By John DeFore

Barring a mass return to quill-and-ink pot technology, one way to green the world’s desk drawers is to pump up the percentage of recycled materials in office supplies. Pentel is working that angle aggressively with a Recycology line that touches on most of the popular ways to manually put words and pictures on paper: Its pencils, gel and fiber-tipped pens, and permanent markers are all made with a high percentage of recycled plastic.

None of the items contains less than 50% recycled material in its body (ink and lead, of course, don’t count in that percentage); some are well over that threshold, like a “Cool Lines” pencil that is 75% recycled and 67% post-consumer waste.

In addition to behind-the-scenes green efforts the company says it has made for decades, these writing instruments are designed to have the longest useful lives possible: the refillable pencils have a “lead maximizer” feed system that claims to reduce wasted lead by almost 25%; the markers and highlighters are refillable.

Recycology even offers one or two innovations that would be noteworthy regardless of the line’s eco-friendliness — the company’s new “Handy-line S” markers and highlighters, unlike most similar products, retract into the pen’s body like a click-action ballpoint, meaning there’s no cap to lose; within the body, a clever rotating seal keeps the tip from drying out.

And with a clip design that — amazing but true — forces the writing tip to retract when you clip it into your pocket, Pentel may keep nerds everywhere from needing that dreaded piece of non recycled plastic, the pocket protector.

Copyright © 2008 | Distributed by Noofangle Media

By Barbara Kessler

Polar bears, penguins, pandas have become symbols of the fight to save wild places around the world and push back global warming.

According to conservationists meeting in Barcelona this week, they have a host of company. A broad assessment of the world’s mammals reveals an “extinction crisis” with nearly one-quarter of known mammal species at risk of disappearing forever due to habitat loss, pollution, global warming, over-hunting and food chain erosion.

The study, unveiled at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress, shows that 1,141 (and possibly nearly 2,000) of the world’s 5,487 mammals are known to be threatened with extinction.

Natural processes - or natural selection as Darwin termed it - accounts for some loss of species over time, and since the year 1500 at least 76 mammals have known to become extinct.

But the number of threatened species being pushed toward extinction today is skyrocketing due to human pressure on the planet’s resources, according to the IUCN, a network of scientists, conservationists, governments and policy organizations.

“Within our lifetime hundreds of species could be lost as a result of our own actions, a frightening sign of what is happening to the ecosystems where they live,” says Julia Marton-Lefèvre, IUCN Director General, in a statement.

Recovery efforts and better data collection must begin in earnest to turn the tide, she said.

The report cited examples of several species that have been nurtured back from near extinction, such as the Wild Horse, which was listed as Extinct in the Wild in 1996 but brought back to Critically Endangered status since been reintroduced into the wild in Mongolia.

Overall, the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species identifies 44,838 total species worldwide in danger right now. (See a video of selected threatened species at this link.)

Of those, 16,928 - or about 38 percent are threatened with extinction. Of that number:

• 3,246 are Critically Endangered, the highest category of threat, which includes species that are “in all probability” already extinct but further evidence is needed

• 4,770 are listed as Endangered

• 8,912 are listed as Vulnerable

The IUCN has posted a photo galllery with case studies of affected animals to help people see some of the species being affected, such as the African Elephant, the Iberian Lynx and the Caspian Seal.

The project to assess the world’s mammals was conducted with help from 1,800 scientists from more than 130 countries. Collaborating institutions included Conservation International in Washington D.C., and unversities such as Sapienza Università di Roma, Arizona State University, Texas A&M University, University of Virginia, and the Zoological Society of London.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature brings together governments, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and companies to develop policies and best practices in the arena of conservation. The global network, based in Switzerland, includes more than 11,000 volunteer scientists and experts in more than 150 countries.

Some 7,000 experts work on the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission.

Copyright © 2008 | Distributed by Noofangle Media

By Shermakaye Bass

Those who’ve tried The Blade say it works - though, so far, we’ve not met any of them. The purported fuel-conserving, emissions cleansing attachment for autos hit the market late last year amid kudos and celebrity endorsements (Sheryl Crow, Laura Dern and Ben Harper say it’s da bomb).

The simple tail-pipe attachment/filter is said to cut auto emissions by 57 percent, and greenhouse gases by six to 34 percent, depending on the model of your car. That makes the $200 price tag reasonable enough for the carbon-conscious.

But the fact that it can increase fuel economy up to five miles per gallon makes it attractive to just about every Joe and Jane Sixpack in the country. [Read more →]