Welcome to Volume 8, Issue 1 of EcoBytes the Center for Ecological Technology's (CET) email newsletter. EcoBytes updates you on CET's accomplishments in waste, energy and environmental education. Visit us atwww.cetonline.org to learn more about our programs. For mailing list changes or deletions, please contact Ruth.

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Our Year in Review
• Standing Room Only
• Lights and Trash Don’t Mix
• You Can Teach an Old School New Tricks
• Recycling: Bringing it to the Streets
• Reducing Home Heating Costs
• Welcome New Staff to CET

Our Year in Review

In 2005, you may have encountered CET at public forums, renewable energy tours, after-school programs, classroom presentations, teacher-training workshops, recycling and hazardous waste collections, during an energy survey or in-service training sessions for nurses and other health care providers. We provided science education to more than 6,700 adults and 2,300 children. CET enrolled over 1,000 households and small businesses in New England GreenStart. We added 50 kilowatts of new solar electric systems to several Berkshire colleges and schools and certified that over 330 housing units met or exceeded the EnergyStar® standard for new construction. Through newspapers, radio and television, we brought such issues as waste reduction, recycling, energy conservation, climate change and renewable energy to over 100,000 households. What a year! Thanks for being part of it.

Standing Room Only

For those who remember the early 1980s, there is an eerie feeling of deja vu - high energy prices, federal tax credits, state incentives and a growing reliance on imported oil. All this is fueling a renewed interest in local, clean, renewable sources of power. CET offered five solar energy workshops featuring Chris Vreeland, a mechanical engineer who is passionate about renewable energy. From North Adams to Great Barrington, these workshops were well attended, in some cases by standing room only crowds. Three hundred people learned about solar technologies, evaluating their site, and costs and financial incentives that might apply to their situation. In December, Sally Wright from the Renewable Energy Research Lab at the University of Massachusetts presented a workshop on small-scale wind power to a full house in Pittsfield. The Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and U.S. Department of Energy have funded the workshops. Additional workshops are scheduled; contact Cynthia Grippaldi or visit Events page.

Lights and Trash Don’t Mix

Two western Massachusetts towns are leading the nation in keeping mercury-containing lamps out of the waste stream. In South Hadley, the Health Department incorporated recycling mercury lamps into the permit renewal process starting in 2006. CET worked with the Health Department and the Recycling Coordinator to distribute information and provide technical assistance to 80 permitted businesses - supermarkets, hotels, motels, spas, tanning salons, convenience stores, restaurants and inns. Now those businesses will document their recycling of spent lamps when they apply for an annual operating permit. This additional item on the permit application doesn't burden the Health Department and it helps get mercury out of our air and water. Learning of South Hadley’s success, the West Springfield Health Department decided to survey businesses about their spent lamp practices as part of the 2006 permit renewal process. The Heath Department is considering requiring lamp recycling in 2007. In the meantime, almost all of the surveyed businesses requested technical assistance to start recycling lamps and CET will be helping them in the coming months. More than 59,000 feet of lamps have been or will be recycled as a result of our work to date. CET is pleased to work with localities to use the authority of the Boards of Health to encourage and institutionalize lamp recycling. For more information, contact Lorenzo Macaluso.

You Can Teach an Old School New Tricks

CET helped transform the former Lee Central School into 38 EnergyStar® certified housing units. CET supplied technical assistance and key energy features were upgraded through generous funding from Western Massachusetts Electric Company and Berkshire Gas Company. Stephanie Talanian from Berkshire Elder Services was the project mastermind. "It was a pleasure working with CET. They are both knowledgeable and friendly," she observed. "Providing energy efficient homes was our first concern; receiving incentives for doing so was an added bonus. We look forward to having 38 happy and warm residents very soon!" For more information about EnergyStar®, contact Peggy MacLeod.

Recycling: Bringing it to the Streets

You do it at home, at the office and now, you can do it at community events! Thanks to CET’s help, thousands of people visited the Lenox Craft Fair in August and the Lenox Apple Squeeze in September. They found large blue toters strategically placed for ease of use and happily deposited hundreds of cans and bottles for recycling.CET also worked with the Lee Recycling Committee to arrange container recycling for the big Founder’s Day weekend. Members of the Lee Recycling Committee marched in the parade holding high their new green banner and distributing information about recycling. Spectators didn’t have to travel far to see the committee’s work in action: the parade route was lined with public recycling bins designed to collect plastic and glass bottles and soda cans. At just a few events, thousands of containers were recycled and many visitors became more aware of the value of a bottle or can. Thanks to Lee and Lenox for working with CET on this effort. To learn how to set up container recycling at a community event, contact one of CET’s AmeriCorps VISTA members, Alison Lesht.

Reducing Home Heating Costs

Are you worried about high heating bills this winter? CET provides energy efficiency services to National Grid and Berkshire Gas Company customers through MassSAVE, a statewide program to improve the energy efficiency of homes in Massachusetts. As needed, homeowners receive a no-cost energy survey to identify specific energy efficiency improvements, with a focus on major measures like wall and attic insulation and instrumented air sealing. The utility companies will pay for 50% of the cost to make these improvements, up to $1,500. To find out more, visit MassSave. or contact MassSAVE at 1-866-527-7283.

Welcome Back Cynthia Grippaldi

Cynthia Grippaldi recently returned to CET after a 15-year absence. She will conduct outreach and education about renewable energy and waste management. Cynthia holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. She has years of experience in environmental education, energy conservation and energy efficient building. Cynthia has managed an education and research field station in a National Park, and more recently assisted the Timber Framers Guild. Stop by the Pittsfield Office to say hello.

Welcome Staysee Bogan to the ReStore

Staysee Bogan, an AmeriCorps*VISTA Member, comes to the ReStore from northern Wisconsin where she earned a B.S. in Environmental Science from Northland College. In the past three years, she could be found wading through wetlands, managing volunteer-based watershed projects and answering domestic abuse hotlines. Staysee will assist with every aspect of operations at the ReStore, from reducing waste and landfill space to providing the greater Springfield area with affordable home improvement supplies. Stop by the ReStore to say hello.

Upcoming Events

6th Massachusetts Organics Recycling Summit, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm Second day! March 2 -- site visits, Marlborough, MA March 2, Solar Energy Workshop, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Sullivan Lounge, Amsler Campus Center, North Adams, 7 - 9 pm. April 4, Solar Energy Workshop, Simon’s Rock College, Fisher Science Center, Great Barrington, 7 - 9 pm.