The U.S. Green Building Council has awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum certification to the University of Arizona’s two newest residence halls. This is the first residential project in the state of Arizona to earn the highest LEED rating.

From the UA News:

Eureka! I hit the mother lode of recycling guides and am sharing the wealth. Looking for a place to recycle some old cell phones, I discovered this invaluable online resource.

The Tucson Clean & Beautiful Recycling Directory features a comprehensive list of places to recycle everything from the usual aluminum, appliances, computers and batteries to the unusual. Who knew there were places to recycle your musical instruments, eyeglasses and tallow?

The link to the Tucson Clean & Beautiful Recycling Directory is here.

Below is a list of the categories they feature in their directory.

• Aluminum Cans and Scrap Metal
• Appliances
• Art/Antiques and Collectibles
• Automobile Parts
• Batteries – Automotive
• Batteries – Household and Specialty
• Bicycles
• Books and Magazines
• Building Materials – Reused/Environmentally Sustainable
• Cardboard
• CDs/Music/Videos/DVDs and Game Systems
• Cellular Telephones
• Christmas Trees
• Clothing and Housewares
• Composting/Mulch and Yard Waste
• Computers and Electronics
• Diapers
• Environmental Resources and Community Programs
• Eyeglasses
• Food – Environmentally Sustainable
• Food – Reuse
• Furniture and Equipment – Home/Office
• Glass
• Greeting Cards
• Hearing Aids
• Household Hazardous Waste
• Landfill and Waste Transfer Stations
• Light Bulbs
• Linen and Uniform Services
• Medical Equipment
• Musical Instruments
• Oil – Automotive and Auto Fluids
• Oil – Cooking/Grease and Tallow
• Paint
• Pallets
• Plastic
• Printer and Copier Cartridges – Laser and Inkjet
• Public Recycling Drop-off Stations
• Solar and Alternative Energy
• Sporting Goods and Outdoor Equipment
• Telephone Directories
• Televisions
• Tires
• Waste and Recycling Collection Services
• Water Harvesting and Conservation

The University of Arizona has earned its gold – a STARS Gold Rating that is. And UA is one of the few institutions in North America to gain this prestigious sustainability rating.

UA earned gold for their campus-wide sustainability efforts in three areas: education and research, operations and administration.

From UA News:

The University of Arizona has earned a STARS Gold Rating in recognition of its campus-wide sustainability efforts from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, a group that measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education.

The UA is one of only 30 institutions in the U.S. and Canada to receive the association’s gold rating.

The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, known as STARS, counts 173 institutions as members. Institutions do not have to be members to receive ratings.

AASHE’s STARS program is the only one of its kind that involves publicly reporting comprehensive information related to a college or university’s sustainability performance. Participants report achievements in three overall areas: education and research; operations; and planning, administration and engagement.

Read the entire UA News article here.

An experiment in small living, Patrick Kennedy designed a tiny studio apartment in San Francisco where 42% of all households are singletons.

It may be a mere 160 square feet, but transformer-like it has a sofa that turns into a bed, a bench that turns into a dining table and two chairs and an ‘appliance garage’ where the fridge, microwave and toaster are tucked out of sight when not in use. The apartment feels sleek and modern like a high end hotel.

Designer Kennedy has spent a lot of time camping in an Airstream trailer and knows how to make every square inch count. He makes this small space feel bigger with high ceilings, big windows with a big view, quality materials and a surprisingly big bathroom.

It really makes you think about what you need versus what you think you need. Even my 750 sf townhome feels humongous after looking at this efficient space.

Source: See the original article and video of the space here.

Tucson Electric Power is partnering with Areva Solar to build a 5 megawatt concentrating solar project to produce power. This will be an addition to TEP’s H. Wilson Sundt generating station in Tucson.

Concentrated solar power systems utilize lenses or mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a small area. Power is produced when the concentrated sunlight is converted to heat that creates steam which drives a turbine to power an electrical power generator.

