Set sprinklers to water the lawn or garden only - not the street or sidewalk.
Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven.)
Purchase "Green Power" for your home's electricity. (Contact your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)
Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads.
Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
By Julie Bonnin
When Houston made headlines for abysmal recycling rates last month, it dealt a blow to the work Mayor Bill White has been doing to improve the city’s environmental reputation. White, who was Deputy Director of the U. S. Energy Department under President Bill Clinton, has pushed to clean up the city’s environmental record, with victories such as special recognition for the city’s commitment to development of a solar infrastructure (from DOE this past spring), and its designation as the nation’s top municipal purchaser of green power (from the Environmental Protection Agency).
But there may yet be hope for turning Houston a deeper shade of green. Weeks after being called the worst recycler of the country’s 30 major metropolitan areas, city officials have announced their intention to launch an ambitious pilot program that involves the latest in “single stream” recycling.
[Read more →]Tags: Briefs · Cities/States · Community · Neighborhood
By Lynette Holloway
Sean J. Hunter, director of Doggy Au Pair, with Shih Tzu Lester J. Doodles and Silla, a Mastiff
Most days, Sean J. Hunter, a jaunty dog walker, can be seen maneuvering his way along the sidewalks of Chicago’s tony Gold Coast neighborhood followed by a cavalry of his charges: pampered pooches. They range in [...]
Tags: Cut Consumption · Model Projects · Neighborhood
By Nima Kapadia
The United States Postal Service didn’t do it “Overnight” but it is taking steps to expressly reduce its carbon footprint by launching a “green” website. The website, which debuted June 2, helps consumers search for eco-friendly products and
Tags: Briefs · Cut Consumption · Greener Businesses · Neighborhood
By Barbara Kessler
Since the first hippie incurred the nickname “tree hugger,” there remains an inescapable (but not inconvenient) truth at the core of that label: Trees are still one of the best things you can cultivate if you want to green your particular piece of paradise. They gobble CO2, emit oxygen, provide cooling [...]
Tags: Briefs · Model Projects · Neighborhood · Schools/Colleges/Churches · Trees/Plants/Yard
By Bill Marvel
Census takers trek door to door to count people. Bird watchers take to parks and woods for their annual bird count. Volunteers patrol the waters off California and Hawaii looking for whales. But you don’t have to go any farther than your own back yard to participate in this year’s GLOBE at [...]
Tags: Briefs · Eco-kids · Energy/Water · Neighborhood
By John DeFore
Christmas is the season when all we know about conservation conflicts with our notions of festivity and warmth — when the guy down the block whose house boasts more colored lights than Broadway is viewed not as unconscionably wasteful but as a supplier of good cheer to the neighborhood.
One of the most painless [...]
Tags: Cut Consumption · Decor · Neighborhood
By Shermakaye Bass
So you’re ready to deck the halls, but you’re not sure about using real-live holly (tricky, because it can dry out and shed). Perhaps you don’t want to mess with holly or maybe you don’t feel creative enough to fashion boughs and garlands from the real stuff. But if you’re dreaming of a [...]
Tags: Decor · Entertaining/Holidays · Model Projects · Neighborhood
By Harriet L. Blake
The Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox have more in common than just good baseball records. They are also two of a few major league teams that are taking a proactive approach on the environment. Other teams pursuing green-friendly agendas are the Minnesota Twins, the San Francisco Giants, the Seattle Mariners [...]
Tags: Model Projects · Neighborhood
By Barbara Kessler
Texas has had the catchiest jingle about littering. But many other states and community groups also don’t want to be messed with.
Yes, litter, that side issue in the climate change dialogue is back, or rather, it’s still hanging around. And plenty of people are peeved at their fellow humans who flaunt [...]
Tags: Cities/States · Neighborhood
By Tom Kessler
The battlefield cry “charge” is taking on new meanings. Portable fuel cell systems from SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG won first and third prizes in the U.S. Defense Department’s inaugural Wearable Power Competition, the DOD announced.
Nearly 170 designs competed in the event, which was established by Department of Defense Research and Engineering to “encourage innovation in energy systems carried by personnel during field missions.” The systems, attached to a military vest, were required to provide 20 watts of average electric power, have peak-power capability up to 200 watts and weigh no more than 8.8 pounds.
By John DeFore
Honda is shifting gears in its strategy for hybrid cars. Judging from announcements at last week’s Paris Motor Show, the automaker has decided that the hybrids most likely to succeed in the marketplace are models with a standalone hybrid identity — like Toyota’s Prius, which is not available with a conventional gas engine — rather than those, like Honda’s Civic, that are already familiar in all-gasoline incarnations.
So while Chrysler’s new plan will speed up electric vehicle roll-out by building on existing cars, Honda will now focus on “dedicated” hybrid models like the new Insight Hybrid, which it expects to have in showrooms early next year. (Perhaps confusingly, this new car recycles the name of a previous Honda vehicle, a gas/electric hybrid that was discontinued a couple of years ago due to poor sales.)
The five-passenger car will be followed by two other dedicated hybrids — within the next four years, Honda intends to introduce both a compact similar to its Fit and a sports car resembling the CR-Z. The Insight’s fuel efficiency figures are not yet public, pending full EPA review, but company spokespeople have said its performance should be comparable to the existing Civic Hybrid, which gets a combined 42 mpg.
Though no price has yet been mentioned, in a press release the company boasts it will offer the Insight at “a price significantly below hybrids available today” and therefore expects to sell 200,000 cars a year, with half that in North America.
Copyright © 2008 | Distributed by Noofangle Media
Catalog mailings are nearing full swing now, with mailboxes deluged by hefty full-color enticements to get 
that Christmas shopping done by phone.
Obviously, online shopping is more prudent, ecologically speaking. However, at the recent Business of Green Media Conference in Boston, the printing industry showed signs of taking green issues seriously.
Consumers can “take solace” in the fact that many catalogs are recycled and others are certified as coming from sustainable forests, said Beth Reardon, a corporate accounts manager with Appleton Coated, one of more than 30 companies represented at the conference’s Expo.
Appleton Coated, a paper company that sells under the Utopia brand, uses virgin fiber but does not use any fiber bleaching, said Reardon. None of their pulp comes from old-growth timber or rainforests. It’s all 100 percent certified by one or all of the following: the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) or the Canadian Standards Association (CSA).
These certification groups were created as a result of concern for the planet’s forests. They review companies’ practices to assure that they do not use old growth or rainforest timber, or engage in disreputable forestry practices that can lead to habitat loss or the displacement of human residents. [Read more →]
