Monthly Archives: July 2021

Indoor Gardening for Home and Office

By Jennifer Sestok, Tower Garden by Juice Plus+

If you’re anything like me, you probably work hard to feed your family well and you may get excited when you come across tools and products that make big impact while also making a positive one. Several years ago, a friend introduced me to a growing device that has changed our family’s life forever. These forward-thinking devices make growing fun, clean, better-tasting, and are easy to use for even the most challenged gardener. They have helped hundreds of families, schools, and businesses get growing and I’m excited to share some of the reasons why with you.

As people spend more time at home given the new norm of remote work, as well as those who are returning to offices, it is important to improve our environment, both physically and mentally. Plants are super influencers in this space. Aeroponic plant systems (AP) make growing plants indoors easier, with less work and less mess.

Here are 4 reasons to include such systems in your home or traditional office.

1. IT’S EASY AND FUN!! Indoor vertical gardening is easy, fun and engaging for all ages to enjoy. Since they are soilless, there are no weeds or dirt making it a much cleaner experience. Due to its vertical design, raised up off the ground, there is less physical requirement than traditional gardening. There is also much more mobility, due to the wheel design of the unit. AP systems are self-watering on a timer with little maintenance required. In a nutshell, they require less work of you and your office staff for them to flourish and water themselves when the office is closed.

2. BE MORE PRODUCTIVE!! Plants provide more oxygen for the indoor environment. In addition, these vertical plant systems are a great conversation piece, allowing staff to congregate and take needed breaks, which typically improves mood and productivity. The same goes for schools. AP systems are a wonderful educational tool for students. Schools across the globe have incorporated Tower Garden into their STEM curriculums. Kids love to be involved in the entire growing process. It’s important for them to know where their food comes from and how to grow it.

3. POSITIVE ENVIROMENTAL IMPACT!! Tower Garden is environmentally friendly, using 90% less water and 98% less space than traditional gardening. Due to its closed loop system, 1005 of the nutrients and water are recycled and leave a smaller carbon footprint than traditional gardening. There are no worries about herbicides, pesticides or other chemical dangers when you grow your own in this safe way. You know where your food is coming from and exactly what is on the food.

4. NUTRITIOUS, GREAT-TASTING FOOD!! These devices provide living food on site to create salads, snacks, or add to a healthy smoothie. The blend of natural earth minerals is designed to grow healthy produce which as been researched to be as nutrient dense as food grown in optimal organic soil. These systems grow produce 3x faster with 30% more yield than traditional gardening. This allows families, students or staff to start eating off their gardens about 6 weeks after seeds are planted. It’s easy to rotate crops and cycle through new seedlings, for more up time and food production.

I hope you can see why it’s easy to be excited about growing this way. The company I have partnered with developed this technology for NASA and now we are able to bring them home. For more information on how Tower Garden systems can benefit you or your company, please contact me directly at gardenwithjennifer@gmail.com or visit my website at www.jennifersestok.towergarden.com. I look forward to hearing from you. Happy Growing!

President Issues Executive Order On Climate-Related Financial Risk

On May 20, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order with a goal of increasing disclosure of climate-related financial risk in both the public and private sectors. As a result, disclosure and reporting obligations regarding climate-related risks will likely increase. The Order called for a comprehensive consideration of climate change-related financial risks, and how they should be communicated to the public and investors.

The Order directs federal policymakers to develop a strategy for identifying and disclosing climate-related financial risk to government programs, assets, and liabilities, including identifying public/private financing needed to reach economy-wide, net-zero emissions by 2050 to limit further temperature rise per the Paris Climate Agreement.

The Order also requires the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) to assess climate-related financial risk to the federal government and overall U.S. financial system. The FSOC should discuss the necessity of greater climate-related disclosure by certain entities to mitigate risk to the stability of the financial system and new regulations for identifying and mitigating such risks.

The Order directs the Dept of Labor to identify regulatory actions to assess the threats that climate risk may have to savings and pension plans. This includes reconsidering rules that prohibit investment firms from considering environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in investment decisions related to workers’ pensions.

The Order also requests recommendations for incorporating climate-related financial risk into federal management and reporting, including potential new accounting standards for reporting of such risks. The Order also requests changes to rules that would require that major federal suppliers publicly disclose GHG emissions and climate-related financial risk and set reduction targets. Similarly, lending and grant agencies like Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, and Veterans Affairs are to consider integrating such risk assessment into their lending policies and programs.

