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Top Technology Companies are Green and Clean on Newsweek’s Green Rankings

Beth Graddon-Hodgson — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:51:47 +0000

Not all clean tech companies need to produce more environmentally friendly products in order to make a difference; some are leaders in the industry because quite simply, they change their procedures in order to ensure that their practices reduce their carbon footprint. In this week’s Newsweek “Green Rankings” were released, and many of those higher up on the list include leaders in technology that are trying to make sure that their environmental impact is just that much cleaner.

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Set to Stun! Captain Kirk Attacks HP Over Green Record

Andrew Williams — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:03:52 +0000

Actor William Shatner, known by us all as Captain Kirk in the original series of Star Trek, has launched a stinging attack on the green credentials of Hewlett-Packard, after leaving a company-wide voicemail message for staff at the firm’s HQ.

“This is William Shatner. You, HP, promised me a toxic free computer by 2009. Now my friends at Greenpeace tell me I will have to wait until 2011. What’s up with that?” he said.

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What Constitutes a Truly Sustainable Business?

Brenda Keener — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:12:23 +0000

Sustainability is the great new green buzz word in our society - but what does it really mean? Does it mean that a business can use sustainable materials, treat employees well, but not turn a profit? Or does it mean that a business can make all the right noises, recycle products, give to high profile organizations and yet treat its employees like expendable commodities? Most definitely not!

Sustainability is a complex topic - and means that the business protects not only its future through ALL activities associated with its operations, but the future of the planet and future generations.

Not too long ago, most Western businesses saw a large conflict between sustaining profitability, people, and the planet’s natural resources. Decisions were made on a quarter-by-quarter basis, as the stockholders had to see immediate profit - this often meant sacrificing the future in order to make the financial statements look good. As the green movement is still young, most businesses haven’t yet moved to sustainability just yet - but this perception of conflict is beginning to change.

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19 Free (Green) Tools for Small Businesses

Jennifer Kaplan — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:05:46 +0000

Another post inspired by a HARO request. This time it was an ask for low or no-cost tools used by small businesses. I did a quick search for the word “free” in my book and realized there are dozens. Here are my 19 favorites:

Free energy-efficiency information, resources, and technical advice—ENERGY STAR for Small Business provides free information, resources, and technical advice on hundreds of cost-savings practices. Includes a downloadable copy of the free ENERGY STAR for Small Business Guide, “Putting Energy into Profits” and information about ENERGY STAR–labeled products.
Free recycling and conservation signs—You can customize, download, and print free recycling and conservation signs at recyclereminders.com.
Free control of your IT—If you run a network, software from companies like LocalCooling.com allows the settings on computers to be controlled centrally so you can automatically turn those babies off when no one is using them.
Free Green IT for Dummies—HP sponsors a free, downloadable, condensed, limited edition of the Green IT for Dummies guide.
Free recycling bins—The Coca-Cola/NRC Recycling Bin Grant Program provides recycling bins to selected grant recipients for the collection of beverage container recyclables in public settings.
Free rideshare widget for websites— at GooseNetworks.com.
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Greening Your Office with HP

Reenita Malhotra — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:38:21 +0000

This Earth Day, it was my mission to take serious steps towards greening my home office. While saving paper was the no-brainer approach, there is no escaping those documents that absolutely need to be printed in any office large or small. So, the next obvious choice is to look at greening your print habits.

Given that I have been using the HP Officejet Pro 8500 for a few weeks now, I am beginning to realize its merits as an ideal printer for small business or home office use. Not just because of its efficiency but also because it is a truly green option as far as printers go.

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HP’s New All-In-One Printer: Ideal for Ecopreneurists

Reenita Malhotra — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:00:24 +0000

Ecopreneurist has been testing out the HP Officejet Pro 8500, a brand new wireless printer from HP. This is one of the first jet printers we have seen that provides photo quality output. Given that this printer is significantly cheaper than laser printers, this “All-In-One” machine might just be the perfect solution for small businesses.

Now by “All-In-One,” we refer to four key functions that are part and parcel of every small business: printing, scanning, faxing, and copying. This means saving up to 50% of the energy used to do all of these jobs individually.

If your needs match those of most small business, then investing in this printer could actually signal the end of long, frustrating and ultimately expensive hours spent at your local Kinko’s, where you are just one of a many other entrepreneurs lining up to get your bulk print demands met before your business deadline.