This project will use a solar compact linear fresnel reflector to power steam generators to produce energy during peak demand periods. Construction is slated to begin this spring with operation beginning in early 2013.

From the news source: http://thesolarnews.com/2012/01/tep-selects-areva-solar-as-technology-partner-for-innovative-csp-booster-project/

Representative Gabrielle Giffords’ office will hold the first Solar 101 Workshop of 2012 this Thursday for homeowners and business owners to learn about solar leases. This is a popular way to finance a rooftop solar power system and these systems now make up 90 percent of the rooftop arrays being installed in the Tucson area.

Recent changes in regulations will encourage even more people to choose the leasing option. This workshop is an opportunity to learn about the potential benefits and risks of solar leasing.

Thursday’s event will be held at the Martha Cooper Branch Library in midtown Tucson. The workshop is free and open to the public. Anyone interested in attending is asked to RSVP by contacting 520-881-3588 or RSVPsolar@mail.hous.gov.

Speakers at the Solar 101 Workshop include:

• Thomas Alston, solar outreach and policy coordinator for Giffords’ office, who will give an overview of solar basics;

• Marc Romitio, renewable energy supervisor for Tucson Electric Power Co., who will discuss the do’s and don’ts of solar leases;

• Ryan Hurley, vice president of the Arizona Solar Energy Industries Association and an attorney and partner with Rose Law Group focusing on solar issues, who will give an overview of lease options for commercial and residential solar.

Click here for the news release.

Photo by Kate Kaemerle

University of Arizona professor of Engineering and Optical Sciences Raymond Kostuk is a principal contributor to a research team exploring a new way to increase the efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) panels that generate electricity directly from sunlight.

Collaborating with researchers from the University of Washington and the University of Denver with a grant from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA), their project has the uber-geeky title of “Holographic Spectrum Splitting for Multijunction Organic Photovoltaics.”

The explanation of this work is actually quite simple, according to Kostuk.

“Photovoltaic cells that produce electricity from sunlight only convert a small percentage of incident sunlight into electricity,” he said. One way to make them more efficient is to use multiple junction. Most multijuntion cells today are designed with one junction grown on top of the next forming a tandem cell.

“Junctions are sensitive to specific colors in the spectrum of visible light,” he noted. Some junctions are sensitive to red light; some are sensitive to blue; others are sensitive to the other colors that make up sunlight.

“Some solar devices with stacked junctions already exist, but they are very expensive, which means they are used mostly on high concentration systems and orbiting satellites. Another problem is that it is difficult to match the interfaces on different multi junction devices which limits the range of materials that can be used,” Kostuk said.

OK, maybe not quite that simple, but there is the big bonus that could be the outcome of this research. The team’s hope is that the developed solar devices can be manufactured using carbon-based “organic” materials, which would be generally cheaper and easier to obtain.

Radishes - Photo by Kate Kaemerle

I’m a sucker for a good New Year’s resolution and this year my list is going green. Feel free to borrow from these and add share some of your own.

1) Eat Local/Grow Your Own – This year I’m growing some of my own food, however humble. My baby steps in the winter are growing bean sprouts in a jar plus some herbs on the window sill. When it warms up I’ll plant some leafy greens, tomatoes and peppers on the deck. And of course shopping for locally produced, organic food as much as possible. A weekly trip to the farmers’ market is a must for me.

2) Save energy/save money – I’ve already made significant strides in this area by installing a super efficient furnace, insulating my home (no insulation in the walls previously-yikes!) and using energy efficient bulbs. This year I’ll focus on using less energy and water through a couple of strategies – shorter showers, install a clothes line, lower the thermostat (yes, that’s me wearing the fleece jacket indoors – sexy!) and other fine-tuning around the house. I’m also unplugging the energy vampires when not in use. Except the computer. A woman has got to know her limitations.

3) Drive less/bike more – One day I’d love to get an electric or hybrid car. But my current car is paid for and I don’t want to give up that luxury for car payments. By parking the car and riding my bike for short trips (most of my trips are less than five miles) should save money two ways – less gas and also not buying a gym membership to work off that extra poundage. A twofer!

