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Get an inexpensive
17 “green” degree
20 Cheap, easy
window cleaner
Groups
Citizens to Preserve Overton
Park: Organized to preserve and
defend the Old Forest of Overton
Park. overtonparkforever.org or
(901) 278-2396.
Coalition for Livable
Communities: The organization
advocates healthy, vibrant and
economically sustainable communities. The Commercial Appeal file photo
livablememphis.org or (901) 725-8390.
Friends for Our Riverfront: The Citizens to Preserve Overton Park
group advocates improvement of the promotes preservation of the
public space along the Mississippi, as Midtown park’s Old Forest.
well as a clean and vibrant harbor.
friendsforourriverfront.org or
(901) 496-0736. overview or (901) 767-7322 ext. 100.
Greater Memphis Greenline: Mid-South Peace and Justice
Promotes the development of the Center: Works with low-income
Greenline and other unused railway communities in Memphis to plan and
rights-of-way and easements into plant community gardens, providing
hiking and biking trails. area residents with access to fresh
Lichterman Nature Center: A produce. midsouthpeace.org or (901)
65-acre natural preserve in the city, 725-4990.
with a lake, meadow, and forest. To submit items, e-mail
memphismuseums.org/lichterman- goinggreen@commercialappeal.com.
4 GOING GREEN | Sunday, April 18, 2010 commercialappeal.com
those expenses, however, is a big risk. lead dust could have been affecting all
The EPA will enforce a statutory penalty these years, when people aren’t cautious
of $37,500 per day per violation of the to begin with. It’s horrifying to look
new rule. back at the past and think of all the
“Compliance is required on the fully people that could have been affected.”
effective day of the rule and the EPA will Despite the known risks, Quinn
be monitoring compliance and taking worries that many people are going to
enforcement action where warranted,” take chances, including homeowners
said Dawn Harris Young, an EPA “who don’t want to pay the extra couple
representative. hundred dollars that this will probably
According to Young, “most childhood add to the cost of a renovation.”
lead poisoning is caused by lead-based “There’s a concern that people who
paint in the home.” won’t go through this certification could
“Childhood lead poisoning is a take business away from those of us who
completely preventable, irreversible have,” Quinn said.
tragic condition. It permanently “The guys with a truck and a toolbox are
decreases IQ scores, and causes competition for all of us in a way, because a
permanent learning and emotional lot of homeowners are trying to cut
disabilities,” Young said. “It is linked to corners, so they’ll get unlicensed and
impassivity and violence. It has severe uninsured people to work on their homes.”
costs for society.” For Quinn, the benefits of the new
Considering the effects of lead rule far outweigh any additional costs.
exposure not only on children and “Inhaling lead dust can affect children
families — but entire communities — is mentally and physically for the rest of
startling to Quinn. their life,” he said. “I can’t think of
“I look at Memphis — even though we anything more important than
think of a lot of new construction, protecting a child.”
especially out East — but if you look Since December 2008, remodelers
especially at Whitehaven and Raleigh- have been required by law to supply a
brochure to customers outlining the
Frayser, you have a huge amount of older dangers of lead poisoning and EPA’s
homes and older apartments,” he said. new rules. For more information, go to
“There’s just no telling how many people epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm.
Memphis facility, from animal food producer to place that are recycling,
the motion sensors used sell the excess syrup for reducing or reusing
to control lighting to the use in sweetening a much- almost everything used in
state-of-the-art can and used “sweet feed.” production and
bottle crusher. The crushing machine operations.
The crusher is so high- processes cans into 270- For instance, the pallets
tech that Coca-Cola pound bales. With used in moving the
facilities from around the aluminum selling for $1 a products throughout the
region ship their damaged pound, recycling is a win- warehouse are rebuilt on-
products to the Memphis win situation for Coke. site, and the boards that
plant. The machine not “It’s the right thing to cannot be used again for
only can crush and bundle do, and it’s the right new pallets are shipped
the containers, but also business decision. We put out for use in mulch.
can capture every drop of the money from the When trucks return to
the excess syrup. recycling back into the the plant each day, they are
The company recently company,” Krebs said. stopped at the gate, and
entered into an At Coca-Cola, drivers must separate any
agreement with a local processes already are in material that comes back
By Jonathan Devin
for energy efficiency. The standards Some struggled at first to make systems
were developed with the help of that produced less than 20 percent
consultants from Texas-based Austin leakage, but now, she said, most are going
Energy, with local input from builders, well below the required 8 percent.
developers and code enforcement. Still, only 530 homes have been
“The theory was to come up with a certified in the Memphis area since 2004.
prescriptive checklist of things you need Another MLGW green program has
to do to achieve 30-percent energy fared much the same in terms of
savings,” Williamson said. popularity.
Developers Jack Belz and Henry The Green Power Switch allows
Turley, who built Memphians to
Uptown, were among the “It’s not as large as voluntarily pay extra on
first to sign on. we would like it to be their utility bills to
“They require any new support the generation of
single-family in terms of local green energy by TVA.
construction in Uptown participants, but The program is aimed
to be EcoBUILD- at households and
certified so they wrote we’re fortunate to businesses that can’t
that into the covenants have 928 supporters afford to install their own
for development,” solar panels but would
Williamson said. because that $4 can like more energy to be
Specifically, generated from renewable
certification requires a be a big impact.” sources like East
minimum air- Tennessee’s wind farm,
BECKY WILLIAMSON
conditioning efficiency Shelby County’s methane
MLGW’s strategic marketing
level of 14 in the Seasonal coordinator co-generation site and
Energy Efficiency Ratio. some 15 solar farms
The typical market house across the state.
