Promoting Conscious Environmental Awareness http://lunterra.com.c9.previewyoursite.com/ 2008-05-12T17:45:44+00:00 ESW7/FeedCreator 1.7.2-ppt 2008-01-13T16:33:44+00:00 2008-01-13T16:33:44+00:00 http://lunterra.com//news.html 2008-01-13T20:29:22+00:00 2008-01-13T20:29:22+00:00 http://lunterra.com//links.html 2008-02-09T12:08:23+00:00 2008-02-09T12:08:23+00:00 http://lunterra.com//index.html

There are environmentally-friendly alternatives to disposing your styrofoam packaging with your weekly trash. Lunterra Green Solutions can assist you, your community, or business with common sense strategies for responsibly diverting your styrofoam waste from public landfills.

2008-02-09T12:32:50+00:00 2008-02-09T12:32:50+00:00 http://lunterra.com//index.html 2008-03-05T13:07:03+00:00 2008-03-05T13:07:03+00:00 http://lunterra.com//links.html

The former Canadian Polystyrene Recycling Association in Malton is reopening under a new name. A Malton, Ontario, processing plant that closed late last year, is expected to reopen under new owners, according to an article by the Mississauga (Ontario) News. The former Canadian Polystyrene Recycling Association was the only location in Ontario where municipalities in the province could send their used polystyrene. Sam Alavy, the owner of a group of businesses in Port Hope, Ontario, dedicated to the recovery and re-manufacturing of polystyrene into picture frames and other construction moldings, confirmed to local newspapers that his company purchased the former CPRA plant. The new company, to be called the Canadian Polystyrene Recycling Alliance, will open as soon as possible, said Alavy. When he learned how the CPRA was winding down its business and that Ontario municipalities might be left with nowhere to recycle the collected polystyrene, he approached the association. When the CPRA first announced plans to shutter the plant backers of the plant noted that CPRA's members have invested close to $7 million in recycling equipment since the group formed in 1991. However, the weak U.S. dollar resulted in a roughly 30 percent decline in revenue for the plant. It is expected that the purchase of the Mississauga facility will double the capacity for Alavy’s operations. Opened in 1991, the CPRA was funded by a number of resin producers, product manufacturers and end-users of polystyrene. Last year the company announced that due to economic conditions it would be unable to continue. The announcement came even as the city of Toronto added polystyrene to its collection program. Mississauga (Ontario) News. Recycling Today Magazine Tuesday, March 4, 2008

2008-03-24T11:27:40+00:00 2008-03-24T11:27:40+00:00 http://lunterra.com//index.html

First Waste Transload Inc. (FWTI) is set to revolutionize Canada's waste management industry and dramatically reduce Southern Ontario's CO2 emissions by transporting construction and demolition ("C&D") and industrial, commercial and institutional ("IC&I) waste by rail. FWTI is Canada's only company to transport C&D / IC&I waste by rail. FWTI will commence operations at CN's MacMillan Rail Yard today. First Waste Transload Inc. (FWTI) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Waste Utilities Canada Ltd. FWTI operates the first and largest purpose-built Transload Facility in North America, specifically designed and dedicated to the processing and transportation of construction and demolition (C&D) and industrial, commercial and institutional (IC&I) waste. In addition to the tremendous reduction in CO2 discharge, FWTI's innovative, less expensive, pragmatic and environmentally-beneficial railway approach also reduces highway infrastructure costs, substantially lessens U.S. border traffic congestion and decreases fuel, construction and demolition costs for both its clients and the Canadian public. www.firstwastetransload.com

2008-03-29T11:22:57+00:00 2008-03-29T11:22:57+00:00 http://lunterra.com//index.html

