SOURCE: IBM

  

Mar 23, 2009 00:01 ET

Ricoh and Taisei Join Eco-Patent Commons

DuPont Contributes Additional Eco-Friendly Patents

GENEVA--(Marketwire - March 23, 2009) - Ricoh Company, Ltd., a global leader in office solutions, and Taisei Corporation, a leading engineering construction company, have joined the Eco-Patent Commons, a first-of-a-kind business effort coordinated by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) to help the environment by pledging environmentally beneficial patents to the public domain.

The environmentally friendly patents being pledged by Ricoh and Taisei include:

• A technology developed by Ricoh that focuses on the recycling of removable cartridges; 
  
• A unique construction technology developed by Taisei to improve water quality.
  

In addition to the patents contributed by the newest members of the Eco-Patent Commons,DuPont, who joined the initiative and pledged four patents last fall, has pledged seven more patents for refrigerant materials that could reduce ozone depletion to preserve the environment.

"The World Business Council for Sustainable Development is delighted that more companies have decided to join this initiative," said Björn Stigson, president of the WBCSD. "By making their patents available in this way, companies are helping in areas such as energy efficiency and conservation, waste reduction and recycling. These latest pledges show that, even in financially difficult times, business has a strong commitment to contributing to a sustainable world."

Eco-Patent Commons, launched by IBM (NYSE: IBM), Nokia, Pitney Bowes and Sony in partnership with the WBCSD, was founded on the commitment that anyone who wants to bring environmental benefits to market can use these patents to protect the environment and enable collaboration between businesses that foster new innovations.

Since the launch of the Eco-Patent Commons in January 2008, almost a hundred eco-friendly patents have been pledged by nine companies representing a variety of industries worldwide: Bosch, DuPont, IBM, Nokia, Pitney Bowes, Ricoh, Sony, Taisei and Xerox. Many of them have been directly contacted about their patents. For example, Yale University has used one of the pledged patents by IBM to substitute a toxic developer with an environmentally preferable solvent mixture of alcohol and water for their quantum computing device research.

Pledged patent by Ricoh

Ricoh pledged a patent that effectively reduces waste of image device cartridges. These removable cartridges are widely used in various imaging devices, such as copy machines, printers and fax machines. The technology allows cartridges to be recycled safely by counting the number of times of use and alerting a user if a cartridge exceeds its duration limit.

Pledged patents by Taisei

Taisei has pledged two patents, one of which provides an environmentally friendly green space construction method solution to improve water quality. Taisei's technology offers a low cost solution to improve water quality by using porous concrete blocks to construct a green space surrounded by water. By using porous water-permeable concrete blocks to build an outer frame for a green space, environmental pollutants are degraded by the microorganisms that live in the porous blocks to improve water quality. The other patent involves a shallow water purification method that can purify shallow water regions of lakes and reservoirs by pumping air through tubes to create water circulation in shallow water regions to help maximize water purification effect.

Pledged patents by DuPont

DuPont pledged seven patents which provide environmentally superior refrigerants for use in refrigeration and air conditioning. These fluorocarbon alternative solutions are useful in products employing a centrifugal compressor, such as automobile air conditioners or other cooling systems. These materials reduce or eliminate the potential for ozone depletion and global warming as compared to current refrigerants.

Patents pledged to the Eco-Patent Commons may involve innovations directly related to environmental solutions or may be innovations in manufacturing or business processes where the solution also provides an environment benefit, such as pollution prevention or the more efficient use of materials or energy.

Membership in the Eco-Patent Commons is open to all individuals and companies willing to pledge their patents. The selection and submission of each organization's patents for pledging is at the organization's discretion. The pledged portfolio and the instructions on how to become a member are available on a dedicated, public Web site hosted by the WBCSD athttp://www.wbcsd.org/web/epc.

Member companies and the WBCSD invite other interested companies to become members of the Eco-Patent Commons and participate in this initiative promoting innovation and collaboration to help protect the planet.

About Ricoh

A global leader in digital office solutions, Ricoh creates new value at the interface of people and information, offering a broad range of digital, networked products, including MFPs, printers, fax machines, semiconductor related products and digital cameras. Ricoh is also one of the world's leading environmentalist companies, committed to sustainable business everywhere. For more information, please visit http://www.ricoh.com/.

