As happy as I am to see all of these green youngsters on the block, it does my heart a lot of good to see green businesses that were started five or ten years ago, when green was not so hip, get a big boost from all of media attention now turned on all things green.

One example is Pharmacopia which was started in 1999. When the hot thing in entrpreneurism was launching a dot-com, Lisa Levin was quietly blending her own lotions and soaps from essential oils and organic ingredients. Lisa first gained a significant market presence for Pharmacopia products in natural products shops, with the Company eventually getting distribution in Whole Foods and other larger natural food stores.

Fortunately, intuition and personal taste had led Lisa, who designed the company’s identity and packaging herself, to make everything about Pharmacopia as elegant as the high-quality ingredients she uses in Pharmacopia’s line of body care products. Day spas and pampering have become a major retail and hospitality trend, and Pharmacopia is perfectly suited for spas and boutique hotels, such as the Delano boutique hotel in South Beach. As Lisa says, “We can either focus on the fact that we use only pure essential oils and organic ingredients or that we provide a really luxurious product.”

Pharmacopia is now well positioned for the increase in green consciousness. One of the first ways people become concerned about organics and natural products is when considering what to put in and on their body. True pampering now requires the safest and most natural ingredients possible.

And it doesn’t hurt that green is IN. A list of celebrity Pharmacopia clients and high-profile media placements shows how start-studded and high-profile, going green has gone.

Pharmacopia is not just for Grape Nuts eaters anymore. Company President Andreliz Bautista says, “People are interested in green even if their whole lives aren’t focused on it. Green options are what people need.”

P.S. For a related discussion of green or organic body care choices, please see a post on our sister blog, Eco Child’s Play.

If such measures are put in place, the U.S. could see as many as one out of every four workers employed by a renewable-energy or energy-efficiency industry by 2030, according to a new report from the American Solar Energy Society (ASES). That’s promising for both U.S. employees and for anyone concerned about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on fossil fuels. But it will happen only, as the ASES report says, under “an aggressive deployment forecast scenario.”

That means we, as citizens and consumers, are going to have to apply strong and steady pressure on legislators — local, state and national — to do the right thing. And that, we all know, isn’t easy.

Still, if — as the saying goes — money walks, green-collar types might see Beltway support grow as green industries expand their economic muscle, which means more dollars for lobbying and campaign financing. And, in that regard, the future looks bright.

In the U.S., renewable-energy and energy-efficiency industries are already generating 8.5 million jobs and nearly $970 billion in annual revenues, according to the ASES report. “To put this in perspective,” the report states, “(t)otal sales for Wal-Mart, Exxon-Mobil and General Motors in 2006 were $905 billion.”

While companies on the energy-efficiency side — things like better windows, efficient appliances and insulation — are making more of the money right now, the renewables side is growing more rapidly.

The ASES predicts the hottest, fastest-growing industries will involve solar power, wind energy, ethanol and fuel-cell technologies. With the right level of public support, it says, we could see up to 40 million people employed — as everything from accountants and biochemists to engineers, mechanics and truck drivers — in the renewable-energy and energy-efficiency sectors by 2030, with annual green-industry revenues of $4.5 trillion.

Getting there, though, will require much more than a business-as-usual approach, the ASES report warns.

“This scenario requires appropriate, aggressive, sustained public policies at the federal and state level during next two decades,” it states. Getting decision-makers to come on board might take oil shortages, fossil-fuel price increases, growing security concerns or a greater awareness of the impact of climate change. The fear of suffering economically at a global level might also be a motivator.

“If we fail to invest in (renewable energy and energy efficiency), the United States runs the risk of losing ground to international … programs and industries,” the report concludes. “For the United States to be competitive in a carbon-constrained world, the (renewable energy and energy efficiency) industry will be a critical economic driver.”

We also consume a great amount of energy. This is partly because this is one of the darkest times of year but its also because people are using more electricity to light up their homes with holiday decorations. Incandescent Christmas lights are inefficient and won’t last very long. They also break very easily. LED technology has found its way into the world of Christmas lights and is much more efficient. Specifically, LED Christmas lights use about 90% less energy than standard incandescent lights and will last for more than 50,000 hours. The bulbs are also covered with a durable epoxy plastic so they won’t break.

This year pay attention to you consumption during the holidays and do what you can to reduce your energy consumption.

