Back in the 1880s, when two wheeled steeds with pneumatic tires were state-of-the-art technology, the military saw their usefulness in traveling quickly and silently over rugged terrain. Over the years, armies worldwide, from Allied to Axis, adopted such innovations as folding bicycles that could be conveniently strapped to your back or delivered via parachute behind enemy lines. Bicycles eventually replaced horses, even as they were in turn superseded by their motorized counterparts.
Canadian Truckers Can Now Earn Carbon Credits from Fuel Efficiency
In a first of its kind deal, The Carbon Offset Aggregation Co-operative of BC has reached a five year agreement to sell carbon offsets created through the reduction of diesel fuel consumption by heavy trucks and equipment to Pacific Carbon Trust.
Smith & Fong Expands Line at Greenbuild
Smith & Fong debuted SoyBond, a bamboo flooring and plywood line with a soy-based formaldehyde free adhesive system, at this year at the USGBC’s Greenbuild. Under development in partnership with Ashland Inc. since 2008, SoyBond offers mechanical properties at or above current standards and similar products. It has also been tested and supported by California Section 1350 ensuring high indoor air quality.
Should We Be Pushing for Quality Over Quantity on Paper Recycling?
The good news is that paper recovery rates continue to increase year after year in North America and Europe (with the exception of 2009-2010 in Europe due to a dip in production during the economic downturn). A lot of the increase in paper recovery can be attributed to the increase in easy residential and commercial recycling through single stream recovery systems, as 87 percent of Americans now have access to curbside or drop-off paper recycling programs.Yet I can’t help but notice that the quality of recovered fiber is never included in the equation. Is single stream recovery doing more harm than good in terms of creating technical challenges associated with mixed paper recovery streams?