From Terra.Meierdierck at NJIT.EDU Tue Jan 4 12:46:32 2005 From: Terra.Meierdierck at NJIT.EDU (Meierdierck, Terra) Date: Tue Jan 4 12:49:38 2005 Subject: [HEEPP] NY Schools looking for some help Message-ID: Colleagues: Greetings and Happy New Year from New York! Governor George Pataki describes himself as a proponent of mandate relief, but that has never stopped him from imposing new unfunded mandates on schools. This year, he plans to make "green schools" one of his top priorities. The Governor is expected to propose legislation that would require schools to use "environmentally preferred" cleaning products. It would be enormously helpful to hear from folks in states that currently have similar laws or who have fought such legislation. I'm interested in learning about the availability of green products, the criteria used for certification, cost differentials, effectiveness etc. Thanks in advance for your help. Hope to see you all at the end of the month at FRN. Diane Diane S. Ward Governmental Relations Representative NYS School Boards Association 24 Century Hill Drive Latham, New York 12110 518-783-0200 Phone 518-783-3542 Fax diane.ward@nyssba.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://listserver.njit.edu/pipermail/heepp/attachments/20050104/88625e93/attachment.htm From Lory at InformInc.org Wed Jan 5 13:01:50 2005 From: Lory at InformInc.org (Cameron Lory) Date: Mon Jan 24 08:08:20 2005 Subject: [HEEPP] Environmentally Preferable Cleaning in Schools Message-ID: <9DCE01EFE523334FBA20433E2F7889D73FCD9A@INFORM_PDC> I am with INFORM, a 30-year-old research and outreach organization that assists government agencies, schools and private organizations to facilitate business practices that are environmentally preferable and cost effective. New York would be in good company in changing the products and practices that are used to maintain its buildings. Environmentally preferable purchasing is working in school districts (Including New York City and Newark, New Jersey), municipalities (including Santa Monica, Seattle and Austin) and states (including Minnesota, Vermont, and Massachusetts) across the country. Chemicals that are commonly used in schools for routine tasks, such as cleaning, maintaining interior building finishes and hand washing have been scientifically proven to adversely impact human health, especially the most vulnerable members of our society. Many of these products contain asthmagens, respiratory irritants, carcinogens, reproductive toxins or other toxic chemicals. Children are exposed to industrial cleaners on a daily basis because of their widespread use in public and private buildings, including schools. Children take more breaths and breathe more deeply than adults and as a result they are more vulnerable than adults to airborne toxins. Exposure to these chemicals has serious public health impacts: * A study published in January 2001 by the American Journal of Industrial Medicine found that janitorial workers experience the highest rates of occupational asthma, twice the rate as that of other workers. Another study, published in May 2003 by the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine concluded that approximately twelve percent of work-related asthma cases can be linked to cleaning products. * The percentage of children with asthma in the United States more than doubled between 1980 and 1995, and asthma is currently the most common cause of absenteeism. * Children can be particularly affected by the neurotoxins found in some of these products with a resulting impairment of development, learning and behavioral abilities. INFORM has been assisting school districts across New York, New Jersey and New England to change their cleaning products and practices. We have experts on staff that help school districts plan and implement these programs. We have never had a school district regret working with INFORM to make the shift to environmentally preferable products, because it is a win/win for everyone involved. Custodial workers are less likely to miss work due to work-related injuries and illnesses. Students and staff absenteeism due to respiratory irritation decreases and student learn better because their concentration is not adversely affected by poor interior air quality due to cleaning products. Administrations get better results from their classrooms. One reason why these programs are successful is that a myriad of environmentally preferable products are available through the same manufacturers and distributors that have been providing schools with cleaning products for decades. Environmentally preferable products have a long track record of meeting performance specifications and being cost effective. Many distributors promote environmentally preferable products and provide their school clients with extra training and equipment necessary to use the environmentally preferable products, usually at not cost. Cameron S. Lory Senior Associate Chemical Hazards Prevention Project Coordinator INFORM 120 Wall Street, 14th Floor New York, NY 10005-4001 212 361 2400 x232 Fax 361 2412 http://www.informinc.org lory@informinc.org -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://listserver.njit.edu/pipermail/heepp/attachments/20050105/a5d24dbc/attachment.htm From je23 at njit.edu Sun Jan 23 00:15:24 2005 From: je23 at njit.edu (University Communications) Date: Mon Jan 24 08:08:22 2005 Subject: [HEEPP] NJIT-Rutgers-UCONN Students Launch Online Project Message-ID: <00ba01c5010a$8aece990$c5e22d42@umsrv003> NJIT-Rutgers-UCONN Students Launch Online Project [Newark, NJ]-January 20, 2004-This semester, a joint team of students from NJIT, Rutgers, and UCON has launched www.collegexchanges.com, a project intended to reduce expenses on books and maximize revenue. Students no longer need to wait in lines to buy over priced used books or sell old books at quarter their price. College X Changes is absolutely free to use and is thought to become a change in the way students buy and exchange books. Equipped with a very powerful yet flexible search engine students can search within their state, city, or campus. Joseph El Helou, project manager, explained "College X Changes is a very well organized searchable bulletin board; an electronic version of the bits of papers lining your university's hallways. It is perfect for selling and buying any kind of school material", he also noted "we also made listing books extremely easy by creating an interface that only requires the ISBN number and takes care of collecting information on the book by itself." This is the most serious attempt taken by students to share material without benefiting outside companies. College X Changes was officially launched on Jabuary 15th 2005, Karl Yang, project researcher, conceived the site as a medium to connect students that need or possess a book. When asked what makes College X Changes different from other services such as ebay or half.com he said "we created an absolutely free service that does not charge any commission. But most importantly you will not need to wait for shipping or receive an item in a non satisfying condition, College X Changes works just like bulletin boards; it allows students to find each others the actual exchange can happen in person or however they want it." To start listing or buying, or to help with this project please visit www.collegexchanges.com To learn more about the project please visit www.collegexchanges.com/present.aspx This email was sent to you through the Green purchasing listserv list. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://listserver.njit.edu/pipermail/heepp/attachments/20050122/97f40f75/attachment.htm