Earth Profit

November 06, 2008

• California Rejects Clean Energy, Alternative Fuel Ballot Initiatives
  California voters have rejected two campaigns for clean energy and alternative fuels, propositions 7 and 10, AP reports (via the Union-Tribune). Proposition 7 would have required utilities to generate half their electricity from renewable sources by 2025. Proposition 10 would have given Californians rebates of up to $50,000 to buy alternative fuel vehicles and would [...]
  
  - 14 days
  source: (Environmental Leader)
• Will Organic Products Take A Dive Along With Economy?
  According to Nielsen, sales volume of organic and natural products were recently growing at 20 percent a year. But as the economy declines, it seems consumers are bypassing organics, which typically cost twice as much as the conventional stuff, New York Times reports. For the four-week period that ended Oct. 4, Nielsen Company reported that organic [...]
  
  - 14 days
  source: (Environmental Leader)
• Obama’s Presidency May Signal Good Times For Sustainability Industry
  Barack Obama’s presidency may signal good times for the sustainability industry. Gregory Wetstone of the American Wind Energy Association told the New York Times that he was eager to work with a president whose policies “for the first time will reflect a national commitment to renewable energy” like wind and solar power. Some environmentalists were also optimistic [...]
  
  - 14 days
  source: (Environmental Leader)
• 4Food Deploys IBM’s Green Consulting Services
  4Food announced it is using IBM’s consulting services to integrate corporate social responsibility values and practices into its business strategy. The restaurant chain plans to open its first restaurant next year to offer fast and healthy food, with as much as 60 percent of the ingredients sourced from local farms and producers. Under the agreement signed in [...]
  
  - 14 days
  source: (Environmental Leader)
• Sustainable IT: How To Fight The Power (Bills)
  

  This week’s Sustainable IT newsletter by Ted Samson of InfoWorld departs from the regular format because Ted is home sick and his editors are “filling in.”  Although Ted’s regular newsletter is a great read, this week’s “collection of links centered around one topic: how to cut energy usage” are terrific in their own right.  Here they are:

  • IT ignorant on pending power shortages
  • Datacenters explore novel ways to cut energy usage
  • 10 power-saving myths debunked
  • Tech’s looming battle against rising energy costs
  • Why IT should get in the facilities business
  • When PCs don’t snooze, you lose
  • The ROI of PC power management
  • Feds provide advice, software for tackling energy efficiency

  There’s lots of good advice here. Thanks InfoWorld editors and, Ted, get well soon.

  Photo: Dan Shirley

  
  - 15 days
  source: (Ecopreneurist)
• Industry Must Lead Toward Sustainable Economy: Panel
  
  

  Businesses must also address societal problems by incorporating sustainability into economic policies and focusing on long-term solutions, according to a panel of experts gathered on the opening day of the Business for Social Responsibility conference.

  
  - 15 days
  source: (GreenBiz.com Green Business News)
• Show Employees the Bills to Get Green in a Hurry: Report
  
  

  Workers all too often leave their green habits at home when they go to work, but telling employees how much water, electricity and heating they're using is a way to change behavior quickly, according to research by U.K. group Envirowise.

  
  - 15 days
  source: (GreenBiz.com Green Business News)
• New York Creates Wind Energy Ethics Code
  
  

  The Attorney General's office has established a code of conduct for wind energy companies operating in New York, in order to prevent conflicts of interest between companies and officials.

  
  - 15 days
  source: (GreenBiz.com Green Business News)
• ISO Updates Guide to Greening Product Standards
  
  

  The International Organization for Standardization has updated its guide to integrating environmental concerns into drafting product standards.

  
  - 15 days
  source: (GreenBiz.com Green Business News)
• EcoBrain - Publishing Ebooks for Sustainability
  

  

  EcoBrain is a digital publishing business that provides sustainability content while reducing their impact on the environment.

  Acutely aware of the staggering production costs and environmental impact of traditional publishing, Angela Wieck and Staley Krause, two green living enthusiasts and earth-friendly role models for their children, conceptualized Ecobrain in April 2008.  Publishing is not an easy business but with Ecobrain’s eBook format, new publishers can produce and publish their material much more quickly, cheaply and profitably.

  EcoBrain targets a LOHAS minded audience. As a family company they focus heavily on teachers, parents and teens, although they are open to various categories of content.

