UF TREEO ~ Gator Bites

 

 

                                                                                     Monthly Email Newsletter

June 27, 2007

Volume 3, Number 3

Upcoming Event:

 

Solid Waste Operator and Refresher Training – Summer 2007

Aug. 1-2, 2007

UF TREEO Center

Gainesville, FL

Receive all your required continuing education at one time at this event.

Attend for 4 hours, 8 hours or 16 hours.

 

 

Check out these Backflow Courses scheduled for July:

Backflow Prevention Assembly Repair and Maintenance Training and Certification

 

Backflow Prevention Assembly Tester Training and Certification

 

Introduction to Backflow Prevention

 

 

For More Courses Visit:

www.treeo.ufl.edu  

 

 

 

Are you Conservation Minded?

 

Here are a few helpful hints from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s website:

 

Lighten Up!

 

Installing compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs in place of standard incandescent bulbs can save you as much as $40 a year in energy costs by changing out just one 60-watt incandescent with a 14-watt fluorescent lamp. CFL bulbs will also last up to 13 times longer. If you need more light, a long-lasting 27-watt CFL provides as much light as a 100-watt standard incandescent, at about one-fourth the operating cost and one-fourth the heat output. Unlike a few years ago, you can now find CFL bulbs in many different shapes and wattage.

 

Drive Less, Drive Smart


One of the biggest contributors to air pollution is vehicle exhaust. As part of Clean Air Month consider participating in Bike-to-Work Week from May 14 – 18, 2007. Bicycling cuts back on traffic congestion, reduces pollution and is good for your health. If biking to work is not feasible, try cycling to other nearby places that you would normally drive to. It is estimated that one billion gallons of gasoline could be prevented from entering our air if everyone biked to work or the store just once every two weeks.

 

For additional ideas visit: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/mainpage/tips/default.htm

 

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has a New Florida Chapter

 

The University of Florida has been leading the way locally and nationally in building green, and most recently with a collaborative effort with the city of Gainesville, GRU, and other community members a U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) chapter was formed in our area to provide support and bring the latest in green buildings to our community. 

 

The Newest Chapter of the USGBC in Florida, the Heart of Florida Chapter recently joined the national network. The Heart of Florida Chapter’s area includes the counties of Alachua, Bradford, Dixie, Gilchrist, Levy, Marion, and Union.

 

This month the new USGBC Chapter celebrates its induction, with city of Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan as the Keynote Speaker for the celebration event.

 

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a non-profit organization composed of leaders from every sector of the building industry who are working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work.

 

There are more than 9,000 member organizations and a network of 75 regional chapters that are united to advance the USGBC mission of transforming the building industry to sustainability, (www.usgbc.org).

 

The mission of this chapter is to have a positive impact on Florida's environment, economy and social well being by:

  • Promoting LEED™ and other sustainable building practices and technologies.
  • Encouraging green and sustainable design, construction, and operation of buildings.
  • Developing green and sustainable building standards, design practices, and technologies.
  • Providing outreach and education to our members and communities.

For more information on how you can join in supporting the purpose of Heart of Florida Chapter, which is to provide informative programs that educate professionals in the building industry about aspects of “green” and more sustainable buildings, contact: Bahar Armaghani, President (352) 294-0080, barmagh@ufl.edu.

 

Interesting Statistics:

With a quick internet search you can come up with some surprising and interesting statistics, here are just a  few:

·         About 1% of U.S. landfill space is full of disposable diapers, which take 500 years to decompose.

·         Glass produced from recycled glass instead of raw materials reduces related air pollution by 20%, and water pollution by 50%.

·         Americans use 50 million tons of paper annually -- consuming more than 850 million trees.

·         By turning down your central heating thermostat one degree, fuel consumption is cut by as much as 10%.

·         Insulating your attic reduces the amount of energy loss in most houses by up to 20%.

·         Every day 50 to 100 species of plants and animals become extinct as their habitat and human influences destroy them.

·         Penguins live only in the Southern Hemisphere and never in the Northern Hemisphere.

·         A porcupine loves salt so much that it would walk into a camp and gnaw on anything that has been touched by salt or even by perspiring hands.

·         The tip of an elephant's trunk is so sensitive and flexible that it can pick up a pin.

·         If a mole does not find food within 12 hours, it will die. Its chief food consists of insects and earthworms.

 

 

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