Our entire process is run in concert with nature, which is why we use fallen leaves, and recapture over 80% of the water that we use. Our products are fine for use in a microwave, oven or freezer and bio-degrade in as little as 6 weeks, and they are fully compostable (a much higher standard than biodegradable).

The Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) has increased the load shedding duration for domestic consumers from two to four hours, due to shortfall of power generation. The load shedding duration for the industrial sector has not yet been increased. The water level at Tarbela Dam [pictured when water was more plentiful] has reached dead level, resulting in a power generation shortfall of 1,200 MW. The hydroelectric power generation in the country has, therefore, decreased from 3,400 MW to 2,400 MW. The independent power producers, meanwhile, are generating 4,800 MW only.

6.48 billion gallons. That's how much ethanol - almost all of it from corn - was made in the U.S. last year, a total that comes to an average of 423,000 barrels per day. Compared to 2006, this is an increase of 34 percent. Still, more corn will be needed to reach the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007's new Renewable Fuel Standard for 2008: eight billion gallons. A problem? Not according to the Renewable Fuels Association, which says that current biorefinery capacity is 13.4 billion gallons per year. With 57 new refineries on the way, the eight billion gallons will be here before we know it.

Sucralose, the sugar substitute better known to Canadians and Americans as Splenda, hit Norwegian food markets in 2005. A year later, scientists from the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) found the chemical to be omnipresent in the environment—in Oslo Fjord and in raw and treated wastewater. Now, scientists in Sweden report (PDF: 1.3 MB) finding it completely unchanged in wastewater effluent in Stockholm and elsewhere in Sweden.

The novel machines were built by defense contractors and Purdue University scientists as part of the Army's push to reduce troops' diesel fuel use in Iraq, where convoys are frequently targeted by insurgents.

Three varieties of blackberries grow behind his children’s swing set, a fig tree occupies a far corner, and a litchi and two tangerine trees, part of a recent foray into citrus, wait for spring in a basement grow-room. In the summertime, when everything is in bloom and fruiting, the yard calls to mind a scruffy Garden of Eden. “My wife thinks I’ve gone crazy,” Mr. Grunsfeld said, “but there’s something magical about seeing fruit develop.”

I believe in the goodness of human nature. I believe we can get distracted by many things, but that, ultimately, we all want to do what is best. Because that is true of people, I believe we can make the planet better for all of us, that we can have peace, feed the hungry and end war. I believe too that every action each of us takes makes a difference. Every time each of us rejects a disposable bag brings the world one step closer to being the kind of place where sea turtles don’t die from eating plastic. Every time each of us sacrifices a car ride brings us the world one step closer to being the kind of place where there is no global warming. Every time one of us tithes our income brings us one step closer to ending world poverty.