green news

Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Island Resort

thegreenconnoisseur — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:12:30 -0400

One of the most renowned vacation destinations in the South Pacific, the award-winning, five-star Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort is located on 17 acres of a coconut plantation on the island of Vanua Levu, overlooking the turquoise blue waters of Savusavu Bay. (To see this full story follow this link http://www.thegreenconnoisseur.com/c/travel/eco_hotels_and_resorts/jean_... )

Full Moon Feasts

thegreenconnoisseur — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:07:45 -0400

Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection, by chef Jessica Prentice, is a different kind of local food book. Based on the lunar cycles of the year, each chapter focuses on the celebratory foods traditionally associated with each month of the year.

(To see this full story and more, follow The Green Connoisseur Blog link on our homepage @ http://thegreenconnoisseur.com )!!

Get Green Inspiration in 140-characterDoses

jplatt — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 08:00:00 -0500

Okay, I'll admit it. I've recently become a Twitter convert. I use this great social-networking tool to promote my latest articles, to call for subjects to write about, and to get the latest eco-friendly news from companies, magazines and environmental groups.

Here are some of the best eco-friendly Twitter feeds I've found so far:

GreenMarketing -- Great ideas on how to market your product to green consumers.

ConservatioNews -- Extremely active Twitter feed about protecting species around the world

World_Wildlife -- News from the World Wildlife Fund

NWF -- Great news from the National Wildlife Federation

Solarfeeds -- News about solar power and how it's being implemented around the world

Ecorazzi -- Follow the actions of the world's greenest celebrities

Got other Twitters that you recommend? Post them in the comments field!

HP Expands Planet Partners Recycling Program

jplatt — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:00:00 -0500

HP long ago earned my support thanks to its commitment to recycling its used printer ink and toner cartridges and their use of recycled materials in producing new cartridges. But now they've gone a step further, with a major enhancement to their eco-efforts.

HP recently announced it has teamed with Staples to pilot a retail expansion of their recycling program. Under the program, customers can return their used ink cartridges to Staples stores instead of mailing them back to HP (the company includes free return envelopes with every new cartridge). HP says that this effort will result in huge material savings and improved efficiency: "If all ink cartridges returned via in-box envelopes in 2008 were instead returned in bulk from authorized retail recycling locations, the amount of shipping materials used would have been reduced by more than 600,000 pounds – enough to fill more than 15 tractor trailers." Meanwhile, HP says "Twice as many cartridges can ship in the same amount of space via bulk retail returns rather than individual envelopes."

This is just the first step. HP says it will name additional retail partners next year, so you don't need to drive all the way to a Staples store just to help make these efficiencies a reality.

HP has already recycled more than 250 million cartridges, and is also doubling the size of its recycling facility to accommodate demand.

All of which reminds me: I just put a new cartridge in my inkjet printer, which means it's time to pop my old cartridge in the mail. HP, keep an eye out for it.

An Eco Guide to Consumer Electronics

PHowe — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:58:50 -0400

In its' most recent version of the quarterly Greenpeace Guide to Consumer Electronics, Nintendo became the first brand ever get zero out of 10 points. In its report, Greenpeace ranks the majority of electronics manufacturers on how they have eliminated toxic materials from their products

and on the quality of their product return and recycling policies. The guide, now in its eight edition, having published its initial version in...

continue reading at http://www.gatheringhome.com/

Can green algae help save the world?

RenewableMinute — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 13:22:47 -0400

Corn and sugar cane, move over. Several US companies are harvesting an algae that can be converted to oil and refined into biodiesel. Amazingly, the algae can grow in waste water, where it feeds on carbon dioxide. This means the algae offers a double benefit: it eats up excess CO2 while it matures into a non-polluting fuel source.

Algae may one day be the preferred feedstock for biofuels. Because it's not grown in soil and isn't edible, algae doesn't compete with food. One of the great biofuel scams going on right now is the use of corn, soy, and sugar to produce ethanol, which are being blamed in part for higher food prices and deforestation around the world. The AP just reported that:

Corn prices have shot up nearly 30 percent this year amid dwindling stockpiles and surging demand for the grain used to feed livestock and make alternative fuels including ethanol. Prices are poised to go even higher after the U.S. government this week predicted that American farmers -- the world's biggest corn producers -- will plant sharply less of the crop in 2008 compared to last year.

Algae has a high energy density and can produce 15 times more oil per hectare than other biofuel crops currently being harvested (rape, palm soya, and jatropha plants). The algae matures in 24 hours, converting 50 percent of their weight into usable fuel! Growing ponds can be built and operated on a massive commercial scale, creating the opportunity to produce a cost effective alternative to traditional oil supplies.

Where are we at with biofuel algae? The Florida-based company PetroAlgae plans to have an operational initial production facility this year and hopes to test a commercial system as early as next year. Fuels giant Royal Dutch Shell and HR Biopetroleum recently announced the creation of a joint venture called Cellana to make biodiesel from algae in Hawaii.

For more renewable energy news, visit The Renewable Minute.

Carbon Credits for Frequent Fliers

jplatt — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:00:00 -0400

I'm about to fly from Portland, Maine, to Los Angeles, California -- a 5,000-plus mile trip that will generate an estimated 2.104 tonnes of greenhouse gases.

Luckily for me (and my conscience), I'm not a frequent flyer by any means, but if I were, there's something I can do to offset the impact of my trip.

I can buy carbon offsets.

For just a few dollars per tonne, I can choose to invest in building renewable energy resources or planting trees to suck some of that carbon dioxide back out of the air. A number of services offer carbon offsets, and the price varies from service to service, but each offers a similar benefit of trying to reduce greenhouse gases.

My personal favorite of the carbon offset services is Native Energy. I can use their web page to caculate the impact of any trip I take by car or plane (that's how I got the nubmers above), then invest in carbon offsets to compensate for the impact of my trip.

Offsetting this particular flight will cost me just $36, and I can choose to put that money toward NE's WindBuilders wind-energy program or their RemooableEnergy (heh) farm-methane program. In this case, the money actually goes toward building renewable energy plants on Native American land, creating not only sustainable energy but economic benefits for Native peoples.

Do you have a particular favorite carbon offsetting program? If so, let's hear about it!

Build a Greener Web Site or Blog

jplatt — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:00:00 -0400

I love reading magazines online. I can instantly surf to the stories I want to read, and there are no paper copies to recycle. Nothing could be greener, right?

But what about all of that energy that goes into displaying a web site on my computer screen? My computer is using power, and so are the computers and servers that deliver that site to me. And if I found the site through Google or some other search engine, a whole new set of energy-burning devices enters the equation. Every click I make means power plants are spewing more carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

Meanwihle, I have several web sites of my own, plus a few blogs. All of them burn energy every time someone looks at them.

What's a green-thinking web-surfer/site owner to do?

One solution is CO2Stats -- a free widget you can easily add to your web site or blog (and which I just added to my blog here). The CO2Stats widget monitors how much electricity is being used to power my site. It displays a tiny, unobtrusive advertisement, and the CO2Stats Project uses that income to invest in renewable energy projecs to offset my site's carbon emissions. Meanwhile, the widget displays an estimate of how much CO2 has been offset by my site, and reminds visitors that they can act greener, too.

For businesses who want to green-up their sites, there's also a paid version ($9.95 a month) which is advertising-free and provides detailed analytics of your site's visitors.

Do you have other ideas on creating a greener web site? Let's hear them!