Green

Pickens Drops Wind Plan, Cites Transmission Costs

T. Boone Pickens has dropped his much-ballyhooed plan, chronicled in our pages, to build the world's largest wind farm, in favor of a handful of smaller wind farms scattered around the Midwest. He cites many of the same factors that ...READ»

One Small Electric Car and Its Big Fight for Buyers

In the race to build the first affordable electric car, one company is taking an unusual approach: they're not treating it as a race at all. "We don't want to be the first, or the biggest. We just want to be the best," says Mike ...READ»

Will "Active Packaging" Undermine Apple's Quest for Sustainability?

Apple has been seriously pushing its environmental credibility recently, claiming that the MacBook is "The world's greenest lineup of notebooks" and bragging about the lack of toxic materials in its products. But the company's ...READ»

How Xerox Tapped the Power of Reuse

Listening to the cacophony of calls for green business, green jobs, and green economies, you'd think that everyone now is for a green future. But unless your company is manufacturing solar panels or making socks from bamboo, ...READ»

• Nature's 10 Simple Rules for Survival

Patagonia’s Founder on Why There’s “No Such Thing as Sustainability”

Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard may be pessimistic about the earth's future, but he's determined to keep fighting. An exclusive interview.READ»

• Patagonia Founder Yvon Chouinard and Tom Brokaw Talk Green Marketing [video]
• Can Wal-Mart Be Sustainable? Ask Patagonia Founder Yvon Chouinard [video]

The Microgrid Stimulus Package

Via NPR's Planet Money blog, a savvy reader puts together his own personal stimulus package by becoming part of the microgrid: Clay from Maryland writes: I think did everything right. (and I'm pretty lucky) I ...READ»

Sears Tower Getting a $350 Million Green Makeover

The tallest building in the U.S. is about to get a $350 million green makeover as part of a plan to cut electricity use by 80% and save 24 million gallons of water each year. The goal of the project, according to developers, is to ...READ»

5 Steps To Building Your Microgrid Dream House

Small-scale, local power--the microgrid--is a big part of the path to sustainable energy (for more detail, read Why the Microgrid Could Be the Answer to Our Energy Crisis in the July/August issue). With today's rates and rebates, ...READ»

Big Businesses Move Closer to Real Sustainable Innovation

This month seems to be the season for corporate gatherings, particularly in the sustainability world. Perhaps the “green” enthusiasts prefer to gather when the weather is warmer. Two weeks ago, I participated in the Sustainable ...READ»

Panthera Leo Hybrid Lawn Mower: A Green Machine to Mow Your Green

Husqvarna, the world's largest producer of lawn mowers, has developed a concept mower with a minimal environmental impact--minimal once you overlook the whole mowing down of your home's natural environment bit, at least. ...READ»

Pumping Green Power from Fake Plastic Trees

With all the potential good wind power could do for the carbon economy, one of the objections hindering its implementation is aesthetic; people simply don't want massive turbines dotting the landscape and marring their views. The ...READ»

Re-Tread Upcycles Tires into Earthquake-Resistant Building Material

Companies have been using ground-up tire "crumbs" for years in products like shoe soles and synthetic turf, but grinding up tires uses plentiful energy. But Re-Tread Products' Tire Logs, presented at this week's ...READ»

McDonald's 2009 Global Best of Green Report Fires Back At Critics--or Maybe Not

McDonald's has come under fire recently, with Greenpeace accusing the company of destroying rainforest lands and the UK Daily Mail claiming that the company is responsible for 29% of all take-out litter in the country. Now ...READ»

How to Reduce Restaurant Waste and Cost by Over 50% AND Power a City

Last week I had the benefit of meeting the team that is revolutionizing the way restaurants will look at their waste.  The group is Fox Pollutions Systems from the UK and Germany and I met them in the corporate offices of Ted’s ...READ»

World Wildlife Fund to Rate Palm Oil Buyers

Palm oil buyers should get ready for a thorough inspection from the World Wildlife Fund, which plans on evaluating the world's biggest palm oil purchasers for a "buyer's scorecard". The scorecard will reveal which ...READ»

Google, Yahoo Seed Funders Look to Energy-Saving Companies

In the May issue I wrote about how the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center is making efficiency sexy as an investment to Silicon Valley VCs and big companies alike. Now The New York Times has caught on, reporting that Sequoia ...READ»

• UC Davis's Energy Efficiency Center Makes Conservation Sexy

Green Design, Literally: The Tennis Ball Chair

Furniture designer Hugh Hayden's Tennis Ball Chair is the embodiment of green design--both literally and figuratively. The designer's chair, made up entirely of non-toxic, low-density, repurposed polyethylene (tennis balls) is ...READ»

The Next China?

The ambassador to the UN from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) told me recently that every government agency in his country has a sustainability plan out to the year 2030. The most significant part of that policy exercise is the fact they need to develop an economy beyond oil - - because they expect to run out of it by then.READ»

Seattle: City of the Year

The capital of the Pacific Northwest is blessed with divine geography, frontier spirit, and an abundance of both artists and geeks. Plus, it's not even that rainy.READ»

• Fast Cities 2009

The 2010 Honda Insight: Environmentally Appetizing in Miami

When Honda corporate decided on designing its 2010 Honda Insight, they aimed at using the best and most cost effective hybrid technology. Eco-friendly cars are becoming more and more popular in Miami. The 2010 Honda Insight is a ...READ»

Sky-Terra Skyscrapers Create Green Spaces in the Sky

These Sky-Terra concept skyscrapers look like giant pieces of artwork shooting up from the ground, but they do more than just look pretty. The network of interconnected towers, one of the entries in the 2009 eVolo Skyscraper ...READ»

Clean Technology at Innotech

Investing in clean technology might be the way out of this messy economy, but first you've got to tackle things like leveraging the stimulus package and "mapping the green IT landscape." More than 30 leading professions ...READ»

Inflatable Curtain Forces Short Showers, Saves Water

If the threat of high utility bills and impending drought isn't enough to force you to take short showers, maybe Elisabeth Buecher's "My Shower Curtain is a Green Warrior" can help. The Central Saint Martins College ...READ»

U.K.'s Bee.One 3G Enabled Electric Car Won't Cost Much

Electric cars are clearly all the rage: a new U.K. start-up company is getting its Bee.One electric vehicle ready, scheduled to hit the roads sometime around 2011. But unlike many other EV cars out there, the One is going to be as ...READ»

Electric Vehicle Makers Agree on a Universal Standard Plug for Charging

A suite of big-name manufacturers including Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Fiat, Toyota, and Mitsubishi, have agreed on a common standard for the plugs used for charging electric vehicles. According to German energy company RWE, ...READ»