Category: News

Ah, fall. The temperatures are dropping, pumpkins and spooky decorations adorn nearly every front porch, and Halloween is just around the corner. Holidays are a great opportunity to be more sustainable. In fact, the concept of an eco-friendly Halloween isn’t new. Bellevue, Washington mom Corey Colwell-Lipson founded the Green Halloween initiative in 2006. But how do you decide where to start?  

The World Wildlife Organization has several tips on keeping your Halloween festive, yet environmentally-friendly.

1. Start by making your own costumes. Instead of going for the big-box, chain costume retailers, go local. Get your outfits from second hand stores or yard sales. Check out the Idea Store at their new location at Lincoln Square in Urbana for supplies. You can even give your costume a green theme. If DIY isn’t your thing, organize a costume swap and repurpose a friend’s old costume. You could even repeat some outfits from years past. Trust me, no one is going to remember that you went as a police officer three years ago. Save yourself the extra money and wear it again.
2. When it comes to parties, make sure there’s as little waste as possible. Use reusable dishes. Put labels on your guest’s drinks so they’re encouraged to stick with one cup instead of unnecessarily wasting several. Maybe setting a good sustainability example will encourage them to make some changes as well.
3. Use households items to collect candy when you take the kids trick-or-treating. Replace plastic bags with buckets, reusable “guilt-free” grocery store bags, even pillowcases. This is an opportunity to get creative. For example, make a craft project out of decorating plain pillowcases to use as trick-or-treat bags.

These aren’t the only ways to have a more sustainable Halloween. From buying pumpkins at local farmer’s markets to reducing carbon emissions by walking instead of driving, the room for eco-friendly holiday improvement is limitless.

So kick back in your chair, pop a Kit-Kat or five, turn on a scary movie, and remember that sustainability isn’t always the big, time-consuming projects, but the small, day-to-day changes a person makes to show that they care. Help put the “green” in Halloween.  

ISTC’s annual report for the period July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018 is now available.  The report features ISTC’s technical and research efforts during the period. Highlights include ISTC’s success with winning awards for all five of the DOE grant applications that our researchers submitted in fall 2017. The report also details new initiatives such as solar panel recycling and free assessments for wastewater treatment plants to reduce operating costs. With these efforts, ISTC continues to advance sustainability in Illinois and beyond. Check out the report for more details.

In Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn wrote, “Women hold up half the sky”. In addition, women also manage half the soil, carry more than half the water, and raise more than half of the world’s population.

Women’s Equality Day, (August 26) celebrates the Nineteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which gave women the right to vote. The day also serves as a reminder of how much work still needs to be done. This makes it a perfect time to reflect on women’s role in sustainability, understand the way that women are disproportionately affected by environmental disasters, and improve environmental sustainability by focusing on gender equality.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals were established in 2015 to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. They also recognized gender equality as a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. Furthermore, the UN 2030 Agenda states, “The achievement of full human potential and of sustainable development is not possible if one half of humanity continues to be denied its full human rights and opportunities. Women and girls must enjoy equal access to quality education, economic resources and political participation as well as equal opportunities with men and boys for employment, leadership and decision making at all levels.”

Women play a crucial role in environmental sustainability. They produce 50 percent of agricultural output in Asia and represent nearly 80 percent of the agricultural labor force in parts of Africa. If women had the same access as men to agricultural resources, production would increase by 20-30 percent, and has the potential to reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12-17 percent, according to research by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Women face different types of discrimination depending on where they live. This gender disparity has led to ineffective and unsustainable management of ecosystems and resources worldwide. Moving forward, men and women need to be included in decision making, especially with regard to natural resource management. We have come far since the Nineteenth Amendment was adopted in 1920, but we still haven’t achieved gender equality. Supporting and empowering the women and girls in your life is a great way to work toward sustainability.  

One way that manufacturers can reduce their environmental impact is by replacing a toxic or hazardous process chemical with a less hazardous or non-hazardous one. The following resources are useful when trying to identify less toxic alternatives.
 
