra: For NPR.org, Dan Charles takes a closer look at a new U.S. government initiative that pays farmers to help the environment:

Art Thicke jokes that he might dig a ditch through the hill that's next to his farm, because if water draining from his land could somehow get through that hill, he might qualify for a check from the federal government.

That hill separates Thicke's farm, near the town of La Crescent, in southeastern Minnesota, from the boundaries of the Root River watershed. (Rain that falls within that area drains into the Root River, which in turn runs into the Mississippi.) The watershed is one of 220 areas around the country where farmers can apply for funding this year from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Conservation Security Program (CSP).

The CSP is a new initiative. It pays farmers to give the environment a helping hand. Farmers can qualify for payments if they can show that they've done a good job protecting the environment in the past. They must also show that they're preventing manure or other fertilizer from running into streams, and that they're conserving soil and minimizing pesticide use.

Once they qualify, farmers can get extra points -- and higher payments -- for doing additional things that provide habitat for wildlife or protect streams and groundwater. They include cutting back on fertilizer or pesticides, converting crop land into permanent pasture, or building windmills to supply the farm with energy.

Art Thicke's farm probably would qualify for a good-sized payment. Environmental experts consider his farm a model for other farmers. Twenty years ago, Thicke stopped growing corn and soybeans and converted those fields into pastures for his cows instead. That stopped soil erosion, and his pastures have become a haven for ground-nesting birds like bobolinks and meadowlarks.

Congress established the CSP in 2002, but it's just now getting off the ground. It will distribute about $240 million to farmers this year.

That's just 1 percent of all federal farm subsidies. Art Thicke -- along with other environmentalists and farm activists -- wishes it were a lot more. "I'd like to see a farm program that was all based on conservation," he says.

And even though Art Thicke won't get any of that money this year, he should get another chance in the future. The program expects to include a new batch of watersheds each year. USDA officials say that within eight years, it will reach every watershed in the country. -- Dan Charles

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4735566

'Green' Walmart in Texas

A 'Green' Wal-Mart in Texas

by Bill Zeeble

All Things Considered, August 4, 2005 · A new Wal-Mart store in McKinney, Tex., was designed as a test-ground for various energy conservation technologies and practices, and has thus been dubbed Wal-Mart's "green store." Wal-Mart officials say the store will help them design buildings in the future. Bill Zeeble of member station KERA reports.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4785891

INKETC.: Inks Go Green for Graph Expo

Look toward Graph Expo for these eco-friendly inks, low on VOCs and high on marketability.

By Tim Avery -- Graphis Arts Online, 9/1/2007

The bustling exhibits at this month's Graph Expo leave little room for smog-spouting volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Ink manufacturers are exhibiting in full force their eco-friendly products, either free of, or low in, VOCs.

Flint Group (Booth 2226) is showing its recently introduced vegetable-based Novavit F918 Supreme Bio sheetfed ink line. Sold under the K+E premium brand (acquired in Flint's 2005 merger with XSYS), Novavit's vegetable oils emit fewer VOCs, reports the company. Although low-VOC sheetfed inks are generally thought to set more slowly, Flint says its Novavit dries quickly enough to run without set-off, even through a perfector. The company also reports sharp dots, good ink/water balance and high color intensity from the ink, which is said to be especially well suited for glossy-coated papers and boards.

UV ink cures emissions

INX Int'l. (Booth 429) is exhibiting its new Fusion UV hybrid process ink line, which can be run immediately after conventional inks without reconfiguring presses or conditioning rollers. UV ink means reduced VOC emissions, along with drying in only a matter of seconds. Also on display will be the new Ecopure HPJ soy-based sheetfed ink. INX says Ecopure HPJ provides faster set times than its predecessor, Ecopure HP, and its soy base releases fewer VOCs than oil-based counterparts. Early users report lower water settings, with better gray balance and improved trapping. Both Fusion UV hybrid and Ecopure HPJ accept aqueous and UV coatings, as well as overprint varnishes.

Sun Chemical (Booth 2819) is launching Synergy, a package of UV ink, coating, press conditioner, wash and fountain solution chemistries. The company reports Synergy inks can run on hybrid presses when UV-approved hybrid rollers are used.

