Green Energy Champion

Green Energy Program

It’s Easy to be Green ! BWP offers a green energy program for all Burbank customers - Green Energy Champion.

Here’s what makes Green Energy Champion a great program: Open to everyone in Burbank, residents as well business customers. Offers Bronze, Silver and Gold commitment levels to choose from. Each level provides for a specific percent of your electric usage that will be green. You choose the amount that works best for you.

Cost to participate is 2 cents per green kilowatt-hour of energy signed up for. That's BWP’s cost to purchase green energy on your behalf, so you get exactly what you pay for.

Provides renewable energy for our City !

Read the Green Energy Champion Program FAQs

It’s easy to join the GREEN ENERGY CHAMPION program and make an enviromental difference ! Click here to view and print the mail-in form, or simply call: 818-238-3700.

Green Room

Vote for Your Favorite Greener Gadget

Core 77 and Greener Gadgets present a design competition aimed at generating outstanding design innovations for greener electronics. The top 50 entries are published online for voting and commenting, and from these the judges will pick the Top 10 to be judged live at the Greener Gadgets Conference in New York City on February 27th.

Help pick the top 10 gadgets for the live judging at this year's Greener Gadgets Conference in New York City on February 27th, 2009. Here's a few of the ideas to vote for; the complete list @ Core 77:

Blight: Vincent Gerkens (Belgium)
solar blind takes the daylight during the day and gives it back at night.

Blink: Sarah Schaible (United States)
stops wasting unnecessary amounts of energy by turning off appliances, televisions, stereos, etc. left on at night or when no one is home.

BugPlug: Kamil Jerzykowski (Poland)
a simple energy saving gadget which prevents unnecessary energy consumption

Bulb 2.0: Felix Stark (Germany)
an energy-saving lamp which goes far beyond the traditional light bulb.

Bware Water Meter: Ariel Drach (Israel)
a meter that tells you how much water you use.

Voting ends Feb 20 !

California & National Green Events

Green Calendar of Events

Local

CREEC
Go To Green LA


California

GenGreenlife: by California county
Got2BeGreen: also listings for every state
Environmental Expert California

National & International

All Conferences
Building Green: building industry
Conference Alerts: international
Environmental Expert: international
Green Power Conferences: international
Green Energy News: international

Green Room

Valentine's Day - Carbon Footprint
Avoid the Cut Flowers
TerraPass: February 10, 2009

An easy way to cut your footprint this Valentine’s Day

If you can possibly get away with it, avoid buying and giving cut flowers — unless they’re from your own garden. If you can’t get away with it, look for locally grown flowers that are in season. This almost certainly means no roses.

How this helps

There’s plenty to love about cut flowers, but the story behind the dozen roses is often far from pretty. Heated greenhouses, pesticides and transportation often contribute to the heavy environmental footprint of the Valentine’s Day bouquet.

More tips & guides @ TerraPass blog, including:
Salon’s Ask Pablo investigates the footprint of cut flowers

Should I buy flowers for Valentine's Day? Don't they bring environmental woe?
By Pablo Päster

The US imports between 60 and 80 % of its cut flowers
~ Most from greenhouses in Latin America, or even as far away as Africa or Europe
~ Up to 90 % of the roses sold for Valentine's Day are from Colombia and Ecuador
~ ~ in 2006, the wholesale value of imported roses was over $300 million

Air Freight - order plus packaging weighs 2 pounds = 6 pounds+ of greenhouse gases

And flowers may be doused in chemicals to ward off pest
~ USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service does not test for biocide residue
~ ~ in Colombia, flower-plantation workers are exposed to 127 types of pesticides, the Sierra Club tells us, and flower farms have polluted and depleted Bogota's streams and groundwater.
READ MORE

Green Burbank

SUSTAINABLE BURBANK TASK FORCE

Applications are being accepted through Friday, February 13, 2009 by the Burbank City Council to fill vacancies on the newly-established Sustainable Burbank Task Force.

The Task Force was established on October 14, 2008, as a 15-member body intended to advise and make recommendations to the City Council on matters related to the implementation of the City of Burbank Sustainability Action Plan. The Task Force will also help engage the community by participating in various public education, outreach and promotional activities related to environmental sustainability.

GET INVOLVED !

The City of Burbank prides itself on citizen involvement in all issues.

Serve in an advisory capacity to the City Council on one of the city's various commissions, committees or boards that performs valuable service by addressing community issues and needs.

Applications and supplemental forms available at the City Clerk's Office in City Hall, 275 East Olive and on the City's website.
The deadline: February 13, 2009 at 5:00 p.m.

Appointments scheduled to be made at the March 3, 2009 Council meeting. All City Board, Commission, and Committee members serve without compensation (BMC Section 2-405).

Zero Waste Food Service - Burbank

Businesses look into going greener
Burbank Leader: 2.04.09 by Tom Risen

BURBANK — The Burbank Green Alliance gathered 130 area businesses and organizations Wednesday at the Buena Vista Library to share eco-friendly solutions and start an industry-wide discussion on how to keep their food service lean and green.

“This is the latest part of the city’s 2008 Sustainability Action Plan. We’re trying to start a discussion with local businesses so we can reach near-zero waste in a few years,” said Kreigh Hempel, recycling coordinator for the city of Burbank and member of the Green Alliance.

The Sustainability Action Plan focuses on seven different urban themes to accomplish 21 specific actions to make Burbank a model of eco-friendly efficiency. The city is currently accepting volunteers to head the Sustainability Task Force, which will be chosen at the end of February to administer direction of the urban environmental effort.

At Wednesday’s gathering, Hempel described the economic merits of reducing waste at a business, such as saving on shipping and handling costs for garbage.

READ MORE

Burbank Public Library Green Pages

Burbank READS goes Green !

In keeping with the City of Burbank's commitment to achieve urban sustainability and protect the world's ecosystem, the Burbank Public Library decided to make our "One Book, One City" program eco-friendly in 2009. We have selected the book, Living Like Ed by long time environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. as our book for 2009.

As part of this commitment, Burbank Public Library introduces Green Pages, our gateway to everything ' green ' in Burbank and the surrounding communities.

Green Pages will focus on news and information about the policies and plans of the City of Burbank as well as public and private sector programs. And, we will provide links to events, local resources and organizations.

Participation is most welcome. Please contribute to Green Pages.