Community Carbon Credit Workshop Brings Together Diverse Group of Stakeholders
IES hosted Guidelines for Community Forestry Carbon Credits, a workshop for urban and community forestry offset project stakeholders, on May 26 at the Daniels Fund in Denver. Participants included local and state government officials, green industry representatives, scientists, and others interested in the potential for community forestry offset projects to improve Colorado’s environment. During the two-hour workshop, participants discussed opportunities to work together to tackle multiple important environmental challenges, such as polluted stormwater runoff and ozone air pollution, both of which can be mitigated as part of an integrated community forestry carbon credit program. The ideas generated at the workshop will be used by IES to finalize the forthcoming publication, also titled Guidelines for Community Forestry Carbon Credits. IES will host a second workshop on community forestry offset project implementation this fall. For more information on the workshops or IES’s Colorado Urban Forestry Climate Coalition initiative, please contact IES Senior Research Associate Ryan Moore, ryan@i4es.org.
Golden Residents Reduce Their Chemical Footprints; More Workshops Scheduled
The Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC) Project education program is well underway in Golden, Colorado. IES conducted three successful workshops at the Golden Community Center on topics ranging from contaminant-free cleaning supplies to learning how to grocery shop contaminant-free. IES is now filling requests to put on more workshops for various segments of the Golden community in July.
The next workshop will sponsored by the Golden Front Porch at the Community Center on June 15 from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., followed by another workshop July 13 from 6-7:15 p.m. These workshops will teach participants to “Clean up your Beauty Routine” and will include information on CECs in the environment, how to read labels to avoid products that contain CECs, and how to make your own contaminant-free beauty products. Everyone is welcome. Register for workshops online at https://rec.cityofgolden.net or call the Golden Community Center at (303) 384-8100. For more information, please contact CEC Workshop Coordinator, Rebecca Tate, Rebecca.Tate@i4es.org.
Water Contaminant Project Water Analysis at EPA Lab
IES is working closely with the U.S. EPA Region 8 laboratory in Golden to determine the chemical makeup of the wastewater released from Golden. IES’s goal is to quantify concentrations of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). Chemist Mark Murphy and assistant Kenneth Dahlin are developing cutting edge methods to identify trace contaminants in samples of raw wastewater. The EPA lab is using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry to analyze wastewater with extremely low detection limits. The lab will identify concentrations of the twelve trace contaminants that the CEC project focuses on including triclosan, BPA, BHA, synthetic fragrance and parabens. Dr. Murphy hopes to report contaminant concentrations as low as 10 parts per trillion. Initial sample preparation was completed by graduate student Yun-Ya Yang under the direction of Dr. Thomas Borch at Colorado State University, Department of Environmental Chemistry. More information about the CEC project analysis is available from Zoe Keve, zoe.keve@i4es.org.
Guidelines for Community Forestry Carbon Credits Near Completion
With funding from the Xcel Energy Foundation, IES is completing the Guidelines for Community Forestry Carbon Credits. The Guidelines are an innovative guidebook to assist in creation and maintenance of urban forestry carbon credit programs in the Colorado Front Range. They will provide background information on carbon credits, including how they work, legislative information, cost-benefit analysis, and presentation of benefits, procedures, regulations, and “next steps” suggestions.
The guidebook was written for stakeholders with varying interests and expertise. Key stakeholders include state and local governments, foresters, sustainability coordinators, and private organizations interested in the benefits of sustainable urban forestry. Distribution of the guidelines will be discussed in the second Guidelines for Community Forestry Carbon Credit Workshop. More information: Ryan@i4es.org.
Bisphenol A (BPA) – What’s Really in that Water Bottle?
With summer approaching everyone is looking to be active and get outside! What you may not know is that your favorite water bottle could contain a toxic chemical called bisphenol A (BPA). BPA has recently been designated a “chemical of concern” by the Environmental Protection Agency, which is intensifying its investigation of how wildlife and the water supply are affected. BPA has already been linked to heart disease and has been detected in 93% of humans tested for the contaminant. Now is the perfect time to evaluate your water bottle choices for this season, reduce your “chemical footprint”, and protect the environment.
There are many safe, BPA-free water bottles available. Look for labels on new bottles marked “BPA-free.” If bottles are not marked “BPA-free”, examine the bottom of plastic containers for numbered recycling codes. Avoid recycling codes #3 and #7, as they may contain BPA. Other numbers (#1, #2, #4, #5, #6) are unlikely to contain BPA. Stainless steel water bottles like Klean Kanteenİ and Denver-based Poison bottlesİ are great alternatives to plastic, and are widely available at local outdoor stores. More information: Zoe.Keve@i4es.org
IES Honored With Golden Sustainability Award
The Institute for Environmental Solutions received the prestigious 2010 Sustainability Award from the City of Golden for its demonstrated commitment to the City’s sustainability goals. The award recognizes IES’s leadership during the past year in reaching out to Golden residents with easy actions they can take to reduce chemical contamination in water. “By this award, we recognize that IES is helping the City of Golden to meet sustainability goals in the areas of ecosystem health, water quality, and education,” said Susan Buhr, Chair of the Golden Community Sustainability Advisory Board. Ms. Buhr and Golden Mayor Jacob Smith made the presentation at the City Council meeting on Earth Day.
Golden is the first Denver-metro area municipality to collaborate with IES in the Contaminants of Emerging Concern Project. The project mission is to use education and community-based social marketing to prevent the introduction of household and personal care project contaminants into the water supply.
Over the past 12 months, IES education efforts reached hundreds of Golden residents through community surveys, a workshop series, and publications providing practical advice on ways to reduce use, generation, and disposal of CECs, such as cleaning with vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice, using less detergent per laundry load, and not using anti-bacterial soap. More information: Carol@i4es.org.
IES 2009 Annual Report
The IES 2009 Annual Report will be mailed to all stakeholders this month. If you would like a copy, please e:mail Solutions@i4es.org.
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