SEER is 13. The cost is $4 per unit
EcoBUILD also requires no more than of green energy with no minimum
8 percent of conditioned air leakage purchase for homes.
from ducts in the attic; most homes lose Only 928 MLGW customers have
30 to 50 percent. enrolled, including just 18 businesses.
To meet the duct standards, About 12,000 customers across the
contractors had to switch from all Tennessee Valley have signed on.
flexible ducts to sheet-metal ducts with “It’s not as large as we would like it to be
no more than 3 feet of flexible ducts in in terms of local participants, but we’re
the system. And the ducts must be sealed fortunate to have 928 supporters because
with a liquid adhesive rather than tape. that $4 can be a big impact,” Williamson
“We had contractors who were not used said.
to working with sheet-metal ducts and Only a handful have invested in
they weren’t accustomed to somebody MLGW’s Generation Partners program
actually checking to see how well the unit in which homes and businesses actually
had been installed,” Williamson said. invest serious cash in a solar panel
14 GOING GREEN | Sunday, April 18, 2010 commercialappeal.com
most environmentally
responsible place to
shop. Sure, they’ve taken
some great steps toward
Earn an eco-degree
sustainability, but
Trucost’s modeling rates
them no better than
without ending up
other conventional
supermarkets.
In Whole Foods’ case,
drowning in debt
the data may not be an
accurate representation By Jenn Savedge
of their environmental Mother Nature Network
commitment. The
company doesn’t disclose Where can you get a green degree without
all its key environmental breaking the bank? Here are 10 colleges and
data, which forces universities that offer solid environmental degree
Trucost to model its programs for under $10,000 a year:
impact from an analysis
of its overall operations.
1. Arizona State University
Amy Hebard, co- Located in Tempe,
founder of Earthsense, Ariz., ASU offers a
suspects that companies good honors college
like Whole Foods Market with annual in-
aren’t disclosing all of state tuition
their environmental data running about
for fear of being seen as $6,000, and
“greenwashing.” out-of-state
Greenwashing is a term tuition close to
used to label a company $18,500. Eco-
that wants to be seen as majors include
environmentally conservation
responsible without biology and ecological stability, ecology and
actually taking the steps evolution, Earth and space exploration, and wildlife
to do so. and restoration ecology.
Efforts to encourage
companies to release 2. Brigham Young University
their environmental You don’t have to be a Mormon to attend BYU and
impact data are gaining it’s a good deal when it comes to private-school
momentum, but value. In addition to their environmental majors of
consumers may have to conservation biology, wildlife and wildlands
remain in the dark until conservation, and Earth and space sciences
that reporting is education, many students also take advantage of
required. BYU’s excellent international studies program.
18 GOING GREEN | Sunday, April 18, 2010 commercialappeal.com
Tuition for members of The Church of ideal for those interested in civil service,
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is about international studies and nonprofit
$4,500 per year; it is twice that for non- work. In-state residents pay about
LDS students. $7,000 annually for tuition, and out-of-
state students pay $18,500.
3. College of the Ozarks
Whether you’re from in state or out, 7. Texas A&M University
tuition is free at this Missouri school. Annual tuition at “Aggie U” runs
But there is a good reason that it is about $8,000 for residents and about
known as “Hard Work U.” Every student $22,000 for out-of-state students. The
is expected to work for 15 hours a week school offers majors in environmental
in an on-campus work program, and studies, forestry and renewable natural
receive a scholarship. It would be well resources, as well as minors in
worth it to graduate with a major in environmental soil science and parks
conservation and wildlife management and natural resources.
completely debt-free.
8. University of Colorado at
4. Iowa State University Boulder:
Iowa State offers a solid educational Well-ranked in terms of sponsored
value with in-state tuition close to research, the university offers an eco-
$6,000 a year, and out-of-state tuition major in environmental studies. In-state
around $17,000. ISU offers several eco- tuition is in the neighborhood of $8,000
degree programs such as natural a year, while out-of-state tuition is about
resource ecology and management, $28,000.
ecology, evolution and organismal
biology, environmental science and 9. University of Oklahoma
environmental studies. In-state tuition is about $8,000 a year
while out-of-state tuition runs close to
5. Hunter College $18,000, making this an excellent school
Hunter College is part of the City to pick up a green degree in
University of New York system, offering environmental science.
a good education in the heart of New
York City. You can get an environmental 10. University of Utah
studies degree here for about $5,000 a Located in Salt Lake City, in the heart
year for in-state students and $10,000 if of the Rocky Mountain range, the
you live out of state. university offers lots of activities for
outdoor enthusiasts. In-state tuition for
6. James Madison University an eco-major in environmental studies
JMU, located in Virginia’s rural or earth sciences teaching is close to
Shenandoah Valley, has several green $4,000 a year, and nonresident tuition is
majors including environmental studies about $9,000.
and environmental science. The school’s Jenn Savedge writes a green parenting blog
proximity to Washington, D.C., makes it at mnn.com/featured-blogs/greenparenting.
The Commercial Appeal Sunday, April 18, 2010 | GOING GREEN 19
EARTH TALK