Formulations are available for sheetfed, web, high-gloss and plastic applications. According to Sun, the high-gloss series does not require UV coating, and Synergy's plastic inks let operators set up jobs on paper to simplify makeready and reduce start-up costs for plastic printing.

Also at Graph Expo is Sun's low-VOC Liberty sheetfed ink line, sold under the Kohl & Madden brand. A PIA/GATF InterTech Technology Award recipient last year, Liberty also does not contain cobalt driers, another potential environmental hazard. The ink is formulated to dry almost instantaneously once printed, yet can stay open on press without drying for days. Sun says Liberty's ability to come up to color quickly and remain stable reduces press waste.

Toyo Ink America (Booth 455) is showing its VOC-free HyPlus 100 premium sheetfed ink, formulated without petroleum-based solvents. Toyo says HyPlus 100 produces strong contrast and high density with low dot gain, and its low water pick-up accelerates makereadies with less emulsification. It reportedly also reduces chalking, gas ghosting and print mottling in folding-carton applications. Other vegetable-based inks from Toyo include HyLite—said to offer great versatility—and HyUnity.

For web presses, Toyo offers soy-based Soya-News ink, which contains a maximum of 0.08 VOC lb./gal. The company says it resists rubbing and scuffing and is formulated to dry quickly.

Van Son Holland Ink (Booth 3470) is introducing its new SonaCure UV-curable, VOC-free inks, which are available in formulations for use on coated or uncoated paper, board stock, foil and plastic substrates, and lacquered or corona-treated surfaces. Van Son says SonaCure offers high gloss and good rub resistance and, though drying quickly under UV light, stays fresh overnight on-press.

taken from www.graphicartsonline.com

Get Tax Incentives for Green Living

Take advantage of state and federal green living tax incentives

There has never been a better time than now to tap into a laundry list of tax rebates and other financial incentives designed to encourage individuals and businesses to go the greener mile. At the federal level in the U.S., individuals can reap the rewards of no less than eight different financial incentives ranging from tax credits and home loans for replacing windows and installing insulation around the house to tax rebates for purchasing a hybrid car or hooking up a solar hot water heater.

Besides these federal incentives, nearly every U.S. state has additional state or local incentives available. Many require utilities to rebate consumers who save electricity. Some utilities even offer “net metering,” whereby consumers who generate some of their power through rooftop solar panels or other technologies can sell electricity back to the utility, thus reducing or zeroing out their electric bill—even earning money.

Green Living Tax Incentives for Business
Many financial incentives are in place for businesses, as well.

At the federal level, examples include an energy-efficient commercial buildings tax deduction, a business energy reduction tax credit, an energy-efficient appliance tax credit for manufacturers, and a new energy-efficient tax credit for green-savvy builders.

At the state level, many are eager to attract renewable energy companies to their region, and offer tax breaks to get them there. Washington State, for example, charges no sales tax on renewable energy equipment produced or sold there. And some forward-thinking cities are beginning to offer “density bonuses” and green building incentives to developers and builders to encourage sustainable land use.

Find Information About Green Living Tax Incentives
The best place to look for what’s available is to steer your web browser to the free online Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE), a comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility and federal incentives that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. DSIRE is a federally funded project of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, whose membership includes state and local government agencies, national laboratories, renewable energy companies and advocacy groups.

In Canada, the Office of Energy Efficiency at Natural Resources Canada offers a slate of federal grants and incentives under its ecoENERGY Retrofit program to homeowners, businesses, large industries and public institutions to help them invest in energy- and pollution-saving upgrades. The agency also administers the High Efficiency Home Heating System Cost Relief program, which will contribute up to $300 to homeowners who upgrade their old oil or gas furnace or boiler to a new high-efficiency model. And low-income households might qualify for additional federal financial assistance for energy retrofits. Another Canadian program, the Vehicle Efficiency Incentive (VEI) rewards those who buy fuel-efficient cars or trucks with rebates of up to $2,000 each. Beyond these federal programs, selected provincial and municipal entities across Canada also offer incentives to those looking to save energy and the environment.

Taken from www.environment.about.com