About Taisei Corporation

Taisei Corporation is one of the oldest and largest engineering construction companies in the world, offering a diverse range of services in the design and construction industries. For more information, please visit http://www.taisei.co.jp/english/index.html

About DuPont

DuPont is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation. For more information, please visithttp://www.dupont.com

About the World Business Council for Sustainable Development

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development brings together some 200 international companies in a shared commitment to sustainable development through economic growth, ecological balance and social progress. Members are drawn from more than 30 countries and 20 major industrial sectors. The WBCSD also benefits from a global network of about 60 national and regional business councils and partner organizations. Its mission is to provide business leadership as a catalyst for change toward sustainable development, and to support the business license to operate, innovate and grow in a world increasingly shaped by sustainable development issues.

About IBM

For more information, visit, www.ibm.com.

Media Contacts:

June Namioka
IBM
Office: +81-3-5563-5671
june@jp.ibm.com

Moira O'Brien-Malone
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Office: +41 787 130 442
obm@wbcsd.org

Redemtech has a zero tolerance policy for e-waste

They make the GRADE in IT asset disposal

On Thursday, February 12th, I interviewed Bob Houghton, the CEO of Redemtech. We talked about how they came to be leaders in the responsible disposal of e-waste, their Sustainable Computing Assessment, how they came to be one of only five ITAD (IT asset disposal) providers to make IDC’s GRADE and how being green has helped their company karma.

Redemtech was founded in July 1996. Their original role was “the enterprise solution to technology recycling.” Located in Columbus, Ohio, environmental sustainability is at the core of Redemtech’s business. Redemtech implemented their zero export of e-waste policy in 2000 while trying to get the business of California’s largest HMO, Kaiser Permanente. Jim Regan of Kaiser said that if Redemtech wanted their business, they would have to promise not to ship any e-waste overseas. So Redemtech agreed, and then set about trying to figure out how to fulfill that promise. “We chose then to completely change the company and drew a hard line that cannot be crossed-zero landfill, zero exporting.” Redemtech was the first company to draw a line in the sand about zero export of e-waste.

The Sustainable Computing Assessment, sponsored by GreenerComputing, is a tool for helping IT measure how “green” they currently are. It is a “yardstick that allows companies to baseline a benchmark of where they are, and how they can begin to make improvements in sustainability.” The tool is a detailed, fifteen minute survey that provides high level graphic results coupled with textual findings and provides some low-hanging fruit, or first steps, companies can take to become more IT sustainable. Practice advisors provide even more detailed advice on how to green their IT. It puts sustainability in quantitative terms. Any company can take the assessment for free. The practice advisors can help non-Redemtech customers for a billable fee. Ultimately, the Sustainable Computing Initiative is a tool to help Redemtech show companies how they can save them money.

In November 2008, the Basel Action Network (BAN) and the Electronics TakeBack Coalition joined with 32 electronics recyclers in the US and Canada to announce that the e-Stewards program called the Electronics Recycler’s Pledge of True Stewardship was soon to be fully accredited and certified. Redemtech was one of the original companies to join the program, and they found that the environmental standards they already had in place even exceeded those of the e-Stewards program. Redemtech is now helping BAN with its auditing guidelines for analyzing companies who want to take the e-Stewards Pledge.

The Interactive Data Corporation (IDC) introduced a program in July 2008 called Green Recycling and Asset Disposal for the Enterprise (GRADE). The GRADE certification program identifies ITAD providers that meet at least 75% of a preset list of 34 ITAD-related functions and tasks, taking into account application offerings, onsite services, logistics, in-plant processing and post treatment. Of the 25 ITAD providers IDC reviewed since starting work on the certification four years ago, only five companies made the GRADE: Dell, HP, IBM, Redemtech and Intechra. Bob says that he believes that IDC’s GRADE and BAN’s e-Stewards Pledge are good benchmarks for measuring a vendor’s commitment to responsible recycling and disposal of e-waste. 

