By Allison Boyer •
February 4, 2009
It isn’t news that the economy is causing problems for a number of businesses, but Millennium Seed Bank Project may also be in financial trouble, according to director Paul Smith.
The Millennium Seed Bank Project, located in the UK is trying to collect and protect every type of plant known to exist. From Reuters:
The Millennium Seed Bank Project is the only project of its kind in the world which aims to collect and conserve all the planet’s wild plant diversity, Smith said.
By Derek Markham •
November 13, 2008
In this tight economy, families are looking for ways to cut their spending and to save money. One easy way to save on monthly costs and stretch your budget is by cutting your phone bill down to size.
The Telecommunications Research & Action Center (TRAC) has just published their guide to slimming down your phone bills, which can save you up to half on your phone service.
By John Ivanko •
August 6, 2008
“Simple living” continues to garner much pop culture hype, sparking books, magazines and a slew of self-help opportunities to assist you to declutter, scale back and slow down. Environmentally conscious and sustainable living fall under the simple living radar, but where does ecopreneuring or running a green business fit in?
My wife and I incorporated numerous “simple living” strategies into our business and life over the years. While our lifestyle may exude quintessential simple living elements — from canning applesauce to crafting holiday gifts — there remains an inherently complex element to our ecopreneuring workstyle. Our calendar looks like a treasure hunt map of lines of travel, Bed & Breakfast guests arriving and departing, writing deadlines, family gatherings, and our son’s home-school group projects. We always juggle multiple, sometimes unrelated, projects.
A better word than “simple” to describe our ecopreneuring approach is “focus.” By consciously choosing to do certain things, we inherently simplify by prioritizing. We open more time to focus on what we really want to do by eliminating (or at least seriously reducing) time drains, including the following:
(1) Daily commute.
With the average daily commute in the US now nearly a half-hour, by working from home, we save over seven days per year driving to someplace, not to mention the fossil fuel emissions of daily driving.
By John Ivanko •
July 2, 2008
Like the rest of nature that evolves remarkably to stresses in the environment, people will be able to adapt to high gas prices. Really. In many parts of Europe, people are paying upwards of $7 - $8/gallon of gas.
Things will change here in the USA. These changes will sometimes more difficult for some than others. More of us are already using public transportation, riding bikes — even moving closer to where we work or pressuring employers to offer flextime (to avoid rush hours) or telecommuting from home. In part thanks to the mushrooming energy costs, how much of business was done in the period of relatively inexpensive oil and other fossil fuels will morph into a new model of business model where energy costs are front and center.
Another trend: the explosion of people starting their own green business as an ecopreneur, operating their business without destroying the planet or exploiting people. Energy conservation and efficiency are often the very DNA of these enterprises. Eventually, the politicians in Washington DC might realize that opening up ANWR merely delays the reality that we need to cut our addiction to oil, for climate’s sake. We need to get back to 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide to maintain some degree of climate stability. Burning more oil, coal or natural gas is not the way.