Canadian Press - March 28, 2008 TORONTO — Too many pill-popping, tech-using Canadians are polluting the environment without realizing it and the problem is expected to worsen as the population ages and electronic gadgets become even more popular, says a new Statistics Canada study released Thursday. While Canadians have overwhelmingly learned that they shouldn't pour paint down the drain or throw it in the trash, six out of 10 said they tossed their batteries in the garbage and almost four in 10 said they got rid of leftover or expired pharmaceuticals by flushing them or burying them, according to the results of a 2005 survey. Many Canadians don't realize it, but improper disposal of toxic household waste leads to environmental and health risks, said the report's author John Marshall. Flushed pharmaceuticals can contaminate the water supply and the drug industry is booming, with sales of prescription and non-prescription drugs having almost doubled to $21.8 billion a year between 1998 and 2006. And batteries can contain dangerous substances like mercury, cadmium and lead. Canadians buy hundreds of millions of them each year, with only a small percentage getting safely recycled. Some people know better but are too lazy to do their part to protect the environment, said Aaron Freeman, policy director for Environmental Defence. But those people need to consider the health implications of not making a special trip to dispose of their waste, he said. "These aren't substances people would put near their food or in their water but they're doing that indirectly by putting it into our environment," Freeman said. More governments should consider an idea being raised in Toronto, where batteries could be sold with a deposit fee to encourage proper disposal, he added. "You have to make it easy for people to recycle and you have to make it difficult for them not to, so that goes beyond education," he said. "Because a lot of these items are small, people think that it's not a big deal but they're highly, highly toxic." The rates of safe disposal varied greatly from province to province. While about two-thirds of Quebec and Prince Edward Island households sought out disposal centres for their pharmaceutical waste, just over 40 per cent of people in Ontario did so. In British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador, less than one-third of households properly disposed of the waste. More than half of the households in Prince Edward Island returned their batteries to a special depot instead of throwing them out, but no more than a third did so in the rest of the country, and less than 10 per cent did so in Newfoundland and Labrador. The biggest bright spot in the report was awareness that paint needs to be disposed of safely, and only four per cent of surveyed homeowners said they either poured paint down the drain or left paint cans at the curb. Canadians also seemed to think they shouldn't throw out old computer equipment, and almost half of those surveyed said they either donated it or took it to a drop-off centre when they wanted it out of the house. Thirty-five per cent left the old hardware to gather dust somewhere in their home, while 16 per cent threw it in the garbage. Freeman said any future surveys need to focus on compact fluorescent light bulbs because the public needs to know that they too need to be disposed of properly. Statistics Canada says the use of the energy-saving light bulbs in homes has gone from 19 per cent in 1994 to 56 per cent in 2006. While Freeman called the amount of mercury in each bulb "very trace," he said it's important that people realize the products shouldn't go in a trash bag, where they could break and leak out the toxic substance. "There is a mercury problem and it highlights the need for take-back legislation, so everywhere that sells these bulbs should be required to take them back," he said. "When you make it easy for people they do do the right thing."

2008-04-06T12:23:33+00:00 2008-04-06T12:23:33+00:00 http://lunterra.com//energy_management.html

Fifth Light Technology in Oakville, Ontario (http://www.fifthlight.com) is revolutionizing the fluorescent, HID & incandescent lighting industry with a suite of DALI Dimmable Electronic Ballasts, Networked ON/OFF and Variable Load Controllers and a Management System that delivers sophisticated operating control of each individual light fixture in a multi-building network anywhere an internet connection is available. At a time when most commercial buildings are over-lit and under-managed, Fifth Light's patented Dimmable Lighting Technology provides a key management tool that can be used to conserve energy, customize lighting conditions and participate in demand management/response programs in order to significantly reduce costs. Fifth Light offers a variety of energy efficient fluorescent, HID and incandescent lighting solutions that are well suited for commercial, industrial and residential applications. Check out the Discovery Channel's Daily Planet featured video on Fifth Light's techology at http://www.exn.ca/video/?video=exn20060119-dimmer.asx

2008-05-12T17:45:44+00:00 2008-05-12T17:45:44+00:00 http://lunterra.com.c9.previewyoursite.com//index.html

NEMA Premium Brand Now Includes High-Efficiency Fluorescent Electronic Ballasts for 4-Ft. T8 Lamps Source: Craig DiLouie, Lighting Controls Association Posted May 2008 The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) launched the Premium Ballast program to identify the industry’s most efficient fluorescent fixed-output and dimmable electronic T8 ballasts, thereby providing a mechanism for market recognition and specification of these products. Ballasts qualifying as NEMA Premium Ballasts are recognizable via a special mark on the label distinguishing these products as the most efficient T8 ballasts on the market. As of the time of publication, Advance, OSRAM SYLVANIA, Universal Lighting Technologies and GE have achieved NEMA Premium Ballast certification for their high-efficiency products. To view this press release, please visit http://www.aboutlightingcontrols.org/education/papers/2008_nemaballasts.shtml