  Read more of this story - 15 days
  source: (Ecopreneurist)

• 75 Green Start-Ups That Can Make A Difference
  

  I spent this morning at a meeting of The Eco Investment Club meeting in San Diego. Founder, Yeves Perez thought I might be interested in attending and I was. While there, I had the opportunity to speak with Glenn Croston, a Ph.D. biologoist and founder of Starting Up Green.com.

  Like many of us, Glenn told me, he and his family starting behaving more green in their home and, with his unique perspective on our planet as a biologist, that led him to build a green business.

  His new book, 75 Green Business You Can Start To Make Money and Make a Difference, has some great ideas for anyone looking to join the ecopreneurial world. Oddly enough, I ran across this video yesterday, prior to even being aware that Glenn would be at the meeting. Take a look.

  
  

  This story contains additional media. Click here to view the media.

  
  - 15 days
  source: (Ecopreneurist)

November 05, 2008

• Green Marketing Meets Clothes Hanger
  Green marketing is changing clothes closets into a new advertising venue. The New York-based Hanger Network has crossed the concept of an environmentally-friendly clothes hanger with in-home advertising strategies, according to this AdAge video.
  
  - 15 days
  source: (Environmental Leader)
• MillerCoors Receives Energy Saver Awards
  MillerCoors’ breweries in Golden, Colorado and Shenandoah, Virginia, received Energy Saver Awards from the Department of Energy for reducing electricity and natural gas use. The energy-saving opportunities were identified through a Save Energy Now energy assessment and have reduced energy use by about 18 percent in the last two years. Free Save Energy Now Assessments, conducted by [...]
  
  - 15 days
  source: (Environmental Leader)
• Fair Isaac To Cut Energy, Paper Use
  Fair Isaac  has begun a program to cut its IT energy use 50 percent and reduce its printing output 80 percent over the next two years. The company will focus on improving IT energy efficiency; increasing telecommuting; using post-consumer paper products and cutting paper consumption. The initiative will set specific goals and metrics to chart the [...]
  
  - 15 days
  source: (Environmental Leader)
• Eaton Director: Create Synergy Between IT and Facility Strategies
  Kenneth Uhlman, director of data center business development for Eaton Corp., writes in Computer Technology Review, that for companies to remain competitive in a global market, organizations should work collaboratively to operate more efficiently and sustainably. Uhlman recommends companies to create synergy between IT and facility strategies. Here are Uhlman’s recommendations for the data center: 1. Energy [...]
  
  - 15 days
  source: (Environmental Leader)
• New York City Dims Skyscrapers
  Instead of being a city of bright lights, New York City will now emit a softer glow in a move to conserve energy and save utility dollars. Susan Harder, New York section leader of International Dark-Sky Association, told the New York Times that “we’ll always have an iconic skyline, but we don’t need this big [...]
  
  - 15 days
  source: (Environmental Leader)
• Amazon Switches To Recyclable, ‘Frustration-Free’ Packaging
  Amazon.com announced it is going green by going brown, that is by streamlining the packaging of products and shipping them in recyclable materials. The company launched “Frustration-Free Packaging,” which is focusing on eliminating two kinds of items: those enclosed in clamshells and those secured with plastic-coated wire ties. The initiative is being launched in the U.S. [...]
  
  - 15 days
  source: (Environmental Leader)
• Pineland Farms’ LED Retrofit Saves $30,000 Per Year
  Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine recently retrofitted over 200 street lighting fixtures with Osram Sylvania LEDs, the installation is expected to save the college $30,000 annually in energy costs, LEDs Magazine reports. The retrofit system uses the directional light distribution of 66 Golden Dragon Plus LEDs from Osram Opto Semiconductors and delivers light only where [...]
  
  - 15 days
  source: (Environmental Leader)
• Climate Change Creates Biz Opportunities
  According to the Carbon Disclosure Project’s annual survey of the largest corporations in the world, Canada’s largest companies are starting to report more business opportunities than risks as a result of emerging GHG emissions regulations, the canada.com reports. The survey found that 92 percent of the largest polluters saw opportunities to address their GHG emissions. Almost [...]
  
  - 15 days
  source: (Environmental Leader)
• Environment, Cleantech Have Big Wins, Big Losses at the Polls
  
  

  Barack Obama handily won the presidency, giving an overall boost to hopes for a greener U.S. economy, while some of the biggest renewable energy proposals on state ballots went down to defeat yesterday.

  
  - 16 days
  source: (GreenBiz.com Green Business News)