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Adriana Trujillo

Computers and monitors are targets of latest energy-efficiency rules - LA Times - 0 views

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    California is pushing to make computers and monitors more energy-efficient, with the California Energy Commission proposing minimum power-consumption standards that could save 2,702 gigawatt hours of electricity per year. It's estimated that the rules would save consumers $430 million a year in energy costs.
Adriana Trujillo

IBM, Microsoft boast breakthroughs in quest for greener cloud | GreenBiz.com - 0 views

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    New innovations from the tech giants will allow businesses to make their cloud computing more environmentally sound.
Adriana Trujillo

Bioplastic 'Could Cut 50M Tons of E-Waste' · Environmental Management & Energ... - 0 views

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    Italian company Bio-on developed a new bioplastic that is intended to reduce the environmental impact of e-waste from smart phones, computers, and other devices. The substance serves as a platform for electronic circuits and is 100% biodegradable.
Adriana Trujillo

World's E-Waste to Grow 33% by 2017, Report Says - 0 views

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    By 2017, the global volume of discarded refrigerators, TVs, cellphones, computers, monitors and other electronic waste will weigh almost as much as 200 Empire State Buildings, a new report predicts.
Adriana Trujillo

Greenpeace: Tech Giants Still Using Hazardous Chemicals · Environmental Manag... - 0 views

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    Samsung, Sony and Panasonic are among the technology companies still using hazardous chemicals such as polyvinylchloride and brominated flame retardants in their products, according to a report by Greenpeace. While there has been some progress in recent years, the report shows that a number of leading consumer electronics companies are still continuing to use toxic chemicals in smartphones, televisions, tablets, computers and cables.
Adriana Trujillo

10 Intelligent Building Trends to Watch in 2016 · Environmental Leader · Envi... - 1 views

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    n 2016 and beyond, building owners and key decision makers will invest in an array of smart building solutions that embody the technology foundation of Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing, according to a new white paper from Navigant Research.
Del Birmingham

Amazon's sustainability story will receive closer scrutiny in 2019 | GreenBiz - 0 views

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    Is the world's largest provider of cloud computing services falling down on its 2014 pledge to one day power all of its data centers entirely with renewable energy?
Adriana Trujillo

Biologists and Computer Scientists Team up to Map a Global 'Safety Net' for the Planet ... - 0 views

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    Washington-based research team RESOLVE, in collaboration with Globaïa Foundation and Universidade Federal de Viçosa, are teaming up to map a global "safety net" for the planet that would protect and connect 50% of the world's land area.
Adriana Trujillo

Basel Action Network (BAN) : Developing Countries Rally to Prevent Industry Efforts to ... - 0 views

  • repairable electronic waste to be exempt from the international Basel Convention hazardous waste trade control procedures.
  • developing countries cannot control the junk electronic computers, faxes, printers and TVs flooding into their countries from North America and Europe
  • digital dump
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  • Transboundary Movement of e-Waste in Geneva
  • all exports of hazardous electronic waste be notified to importing countries, and receive their consent prior to shipment.  
  • without lifting the established hazardous waste trade controls, reuse of used equipment would be inhibited
  • if manufacturers would make efforts to create non-toxic components, readily upgradable hardware and longer-lived products.
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    Developing coutnries are trying to defeat a policy that would require knowledge and consent to hazardous waste material being shipped into that country
Brett Rohring

Terrorist Tungsten in Colombia Taints Global Phone-to-Car Sales - Bloomberg - 0 views

  • Tungsten, in particular, is in high demand.
  • The dark, heat-resistant and super-hard metal is inside the engines of some of the most popular cars in the world. It’s used for screens of computers, phones, tablets and televisions. It helps mobile phones vibrate when they ring. Semiconductor makers use the metal to provide insulation between microscopic layers of circuitry.
  • Tiger Hill rises above the rain forest in an area ruled by armed FARC fighters more than 220 kilometers (137 miles) from the nearest road, town or police station.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • The mine is illegal in three ways: It’s inside a forest preserve, it’s banned by Colombian law because it’s on an Indian reservation, and it’s run by the FARC, which is classified by Colombia, the U.S. and the European Union as a terrorist organization.
  • While Tiger Hill is illegal, it’s the only known tungsten mine in Colombia, according to the police and Environment Ministry officials responsible for regulating mining.
  • China produces the most tungsten -- about 85 percent of global output -- authorities there impose tight controls on the metal to assure domestic manufacturers have enough. That’s forcing companies to scour the globe for mines elsewhere, the USGS says.
  • Apple Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Samsung Electronics Co. purchase parts from a firm that buys from the company that imports tungsten ore from Colombia, company records show.
  • the Environment Ministry’s director whose jurisdiction includes much of Colombia’s Amazon region, says the shippers are hiding the tungsten ore’s true origins.
  • “They falsify the source of illegal metals,” Melendez says. “This is how they launder tungsten.”
Adriana Trujillo

