EcoBytes - Volume 3, Issue 2

Welcome to Volume 3, Issue 2 of EcoBytes, the Center for Ecological Technology’s (CET) email newsletter. EcoBytes updates you on CET’s activities in waste, energy, environmental education and sustainable development.

Remember to visit us online at www.cetonline.org to learn more about our programs. You can reach us by email at: cet@cetonline.org or call us in Pittsfield at (413) 445-4556 or in Northampton at (413) 586-7350. For mailing list changes, please send a message to cet@cetonline.org

IN THIS ISSUE:

• ReStore Opening for Business
• How Green Can Our Region Grow?
• T-Stat Take Back
• Materials Exchange Takes To the Highway
• Tomorrow’s Solar Champions
• Re-Using the Shirt Off our Backs
• Coming Next Issue: New Energy Efficiency Incentives

Restore Opening For Business!

In the two months since signing a lease for the ReStore Home Improvement Center, CET has been cleaning, painting and landscaping to transform the site into a store. Now CET’s ReStore is opening for business at 250 Albany Street in Springfield. The ReStore keeps valuable home improvement goods from being thrown away and sells them at low cost to homeowners, landlords and tenants who can use them. Donations of quality building materials including surplus/used cabinets, doors and windows are welcome. Contact John Majercak in our Northampton office for store hours or to find out about making donations.

How Green Can Our Region Grow?

On a May morning when the sun's power seemed boundless, over 60 Berkshire area residents came to Lenox, MA to become citizen leaders in promoting increased energy efficiency and renewable energy. The symposium, "Creating a Market for Green Energy in the Berkshires", explored the "invisible" journey of electrons from power plants to the light switches in homes and offices, the complexities of utility restructuring, and the potential for solar and wind power in the region. An excellent array of speakers introduced participants to a national and global issue with significant local implications. By the end of the day, the Berkshire Renewable Energy Collaborative (BREC) and CET had a strong mandate to help make green energy choices available locally. The symposium was coordinated by CET on behalf of BREC with support from the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust. To find out more about CET’s and BREC’s renewable energy efforts, contact Nancy Nylen in our Pittsfield office.

T-Stat Take Back

CET is invited into several thousand homes each year to help residents save energy. In many homes, standard "dial down" thermostats containing approximately 3 grams of mercury are replaced with electronic programmable setback thermostats. What do we do with the old thermostats? We recycle them, of course. CET is now participating as a wholesaler in the Thermostat Recycling Corporation’s recycling program sponsored by Honeywell, General Electric and White-Rodgers. CET is also recruiting heating and plumbing wholesalers in western Massachusetts to serve as collection points to make it easy for contractors to properly dispose of the old thermostats. Thus far, F.W. Webb (Pittsfield), S&A Supply (Pittsfield) and Northampton Plumbing have signed up. Keeping mercury out of waste combustion facilities and landfills helps protect our water, air and health. For more information contact Jamie Cahillane in the Pittsfield office.

Materials Exchange Takes To The Highway

The Massachusetts Materials Exchange traveled to the Eastec Advanced Productivity Trade Show in May. CET demonstrated the varied features of the fully interactive website (www.MaterialsExchange.org) to hundreds of local manufacturers and job shops. Visitors saw how the Materials Exchange can uncover hidden resources in their manufacturing byproducts. As part of the outreach strategy funded by MA DEP, colorful postcards will soon be sent to businesses throughout Massachusetts to inform them about this cost-effective service. To find out more, contact Jim Desmond in our Northampton office.

Tomorrow’S Solar Champions

On May 22nd, forty-four teams from 12 middle schools and home-schooling programs gathered in Pittsfield to participate in the Berkshire-Hudson Junior Solar Sprint (JSS). When relentless rain forced the event inside, undeterred students raced their solar-powered model cars using back-up batteries at the Pittsfield Boys and Girls Club. In addition to speed, cars were judged for innovation, technical merit and craftsmanship. Winners in each category were invited to participate in the Northeast Junior Solar Sprint championship in Turners Falls in June. The JSS was held in conjunction with the NESEA American Tour de Sol in which over 50 earth-friendly vehicles made a special stop in Pittsfield on their journey from Connecticut to Boston. Representatives from JSS sponsors, Berkshire Bank, Berkshire Gas Company, Pittsfield Generating Company, and Western Massachusetts Electric Company, served as judges and presented awards to the winning students. For more information about the JSS contact Paul Schmidt in our Pittsfield office.

Re-Using The Shirt Off Our Backs

More than 24 tons of clothing were collected during CET's 6th Annual Earth Day Clothing and Textile Drive, coordinated in partnership with Goodwill Industries of the Berkshires. During the annual collection, which has become something of an Earth Day tradition, hundreds of households, dozens of community organizations, small businesses and thrift stores brought clothing and textiles to one of 17 drop-off sites within Berkshire County. Goodwill sells the clothes, and other items become wiping cloths or are baled and sold to overseas clothing markets. CET and Goodwill received assistance with the drive from the Southern Berkshire Solid Waste Management District and Tri-Town Health Department (Lee, Lenox & Stockbridge). For more information, contact Jamie Cahillane in our Pittsfield office.

Coming Next Issue:

New Energy Efficiency Initiatives