GreenClips.18 03.15.95 STUDY WARNS ABOUT TOXICITY OF HOUSEHOLD MATERIALS The environmental watchdog agency Inform found that household products may pose greater long-term environmental hazards than industrial chemical wastes. Inform's 522-page report analyzes data submitted to the Federal and state governments. The premise of the study is that thousands of artificial substances have been developed and used in the last four decades with little assessment of the hazards they might pose to human health and the environment. -The New York Times, March 15, 1995, p. C4, by John Holusha. LOUISIANA-PACIFIC FINED Louisiana-Pacific Corporation plead guilty and will pay a $3 million fine for 14 counts of criminal violations of the Clean Water Act at Ketchikan Pulp Co. near Ketchikan, Alaska. The Federal government brought charges against the company for dumping contaminated sludge and wastewater into Wards Cove, an inlet inhabited by killer whales, salmon, otters and seabirds. The settlement ended a lengthy Justice Department and the EPA probe that began in 1993. -The Wall Street Journal, March 7, 1995, p. B12, by Charles McCoy. IS GREEN BUSINESS GOOD BUSINESS? The March 6 issue of Fortune magazine announced America's Most Admired Corporations, determined by polling 395 companies. Fortune measures eight company attributes from the quality of their products and services to their ability to attract and retain talented employees. The Green Business Letter (GBL) compared Fortune's overall rankings to scores in one of the eight attributes: "responsibility to the community and the environment". GBL notes that nine of the top ten scorers in the community and environment category ranked among the top 10% of companies overall. -The Green Business Letter, March 1995, p. 3. SOLAR LIVING CENTER Real Goods Trading Corporation, the nation's largest seller of renewable energy products, is designing a 12-acre demonstration Solar Living Center in Hopland, California. According to John Schaeffer, their new headquarters "will embody all the available wisdom on sustainable building practices, renewable energy systems, organic agriculture, and people-friendly office spaces." -In Business, January/February, p. 46. SIX GREEN PROJECTS Builder magazine reports on projects featuring environmentally-sensitive design and construction: Environmental Research House developed by Tom and Caroline Hoyt, Dewees Island designed by Spartina Group, Prairie Preservation developed by the Prairie Holdings Corporation, Tamarack Pointe developed by Habitat Design and Construction, City of Austin Green Builder Program, South Mountain designed by EDAW-HRV. -Builder, February 1995, p. 136. CARPET RECYCLING PROGRAM Carpet manufacturer Collins & Aikman launched its Infinity Initiative program last month. The company accepts used vinyl-backed carpet and carpet tile and recycles them into new products such as parking lot bumpers. The used carpet is chopped and granulated, mixed with recycled plastic, and fed into an extruder that melts it. Then the material is poured into new product forms. -The Green Business Letter, March 1995, p. 3-4.