The Order also requests the federal government develop regulatory standards for misleading advertising and claims about climate change and sustainability (“greenwashing”) that may result in enforcement actions.

After signing the Executive Order, President Biden included in his FY 2022 budget to Congress $44.0 million in new funding to the Dept of Justice “to advance environmental justice, tackle climate change, and enhance environmental stability.”

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has established two committees to evaluate climate-related financial risk, examining how climate change affects individual banks.

Please note that this is not a legal analysis of the Executive Order. Consult with qualified legal professionals before pursuing actions or policies concerning this Executive Order. CCES has the technical experts to help you determine your status concerning GHG emissions and sustainability. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.

Consumer Tastes Are Changing To Eco-friendly

One item that will surely dictate how we address Climate Change and other environmental issues is public sentiment. If such sentiment at the ballot box and at the store favors environmentally-friendly candidates and products, the message will have gone out to politicians and companies and moves will be made to, for example, combat Climate Change. If the “same old” candidates win elections and products are purchased in stores, then no significant change will likely happen.

Consumers have been slowly prioritizing sustainability choices. In a 2019 Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC) Global Consumer Insights Survey, 35% of respondents said they chose sustainable products to help protect the environment and 41% said they avoided the use of plastic when they could. The COVID-19 pandemic has given people a lot of time to ponder and time home to absorb their environment. PwC’s June 2021 Global Consumer Pulse Survey concluded that a higher percentage, about half of all global consumers surveyed, say they’ve become even more eco-friendly in their choices. There are differences world-wide, as Asian and Middle Eastern consumers were said to be more eco-friendly in consumer behavior than those in other regions. In the US, it was about 15% of consumers surveyed who said they buy primarily from companies who are perceived to be supportive of the environment. In addition, younger consumers (under 32 years old) are more eco-friendly than other age groups.

Another recent study by Visual GPS and YouGov also indicates a shift during the pandemic, finding that 81% of people polled expect companies to be environmentally conscious in their advertising and communications, and 69% of respondents said they were doing everything possible to minimize their carbon footprint.

However, while eco-consumerism is clearly on the rise, the recent PwC survey showed that such consumers have not fully embraced sustainable shopping. A large number of consumers, while sympathetic to environmental concerns, still rank convenience and price as major factors in making decisions on products.

Is this a temporary increase in awareness and effort due to the pandemic or is eco-friendly consumerism here to stay? PwC suggests that it is here to stay. A growing number of companies are offering consumers a growing array of eco-friendly alternatives and sales data show they are performing well.

Such a rise in interest in such a short time and this unique appears to indicate that people spending more time at home gave them more time to think, learn, contemplate, and explore alternative life choices, such as greater proof of environmental friendliness in products purchased.

With the growing number and severity of incidents of extreme conditions cataloged and on the news in recent days (record breaking heat in the US Northwest, historic flooding in Europe), it is very possible that this trend toward eco-consumerism will only increase, resulting in companies accelerating their focus on innovative products and more sustainable practices to please consumers which will be good for their bottom line, too.

CCES has the technical experts to advise your company on determining your carbon footprint and other sustainability measurements and to help your company design and implement a sustainability program to save expenses and inform consumers of your accomplishments. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.

Potential New Air Toxic Rules for EtO, Formaldehyde?

On June 17, 2021, the USEPA agreed to reconsider the August 2020 NESHAP: Miscellaneous Organic Chemical Manufacturing (the “MON Rule”). The MON rule is the first USEPA rule to use the 2016 toxicity values from IRIS. Responding to five petitions, the USEPA granted reconsideration that more stringent standards are required for the MON sector, particularly for ethylene oxide (EtO), given more data that EtO may result in a greater carcinogenic risk than previously thought.

EtO is a flammable, colorless gas used to sterilize medical equipment and common in the chemical industry in manufacturing many common products. The revised 2016 IRIS risk assessment for EtO characterized the chemical as a more potent carcinogen for humans by inhalation than previously understood. However, critics claim that the USEPA used improper statistical modeling that resulted in an overestimation of the risk of EtO exposure. Texas, home to many chemical industries, performed an in-depth review of the 2016 assessment and claimed scientific deficiencies and that EtO is a less potent carcinogen than the USEPA estimated in its 2016 report.

