Eco-briefs | Breweries unite with nonprofit to promote awareness of water quality

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The Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC), a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, is joining forces with more than 20 craft breweries to campaign for clean water.

“The new ‘Brewers for Clean Water’ campaign will help translate the amazing economic growth of the craft brewing sector into a powerful voice on behalf of clean water in the United States,” reads the NRDC press release announcing the campaign.

The participating breweries are mostly located in the Great Lakes region, but they also include Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Fort Collins-based New Belgium Brewing Company. The NRDC’s website invites other brewers interested in signing the Clean Water Pledge to send information about their brewery.

“You can’t make great beer without clean water,” the pledge reads. “That’s why our brewery is proud to join the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and its more than one million supporters to stand up for clean water and the Clean Water Act.”

This is a new tactic for an organization that has previously used the court system to fight for stricter enforcement of the Clean Water Act. Its blog cites a survey published in February by the Environmental Protection Agency indicating that more than half of the country’s streams and rivers are in “poor condition.”

Cecelia Gilboy

NEW LAW BANS DISPOSAL OF ELECTRONIC WASTE IN LANDFILLS

Starting July 1, Colorado residents can no longer dispose of electronic waste in their household trash, and Colorado landfills can no longer accept electronic waste. The change is a direct result of a new law: the Electronic Recycling Jobs Act.

“The new law applies to TV sets, central processing units, computer monitors and peripherals, printers and fax machines, all kinds of laptops and notebook computers, DVD players, VCRs and any video display device with a screen larger than four inches,” Wolk Kray, recycling specialist with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, says in a statement released by the Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division.

The new ban also includes radios, stereo equipment and video game consoles. Telephones, motor vehicle components and non-hazardous industrial or commercial devices can still be disposed of in Colorado landfills.

Kray encourages people to recycle their electronic waste through community collection events, manufacturer take-back programs or a reputable electronics recycling company.

Recycling is expected to create new employment opportunities. Recycling one ton of waste sustains 10 jobs for every one landfill job, according to the Institute for Local Self- Reliance.

In addition to creating jobs, recycling electronics will help reduce energy demands from mining and manufacturing, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment website.

— Abby Faires

BOULDER NATIVE NICOLE GLAROS MAKES 2013 GOOD 100 LIST

Boulder native Nicole Glaros, managing director for TechStars, made GOOD magazine’s list of 100 people moving the world forward.

GOOD is a quarterly publication that focuses on social enterprise, design and living well while doing good.

Glaros has been with TechStars, a Boulder-based organization that provides seed funding from top venture capital firms and investors for startup companies, since 2009. But she has spent “nearly a decade working to improve the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Colorado through leadership roles at various incubators such as CTEK, Investor Avenue, CleanLaunch and the Advance Colorado Center,” according to the TechStars website.

Glaros is now living in New York City, co-managing TechStars NYC and blogging about her experiences. In her most recent post, Glaros wrote about the tough cuts she was forced to make in choosing the TechStars NYC class: “There were so many teams we fell in love with, there were so many projects we fell in love with, and I think today I just realized what my least favorite part of my job is. Saying no. I absolutely hate telling an entrepreneur no, I really want to help all of them.”

— Abby Faires