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Jump on the Green Bandwagon - Attend Greener by Design 2009

Brenda Keener — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 00:21:30 +0000

The question for businesses used to be “Can we afford to go green?” Now it is ” Can we afford NOT to go green?” The upcoming Greener by Design 2009 conference, to be held May 19-20 in San Francisco will focus on helping industries learn to cut costs, create efficiency, and move towards sustainability through a series of focused hands-on innovation sessions, small-group consultative sessions, and demonstrations of new materials and tools.

Keynote speakers are from Terracycle and McDonough partners, and corporate attendees include Microsoft, Walmart, HP, BP, 3M, Dell, Dupont, and General Motors.

Unfortunately, the early bird discount deadline is past - and the conference now costs $1999. The good news is that if your company registers 3 people, the 4th is free!

Last years conference was rated very highly - and this looks like a MUST ATTEND for any business wanting to harness some of the green economic momentum that is gathering daily.

Calling All Climate Change Enterpreneurs….

Reenita Malhotra — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:30:37 +0000

Climate change entrepreneurs………… your time is now!

The world believes that entrepreneurs are key to climate change solutions, so get set to present your business plan.

Forum for the Future, a not-for-profit sustainable development organization has collaborated with the Financial Times, newspaper and technology giant HP to announce the FT Climate Change Challenge, a competition offers a $75,000 prize for the best innovation to tackle climate change.

The FT Climate Change Challenge aims to find the most promising new innovations designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or help increase our resilience to the consequences of global warming. The winning entry can be from any field, including construction, energy, transport, or social innovation.

The competition, which closes for entries on January 30th, has been supported by Innovation Exchange - the world’s first ‘collaborative’ open innovation marketplace with an international community of innovators and thought leaders that work individually or collaborate in teams to solve clients’ business innovation challenges. Innovation Exchange’s clients are Global 5000 companies and not-for-profit organizations that want to increase their innovation capacity beyond their internal teams to discover their next important innovation, minimize their innovation risk and accelerate time-to-market. www.innovationexchange.com

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HP to Use Green Batteries in Notebook Computers

Ariel Schwartz — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:25:13 +0000

HP fans looking to make their laptops more environmentally-friendly will soon get the chance to upgrade to Boston Power’s next-generation Sonata Lithium-ion batteries. The Sonata battery lasts for 1,000 charging cycles (3 years), compared to the 300 cycle limit of a conventional Li-ion battery.

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Dell Equipping All New Laptops with Energy Efficient LED Displays

Ariel Schwartz — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:40:39 +0000

Dell has announced that it plans have LED (light-emitting diode) backlit displays in 80 percent of its computers by 2008 and in all of them by 2010. LED displays consume 43 percent less energy for a 15 inch screen than standard CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamp) displays. According to the company, its LED displays will save $20 million and 220 million KWh in 2010 and 2011 combined.

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Bye Bye Box: HP Packages Laptops in Eco-Friendly Bags

Kelli Best-Oliver — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:08:12 +0000

HP has announced that their EnergyStar Pavilion dv6929 laptop will be packaged in recycled-content messenger bags instead of the traditional cardboard boxes. As a result, they’ve won Wal-Mart’s Home Entertainment Design Challenge, a contest open to all suppliers of consumer electronics products that focused on good design and innovative packaging design that facilitates reducing, reusing, and recycling.

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Greener Gadgets Conference 2008

Kyle Weatherholtz — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 23:04:48 +0000

I volunteered this year, on behalf of the O2 NYC, Green Options and my firm J. Ottman Consulting, at the inaugural Greener Gadgets conference on Friday, February 1st. On this raining day in midtown Manhattan I was happy to be inside the McGraw-Hill Conference Center on 49th Street. The conference was presented by research firm Marc Alt & Partners and design blog Inhabitat and brought out quite the group of designers, engineers, students, press and environmentalists. The speakers included the Head of Environment for North America at Nokia, Director of Product Take Back and Recycling at HP, and the Director of Corporate Environment, Safety, and Health at Sony, just to name a few.

I arrived at the conference about 9:30 am and was happy to notice as I walked in the doors, three disposal cans labeled “Waste, Recycling and Compost” and someone monitoring them. After I grabbed a stiff cup of coffee, in a mug as opposed to a paper cup, and checked my coat, I picked up my volunteer badge and headed in to hear the opening keynote speech. This speech, by artist and digital photographer Chris Jordan, was my absolute favorite of the day and I feel served to kick start the conference with the correct perspective of American mass consumption (something we all need in large daily doses).

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