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 WASHINGTON – Today EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe joined U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to announce the launch of a challenge that asks farmers, processors, manufacturers, retailers, communities and government agencies to reduce wasted food. The U.S. Food Waste Challenge builds upon the success of EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge to help more Americans do their part to reduce food waste.

“Food waste is the single largest type of waste entering our landfills — Americans throw away up to 40 percent of their food. Addressing this issue helps to combat hunger and save money, while also combating climate change. Food waste in landfills decomposes to create potent greenhouse gases and by reducing this waste we can in turn reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said EPA Acting Administrator Bob Perciasepe. “I’m proud that EPA is joining with USDA today to announce the U.S. Food Waste Challenge. With the help of partners across the country, we can ensure that our nation’s food goes to our families and those in need – not the landfill.”
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Source: Energy Manager Today.com by Linda Hardesty

A quick and inexpensive way for restaurants to save water and the energy needed to heat water is to install new pre-rinse spray valves in their dishwashing areas, according to the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs), a group affiliated with the University of Minnesota Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships & Extension.

Restaurants, as a sector, are one of the heavier users of energy per square foot compared to other commercial businesses. Some of that energy is used to heat water for cleaning dishes and washing hands in busy kitchens.
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Source: Environmental Expert.com

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/WSSA2013/03/prweb10488320.htm

This month pesticide safety educators, health professionals and other experts from around the U.S. will explore how to motivate pesticide handlers to use best practices concerning personal protective equipment (PPE). The discussion is part of a Pesticide PPE Seminar Series sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

PPE includes apparel and devices worn to protect the body from contact with pesticides or pesticide residues, including aprons, chemical-resistant suits, coveralls, footwear, gloves, headgear, protective eyewear and respirators.
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Source: Environmental Leader.com

The US military composted 670 tons of food waste at its Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Wash., in 2012, diverting the food from landfills and saving $300,000 in disposal costs, the base’s official newspaper The Northwest Guardian reports.

Revenue and savings from the program support the base’s recycling as well as its programs for family, morale, welfare and recreation.

The food waste, which is collected from Army and Air Force Exchange Service restaurants, unit dining facilities, child care centers, and other facilities, is delivered to the JBLM Earthworks composting facility several times a week. The JBLM Lewis Main Commissary alone recycled 261,760 pounds of food waste last year, saving $21,062 in disposal costs.
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Source: Environmental Expert.com

Lodging Leader Collects 1M Soap Bars and Amenity Bottles

BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 25, 2013 /PR Newswire/ — Global hospitality leader Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) has become an official hotel partner of Clean the World, a non-profit that collects, recycles and distributes discarded soaps and other hygiene amenities to communities in need.  With nearly 47,000 rooms (more than 200 hotels) already participating, Marriott is the number one hotel chain in the Clean the World portfolio, having collected nearly 1 million soap bars and amenity bottles and diverting more than 120 tons of waste from landfills since 2009.

‘We are guests on this planet, and conservation ensures our resources are sustained for generations to come,’ said Denise Naguib, Marriott International’s Vice President, Sustainability and Supplier Diversity.  ‘Our new partnership will help support our global environmental strategy while helping provide a basic need to people in our local communities and around the world.’
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Source: Waste & Recycling News.com

The U.S. Composting Council has created a new, more user-friendly website.

The U.S. Composting Council, which works to promote organics recycling and compost use, has launched a new website created in part to make it easier for consumers to purchase compost from USCC members.

The new site will also have resources for community gardens participating in the 2013 Million Tomato Compost Campaign, a nationwide project to grow tomatoes using donated compost, the USCC announced.

The USCC said it anticipates adding more features, like video and sleeker copy, to the site in the future.

Source: Rocky Mountain Institute Outlet.com

Super Bowl Sunday ranks number one for American TV viewership, rates as one of the top five days for pizza consumption in the U.S., and ranks eighth for beer consumption. But here’s a surprising stat where it ranks far down the list: energy consumption.

Fans that watch together save energy together

While the game itself has a sizeable energy impact (more on that shortly), for the millions of Americans watching from the comfort of their TV sets at home, it’s another story. Last year, more than 111 million Americans tuned in, making the 2012 Super Bowl the most-watched television event in U.S. history. According to data from General Electric, Americans consumed 11 million kWh of electricity watching the event. That may sound like a large number, but actually, all that football-watching actually reduced energy consumption.

Opower analyzed the energy use patterns of 145,000 households on Super Bowl Sunday and compared it to any given Sunday last winter. The results were … intriguing. On the West Coast, energy use during the game dipped to five percent below similar Sundays (and at times, reached 7.7 percent below), and remained 3.7 percent below average even hours after the game. On the East Coast, the during-game energy dip averaged 3.8 percent over the course of the game.

Why? TV pooling. With people focused only on watching the game, and communally congregating at friends’ and family members’ houses, most TVs, ovens, and other appliances were turned off. The corresponding reduction in the nation’s game day energy bill amounted to no small piece of change: $3.1 million.
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Source: Jane Black, Washington Post.com

Not to make you feel guilty, but think for a minute about what you threw out of your refrigerator this week: that wilted lettuce, the yogurt that had passed its expiration date, the Tupperware full of mac and cheese that the kids had to have but never finished. It adds up.

Now imagine the amount of wasted food in a huge cafeteria that serves thousands of meals each day, a place like the South Campus Dining Room at the University of Maryland. That’s what three students did one day back in 2010. The quantities of soup, roast turkey, pasta and salads were so jaw-dropping, they decided to do something about it. They created the Food Recovery Network.
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