Bringing Back the Night: The Fight Against Light Pollution by Paul Bogard: Yale Environ... - 0 views

  • France
  • within an hour of workers leaving
  • cannot be turned on before sunset
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  • two years
  • designed to eventually cut carbon dioxide emissions by 250,000 tons per year, save the equivalent of the annual energy consumption of 750,000 households, and slash the country’s overall energy bill by 200 million Euros ($266 million).
  • “reduce the print of artificial lighting on the nocturnal environment
  • lighting in many parts of the world is endangering our health and the health of the ecosystems on which we The good news is that light pollution is readily within our grasp to control.rely
  • ecological light pollution, warning that disrupting these natural patterns of light and dark, and thus the structures and functions of ecosystems, is having profound impacts
  • China, India, Brazil, and numerous other countries are becoming increasingly affluent and urbanized
  • glowing white
  • Connecticut and California — have enacted regulations to reduce light pollution, but most nations and cities still do little to dial down the excessive use of light
  • LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, can improve our ability to reduce and better regulate lighting
  • “blue-rich
  • disruptive to circadian rhythms.
  • reducing
  • or Loss of Night
  • 30 percent of vertebrates and more than 60 percent of invertebrates are nocturnal
  • bright lights
  • All are potentially impacted by our burgeoning use of artificial light
  • We have levels of light hundreds and thousands of time higher than the natural level during the night
  • computer-generated maps that dramatically depict the extent of light pollution across the globe
  • Every flip of a light switch contributes to altering ancient patterns of mating, migration, feeding, and pollination, with no time for species to adapt
  • 2012 study of leatherback turtles
  • “artificial lighting of the nesting beaches is the biggest threat to survival of hatchlings and a major factor in declining leatherback turtle populations.”
  • eflected light of the stars and moon from the beach to the ocean
  • follow the light of hotels and streetlights
  • drawn off-course by artificial light
  • between 100 million and 1 billion, we don’t really know — killed each year by collision with human-made structures
  • our outdoor lights are irresistible flames, killing countless moths and other insects, with ripple effects throughout the food chain
  • natural pest control
  • for bats
  • artificial light disrupts patterns of travel and feeding since many bat species avoid illuminated areas.
  • that street lighting influences the migratory pattern of Atlantic salmon,
  • studies on light pollution, ranging from research into the socio-political challenges of cutting light pollution in the Berlin metropolitan area to the effects of light pollution on nocturnal mammals
  • composition of entire communities of insects and other invertebrates.
  • humans
  • nocturnal light disrupts our sleep, confuses our circadian rhythms
  • hormone melatonin
  • most disruptive to our body’s
  • blue wavelength light tells our brain that night is over,
  • consequences of excessive exposure to light at night include an increased risk for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease
  • American Medical Association
  • “risks and benefits of occupational and environmental exposure to light-at-night
  • “new lighting technologies at home and at work that minimize circadian disruption
  • are concerned about the impact of some new lighting
  • make LEDs a
  • these lights may actually make things significantly worse
  • often brighter than the old lights they are replacing
  • LEDs could “exacerbate known and possible unknown effects of light pollution on human health (and the) environment” by more than five times.
  • preventing areas
  • recommends limits for the amount of light in five different zones of lighting intensity
  • banning unshielded lighting in all zones.
  • researchers have identified numerous practical steps to reduce light pollution:
  • spectral composition of lighting (
  • limiting the duration of lighting
  • altering the intensity
  • the Model Lighting Ordinance
  • simple act of shielding our lights — installing or retrofitting lamp fixtures that direct light downward to its intended target — represents our best chance to control light pollution
  • lines of shielded lighting fixtures
  • light equals safety, and darkness danger
  • with little compelling evidence to support common assumptions.
  • The objection
  • For example, ever-brighter lights can actually diminish security by casting glare that impedes our vision and creates shadows where criminals can hide.
  • light effectively than abundantly
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    As evidence mounts that excessive use of light is harming wildlife and adversely affecting human health, new initiatives in France and elsewhere are seeking to turn down the lights that flood an ever-growing part of the planet
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    mounts that excessive use of light is harming wildlife and adversely affecting human health, new initiatives in France and elsewhere are seeking to turn down the lights that flood an ever-growing part of the planet.
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