Wind and Sun Can Save Water
There’s yet another reason to consider Wind and Solar Power, according to Dr. Bill Chameides, Dean of Nicholas School of the Environment and author of “The Green Grok”. We’re running out of the water needed to create other forms of power from fossil fuels.

Recent droughts in the American Southwest and ongoing droughts in other parts of the world remind us that our lives depend on water. Unfortunately, power plants, which are usually located on rivers or other water bodies, take this precious commodity away from other uses such as drinking and irrigation of food crops. More …

Hearst Building Aims for Zero Waste
Manhattan’s Hearst Tower already has an LEED for it’s core architechture and interior and it already recycles 70% of its trash and 50 tons of paper a month.

However, the building’s owners have loftier goals than that. They’re determined to compost 95% of the building’s food waste and recycle all of its trash. They’ve set up a recycling program for paper, metal, e-waste, plastic and glass, so it would seem that they’re well on their way. More …

Gas Guzzler Sales Are Fading Fast
American car companies have been getting high profit margins from SUVs and pickups for years. These gas guzzlers cost more to buy and to fill up with fuel, but still they flew off the lots. Until recently, that is.

With gas edging toward $4/gallon and the price of food, utilities and everything else going up as well, people are turning to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars and it’s starting to affect sales of the big cars. More …

Consumers Willing to Put Their Money Where Their Mouths Are
In a survey sponsored by DuPont and Mohawk Carpets, almost 7 out of 10 US consumers said they’d pay more for carpets made with renewable materials. This confirms that people are becoming more informed about how their buying decisions affect the environment.

Mohawk’s Smartstrand Carpet Line which contains renewable fiber made from corn, is flying off the shelves and has become their market leader. More …

What’s On TV? Recycling!
Sony’s new Bravia Eco TV has backing panels made from recycled TVs. In an effort to put into effect its “Product, Process, Planet” campaign, Sony has been airing old commercials for its products and urging consumers to recycle their old TVs.

They’ve also committed to disclosing environmental performance information for some of their products and are re-using styrofoam waste from their production facilities. More …

Another Approach To Solar
When you think of solar, you usually think of solar panels right? Well, maybe it’s time to think about other ways of using the sun’s energy to heat our buildings, especially commercial buildings.

Conserval Engineering has been quietly providing air-based solar heating systems - SolarWall, as they call it - to industrial and commercial buildings for 30 years. They’re even using it on 27 buildings at the Army’s Fort Drum military base in upstate New York. Why haven’t we heard more about this technology? More …

Rainy Day People Save Resources and Money
Rainy days make some people blue, but not the Erssons of Portland, Oregon. They’ve been collecting rainwater, purifying it, and using it instead of city water.

With city approval, they’ve installed a rain catchment system.Is this safe? Economical? Practical? Find out by reading the article. More …

Award Winning Eco TV Delivers
The Best of Show winner at January’s Consumer Electronics Show was the Phillips 42″ Flat Panel LCD Eco TV. Phillips insists that it hasn’t compromised on performance and viewers seem to agree.

In addition to automatic-dimming capabilities and great sound, this green baby can be set to use no more power than a light bulb. Plus, Phillips has reduced or eliminated toxins on the inside to go along with the streamlined outside. More …

Catching the Wind Without a Propeller
Mariah Power, based in Nevada and in operation since 2005, is taking off. Infused with recent investments and scheduled to demonstrate its “propeller-less turbine” on the mall in Washington during the Botanical Gardens exhibit in May, the company is also going to deliver its turbine, the Windspire to its first customer.

The company’s CEO claims that Mariah’s innovative design can cut costs and will produce about a third of the electricity needed to power an average home. More …

Mowers on the Cutting Edge
A beautiful green lawn is nice, but lawnmowers are some of the biggest polluters on the planet. You could get a flock of sheep, but better check the zoning laws first.

Instead, why not read the review of the Remington Cordless Mower and two other slightly more novel ways of cutting the grass. EcoTechDaily has the scoop on the caring for the “green, green grass of home.” More …

New York City Buildings Going Solar
The city of New York has entered into a 20 year purchase agreement to install solar panels on city-owned buildings in five boroughs. This could be the start of something big, because NY is closely followed by other US cities for policies.The city says it plans to install 2 megawatts of solar electricity. Eleven potential sites have been identified for the developer to choose from, including five schools and a community college.

NY joins CA in the solar power commitment and other cities are coming online with solar also, making it more likely that renewable energy will catch on with the mainstream. More …

Do You Want Carbon Credits With That?
A UK McDonald’s restaurant is lowering their carbon footprint by incinerating their trash instead of sending it to a landfill. The incinerator produces electricity which powers nearby businesses and homes, including Sheffield City Hall, the city where the restaurant is located.

With an estimated carbon output lowering of 54%, this will go a long way to reduce McDonald’s emissions, as will other projects they’ve initiated in the US, including one which geothermal energy. More …
States Compete for Green Tech Companies
Worldwide investment in clean-tech research and businesses rose to almost $100 billion in 2007.Most of that investment went to the US. And in the Us, about half of the investment was in California with another ten percent going to Massachusetts, where technology is booming.

Other states would like to join the ranks of clean-tech hosts and are scrambling to find ways to attract clean industries. Tax incentives are just one of the ways they’re trying to do that. More …

Help for CFL Disposal Problem
One of the problems with the increasingly promoted CFL bulbs is that they need to be disposed of properly because they contain mercury. Earth 911 and Green Market Fundraising have stepped up to the plate and come up with a program to help.

