sundance

Working Naked Day: How green is working from home?

Turns out there’s something to celebrate in February before Groundhog’s Day… today is Working Naked Day. No, that doesn’t mean it’s appropriate to strip down at the office; rather, February 1st has been designated as a day of recognizing the benefits of working from home.

Green tech finds (12/23/10)

Because green tech never takes a holiday… your finds for the week.

• Biodegradable Styrofoam: Styrofoam is a great insulating material… but is made from a nasty chemical mix that doesn’t break down. AeroClay blends milk proteins and clay to create the insulation benefits of Styrofoam (along with strength and light weight) without the waste impact. (via Springwise)
  
  
• Are wind turbines good for crops? Preliminary research from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory suggest that might be the case… see the video above. (via GreenTech Pastures)
  
  

Earth Week action: plant a tree

Yep, it’s time of year again… Earth Day is just a few days away. What actions do you have planned to decrease your environmental footprint? The Conservation Fund has an idea: plant a tree. Its Go Zero campaign is working “to acquire land on behalf of national and state parks or wildlife refuges and to [...]

Sex, drugs, and carbon emissions: Pearl Jam to offset ’09 tour

Is there such thing as a green rock star? I know my colleague Chris Baskind of More Minimal doesn’t think so: adding up the environmental impact just from touring makes the concept difficult to swallow.

While I agree with Chris in principle, I’ve got to admit that I like any genuine effort that a band makes to lighten its environmental footprint… and Pearl Jam’s announcement of its carbon mitigation strategy for last year’s world tour (as well as upcoming time on the road) has a lot to recommend it.

U.S. Auto Fleet Shrinks as Youth Lose Interest in Cars

“America’s century-old love affair with the automobile may be coming to an end,” says Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, a nonprofit environmental research organization.

The ZEROprize

The recently “greened” Bank of America Tower, New York’s second tallest building and a possible contender for the ZEROprize?

Zerofootprint, the Canadian company whose goal is to massively reduce our environmental footprint, is currently hosting two competitions to promote carbon management. You may know Zerofootprint through VELO, its web-based software for large companies to measure and monitor their carbon emissions. The first competition is the “Re-Skinning Award,” which will be given to the most sustainable restoration project, judged on these criteria: energy efficiency, economic efficiency, aesthetic value of the design, the transferability of the concept to other projects, the use of ‘intelligent’ building systems and the social effects of the restoration. Submissions are due January 10th and the winner will be announced at the World Urban Forum in Brazil in March 2010.

Green tech finds (6/18/09)

Deutsche Bank’s online carbon counter

Phones, flashlights, and sweet solar-powered rides… all that and more in this week’s green tech finds.

• Funding priorities: Is a national smart grid the best investment right now? Or would local micro-grids fed by renewable power serve us better?
  
  
• More proof that teenagers do know it all: Fourteen-year-old David S. Dixon built “a street-legal quadricycle with a solar-powered electric motor” for a middle school project. (via Gas 2.0)
  
  

Bottled water: can it ever be green?

Still have bottled water as a regular item on the grocery list? Or just pick up the occasional bottle when you’re out? It’s so convenient…

As you probably know, that convenience comes at an environmental and social price: documentaries such as FLOW and Thirst, organizations such as the Sierra Club and Environmental Defense Fund, and even a few of us lowly bloggers, have reported on the costs created by water’s transformation from a freely-available resource to a multi-billion dollar commodity. That bottle of water you buy now contributes to the world’s third-largest industry.

Robert Redford On Solar Power

I was Too Early on Solar Power; Let’s Not Be Too Late In his State of the Union address, President Obama noted that although America invented solar energy technology, we have fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in producing it. He is right of course. I remember when America was leading the pack on [...]

Environment Ohio Warns State Economy Vulnerable to Climate Change

COLUMBUS, Ohio, December 18, 2008 (ENS) – Global warming could potentially damage Ohio economic sectors now worth $126.9 billion that provide 1.9 million jobs, according to a new report issued today by the environmental advocacy group Environment Ohio. Entitled “What’s at Stake: How Global Warming Threatens the Buckeye State,” the report details the environmental and [...]

Governor Schwarzenegger Convenes Governors’ Global Climate Summit

LOS ANGELES, California, November 18, 2008 (ENS) – In Los Angeles today, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger welcomed hundreds of attendees from more than 50 states, provinces and countries to the Governors’ Global Climate Summit. At the end of their two-day meeting, participants are expected to sign a declaration outlining their plans for turning climate goals into [...]