Redemtech is passionate about environmental sustainability. “The resources we use should be as replenishable as possible.” They believe that financial sustainability, environmental sustainability and social responsibility all go together. They have a partnership with TechSoup Global to provide IT hardware and software (through Microsoft) to non-profits, schools and charitable organizations. Redemtech provides the computer with the software ($5 per license), full support from Microsoft for the software, and help desk support and recycling services when the equipment has reached the end of its useful lifecycle.

More businesses are turning to companies like Redemtech to help them dispose of their e-waste more securely and responsibly because they find that they cannot do it alone. Complexity can defeat a good, green IT initiative, and that is where Redemtech’s Sustainable Computing Assessment and their expertise come in. If companies want to attract environmentally conscious customers, and they don’t want to get caught irresponsibly disposing of IT assets, they are going to have to start taking their e-waste into account when planning green IT initiatives. 

Redemtech has found that their green practices have helped their employees become more personally engaged. The karma of the company changed when they switched over to the zero e-waste policy. Employees found that the company’s mission was parallel with their own mission. Redemtech became a better place to work as the good karma spread throughout the organization.

For more information about Redemtech, visit their web site at http://www.redemtech.com.

What to do with that old IT equipment

There are many environmentally-friendly options your company can explore

Sometimes a piece of IT equipment has reached the end of its lifecycle, and there is nothing to be done but to dispose of it properly.  However, sometimes a piece of equipment, like a server, still has some useful life left in it, and all it needs is an update.  Or sometimes you don’t have any further use for a piece of equipment, but some other organization could really use it.  These are all alternatives when deciding what to do with that old IT equipment. 

Asset recovery providers range in the US from the principal system vendors, including HP, IBM, Dell, and Sun, to many specialty providers, to an emerging class of regional, national, and global providers.  Some of these providers include NextPhase, Intechra, TechTurn, and Redemtech. 

According to InfoWorld, The ITAD (IT asset disposal) market is estimated to be around $5 billion.  The IDC (Interactive Data Corporation) introduced a program in July 2008 called GRADE.  The Green Recycling and Asset Disposal for the Enterprise certification program identifies ITAD providers that meet a minimum of 75 percent of a preset list of 34 ITAD-related functions and tasks, taking into account application offerings, onsite services, logistics, in-plant processing, and post treatment.  Of the 25 ITAD providers that the IDC has reviewed since starting work on the certification program four years ago, only 5 made the GRADE: Dell, HP, IBM, Intechra, and Redemtech.

In addition to being GRADE certified, make sure your IT asset disposal provider also follows other regulations as well.  The WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive seeks to reduce the disposal of electronic waste through reuse, recycling, and recovery.  In order to ensure that your electronic waste is indeed getting properly recycled, be sure to look for environmentally-responsible recyclers who follow standards set forth by the Basel Action Network as part of its Computer TakeBack Campaign’s Electronics Recycler’s Pledge of True Stewardship.

Another way of handling those old IT assets is to refurbish them.  Some companies will simply refresh your old IT assets to make them like new.  With their Technology Refresh program, Nemonix will ship a customer’s VAX or AlphaServer to its own plant to be thoroughly inspected for failing parts and will replace them with their own brand new technology.  The Refresh usually takes less than two hours and begins at prices that are a fraction of the cost of new servers.  The program also places the refreshed system under a Nemonix Engineering factory warranty for one year, with the option to extend the warranty for up to a total of ten years.

Sometimes you have a good piece of IT equipment that has reached the end of its useful life for your organization, but you know that there must be an organization out there that could really use it.  There are many organizations out there to help you find a home for that equipment.  Check out one of the following: Another Byte, Share the Technology, World Computer Exchange, National Cristina Foundation, Computers for Youth, Literacy 4 Kids, Youth for Technology, and DonateAPC.  In addition to being a good corporate citizen, companies can deduct charitable donations from their taxes. 

No matter how you properly dispose of that old IT equipment, you are being green for doing so.  Green IT is so much more than just buying energy-efficient IT equipment or reducing energy usage in your data center.  The proper disposal of unused equipment is also a big part of that green IT strategy.

