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Envirobytes - An Environmental Newsletter
EnviroBytes, a Summary of Issues and Events for Week Ending July 4, 2008
EPA’S NEW SMARTWAY CAMPAIGN HELPS DRIVERS SAVE FUEL, MONEY, AND PROTECTS THE ENVIRONMENT
EPA has launched the SmartWay Leaf Campaign to encourage consumers to purchase SmartWay-certified cars and trucks. The new campaign explains the rating system and encourages consumers to look for the SmartWay leaf logo on new and used SmartWay-certified vehicles. SmartWay-certified vehicles (as measured by a combination of their emission levels of greenhouse gases, hydrocarbons, nitrous oxides, and other pollutants) are deemed the best environmental performers. If every light duty vehicle in the country were SmartWay-certified, carbon dioxide emissions would decrease by about 214 billion pounds annually or equivalent to the emissions from nearly 20 million vehicles each year. For more information about Smartway, visit epa.gov/smartway To visit EPA's Green Vehicle Guide, go to epa.gov/greenvehicles To learn about the Drive $marter Challenge, go to http://www.DriveSmarterChallenge.org 
DON'T TRASH THE OCEAN: EPA DESIGNATES JULY 1-7 AS NATIONAL CLEAN BEACHES WEEK
During summer it is important to remind vacationers to put trash and recyclable materials in their proper place to help protect oceans and coasts from marine debris. In celebration of National Clean Beaches Week, EPA recommends five simple actions that can prevent trash from becoming marine debris: Never put anything down a storm drain; use reusable bags instead of disposable bags; choose products with less packaging when possible; replace disposable items with reusable ones such as bottles, plates, and cups; and recycle in covered and secured containers. Marine debris, including plastic grocery bags and bottles, ropes, soda rings, and fishing lines, can threaten public safety, hurt the economy with costly cleanups and deterred tourism, and harm or kill marine life like seals, sea turtles, and birds.
Information on marine debris: epa.gov/owow/oceans/debris/
Ways to reduce waste: epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/
SUMMER WORKSHOPS HELP APPLICANTS COMPETE FOR WATERSHED EDUCATION GRANTS
The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office will hold summer workshops for organizations wishing to apply for the 2009 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) grants. The workshops (and two webinars for those who cannot make the in-person workshops) offer tips on putting together a successful application, and will be held in Maryland,Virginia and Washington DC locations. The highly competitive B-WET project funding program will provide hands-on watershed education and also gives students a meaningful watershed education experience before finishing high school. For program and workshop information, go to http://chesapeakebay.noaa.gov/docs/BWETgrantworkshops08.pdf
INTERVIEW CENTERS ON IMPROVING AUTOMOBILE FUEL ECONOMY AND THE USE OF FUEL SAVING DEVICES
On July 3, KYW-TV (Philadelphia) consumer reporter Jim Donovan interviewed EPA Region 3's Brian Rehn on retrofitting fuel saving devices in cars to help improve their fuel economy and reduce their tailpipe emissions. EPA tests these devices to determine their efficiency in evaluating a car's tailpipe emissions and advises that when they are found to be non-working, a complaint can be filed with the Federal Trade Commission. To reduce gas costs, Rehn advised consumers to purchase the most fuel efficient vehicle, maintain the vehicle with regular air filter and oil changes, reduce and combine trips when possible, and change driving habits to reduce speeding and aggressive driving.
EPA PROGRAMS IMPROVE AWARENESS OF THE NEED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RECOVERY OF ELECTRONICS WASTE
To combat the problem of the growing number of end-of-life electronics (e-waste) and preventing them from ending up in landfills, EPA is working to improve awareness of the need for recovery of this electronics waste and direct the public to availability of safe reuse and recycling options. Partnering with municipalities, manufacturers, retailers and recyclers on creative and practical ways to increase the reuse and recycling of electronics, commonly referred to as eCycling has become an pressing issue with EPA. EPA has several programs that tackle e-waste at www.epa.gov/plugin and the Region 3 eCycling Web site at www.epa.gov/reg3wcmd/eCycling/index.htm.
ESTUARINE HABITAT RESTORATION UNDERSCORED AT UPCOMING CONFERENCE
The fourth annual National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration will be held From Oct. 11-16 by Restore America's Estuaries (RAE), at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, RI. The conference, entitled "Creating Solutions through Collaborative Partnerships" sets out to advance the science, scale, pace, practice and success of estuarine habitat restoration such as salt marshes, eelgrass and shellfish beds. This national conference brings a unique blend of people and policy, science and strategy, business and best practices to restore and protect the nation's invaluable coastal habitats for posterity. To register, and for more information visit the conference website at www.estuaries.org/conference
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