Democrats Stage First Bright Green Political Convention

DENVER, Colorado, August 24, 2008 (ENS) – As delegates from across the country converge on Denver for the Democratic National Convention opening Monday, most of them are buying offsets to neutralize the carbon dioxide emitted to power their planes, trains and cars. This Green Delegate Challenge is part of the Democrats’ year-long effort to make [...]

Greenspace Server Solutions

Rackspace, a premier server solution for individuals and businesses seeking top-notch service, has taken measures to offset the carbon emissions from their digital activities. The environmentally-concerned initiatives of Rackspace are collectively called GreenSpace. GreenSpace is working with NativeEnergy, a leading national marketer of renewable energy credits (RECs) and carbon offsets, the IT hosting specialist will [...]

New Jersey Carbon Cap and Trade Plan Called ‘Timid’

TRENTON, New Jersey, July 17, 2008 (ENS) – A newly proposed cap-and-trade program to reduce emissions of the heat-trapping greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, CO2, in New Jersey may do little to combat global warming, charges Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, PEER, a nonprofit association of government workers. The trading program proposed by the administration of [...]

A Carbon-Neutral World Focus of World Environment Day 2008

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, June 5, 2008 (ENS) – New Zealand, one of the first countries to pledge a carbon-neutral future, is the main host of today’s celebration of World Environment Day 2008. The theme this year, “Kick the CO2 Habit,” is meant to inspire and encourage actions to eliminate the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, CO2, [...]

McCain Outlines His Plan to Confront Climate Change

PORTLAND, Oregon, May 12, 2008 (ENS) – Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting Senator John McCain of Arizona today offered his plan to combat global warming. Speaking at the Vestas wind turbine factory in Portland, McCain said what America needs is market-based cap and trade system to curb greenhouse gas emissions, mobilize innovative technologies, and strengthen the economy. [...]

Americans’ Carbon Footprints Twice as Big as Others

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, April 29, 2008 (ENS) – Whether you live in a mansion or you are homeless on the street, whether you enjoy eating only raw fruits and vegetables or you must have filet mignon, whether you are a jet-setter or a home-bound retiree – anyone who lives in the United States contributes more than [...]

Energy, Defense Depts. Put ENERGY STAR® Lights in Military Housing

CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina, April 23, 2008 (ENS) – They’re calling it Operation Change Out. On Tuesday, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman marked Earth Day by launching a joint campaign with the Defense Department to cut carbon emissions, save energy and save money by changing light bulbs. Those spiral compact fluorescent light bulbs now are [...]

Merchandise Mart First to Retrofit Under Clinton Climate Initiative

CHICAGO, Illinois, March 25, 2008 (ENS) – Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, the largest commercial building in the world, has signed the first project development agreement in the United States under the Clinton Climate Initiative. Under the agreement to retrofit the huge building with energy-saving technologies announced today, TAC Energy Solutions will reduce the amount of energy [...]

Investors Request Disclosure of Climate Emissions, Strategies

LONDON, UK, February 6, 2008 (ENS) – The Carbon Disclosure Project, a collaboration of 385 institutional investors with assets under management of $57 trillion, has issued its 2008 information request to the world’s largest corporations. Companies are requested to measure and disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and report on their strategy for dealing with risks [...]

States Seek Fraud Protection for Carbon Offset Market

WASHINGTON, DC, January 25, 2008 (ENS) – Citing the potential “to manipulate the system,” California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today recommended that the Federal Trade Commission sharpen its guidelines for businesses that sell carbon emission offset credits. Activities such as driving cars and running power plants produce greenhouse gas emissions which trap heat [...]

Eco-Disco Dancing Can Energize The Grid

Being green is not just about dry numbers and complicated scientific jargon, sometimes it can be about having a great time at a party and contributing to something surprising and positive at the same time. This is very true in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where a nightclub plans to install a new type of flooring solution for [...]

Green Film Productions

Film’s like Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” and Leonardo DiCaprio’s “11th Hour” are very important projects. They draw an entertainment industry focus around the idea that people can and should motivate themselves into saving the environment. When it comes to the production of films, why not make carbon neutral film sets and recycle the goods [...]

IBM Wants to Take the Green Road.

IBM, the long-standing computer technology giant, is taking an environmental stance on their data center solutions. The tech giant is committing 1 Billion dollars annually to solving the energy drain from large data centers. They are calling this plan “Project Big Green”, so they are obviously hoping they can get some free publicity out of [...]

Big Idea: Zero Carbon House

In every sense of the word, the Zero Carbon House [www.zerocarbonhouse.com] is a big idea. Using renewable energy and a host of smart implementations of green technologies, carbon emissions normally generated by everyday activities like heating and cooling and other power needs, growing and procuring food, and even transportation to and from the home have [...]