Volume 9, Issue 2 of EcoBytes

EcoBytes updates you on CET's accomplishments in waste, energy, environmental education and sustainable development.

IN THIS ISSUE:

• CETonline.org: v. 1.5
• New Green Home Audits now available
• The 2007 Progress Report is in, and it's in living color!
• It's easy being green: Springfield and the ReStore
• Step-It-Up rallies fun and successful
• Green towns abound
• Neither rain nor wind nor sleet nor hail stops Climate Walk
• Hats, shoes, shirts and sheets find new uses
• After Hours with CET
• ReStore Decon promotes reuse
• Welcome to our new board members

CETonline.org: v. 1.5

Have you visited our web site recently? We've streamlined things a bit and added a search box to make it easier to find the information you are looking for. You might notice lots of new photos, and more frequently updated pages - especially our Events page, which is loaded with green goodies. With the spring and summer come a plethora of solar energy workshops and wind farm tours. It is also the season for our household hazardous waste collections - great opportunities to responsibly rid yourself of old oil paint and used motor oil. Stay in the environmental loop with CET!

CET's new Green Home Audit is now available

Home owners looking to create a healthier, more environmentally friendly abode can now turn to CET's new comprehensive Green Home Audit. Available in western Massachusetts and border counties in New York, Connecticut, Vermont, and New Hampshire, the Green Home Audit includes a thorough building science analysis and home performance testing, after which our green home specialists will help set priorities for taking actions that have an immediate impact on the environment. The list of recommendations will include measures for reducing your impact on global warming, increasing your home's comfort, health and energy efficiency; ensuring combustion safety, protecting watersheds, and incorporating renewable energy technologies. Together these puzzle pieces can save you money and create a greener home - not to mention what all this does to increase your peace of mind. The Green Home Audit is a fee-based service of CET separate from utility company sponsored energy surveys and rebates. For more information contact Lisa Kohler.

The 2007 Progress Report is in, and it's in living color!

We invite you to check out our new Progress Report and read about all the great things we are accomplishing together with you! Read the stories and see photos of the real-life people, businesses, schools and communities that we serve.

It's easy being green: Springfield and the ReStore

Springfield was recently rated fourth out of 379 best green cities in the country by Country Home magazine. The ReStore was featured prominently by the magazine for its efforts to keep useful building materials out of landfills. To celebrate, the ReStore hosted Mayor Charlie Ryan and representatives from other green initiatives in Springfield for a press conference to highlight the City's environmental efforts. For more information, contact John Majercak.

Step-It-Up rallies fun and successful

On Saturday, April 14, under a warming spring sky in Northampton's Pulaski Park, local environmental leaders along with the exhilarating dancers of the Aze Ashe Troupe captivated a burgeoning crowd of concerned citizens of all ages and from all walks of life to rally Congress to reduce carbon emissions 80% by 2050. These unique rallies - some 1400 of them, took place in every state in the nation, and a photo of each event is now posted on the Step It Up website. CET co-sponsored the Northampton event, and was on hand to provide information and action steps we all can take to reduce our ecological footprint. CET staff participated in events in Lenox, Great Barrington, Pittsfield, Stockbridge and Williamstown.

Green towns abound

This spring, CET is proud to have helped seven towns in western Massachusetts earn thousands of dollars in bonus grants for renewable energy projects in their communities. Through the Massachusetts Clean Energy Choice program, towns earn matching funds when residents and businesses support a clean energy option like New England GreenStart or the New England Wind Fund. Towns earn bonuses at qualifying levels of participation. Congratulations to Hancock, Warwick, Lenox, Williamstown, Goshen, Amherst and Shutesbury for earning bonus funding for future renewable energy projects. Thank you to all clean energy supporters - you've earned funds for your communities and western Massachusetts!

Neither rain nor wind nor sleet nor hail stops Climate Walk

A mid-March nor'easter wasn't enough to deter our diehard Northampton staffers Peggy MacLeod and Tomasin Whitaker. They joined in a 10-mile walk from Northampton to Amherst - the first leg of a 9-day walk to Boston. Organized by Religious Witness for the Earth, the Climate Walk was a "moral call for swift, bold, and comprehensive political action to address global warming." MacLeod says the walk was a huge success, and that it "called media attention to the fact that people of many faiths are united in a shared responsibility as Earth Stewards to ensure we leave a livable planet for future generations."

Hats, shoes, shirts and sheets find new uses

Thanks to everyone who donated bags of used clothing and other textiles for our 12th Annual Earth Day Clothing and Textile Drive. We collected a whopping 16,000 pounds! If you donated clothing, sheets, shoes and other textiles to us, rest assured they will be reused, recycled or off to textile markets. We are grateful to the Berkshire South Regional Community Center in Great Barrington and First Congregational Church of Lee, which served as additional drop-off sites. Thanks to all our sponsors and volunteers, who helped make this drive a success. To learn more about reuse and recycling, contact Shannon McDonough.

After Hours with CET

On April 24, CET & Samel's Deli & Catering hosted the Central Berkshire Chamber After Hours. With the cake and singing of Happy Birthday (it is our 30th anniversary year, after all!) it was one of the top After Hours events ever, according to several Chamber staffers. The food was fabulous - and guests were introduced to all the good community work we do with a multi-media slide show set to the tender and hopeful strains of the Beatles' Here Comes the Sun. Here's to 30 more!

ReStore Deconstruction promotes reuse

ReStore Deconstruction is in the midst of an innovative project that promotes reuse while providing affordable housing in Springfield. The lumber from a 6000-square-foot house that CET recently deconstructed will frame Habitat for Humanity's next house. With millions of board feet of perfectly reusable framing lumber being dumped in the landfill every year, this project demonstrates how these materials can be salvaged and reused. If you'd like more information on deconstruction, contact John Majercak.

Welcome, new board members!

Community member Kit Dobelle and Guido's Fresh Marketplace owner Matt Masiero have joined our Board of Directors. Kit also currently serves on the boards of the Colonial Theatre, Berkshire Health Systems, the Massachusetts Board of the Conservation Law Foundation, and she is a member of the Steering Committee for Berkshire Hospice House. Matt is the owner and president of Guido's Fresh Marketplace. From stores in Lenox and Great Barrington, Guido's provides a full range of earth friendly products, organic produce and natural foods.

******************************************

For over 30 years, CET, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has worked to improve the economy, ecology and health of western Massachusetts. Visit www.cetonline.org to find out more about our programs and to make a secure online donation to CET. Your tax-deductible contribution will help sustain our community work.

The Center for Ecological Technology is an equal opportunity service provider and is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. CET is a proud member of Earth Share of New England, leading environmental organizations working together to protect and preserve our natural resources and public health.