Improve the Chesapeake Bay with WGES CleanSteps® Carbon Offsets

WGES CleanSteps® Carbon Offsets, offered in partnership with Bethesda Green, is a green product that allows you to support clean air and water projects in the Chesapeake Bay region.

A carbon offset represents a greenhouse gas emission reduction made in one place to compensate for emissions created in another place. With WGES CleanSteps Carbon Offsets, you can counterbalance the environmental impact of your natural gas use from everyday activities such as heating and cooking. WGES CleanSteps Carbon Offsets are derived from verified emssion-reduction projects (intermodal transport and methane gas capture), and they are unique because they also fund new local carbon offset projects managed by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, such as tree plantings along rivers and streams.

Since the launch of WGES CleanSteps Carbon Offsets in September 2010…

• More than 50,000 carbon offsets have been matched to WGES customers’ natural gas usage.
• More than $400,000 in contributions have been made to the Carbon Reduction Fund managed by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
• The funds have been used to plant 9,000 trees in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick and Talbot counties in Maryland and to start a nutrient-management project.

When customers choose WGES for their natural gas supply, they can match 100% of their natural gas use with WGES CleanSteps Carbon Offsets. And as part of its partnership with Bethesda Green, WGES is offering special pricing for Bethesda Green members.

For more information about WGES CleanSteps Carbon Offsets and to enroll at special pricing, visit www.wges.com/greenspecialoffsets.

 

Science & Sustainability

Science & Sustainability

by Richard M. Goodman

How many times has someone said that substituting electronic communications for paper-based communications is good because you can “save a tree?”  At first this seems to be a no-brainer; how can distributing information electronically not be better than using a piece of paper?  That’s where the concept of sustainability comes in.  Sustainability preaches that we leave earth’s resources in better shape after we are done than before or at least at an even position.

It is true that paper companies plant more trees than they harvest.  (For the record, we are not talking about destruction of virgin forests but the more likely harvesting of young growth trees strictly for paper stock.)  It is also true that we can recycle a significant amount of the paper we use.  On the other side we discard electronics at an alarming rate; lifetimes of 2 years or less are common for many devices. The discarded electronics often contain toxic or limited resources.  Also, what about the source of power for the devices and the Internet?  It is almost always sourced from coal or other cheap but dirty fuels.

Now I don’t want to get into a detailed debate, however, it turns out that the comparison between printing information and transmitting by electronic media is not always in favor of electronics.  I belong to a working group that is part of the International Standards Organization (ISO), a global initiative to provide useful standards for virtually every industry.  One of the recent endeavors has been to exactly address the question of electronic vs. paper for all communications.  The conclusion from the initial study: “Users of this international standard should acknowledge that the CFPs (carbon footprints) developed according to requirements from different communication programs may not be comparable.”  In short, it’s not clear when comparing diverse technologies, which has the best carbon footprint or environmental friendliness – reinforcing the notion that green is the new gray.

Richard M. Goodman, PhD, is a chemical scientist and consultant focusing on how surface science concepts can solve real world problems.  The periodic column considers aspects of sustainability from a scientific perspective. See Goodman’s profile with Association of Consulting Chemists and Chemical Engineers (ACC&CE) at www.chemconsult.org.

 

GreenerLiving Bethesda

Concerned about climate change and growing energy costs? Together we can make a big difference!

Join your friends and neighbors in Bethesda Green’s GreenerLiving program and learn concrete, practical steps you can take to impact the environment by saving energy in your home and on the road.  Free spaces limited to first 50 enrollees.  RSVP with name, address and telephone to info@bethesdagreen.org.

The GreenerLiving Program is an educational program that can help you:

• Measure and track your energy use
• Learn how your energy use impacts the environment
• Reduce your energy use
• Save money
• Gain control

It’s up to you how far to go. GreenerLiving can help you track your energy use automatically with online tools at EarthAid.net and offers discounts on home energy audits. With your individual energy profile in hand, you can do as much or as little as suits you. GreenerLiving can help show you the way through workshops, website information and other educational tools.

From replacing light bulbs to making energy efficiency upgrades or even installing a solar or geothermal system in your home, the GreenerLiving program will provide guidance to help you:

• Understand your options
• Choose a good vendor
• Take advantage of tax and financing programs and incentives
  
• Learn and share best practices
• Obtain special discounts on products and services
• Calculate potential savings, payback periods and environmental impact

Join us for the first workshop and orientation

At Bethesda Green, 4825 Cordell Avenue, Bethesda, second floor above the Chevy Chase Bank branch.  Please choose one workshop and RSVP to info@bethesdagreen.org.

