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Saturday, December 30, 2006

Gray Water Systems: a possibility for Montana?

This legislative session, The Student Advocates for Valuing the Environment Foundation (S.A.V.E.) will be working to make gray water systems legal in Montana. Gray water systems are a great way to enable homeowners who are concerned about environmental sustainability to reuse some of the water produced by their home.

Gray water consists of 50-80% of a home's wastewater, coming from such reusable sources as laundry, dishwater, showers, and bathtubs. Plants thrive on the small amount of compost found in gray water. As well as providing benefits to plants and topsoil, gray water systems also cut down on fresh water usage. Installing these systems is one step toward reducing a household's environmental impact by reusing existing resources; a model of ecological friendliness.

S.A.V.E. will be working towards this endeavor at the Capitol this session in order to allow Montanans seeking more environmentally-friendly household practices to install these gray water systems. Other states currently allow these gray water systems, which are a proven method of separating sewage from reusable gray water. These systems facilitate the reuse of one of the Earth's most precious resources: fresh water.

More information about these systems can be found at www.oasisdesign.net. SAVE's efforts can be found at www.Savemobile.org.

By

Tyler Evilsizer
Legislative Intern/Lobbyist
The S.A.V.E. Foundation

Friday, December 29, 2006

S.A.V.E. & The 2007 Session

The S.A.V.E. Foundation will be hard at work this 2007 Session promoting legislation to foster environmental stewardship in Helena. Anyone with interest or expertise in a particular area in encouraged to get invovled by contacting Recycle @ Savemobile.org or 406-431-0815. Here is what we will be working on:


Biodiesel Legislation – (LC 0571)
To encourage renewable energy usage, we would like to make it much
easier for small-scale/local Biodiesel production to take place. This
would include matching existing federal incentives, such as a tax
exemption for individuals who only make small amounts of biodiesel, as
well as clarifying existing law to make off-road/farm biodiesel use
tax-free.

Recycling Legislation – (LC 1186)
We would like to encourage electronics recycling by creating a tax
credit for money spent by businesses or individuals.

Create a statewide fund for grants funding environmental programs – (LC1860)
Many more recycling projects throughout the state could be in place if
there was a system of state funding to provide startup money for these
projects. A relatively small fee increase on each ton of solid waste
disposed of in a state landfill can create this grant.

Legalize Gray Water systems – (LC1187)
We would like to update Montana codes to allow gray water systems,
recycling some of the water used by households. Gray Water systems
are accepted in many other states and we feel it should be an option
for Montanans who want to build a more sustainable system in their
houses.

You can follow the progress of these bills at http://laws.leg.mt.gov/pls/laws07/law0203w$.startup and Savemobile.org

Saturday, December 16, 2006

S.A.V.E. Awarded $2,363 from New Belgium Brewing Company

S.A.V.E. Receives $2,363 from New Belgium Brewing Company

S.A.V.E. was awarded a $2,363 grant from New Belgium Brewing for general operations! S.A.V.E. submitted its proposal in early November and just found out about the award Friday morning when the check came in the mail.

New Belgium Brewery donates $1 to charity for every barrel of beer they sell. Grants are awarded for each state in which they do business, including Montana. The grant will help S.A.V.E. continue to expand recycling and promote environmental awareness. In addition to office space, staff time, and other operational expenses, we will be modifying our Vegi-mobile for higher recycling volumes, expanding Biodiesel education program in Helena, and working to make plastics recycling collection permanent.

More about New Belgium's charity, environmental leadership, and beer at New Belgium.com

Visit Savemobile.org to learn more about S.A.V.E.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Plastics Recycling December 1-8, Next Collection March 2-9th

Due to baling schedule, plastics can be dropped of until Sunday, December 10th, at this months collection. Next collection, March 2-9 (2007) and at our Earth day event April 22 (2007)