SUBSPORT: Substitution Support Portal

SUBSPORT is a free-of-charge, multilingual platform for information exchange on alternative substances and technologies, as well as tools and guidance for substance evaluation and substitution management. It includes:

• a structured presentation of legal information on substitution throughout the European Union and, in part, on an international and national level
• a database of restricted and priority substances that are legally or voluntarily restricted or subjects of public debates (only in English)
• a compilation of prevalent criteria for the identification of hazardous substances
• a description of existing substitution tools to compare and assess alternative substances and technologies
• a database comprising case stories from companies and literature with general information on alternatives to the use of hazardous substances and detailed alternative assessment reports for 10 substances or substance groups of high concern each including up to five essential applications (only partly translated to French, German and Spanish)
• substitution training programs (alternatives identification and assessment training)
• interactive elements for discussion, networking, and exchange of information and experience as well as for portal updates

Program for Assisting the Replacement of Industrial Solvents (PARIS III)

PARIS III, developed by U.S. EPA, is a desktop/laptop application that allows users to find mixtures of solvents with specific physical and chemical properties that also have relatively low environmental impacts. The software helps users find replacements for solvent mixtures that are currently being used in industrial processes but have dangerous environmental side effects. The software can also be used to find solvents with lower environmental impact when designing new industrial processes, as well as more benign solvents that can be added to harmful solvents favored by industry to help reduce the harmful environmental impact of their processes.
 
CleanerSolutions Database

The CleanerSolutions Database, developed by the Toxics Use Reduction Institute, helps users select an alternative cleaner that meets their needs. The information is based on lab testing done by TURI. Use the tool to find a cleaner for a particular contaminant; replace a solvent; identify products based on safety and environmental criteria; and search by vendor information.
 
P2OASys Tool to Compare Materials

Sometimes changing chemicals or processes can have unintended environmental and health impacts. TURI’s P2OASys is an Excel based tool that allows companies to assess the potential environmental, worker, and public health impacts of alternative technologies aimed at reducing toxics use. The goal is more comprehensive and systematic thinking about the potential hazards posed by current and alternative processes identified during the TUR planning process. The tool can help companies:

• Systematically examine the potential environmental and worker impacts of options, examining the total impacts of process changes, rather than simply those of chemical changes
• Compare options with current processes based on quantitative and qualitative factors.

Chemical Hazard Assessment Database

The Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse (IC2) Chemical Hazard Assessment Database enables users to search for GreenScreen® and Quick Chemical Assessment Tool (QCAT) assessments. The purpose of this tool is to promote awareness of assessments conducted on chemicals of high concern, facilitate transparency and discussion, and reduce duplication of effort. IC2 also has alternatives assessment resources, including a guide and links to other assessment materials.
 
Safer Chemical Ingredients List

The Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL) is a list of chemical ingredients, arranged by functional-use class, that U.S. EPA’s Safer Choice Program has evaluated and determined to be safer than traditional chemical ingredients. This list is designed to help manufacturers find safer chemical alternatives that meet the criteria of the Safer Choice Program. Safer Choice also has other resources available for manufacturers.
 
Environmental, Health and Safety Data Resources

Although chemical manufacturers provide material safety data sheets with their chemicals, sometimes this information isn’t enough. TURI’s librarian created this guide to assist in researching environmental, health and safety information for chemicals.
 

ISTC Case Study: Sustainability Certification Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP): GFX International
GFX Printing, located in Grayslake, IL, produces large format graphics printed on a variety of media. GFX earned initial SGP certification in 2010 and was re-certified in 2012 and 2014. Since attaining their certification, GFX has reduced waste to landfill by setting reduction goals and evaluating waste streams for further reduction and recycling. They also reduced emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC), hazardous air pollutants (HAP), and carbon dioxide. From 2008-2013, they reduced their landfill waste by 42%, hazardous waste by 32.7%, VOC emissions by 35%, and HAP emissions by 100%.

Save 50% Energy by Replacing Linear Fluorescent Lamps with LED Lamps
Lighting is a crucial component of the manufacturing process. It impacts worker productivity, product quality, and facility appearance. Lighting also comprises a significant portion of a facility’s energy costs and is frequently overlooked by maintenance and purchasing personnel. Old lamps are often replaces with new identical lamps without consideration being given to energy efficiency or cost. Today, LED (light emitting diode) technology is changing that practice. Burgeoning LED products offer a variety of energy-efficient alternatives for industrial applications. ISTC has identified a simple, quick-fix solution to a very common scenario of upgrading linear fluorescent lighting.