Dr Adam Best, project leader and employee of the CSIRO Energy Technology Division "predicts that the first power shirts - or flexible energy devices- could be developed within five years," states a Sydney Morning Herald report. Their concept includes the technology of piezoelectrics as the energy generating material. This popularly researched material produces a charge displacement when it is flexed. It naturally occurs in soft chrystalline structures like quartz, and Rochelle salts.

The idea is to develop a fabric woven with piezoelectric material so that any movement on, in, or around your body would stimulate the fiber to generate power. The clothing would be woven with flexible batteries that could act as storage unit series for your devices. The next step is to figure out how to wirelessly transmit that power collected in your t-shirt to your mobile phone without damaging your body due to intense exposure to electro-magnetic fields.

Creating Healthy Environments for Children features Private Practice's Amy Brenneman as host with Ben Harper providing music. Pediatricians Dr. Philip Landrigan and Dr. Alan Greene provide their expertise, as well. Their five major tips include:

• Avoid using pesticides
• Clean safely
• Help children breathe easier
• Provide healthy food
• Use plastic products wisely.

Pop the DVD in your computers, and you'll find three tool kits, one each for home, child care centers, and schools, that provide resources for making each environment safer for children. The tool kits also give advice for community outreach and activism on safer environments for children.

We need some smarter building controls.

Some building controls are already available. The oldest and best known is the simple thermostat. A thermometer control that turns on heating or cooling, depending on the temperature. It doesn't do much, but it does help to regulate furnaces and air conditioners to keep the temperature within a range of few degrees. But, temperature is not the only factor in comfort. Reducing the humidity can sometimes be all that is needed in warm weather. If the temperature is not too hot, the cooling effect of a breeze may be better than running an air conditioner. But a thermostat can't do that for you.

• Daily Tip: Halloween with Less Waste,
• Green Style How-To: Supermarket and No-Sew Halloween Costumes,
• Five Super-Simple Steps to Green Trick-or-Treating,
• Daily Tip: Wholesome Sweets

By now you may be groaning, "Oh no, not another green Halloween post about making your own costume and giving out pencils," yet this green idea flips the holiday over on the concept of Fair Trade.

Think about Fair Trade in the simplest terms, as a young child may define it. If I give you something, in exchange you will give me something of equal value, whether monetary or not. For example, children trading marbles will exclaim, "That is not fair," if they do not view the marble exchange as equitable. In a child's mind, Halloween is not an equitable trade... they make out like bandits while trick-or-treating! All they have to do is sport a costume and knock on their neighbors' doors to receive lots and lots of candy! It is definitely not a Fair Trade! Global Exchange proposes a change to this custom by promoting "reverse" trick-or-treating.

Waterless urinals present one striking example of how regulations and green technology are not yet working together. In some municipalities, waterless urinals have not been allowed by building inspectors because they do not meet code requirements. Or, in some cases, building inspectors have allowed waterless urinals to be installed, but have required the builder to provide plumbing supply lines to bring water to the waterless urinal locations (though capped off and hidden behind the finished wall). The rationale for this is that if the waterless urinals are later removed and replaced with conventional urinals, extensive renovation will not be necessary to bring water to the location.

This upsets many of the green benefits of using waterless urinals in the first place. While waterless urinals provide water savings, that is not the only green benefit to incorporating them into a green building. Waterless urinals, when installed without a water supply line, provide savings in materials by avoiding the installation of likely dozens of feet of water supply pipe. Given the material cost, the high embodied energy content, and the extensive mineral use in mining, refining, and creating even ten feet of copper pipe, much of the savings from installing a waterless urinal is wiped out. Because of this, it will take much longer to realize the savings that using a waterless urinal should provide.

Voting has been open to the public online since mid September. As it is too late to cast your vote, it isn’t too late to congratulate the winner and find out what people consider excellence in design. The most exciting part of this year’s ballot is that many of the nominees were for projects geared towards sustainable progress. Social sustainability is one of the most important attributes for the public to consider, our responsibility towards sustainability and global issues shows promise.

That's part of the reason the Project on Emerging Technologies got started in the first place. Established in 2005 by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Project on Emerging Technologies says its goal is "helping business, government and the public anticipate and manage possible health and environmental implications of nanotechnology."

So what is nanotechnology? As the project's website puts it in its "30-second primer," "Nanotechnology is the art and science of manipulating matter at the nanoscale (down to 1/100,000 the width of a human hair) to create new and unique materials and products."