They’ve come up with a national database and information on how to safely dispose of the energy-saving bulbs, which are sold through Green Market’s school fund-raising program, which features eco-friendly products. More …

At the End of a Green Life
You’ll want a green funeral complete with an environmentally responsible coffin, of course. Green funerals are big business nowadays, with eco-conscious people determined to go out the way they’ve lived.

After all, if you show your commitment to the environment by wearing bamboo, hemp and other natural fibers, why shouldn’t your casket be made of bamboo (or another renewable fiber) also? While it may seem odd to think of the environment in the midst of dealing with the loss of a loved one, many people are doing just that or planning their own green funeral so that their loved ones won’t have to. More …

Solar Houses All in a Row
Row houses aren’t new. Baltimore, MD, Washington DC and Chicago, IL all have them. It saves energy, building materials and time to build houses with adjoining walls. In Boulder, Colorade, a company called Solarrow is taking the concept to a new level by integrating solar power into their rowhouse project.

With garden spaces, bright interiors and energy-saving built in, these houses are selling like hotcakes. If the idea catches on, what was old will be new again, only better for the environment and - judging by the photos that accompany the story - much more colorful. More …

Museums are Going Green
When the Grand Rapids Art Museum became the first art museum to earn a Gold Certificate LEED, it made the news. But it’s not the first museum to integrate environmental sustainability into its footprint. From green roofs to goats for maintenance, many cultural institutions are making green changes.

The groundswell started with children’s museums and has filtered through to art and science museums - which are a natural fit for eco-responsibility. More …

Hybrid or Tankless - These Water Heaters Are Hot!
GE is introducing a new hybrid water heater that uses heat drawn from the air to preheat water. This heat-pump technology could cut thousands of dollars off the cost of heating water over the average lifespan of a water heater.

Oddly enough, up until now, the government hasn’t included water heaters in their Energy Star appliance program. Why they haven’t is a mystery because water heaters use more energy than lighting in most homes. The tankless heater line is available now, but you’ll have to wait for the hybrid. GE says it will go on sale in the last quarter of 2009. More …

Wind Turbines as Kinetic Sculpture
Aerovironment’s Architechtural Wind turbines aren’t designed to be unobtrusive. They attach to the parapets of downtown buildings and make it obvious that the building’s owner cares about the environment. They also just look cool. With a guard to protect our feathered friends and no need to penetrate the roof, the turbines are an attractive alternative to solar panels.

With a savings similar to solar, the company is planning to market the turbines to companies with high-rise office buildings and older brick buildings in mostly downtown settings. More …

Best Alternative Lawnmower?
In Turin, Italy, the city council was paying over 30,000 Euros to mow the city parks and green spaces. To save money and decrease the pollution created by lawnmowers, they turned to Mother Nature’s lawnmowers: a flock of sheep.

There’s been some grumbling about sheep doo-doo and traffic jams when the sheep move around the city, but maybe it’s an idea whose time has come. More …

Bloggers Won’t Stand For Greenwashing
If a company “talks the talk”, they’d better “walk the walk” when it comes to going green. According to an article in Advertising Age, if a company makes claims to be environmentally sustainable, they’d better make sure that their products, packaging and business practices support it or they’ll soon be the subject of blog posts all over the Net.

Some of the biggest companies have found out the hard way that covering dodgy environmental practices with a layer of green hype is an invitation to eco-bloggers, who are uber-sensitive to greenwashing. More …

Tricycles Deliver Eco-Boost to Boston Traffic
The city of Boston, MA is famous for massive traffic jams, fume-laden pollution and less than courteous drivers. A Cambridge company, New Amsterdam Project, is working on changing at least two out of three of those problems. (And maybe it will have an effect on drivers’ manner also. We can hope.)

NAPS is delivering everything from chocolates to cheese in large tricycles with bins on them to hold the deliveries. While pedaled delivery vehicles are common in other countries, they’ve never really caught on in America, except for bicycle messengers in a few cities. The company’s CEO thinks they could be one answer to the problem of global warming, rising fuel prices and dwindling stocks of fossil fuel. More …

Solar Powered Snacks
Appropriately enough, Frito-Lay’s Sun Chips brand is announcing that one of their manufacturing facilities is going solar. The coming-out party will include several innovative advertising gimmicks including a billboard message that changes with the position of shadows cast according to the sun’s position.

Frito-Lay has previously installed a solar powered electricity system on the roof of its largest distributing facility and Sun Chips has the Center for Resource Solution’s green e-seal because it purchases REC’s. More …

Paris Airport Will Be Heated by Geothermal
Orly Airport in Paris, France will use water that has been heated by geothermal energy to heat a third of its entire facility by 2011. This will also reduce the airport’s carbon emissions by 7,000 tons.

Two vertical shafts will be drilled and the natural pressure of the earth will allow the 74 degree water to rise to the surface, where it will be injected into the airport’s heating system. Orly will be the first airport to use this CO2 free way for heat. More …

Plastic Bag Ban Spreading
Several countries have already banned plastic bags in favor of reusable cloth bags and many other countries are considering a ban. The reasons go beyond plastic’s dependence on petrochemicals for manufacture. Plastic bags are a hazard to many animals and birds and clog the oceans.

While some countries and municipalities are taxing them or making shoppers pay for them at point of purchase, outright bans seem to be more likely worldwide. More …