Better World Betty is a local grassroots organization dedicated to empowering people and business with the tools they need to be sustainable. They have really helpful information about how to recycle tricky items, find greener options, and make your everyday life more earth friendly. They also keep tabs on everything effecting the environment in the Charlottesville area and can answer any green questions that you may have!
Have you ever wondered about what kind of energy goes into making the common things that you use everyday? I’d be willing to bet that you might change some of the things that you purchase if you knew how bad that some of them are for the environment.
Wouldn’t it be empowering if products had to display something similar to a “nutritional information label” that instead detailed the environmental impact of the product? Enter a new type of product label: “Environmental Product Declarations” or EPD’s. Right now, they are a voluntary way for companies to let you know that they care about the impact of their products, but let’s start demanding them. The rules of the game would change dramatically if they were required.
Architecture 2030 has come up with a challenge for products to reduce their impact; help support their efforts by paying attention to the impact of products and letting it influence your decisions.
Architecture 2030 is a team of non-profit crusaders that want to radically transform the way that structures are built and how they interact with the environment. The 2030 Challenge is much like the EPA’s very successful CFC reduction program that let the Ozone Hole repair itself. Instead of CFCs, this challenge is to phase out the use of fossil fuels in buildings by the year 2030.
Not to leave everyone hanging wondering how to accomplish this goal; they are developing a great free resource of information on how to build carbon neutral and resilient structures and plan resilient communities which is called the 2030 Palette. The website is complete with pictures, descriptions and rules of thumb for many concepts vital to low impact built environments. Check out this fantastic tool for Architects, Engineers, Owners and people who want to learn more about how our buildings interact with the environment.
Join us at the James River Green Building Council luncheon on Tuesday, June 11th 12:00 — 1:00pm to learn about how to make our built environments more resilient!
The Housing Lab 