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Energy Star and LEED at E-Works!
This evening Exploration works will be hosting an ENERGY STAR and LEED for Homes workshop. This is a presentation and discussion for builders, designers, realtors, and the trades on energy efficiency and green building in residential construction. In a tight housing market, it is important to differentiate your product. ENERGY STAR and LEED For Homes can provide that differentiation. These nationally recognized labels represent high performance in new homes. The workshop will be held at 995 Carousel Way, December 16 from 5.30p-8p.

Attendants will learn about, Green building principles and standards, Green building construction techniques, ENERGY STAR Homes Program, and Energy-efficient construction techniques. Presenters include, Casey Dudley of Kath Williams + Associates who is a Vice Chair of the Montana Chapter of U.S. Green Building Council. Casey will present an overview of green building standards and residential green building activity in Montana. Casey is a LEED Accredited Professional and a LEED for Homes Rater. Also, Dale Horton, Architect, NCAT. Dale is the Sustainable Energy Program Manager for the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT). He oversees certification of Northwest ENERGY STAR Homes in Montana. He is a licensed architect, a certified RESNET Home Energy Rater Trainer, and a LEED for Homes Rater.

More information: Cathy Svejkovsky, 406.494.8667 or cathys@ncat.org.
Light refreshments will be served.

Presentation by Steve Loken
Steve Loken is a nationally recognized sustainable builder from Missoula. His seminar will focus on presenting the most cost effective ways to invest in home energy efficiency. This event is scheduled for January 29^th at Exploration Works. More details about this event will be forthcoming.

The Fourth Annual Helena Ice Bowl Charity Disc Golf Challenge
The Sleeping Giant Disc Golf Alliance would like to present The Fourth Annual Helena Ice Bowl Charity Disc Golf Challenge. All proceeds this year will be going to The S.A.V.E. Foundation and Food Share. Participants should be registered by 9am on January 17th at the Norwegian Wood Ranch. Tournament fees are as follows: Kids $10, Women $35, Ams $25, AdvAms $30, Open $35, Masters $35. All Am Divisions will receive a commemorative disc. All Divisions will receive a hot lunch. There will be two rounds of 18 holes, and every player can pay $5 for each mulligan unlimited on ANY SHOT.

Directions: Take Canyon Ferry Road all the way out to the Ranch 20 miles from Helena. The S.A.V.E. Foundation will be trying to organize a carpool from Helena for this event. Please stay posted to this site for details. Call 406.475.3229 for more directions. Feel free to bring canned food for Food Share to receive $5 off of the entry fee. Contact Jason Schmidt at 406.458.1100 for general event information.

Please come out to enjoy the winter weather and support the community through this fundraising event!

Labels: Disc Golf, ENERGY STAR, green building, Helena electronic recycling, Ice Bowl, LEED building

September has been a busy month for The S.A.V.E. Foundation. After baling and recycling many dumpsters full of plastics, S.A.V.E. headed off to Erase your E*Waste this past weekend. The annual event ran Friday, September 12th from 3-7pm and again Saturday morning, September 13th from 8am-1pm in the Kmart parking lot. The S.A.V.E. Foundation partnered with Montana Department of Environmental Quality, Pacific Steel and Recycling, Lewis and Clark City-County Health Department, Lewis and Clark Water Quality Protection District, Lewis and Clark Landfill, The City of Helena Transfer Station, and City-County Sanitation to make this event possible.
This event drew nearly 400 cars plus several businesses that pre-registered from surrounding areas including a Uhaul that showed up with more than 200 electronic waste items to recycle. Some items are free to recycle such as computer towers and laptops, but many were recycled with a fee to pay for labor to disassemble the components properly. Recycling electronics keeps toxic materials out of landfills, which reduces the potential of substances such as lead and mercury from leaching into our land and water.
Electronics recycling has been an increasingly important issue with technology changing daily, and the consequential desire to obtain the latest and greatest. Television sets were one of the most common recycled items at this event because of the signal change coming up later this year. Unfortunately, electronics recycling may not be affordable to everyone as television sets are one of the most costly items to recycle. This leads to incorrect disposal of these materials.
The S.A.V.E. Foundation will be working on policies to make electronics recycling more practical this upcoming session, but also work to ban these materials from landfills. Many states already have regulations on electronic waste including fines for tossing electronics into the garbage.


Coming up next, The S.A.V.E. Foundation will be working with the Growing Friends of Helena to recycle at Trash for Trees September 27th at Northgate Plaza from 9am-4pm. This event will collect newspapers, glass, corrugated cardboard, steel and aluminum cans, office paper, and some rechargeable batteries (from laptops or power tools). This will also be another opportunity to recycle your type 1 and type 2 plastics! Recycle to raise money for planting trees and support expanded recycling! Volunteers are need for this event. To sign up visit savemobile.org or dial 449.6008. Volunteering makes expanded recycling possible in your community!


Pictured below: Volunteers help to make this event possible. Thanks to all those who came out to help!

Labels: electronic waste recycling, erase your e-waste, Helena electronic recycling

The S.A.V.E. Foundation, 501(c)(3)

Labels: 2008 Student Advocate Awards, Carroll College energy costs, electric vehicles, fuel costs, graywater system, Helena electronic recycling, light bulb recycling, recycling at CHS