Matter does some pretty weird stuff when you get down to that scale. For instance, at the nanoscale, copper becomes transparent and gold becomes liquid. The unique properties of nanomaterials promise all sorts of innovations, from stronger materials for construction to cheaper ways to generate and store energy to better cures for diseases.

I hope this is of interest. Please contact me for more info...Jerry

Here's the green beat: CDs contain aluminum, polycarbonate, lacquer, dyes, nickel, and chemical feedstock from oil, none of which are particularly groovy for the environment. And the jewel case and shrink-wrapping don't make CDs any healthier for the planet. Plus, with iPods and similar technologies abounding, how often do we buy the CD, upload the songs to our computers, listen to the tunes on our laptops and handheld devices, and never again touch the CD itself? These days, as this green blog puts it, CDs are nothing more than extra packaging for the music we buy. Spare the waste and the toxic materials by downloading your music directly.

By now, High Fidelity fans everywhere are groaning. Forgo the experience of music shops? But consider this a fresh spin: with a music library on your computer and not all over your house, it's much easier to arrange your music — not alphabetically — but chronologically in the order that you discovered the musician, or however you like.

ASTM is an open forum for the development of high quality, market-relevant international standards used around the globe. According to the Biodegradable Products Institute,

…these specifications are the result of 8 years of intensive work by researchers, product manufacturers, composters, and resin producers to identify plastic and paper products which disintegrate and biodegrade completely and safely when composted in a municipal or commercial facility, like kraft paper, yard trimmings and food scraps.

With this rising attention to life cycle analysis of consumables, it is helpful to know if a cup we throw in the trash it is going to sit in the dump for thousands of years or not. Right? As consumers, we need to know what seals and labels are valid in order to trust and respect these claims. We are in a time when these issues such as life-cycle assessment, compostablility, recyclability … are bombarding us daily. If we can't trust the validity of these claims, or if we see most things as merely greenwashed (to appear as a part of the "trend"), then consumers will lose interest. Then, the "trend" will dissipate or expire and we will be left with the same issues, and more confusion and rebellion.

Well a recent graduate of Central St Martins’ Masters Industrial Design Program, Tom Ballhatchet, decided to use the guild in a constructive way. Instead of throwing away all this stamped foam packaging from his new flat-screen TV, Tom decided to construct an entertainment stand. It makes us think of the form of these extruded or stamped packaging part, oftentimes they are the same shape and size or have nice crevices that can serve as storage. My only wish in this project is that he found a way to incorporate the gigantic box and plastic wrap.

Preschool teachers and parents often complain that dress-up clothes are disorganized and difficult for children wear; however, all these dress-up clothes are not necessary. At a performing arts conference for teachers I attended, Play Silks were recommended as the only costume prop needed in the classroom or home. Children can make any costume using their imagination with Play Silks. Like blocks, they are truly open-ended, versatile, and limitless for play. In addition, silk is durable, soft, and aesthetically pleasing.

Play Silks are expensive, but you and your child get a lot for the money. At about $11 piece (you do get a discount for buying a set), their cost kept me from buying them for many years. I wanted to make my own set, but time slipped away, and I realized I never would get around to actually doing it (I still haven't finished knitting the sweater I started for my daughter five years ago!). You can select plain silk scarves from Dharma Trading Company for anywhere between $1.00 and $4.00 and naturally dye them yourself to save money. Since purchasing a set of Play Silks, I am very pleased with how they have contributed to my daughter's dramatic play. Our Play Silks are over a year old, and they show no signs of wear and tear.

Yeah, yeah, I know that cheap clothing is cheap for a reason (or several): exploitative labor practices and environmentally-destructive materials, to name a few. And I support paying a premium for items that are ethically made, just like when I grocery shop. It's still hard for me to plunk down my hard-earned cash for upscale sustainable goods; I just don't have that disposable income, and, frankly, clothes aren't so important to me that even if I did have the cash to spare, I'd probably use it for something else. But a girl needs to feel good in her clothes, and I do have to exercise a modicum of professional dress when I'm teaching kids about renewable energy. So I set off on a quest to find five places where I could make better clothing choices without breaking the bank.

Disclaimer: "affordable" is a weighted word. What some people see as a bargain, others would and/or could never pay. My idea of affordable can best be described as middle-class: I'm a teacher, my husband is a teacher, we don't come from money, and we have bills to pay. I'm not really looking for high-fashion here, but mostly basic pieces I can use in a variety of ways with my existing wardrobe.