WHAT MAKES A PRODUCT ECO-FRIENDLY?
LECTURE SERIES CONTINUES WITH A LOOK AT GREEN CONSUMERISM

WHEELING, W.Va. (February 11, 2008)- - In today’s world, green has become the new black, and consumers are bombarded with green product choices and ambiguous green advertising. Gas stations have sustainable bioethanol for sale at the pump. Home improvement stores advertise eco-friendly kitchen and bathroom renovation products. Biobased cleaners and plastic products are for sale at home and grocery stores. What makes these products “green” or environmentally better than their alternatives?

Oglebay Institute’s Living Green lecture series continues February 24 with “Shades of Green: Buying with the Environment in Mind,” presented by Dr. Amy Landis of the University of Pittsburgh.

Free and open to the public, the program begins at 2 p.m. at the Schrader Environmental Education Center, located in Oglebay.

Designed to promote educated green consumerism, the program explores consumer choices and green advertising. Dr. Landis will present research being conducted at the University of Pittsburgh that uses Life Cycle Assessment to determine a product’s environmental footprint and examine examples of bioethanol and bioplastics.

Attendees are invited to bring a product that advertises itself as green. Participants will explore together whether or not the products are really environmentally friendly. The program leaves guests with the knowledge and tools to make better green buying decisions themselves.

“We are please to offer this lecture series again this year, and thanks to our generous sponsor SMG Architects we are able to again offer the programs free to the public,” Schrader Center director Eriks Janelsins said.  “We have an incredible line-up of environmental science experts that will share their knowledge on a variety of ‘green’ living topics.”

Dr. Landis joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh in 2007. She earned her doctorate from the University of Illinois at Chicago in its Department of Civil and Materials Engineering and Institute for Environmental Science and Policy. Her recent research into the environmental implications of biobased production has been highlighted in Environmental Science and Technology. As a previous Fulbright Scholar, Environmental Protection Agency Scholar and science advisor to Chicago’s Notebaert Nature Museum, Dr. Landis has worked on innovative interdisciplinary collaborations in areas such as sustainable engineering, alternative fuels and bioproducts and life cycle assessment.

Continuing through October, The Living Green lecture series focuses on simply ways people can improve the health of the environment and their families. Each program is free and open to the public and includes a coffee reception, following the presentation, for further discussion of the topic. The series is proudly sponsored by SMG Architects. With offices in Baltimore and Wheeling, SMG is committed to the creative reuse of existing buildings and new construction that respects our resources.

A complete list of lectures, speakers and dates is as follows:

Feb. 24, “Shades of Green: Buying with the Environment in Mind” by Dr. Amy Landis, University of Pittsburgh

March 30, “The Benefits of Organic and Natural Foods,” by Dr. Chris Farber, Pittsburgh East End Food Co-op

April 27, “Green Building Materials,” by Janice Webb Donatelli, Artemis Environmental

Aug. 24, “Renewable Energy,” by Dr. Athan Barkoukis, Green Energy Ohio

Sept. 28, “Creating Backyard Habitat,” by Dr. Kathleen Patnode, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Oct. 26, “Recycling and Composting: Turning Waste Into Opportunity,” by Ed Newman, Ohio University

For more information or to register for any of the programs, contact the Schrader Center at 304.242.6855.  Visit Oglebay Institute on the web at www.oionline.com

This program is made possible through the generous support of the members of the Institute as well as with financial assistance from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the WV Commission on the Arts.