Here's today's ridiculous packaging.
We try to feature both bad packaging and good packaging design, but we don't need to tell you that it's easier to find examples of the former.
TreeHugger breaks it down for you in a series of in depth how-to articles that will help you green your life. No time like the present!
Expecting to keep about 25,000 pounds of reusable goods out of the landfill, this Saturday’s inaugural "Green Apple Move Out" collection drive being organized to coincide with the annual dorm move-out means students rooming at NYU will have a greener choice when it comes to getting rid of that old futon they just keep meaning to find another use for.
Recently only a pipe dream, the carbon market has exploded in recent years. With “cap and trade” schemes available in the EU and more recently British Columbia - Canada’s most western province - plans are set to follow suit in Australia, New Zealand and the rest of Canada. Even the typically sluggish United States seems poised to adopt some form of emissions trading scheme, with all three presidential candidates stating their support for some permutation of a carbon trading initiative.
Whatever the time frame, it seems near inevitable that companies will face increasingly binding laws to account for the amount of carbon dioxide (and equivalent gases) they release into the atmosphere. And with the emergence of this trend, a new speculative market has evolved, offering an increasingly attractive area for earning a profit.
The Solar Industry Tries to Stay One Step Ahead of Regulators
As solar panels become more mainstream and a higher volume of them is produced, they are bound to attract more attention from regulators. Many of the biggest companies that make solar panels have decided to preempt that wave of regulation by voluntarily joining up and creating the first large-scale scheme to recycle solar panels in Europe. The goal is to have the system in place by the end of this year.
"We will be the first in Europe to establish such a system. And I could well imagine that it will become a model for other countries," said PV Cycle President Karsten Wambach, who also heads SolarWorld's Solar Material division.
We recently wrote about how difficult is for consumers to know which is better: saving gas by purchasing items online; or, reducing one's greenhouse gas "footprint" by avoiding potentially inefficient shipping procedures (especially with reference to wasted packaging and the prevalence of air freight and partial-load deliveries).
In that post - Buying Green Online - Gasoline Saver Or Climate Bigfoot? - we suggested how useful it would be if, when choosing a shipping method, a carbon footprint estimate could be presented on the computer "checkout" screen, representing the GHG emissions associated with actual route(s) and shipping method choices. The general idea being to help consumers make a quantitative, rational decision between the several ways to 'green one's footprint' (as pictured).
As things stand, now, on Amazon, or with any other online store for that matter, evaluating that tradeoff is like putting a micrometer on a fog bank.
Along comes TerrPass, with exactly the kind of service we were thinking of!
Here are a few recommended websites.
Say what you will about the BBC's extensive range of programming, but -- in this writer's eyes, at least -- no one has come closer to mastering the art of the nature documentary than the house that brought us the delightful Sir David Attenborough and the amazing Planet Earth. And while that series arguably stands out as the BBC's greatest documentary achievement to date, it is only the latest in a long line of equally gorgeous, spellbinding DVD sets.
For the many of you that grew up following Sir Attenborough's escapades (and listening to his captivating voice) around the world, the newly released BBC Natural History Collection will make a welcome addition to your DVD collection. The voluminous 33-plus hour 17-DVD set includes The Life of Mammals, The Life of Birds, Blue Planet and (of course) Planet Earth. It also comes with more hours of special features, and other goodies than you can throw a stick at.
Energy efficiency seems to be proving its potential for making our American lifestyle less energy intensive and more sustainable. But is it the same case in the developing countries?
Around the world, more and more people are leading energy-intensive lifestyles, as cheap, efficient technologies bring modern conveniences within reach.
Take the introduction of a new, incredibly cheap, very efficient vehicle in India -- the Tata Nano. It costs only $2,500, and luckily it gets around 47 miles per gallon. In many ways, it is encouraging to see India setting the bar so high with such a fuel-efficient vehicle. But even with that standard, can the world really afford to see millions of similar, new vehicles on the road, with their twin threats of increased oil demand and greenhouse gas emissions?
image credit: Suzie Gibbons/Getty Images
Garden centres in countries affected by draught, like Spain for example, are promoting Xeriscaping (or Xeroscaping) in order to motivate people to help save water. This technique of water conserving landscaping doesn’t refer to cactus gardens or those that are all tiled up and plantless. The possibilities of Xeriscaping are plentiful, resulting in lush and flowery garden designs. This concept of gardening has been around since the 80ies in the US. As climate patterns shift, xeriscaping is catching on in other areas and has been very popular here in Spain for the last few years. The term itself derives from the Greek word ‘xeros’, meaning dry, and the word ‘landscape’.
The idea behind Xeriscapes is to create gardens with a rational water use, to avoid any waste of water, especially in Mediterranean and warm temperate climates. Saving water however is not the only objective of Xeriscaping. It also intends to eliminate the amount of chemical fertilizers and pesticides as well as petrol-driven machinery to keep the garden in shape. Plus is saves you money and maintenance.
