Indianapolis — A company that recycles expanded polystyrene has a drop-off site that’s open to the public. Createc of Indianapolis densifies the product and sends it to reprocessing plants, which convert it to crystalline polystyrene to be used again by plastics molders. Until recently, expanded  polystyrene (Styrofoam is the most familiar trademark) has been the hardest item to recycle. Clean, white EPS, No. 6 plastic can be deposited in bins on the southside of the Createc building, 6835 N. Guion Road, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Indianapolis — The Nature Conservancy won one of the city’s first Sustainability Awards for its new headquarters in the category of water. Called the Efroymson Conservation Center, the headquarters at 620 East Ohio St., received recognition from Mayor Greg Ballard for the storm water management system.

The building, scheduled to open in April, is set to earn the first platinum LEED certified building in the state. It will capture and control 100 percent of the storm water that falls on the building site. As such the site is not connected to the City’s Combined Sewer Overflow, or CSO, bur rather relies on low impact development, such as green roofs, native plants in the landscape, rainwater collection system on roof, a cistern, underground water infiltration that collects overflow, bio-retention area and permeable pavement.

Indianapolis — Steven Rypma, an associate in Ice Miller’s Green Industries Initiative and Real Estate Practice Group, has earned the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Associate certification from the U.S. Green
Building Council. This non-legal certification denotes knowledge of green design, construction and operations. In addition to passing an exam, candidates must have experience on a LEED-registered project, employment or previous employment in a sustainable field of work, or engagement in or completion of an education program that addresses green building principles.

Indianapolis — Pedal & Park, an all volunteer program, is celebrating its 10th season parking bicycles for free at public events in central Indiana. Since is inception, Pedal & Park has parked 19,404 bicycles (and an occasional pair of skates), including a record 3,949 bikes at 15 events in 2009.

Volunteers mostly come from the partner organizations — the Central Indiana Bicycling Association, Bicycle Indiana, the Greenways Foundation, Indy Parks & Recreation and the Metropolitan Planning Organization, which provides major funding for the effort. The 2010 schedule has 13 events, plus two more that are tentative but likely, says tom mcCain (sic), one of the Pedal & Park founders. For this year’s events, to subscribe to e-mail bulletins or volunteer, please visit the Web site: www.pedalandpark.org