Don't use fabric softeners

I have not used fabric softener for at least a year now.  Funny thing is, since I switched to all-natural laundry detergents like Seventh Generation, I have not needed it anyway.  My clothes come out clean, fresh, and non-static-clingy.  If you are skeptical about giving up your fabric softener, check out this link.  If you are really intent on using something, try baking soda or white vinegar instead. Of course, don't mix these with bleach as the fumes will knock you out.  But you should not be using bleach anyway, should you?  Not if you are trying to be eco-conscious.        

To clean or not to clean those recyclables

I have always wondered whether this was a necessary step before putting something into the recycling bin.  Does it waste more water and the energy to get that water to my apartment than the energy that my recycling will save?  I did not know, but I figured that rinsing out my recyclables was the right thing to do for the people at the recycling center who had to go through my “trash.”  As it turns out, according to Slate’s “Green Lantern” column from 2/3/2009, I was both wrong and right.  No, you don’t really have to wash out those recyclables.  They wash them at the recycling facility before they are processed.  However, sometimes it will be months before that material gets processed.  So yes, washing out your recyclables helps keep the recycling facility a cleaner, more sanitary, less stinky place for those workers that have to inhabit the same space every day with your “trash.”    

Recipes for all-natural, homemade laundry detergent

Dry Detergent

 

1 c grated Fels-Naptha bar soap

1/2 c Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda (not baking soda)

1/2 c 20 Mule Team Borax

 

Mix and store in airtight container or bag.  For light loads, use 2 T and for heavy loads, use 3 T.

 

Liquid Detergent

 

3 pts water

1/3 bar Fels-Naptha bar soap

1/2 Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda

1/2 c 20 Mule Team Borax

1 qt of hot water

2 gallon bucket for mixing

 

Mix soap in a saucepan with the 3 pints of water.  Heat on low until dissolved.  Stir in the soda and borax, until mixture thickens.  Remove from heat.    Put the quart of hot water in the bucket, add the soap mixture and mix well.  Fill the bucket with enough additional hot water to make about 1.5 gallons of mixture.  Set aside for about 24 hours to allow mixture to thicken.  Use 1/2 c of mixture per load.   

 

No perfumes, dyes, etc.

Homemade detergent will not make suds.  

Fels-Naptha is pure and makes little to no suds.

This is great for the newer high-efficiency washers as well as older models.

You will notice the need to lessen or stop using softeners all together.

 

Use up to 1 c of white vinegar in the final rinse to remove all traces of detergent, if so desired.

Conscious News

All people seeking to live green will have to strive every day to live consciously as well, for the earth and its inhabitants are one organism.  

From the December 2008 issue of Conscious Choice magazine - 

There is an organization called the Theosophical Society in America in Wheaton, IL.  They encourage open-minded inquiry into world religions, philosophy, science, and the arts in order to understand the wisdom of the ages, respect the unity of all life, and help people explore spiritual self-transformation.  They are located at 1926 North Main Street in Wheaton, IL 60187 or visit their web site at www.theosophical.org.  

Help alleviate global poverty.  Check out the following web sites:

MicroPlace

Kiva.org

Oxfam America

Heifer International

CARE  

Global Alliance for Africa

Local and sustainably-minded businesses: The Enterprising Kitchen (TEK) and Mint.

For the kitchen: Lotus Foods Stainless Steel Rice Cooker and Vegetable Steamer-stainless steel is the only non-reactive cooking surface, does not rust, tarnish, peel or pit and is 100% recyclable. $79.95 at www.lotusfoods.com

A book for those of us who long to be able to meditate, but can't sit in a quiet place without having our minds go into overdrive: Nine Designs for Inner Peace: The Ultimate Guide to Meditating with Color, Shape, and Sound (Destiny Books, 2008) by Sarah Tomlinson. Tomlinson is the founder of the Ayurveda-Yoga Institute of New York. She believes that creating yantras (elaborate geometric patterns designed to help those who draw them cultivate a sense of centeredness, inner awareness and peace) is beneficial for energetic people who have found traditional sitting meditation difficult, or for those people who are seeking a new way of tapping deeper into their creative and spiritual selves.