The USEPA declared that it would use 2016 IRIS risk values for future rulemaking, including for the December 2019 proposed MON Rule and an Advance Notice of Proposed Rule Making: NESHAP: Ethylene Oxide Commercial Sterilization and Fumigation Operations. The MON Rule was finalized in August 2020 with the USEPA not addressing comments regarding the validity of the 2016 IRIS values. The USEPA will now do a more formal review of the generation of the 2016 IRIS risk values and modify the MON Rule accordingly, if necessary.

Besides the effects on EtO emission regulations, the USEPA’s actions on EtO may suggest how the agency will proceed on other outstanding chemical and toxics issues, such as formaldehyde, a naturally occurring chemical found in a variety of products, such as construction materials, insulation, glues, paints, and in plywood and particleboard used in consumer products like cabinets, flooring, and furniture. Formaldehyde is also used as a preservative in medical laboratories and mortuaries.

Like with EtO, the USEPA issued an IRIS risk assessment for formaldehyde in 2010. It underwent much scientific criticism. 11 years later, the USEPA has still not addressed the formaldehyde IRIS criticisms and confirmed or updated its level of toxicity.

2016 amendments to TSCA require the USEPA to conduct risk evaluations for certain high-priority chemicals to determine whether each presents an unreasonable risk to health or the environment, under the conditions of common use. The USEPA must exclude cost considerations and base decisions on the weight of scientific evidence.

Last year, the Trump Administration issued final TSCA risk evaluations for the first 10 high-priority chemicals. In February 2021, the Biden Administration announced that it will revisit the final TSCA risk evaluations for these 10 chemicals.

CCES has the technical experts to help you assess the quantity and toxicity of air emissions from your various processes and facility. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.

Many Factors Make Electric Heat Pumps a Good Alternative for Heating and Cooling

Heating and cooling expenses are often the highest energy costs most businesses have to pay for each year. So in these times of looking for ways to both reduce expenses and welcome back employees into the office and customers in your space comfortably and safely, one strategy to consider is investing in electric heat pumps for both your heating and cooling needs. Heat pumps are a cost-effective, energy efficient, and reliable way to reduce your building’s energy bills and also assure your employees and customers are comfortable. It will improve your carbon footprint and existing air quality, too.

When properly installed, heat pumps are efficient in delivering heat to a space. Why? Because a heat pump moves heat rather than converts it from a fuel like combustion heating systems do. Heat pumps have been around for a long time but have gotten a boost in recent years due to improvements for working better in sub-freezing weather.

Here are some basic facts about heat pumps.

How they work. Yes. Although they are called “heat pumps”, they provide both space heating and cooling. Heat pumps are called that because they draw heat from the environment and move it indoors when it’s cold outside or can move heat from rooms outdoors when cooling is needed in your building.

Different types. There are two types of heat pumps – air source or ground source (geothermal), depending on how heat is transferred. Depending on your facility and property features, a qualified contractor will recommend which type is best for you.

In terms of how they are placed in the building, there are ducted and ductless systems. Ductless systems go in an exterior wall and need just a relatively small hole to connect the outdoor condenser and indoor heads. They are good for individual spaces. If a building already has duct work, a heat pump can use the existing duct system.

They’re better for the environment. Unlike conventional heating systems (furnaces or boilers), heat pumps use electricity. Thus, there is no combustion of fossil fuels onsite and, thus, no carbon monoxide emissions to worry about. There is also less need for natural gas lines or storage/delivery of oil. In most parts of the country, depending on how electricity is produced, switching from gas or oil combustion to electric heat pumps results in lower greenhouse gas emissions.

They’re built to last. Heat pumps last longer than conventional furnaces and cooling units and require less maintenance, meaning you’ll spend less money on O&M and can devote your maintenance staff to other matters. Combustion by its nature is a complex, high temperature process that strains a system and will damage components over time.

Others will pay for them. In most parts of the country (and in New York), utilities and governments encourage heat pumps to lessen the costs of upgrading gas distribution lines and to reduce oil truck traffic. Many utilities and agencies have direct incentive programs to pay part of the cost of installing heat pumps in most qualified buildings. Learn about these programs and take advantage. Remember, these incentive funds come from funds in your electric or tax bills, so you are getting your money back.

CCES has the technical experts to assess your heating and cooling system and determine whether heat pumps could be feasible to reduce your energy expenses and, at the same time, provide reliable heating and cooling in the building. We can estimate the costs and savings for your specific space and set up or determine other ways to reduce energy costs. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.