4) Bag it! – I have the canvas bags, I just need to remember to bring them to the store with me.  Every time I walk or hike and see a plastic bag stuck in the brush or to a stately saguaro I curse the plastic bag! So I have a few extra canvas numbers and stash them in the car, the bike basket and hanging on a hook right next to the door to ensure my shopping bag green cred. Plus I need to remember to wash them – they do get gross after awhile. When the bagger makes a “ewwww” face when filling your bag, it’s time to throw it in the laundry.

5) Use less paper – What happened to the “paperless office”? We’re printing more stuff than ever. I’m working to get most of my bills and bank statements emailed to me instead of hard copies. I read the news online instead of getting the paper and I support their online advertisers. Plus, as a compulsive list maker I’ve switched to an online list manager instead of carrying a notebook. Check out Wunderlist – it’s free, easy to use and it manages your tasks online and syncs with your smartphone so it’s always with you. I have 16 lists going currently, from work to home to New Year’s goals (yes this list started there) and a dozen more. And yes, I love checking stuff off my lists so much that I’ll even write something on the list that I already did just to check it off. What can I say – I’m a list geek.

There you have it – my five green resolutions for 2012. Please share your green New Year’s resolutions with us in the comments.  Have a Happy and Green New Year!

Tis the season to think about stuff. With the official shopping season kick-off of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, it’s all about the buy, buy, buy.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been struggling with having too much stuff. How do you know if you have too much stuff? Can you quickly find what you’re looking for? Do you need a storage unit or garage to store the extra stuff you don’t use all the time? Do things fall on your head when you open your closet? If any of these are your reality, then you may have too much stuff.

So if a glance around your dwelling confirms that your clutter and full closets have created a stuff overload, here are a few things to think about to simplify your life.

• If you bring something into your home, get rid of something else.
• If you haven’t used it or worn it for six months, consider giving it to a friend or donating it to charity.
• Let go of the things you ‘might use someday’ but don’t have a real use for today.

Examine your possessions with an eye to what really makes you happy and consider getting rid of the things that are just there. My weakness is books and I had several bookcases that were full. Most of them I was never going to read again, so I got rid of two thirds of the dust-catchers and gave them to friends or donated them to charity. I am far happier with less clutter and I don’t miss them at all. I got rid of a couple bookcases, have more space and my study feels more open and zen-like which makes me happy.

More stuff doesn’t make you happier. In fact, my life has become more calm and manageable the less stuff I have. Less stuff to manage leaves more time and money for the things that were really important to me – friends, family, time for outdoor activities and creative pursuits – things that I love.

Do you think you have too much stuff? What are you willing to do to change that? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Check out the Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard: http://www.storyofstuff.org/

A clothing swap and mimosas? Have I died and gone to heaven? When you’re going for an eco-lifestyle, trading things is a great way to be green.

Bring some of your gently used clothes and take home some new-to-you items at the clothing exchange. The event is Sunday from 10 AM to noon at the Dinnerware Artspace. They’ll also have music, the aforementioned mimosas, chocolate, Sinaloan style tamales and tarot card reading. What’s not to like?

The event is Sunday, November 20 from 10 AM to 12 noon at the Dinnerware Artspace, 119 E. Toole Ave. For more information email dinnerewareartspace@gmail.com.

More details from their Facebook page:

• Bring at least 5 garments or accessories, then choose your new-to-you wearable adventures at the Trade. Bring your clean, great clothes on hangers in a bag.
• If you want to just donate clothes to the Trade, just leave them on Dinnerware’s west dock door anytime this week.
• $5 donation requested (which helps pay the rent but no one will be turned away)

While this is primarily for women’s clothes, there will be tables labeled:

• Button Eyes Table: children’s clothes.
• Mayhem: Men’s clothes table
• Accessories Table
• Loved-You-Too-Much Table
• Foot Traffic Table: shoes
• Heinz 57 Table: odds and ends