Zero Waste Australia

Starting next summer, Austin homeowners would be required to have their homes checked for energy efficiency before selling their property under an ordinance being considered today by the City Council.

Homeowners would also be required to share the result of their efficiency audit, likely to cost between $200 and $300, with potential homebuyers.

POPLARVILLE - Eutaw Construction was awarded a bid for $92 million or construction of sewer and water lines for the many projects the Utility Authority has planned.

Pearl River County Utility Authority Engineer Brooks Wallace said the work will involve water lines from the new water tank and well in Poplarville to Hillsdale, to the City of Poplarville and to Lumberton. In the Picayune area, the construction project also will involve new water lines to the area formerly covered by Dixie Utilities.

Whistler - Throwing your apple core in the garbage in Whistler could soon carry the same stigma as tossing a plastic drink bottle in the trash. The community's new composting facility is set to begin operations this month and residential organic waste will soon be accepted at both local garbage compactor sites.

Brian Barnett, the municipality's general manager of environmental services, on Monday (Nov. 3) said compost collection bins should be in place at the Nesters and Function Junction compactor sites within the next two weeks.

Massachusetts is poised to play a leading role in helping the nation implement parts of the president-elect's energy plan, which focuses on efficiency, battling climate change, and gaining oil independence.

Already the state's energy and environmental policies - including efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve efficiency, use more renewable energy, and create a green jobs sector - fall in line with goals highlighted by Barack Obama during his campaign.

The European Union's environment head has embraced goals to halve global deforestation by 2020 and reduce net forest loss to zero by 2030. Announcing a policy proposal on forest sustainability, the EU environment commissioner, Stavros Dimas, proposed using proceeds from the sale of emissions allowances in the EU ETS to pay for forest preservation in developing countries via a Global Forest Carbon Mechanism.

The proposal follows an EU-commissioned report released last week by Johan Eliasch that recommended similar goals.

Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Australia should use more of its locally produced natural gas in power generation to help reduce carbon emissions harmful to the environment, said Colin Barnett, premier of Western Australia.

Building a pipeline across Australia to take gas from fields in the northwest to the most-populous southeastern states would help cut emissions blamed for global warming, Barnett said today at a conference in Perth. Such a move would be ``easier'' than introducing a carbon tax, or trading system, which are also part of any comprehensive plan to tackle emissions, he said.

See it? There, in the downstairs laundry room, escaping through the needle-fine spaces between the cinder-block walls.

That chill in the front bathroom during the winter? The oppressive heat in the attic during the summer?

Experts say it's all part of the same thing: energy being lost.

A new group of professionals known as home performance contractors are here to save the day.

The decision by Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change
secretary, to commit Britain to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by
80 per cent by 2050 is welcome. Recent research has made it clear that
the government's previous target of a 60 per cent reduction would be
insufficient to help halt profound climate change this century. New
measures were required.

The Australian kangaroo industry says it makes good environmental sense
to farm more kangaroos at the expense of traditional livestock
industries.

The Australian government's climate change advisor,
Professor Ross Garnaut, has suggested that removing sheep and cattle
from the Australian rangelands, and replacing them with 175 million
farmed kangaroos, would help tackle climate change.

John Kelly,
from the Kangaroo Industry Association, says it's a vote of confidence
in the sector but more work's needed to encourage Australians to eat
kangaroo.

Pesto Shrimp hors d'ouevre: Fisherman's Daughter shrimp in a pesto sauce, resting on a tortilla chip, with Genesis Growers butternut squash, garnished with a tiny green

For 10 appetizers: