Thanks to Mass Save, people in Massachusetts and Rhode Island can get a Philips EnduraLED for half off. This light bulb won the Department of Energy’s L prize, encouraging the development of cheaper, more natural-looking LED light bulbs. I can’t wait to try it. Get yours on the Mass Save website.

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A guest post by Sharon Tomasulo, from Library Hungry.

Polystyrene is the bane of my existence. It enters my life in enormous chunks, wrapped around a new microwave or humidifier or DVD player. And there’s no way to get rid of it. If I throw it away, it lives on forever in a landfill.  Local recycling never takes the stuff, apparently because it’s so light and space-consuming that it’s not worth transporting it.

So I’ve been hoarding it since we moved into the house, waiting for science to catch up with my compulsive need to recycle. And it has! I found a place (thanks, Earth911!) that recycles styrofoam. They work  mostly with industrial clients, but they do very occasional public events, so I went to a Green Festival in Framingham on Thursday night with my car densely packed with years of packing materials.

BUT I read the flyer wrong, and I got there when the recycling people had left and two ladies were cleaning up. I was heartbroken—three years I waited for this opportunity! Thwarted so close to my goal!

I've been saving this up for a while...

Thank goodness for Leslie, the recycling manager for the town of Framingham.  It turns out that Framingham is one of the few towns that accepts styrofoam in their community recycling program, because their local recycling center, Conigliaro, takes styrofoam. Again, mostly corporate and industrial clients, though you can be sure I’m calling them tomorrow to figure out what they take and how, and whether I can drop off future loads. Leslie agreed to fill her van with my enormous pile of used styrofoam and get it recycled for me. They only take the packing kind—formed of little “pills”—not food service foam. Still, big win.

Honestly, even if there’s a fee, even if the petroleum saved by recycling is canceled out by the gas I use to drive there, I will feel so much better that this stuff isn’t in a landfill, I can’t even tell you. Finally, after many years: success! Thanks, Leslie.

At the end of April, I went to the grand opening for Berklee’s new bike pavilion, a secure parking facility for 75 bikes and five electric scooters (with plug-ins!). Prior to this, students who lived in the dorms weren’t allowed to have bikes, and the 20 or so bike racks in front of 150 Mass. Ave. were almost always full.

Like many of Berklee’s buildings, the pavilion is card-access, so only members of the Berklee community can enter. This seems like a good idea, since I’ve heard horror stories from people who have parked on the street and had their seats or wheels stolen. I haven’t used the pavilion yet, but my office will be moving closer to it in July, so I’ll probably start then. Last I heard, more than 50 people have signed up for access, and I expect that number will jump in September, when students return.

Of course, Berklee welcomed the new pavilion with music:

I think that this joint effort of Berklee’s Physical Plant and Public Safety offices really shows how much can be done when people collaborate across areas of the college. Physical Plant had been discussing it for a few years now, but it really took off when Public Safety got involved.

It helps that biking is building up such momentum around here. The city’s Boston Bikes initiative has gone a long way toward making Boston a more bike-friendly city, and it seems like every day a new bike rack or lane or Hubway station is going up. I’m really happy to see Berklee getting on board.

I’m notoriously bad at planning ahead for meals, so long car trips are always a challenge. More often than not I end up resorting to the sorts of fast food you find at gas stations and rest areas. So I was really excited when, on the way back from Connecticut this weekend, I saw a farmers market set up at the Natick service plaza. I had heard that these would be popping up at rest stops all over Massachusetts, but this was the first time I’d ever seen one.

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Unfortunately, the only things for sale were soap, jelly, and tea—not exactly the McDonald’s alternative I was looking for. Maybe the slim pickings are a function of how early it is in the season, or maybe it’s because only a certain type of vendor is willing to sign up for this sort of farmers market. Whatever the reason, I was quite disappointed. But I did get some lovely peach tango tea from Shaker Kitchen, and I’m going to keep my eye out for more markets.

Have you ever come across a farmers market at a rest stop? What did you think of it?

Lots of great stuff this week on energy use, efficiency, and generation, as well as recycling questions answered and an eco-friendly local store.

• Helping the Hartfords and Finding a Path to More Energy Efficient Homes – Energy Circle. The original New York Times article was focused on the high price of oil, but this response to it was all about efficiency. It’s great to hear that these people have been helped.
• Maine company ready to install tidal power unit – Boston Globe. Who would have thought there was all this good stuff going on in Maine?
• Cleaner Fuels, Cleaner Cars – New York Times. The White House should review the EPA’s recommendation for reducing sulfur in gas.
• Solar Thermal Around Boston – Green Lifestyle Consulting. It’s funny how much goes on around the city that you don’t see.
• Ask Umbra: When should an old refrigerator be replaced? – Grist. I’ve read before that 10 years is the magic number, but Energy Star recommends replacing anything manufactured before 1993.
• The Pizza Box Recycling Mystery – RecycleBank. Cambridge says they’ll now take pizza boxes, but a lot of towns don’t. (Thanks, Laurie!)
• Ask Umbra: Are coffee cups recyclable? – Grist.  Another common recycling question.
• Hatched Owner Liz Vittori Koch on Eco-Friendly Clothes and Toys – JP Patch. It seems like a lot of people start to think organic when they have kids.

That’s all for this week. As always, if you come across anything interesting, send it along.