– Saturday, October 24, 10-11:30 am, or
– Wednesday, October 28, 7-8:30 pm

Ongoing classes on Saturdays, Nov. 7, 21 and Dec. 5, starting at 10 am.

 

MD Clean Energy Center

On March 31, a day appropriately suitable for both solar and wind energy generation, a number of VIPs gathered for an outdoor press conference launching the region’s first Clean Energy Center.   Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett led a delegation in announcing the Maryland Clean Energy Center (MCEC) siting at the University of Maryland’s Shady Grove campus.

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett applauds Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley's declaration launching the Clean Energy Center.

“Today’s announcement marks yet another large step towards our goal of creating 100,000 green collar jobs by 2015,” said Gov. O’Malley.  “This Center will leverage greater opportunities for our workers and a cleaner, greener Maryland for our families.”

Bethesda Green wrote a letter in support of siting the MCEC at the Shady Grove campus, part of the efforts of numerous organizations cited by Executive Leggett.

According to its website, MCEC will promote clean energy economic development and jobs in the state; encourage deployment of clean energy technologies across Maryland; assist newly developed technologies with pilot projects; collect, analyze and disseminate industry data; and provide outreach and technical support to further the clean energy industry in Maryland.

Maryland Energy Administration Director Malcolm Woolf noted that, “The Maryland Clean Energy Center is an essential piece of Maryland’s clean energy future, as it will help create jobs, support clean energy businesses and strengthen our communities through continual clean energy advancements.”

Gov. O'Malley listens to clean energy issues raised by Clean Currents President Gary Skulnik.

After the formal festivities, people lingered in the courtyard for casual networking and discussions.   A good friend of ours, Clean Currents President Gary Skulnik, took the opportunity to chat with the governor about clean energy issues, mentioned here because I grabbed a photo of Gary and the Gov’s tete-a-tete.

 

Guide to energy conservation

If you’re like me, you struggle to sort through a host of action steps to conserve energy and natural resources, save money, and reduce carbon output.  Ranging from easy things such as turning off the lights when you leave a room to more baffling challenges such as convincing yourself about the charms of waterless, composting toilets, a great user-friendly resource to guide your decisions is now available.

Author Susan Hartsfield

Written by Susan Hartsfield and illustrated by Rajeev Athale, The Complete Guide to Energy Conservation for Smarties assembles numerous energy-saving recommendations into a fun, easy-to-read format organized into three main sections: 100+ free and easy ideas, small investments/big savings, and big investments/lifetime savings.

We have a copy of the guide at Bethesda Green and invite you to take a look and judge for yourself.   The book is available through Susan’s website, Barnes and Noble, or Authors Bookshop.  Also, a couple of the Whole Food stores have it in stock.

In addition to being an author, Susan’s building a business, Global Baskets, selling Fair Trade baskets made from elephant grass by Ghanaian women — all this in her spare time from her regular gig as a nurse practitioner.  Whew!

 

Household cures for global warming

Recommended reading for our Bethesda Green friends and neighbors is yesterday’s cover story in the Washington Post Magazine.  Liza Mundy, magazine staffer and veteran DC reporter, profiles her personal experience trying to make her pre-World War II Arlington home greener and answers the question, “Can one small household help save the planet from global warming?” 

In a well-researched, fact-filled and often-humorous piece, Mundy muses about the challenges of identifying what’s the right thing to do and changing well-entrenched habits among family members.  She tries to answer three key questions: “Do small actions matter?  How do we know the right actions to take?  And can we really address global warming without sacrificing too much comfort and leisure, not to mention family harmony?”

In many ways, the article reflects my personal position in this journey to creating a greener society.  Also worth checking out are the numerous article comments, covering the range of perspectives, and tomorrow’s online chat with the Mundy.

 

Nine Tips for Going Green in ‘09

As our friend Lynn Miller writes in a new posting for Bethesda Green, “It’s well past New Years but never too late to make a resolution to go green – to tread a little more lightly on Mother Earth.”

She offers Nine Tips for Going Green in ’09.  What do you think of Lynn’s suggestions?  Do you have ideas of your own you’d like to share?