Here's a chance to recycle your old phones and do some good.

Martin Middle School and the non-profit Cell Phones for Soldiers are collecting gently-used cellphones.

The donated phones will be sent to Michigan-based ReCellular for recycling. For every donated phone valued at $5, Cell Phones for Soldiers provides 2 1/2 hours of talk time to deployed soldiers on pre-paid international calling cards.

The charity has donated more than 114 million minutes of free talk time since it was started 2004.

Phones can be dropped off through March 9 at the Martin Middle School front office, 1701 Ridge Road, Raleigh.

Progress Energy customers saved an average of $235 a year by switching to solar thermal water heater, representing an average annual savings of 63 percent on the water heater portion of their power bill.

Those are the results Raleigh-based Progress reported this week to the N.C. Utilities Commission to wrap up a pilot project using 150 customers to test the efficiency of solar thermal water heaters. As part of the year-long pilot, Progress contributed $1,000 toward each customer's cost of buying as solar thermal water heater.

The company says that more than 15 percent of electricity used in a typical home is used for heating water. Solar water heaters use the sun as their primary source of energy, with electricity (or natural gas) as a backup.

Solar water heaters are known for their high efficiency performance as well as their high price tags, costing about 10 times to 20 times as much as a conventional water heater. Progress reported that buying and installing the solar water heaters averaged $7,271 per household, ranging from $4,000 to $12,375 per home.

Homeowners rarely pay the full price, however. In North Carolina, solar water heaters qualify for a 30 percent federal tax incentive and a 35 percent state tax credit (up to $1,400), which would cut the cost by about half.

Apple revealed additional details Monday about its massive data center located in Maiden, North Carolina.

The 500,000 square foot facility, costing a reported $1 billion, hosts data for Apple's iCloud and Siri services. 

Having already obtained LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification, the report from Apple includes plans to go greener by building what it calls "the nation’s largest end user–owned, onsite solar array" and the "largest non-utility fuel cell installation."

The Town of Chapel Hill has installed 13 new recycling bins along Franklin Street to collect cans and bottles that were previously thrown in the trash, and another four bins will be placed in Southern Village's central business area.

If you missed seeing your favorite mythbusting duo in person at the NC Science Festival in 2010, you've got another chance to see them at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium in March.

Local drug maker Biogen Idec is dedicating 10 electric car rechargers this morning at its facility in Research Triangle Park as part of the federal government's subsidization push for electric cars.

The number of rechargers represents a new standard for corporate offices in the area, with a half-dozen other Triangle companies planning to install 10 rechargers in the coming months. The feds are paying more than a third of the cost of the rechargers and the electric cars in the Triangle phase of the program.

Biogen Idec, which develops drugs for multiple sclerosis, is based in Weston, Mass., and employs about 900 people at its manufacturing facility in RTP. Currently four of those employees drive plug-in electric cars to work, which means that more than half of the new rechargers will not be immediately used.

Nearly $50,000 of the cost of the rechargers at Biogen Idec was offset by federal stimulus funds distributed by the Triangle J Council of Governments, a regional planning organization. Outdoor chargers typically cost between $10,000 and $20,000.
 

Certain symbols have become as universally recognizable in society, slike the Christian fish that adorns many a bumper sticker, or the rainbow flag displayed in support gay rights.

Durham LED lighting maker Cree is hosting an event this month to create new icons to represent energy efficiency and LED lighting, which happen to be the company's line of business.

The best images created during the Feb. 25 brainstorming session on the Cree campus will be added to a visual library of icons available for general use.

The new icons will join the dozens of symbols that communicate ideas wordlessly in the form of corporate logos, road signs, political sentiments and declarations of self-identity. 

The City of Raleigh collected 797 gallons of cooking oil and grease in its third annual holiday collection program.

The North Carolina chapter of the Sierra Club this morning unveiled a website called The Daily Frack that promises "the fracking truth."

The club is one of the groups leading opposition to fracking in this state. Fracking, which is short for hydraulic fracturing, is a controversial method of drilling that uses chemicals and water to fracture underground rock formations and release natural gas. It is not legal in North Carolina, but the GOP-led legislature is exploring the possibility of changing that.

The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is studying the potential impact of fracking and plans to release a draft report in March. Supporters say fracking will tap into vast amounts of a clean-burning domestic energy resource to offset burning dirty coal and importing oil.

Opposed are concerned about what fracking could do to the environment, including water contamination.

The site includes research, news stories and maps showing where natural gas deposits are located in North Carolina. It also allows visitors to the site to ask questions.

Keep NC Beautiful, in partnership with the N.C. Coca-Cola Bottlers Council, is now accepting grant applications for projects to be completed in 2012 that address litter prevention, cleanup, waste reduction, recycling and beautification.

Schools, youth and civic groups, nonprofits and KNCB affiliates are eligible to apply. Three $500 awards will be issued for each category, along with an individual category that is open for one winner at $500, or two for $250 each.

Priority will be given to applications that highlight programs or projects that coincide with the annual Keep America Beautiful Great American Cleanup, which runs from March 1 to May 31, and America Recycles Day, which is celebrated in November. Public educational initiatives focusing on enhancing cleanup and beautification efforts and increasing waste reduction and recycling behaviors are also of importance.

Applications can be downloaded at keepncbeautiful.org and are due by Feb. 15. Winners will be announced March 1.

For more information, contact KNCB Program and State Leader Brenda Ewadinger at (704) 442-0791 or bewadinger@keepncbeautiful.org.