Green Options

A group of the Web’s leading environmental blogs, podcasts, and social media outposts today announced that they have combined to form a single environmental publishing and social media powerhouse. The resulting new entity, Simple Earth Media, includes top environmental media and publishing entities such as Green Living Ideas, Blue Living Ideas, Twilight Earth, GreenTalk Radio, EcoTech Daily and Natural Papa.

The brainchild of co-founders Sean Daily, CEO, and my friend Adam Shake, Editor-In-Chief and founder of Twilight Earth, Simple Earth Media is a new media and social media company whose brand mission is to create a compelling, organic, educational network of environmental online venues that engage an ever-growing audience concerned with sustainable lifestyle habits and business practices.

“Bringing the Green Living Ideas and Twilight Earth site networks together was a natural fit all around,” said Sean Daily, Simple Earth Media’s CEO and President. Daily continued, “Adam and I share a very similar outlook and perspective, not only on the type of editorial content that is necessary and relevant for the future of humanity and the planet, but also in regards to the types of companies we want to work with as sponsors and advertisers supporting our network. We are also really fortunate to have a combined staff of the best writers in the business.”

I’ve written a lot in these posts about print vs. electronic media and the sustainability issues faced by both (yes, both! electronic media aren’t as green as people think). Now you can investigate more deeply for yourself. On November 17, Target Marketing and Printing Impressions will offer a webinar titled “Paper or Electronic? The Impact of Choices.”

Speakers will be:

Don Carli
Senior Research Fellow
Institute for Sustainable Communications

Brian Kozlowski
Director, Sustainable Development
NewPage Corp.

This free webinar will discuss the tools, processes, and success stories that exist to help direct marketers determine not only which media best fit the job at hand but also how to improve the carbon footprint of all channels.

Topics to be discussed include:

Attending the recently concluded CAR Expo in San Jose CA we could see that things weren’t exactly hopping, especially in the Green seminars and Green expo booths. Who could blame everyone, with the still lingering effect of the economy, unemployment and overall uncertainty? The Expo offered a bevy of economic forecasts, short sale sessions and new DRE laws going into effect but of course we went to check the green goings on. How’s the Green movement within the ranks of the real estate world? If my Green colleague and I would guess from the sparse attendance at the few green sessions and Green display booths then the state of Green Real Estate isn’t exactly on everyone’s radar.

An increasing number of marketers are turning to toner- or inkjet-based printing in order to green their print marketing programs. It’s not that offset presses are inherently ungreen. On the contrary, printing as a whole is a whole lot greener than many people give it credit for. But digital printing has some compelling green benefits.

• Lower start-up waste
• Smaller, more targeted production volumes
• Presses with a higher percentage of recycled (or recyclable) parts
• Lower

[...]

This week Newsweek’s cover story promotes an exclusive ranking of “The Greenest Big Companies in America”.

Certainly, the development of these turbines is a case of challenge and response since they were developed to meet the Scandinavian environment. GE and others will develop generators that will provide wind farms offshore where the windiest but harshest environments exist. Animal lover will be delighted to know that sea birds are able to avoid offshore wind farms.

Nitrous oxide, more commonly known at your dentist’s office as laughing gas, is now the most prevalent man-made substance damaging the ozone layer. And it’s a greenhouse gas. Sadly, the joke’s apparently on us.

In an effort to curb solid waste pollution, China banned the import of scrap polysilicon at the beginning of August, an effort supported by its current environmental laws according to its Environmental Protection Ministry. Scrap polysilicon is a low-grade form of silicon not pure enough to use in microchips. However, it can be used as a component of solar wafers, which contain a variety of types of silicon, including up to 30% scrap polysilicon.

The concept behind the the HUB Bay Area is not easily grasped. Tangibly it is a workspace for small businesses interested in creating social change. In-tangibly the potential is much greater

In my work in Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainable business, Whole Foods has always been a company to benchmark against.  They were one of the first major retailers to offset 100% of their energy use with wind energy credits; voluntarily stop using plastic bags company-wide; join the Non-GMO Project’s Product Verification Program; and develop a certification program, the Whole Trade Guarantee, in partnership with non-profits.  Plus, the company has received a plethora of sustainability and environmental awards and recognition.  So I was just wondering…with a track record like that, can a renegade CEO damage the company’s brand reputation as a socially responsible company?  Well, John Mackey, co-founder and chief executive of Whole Foods, is sure giving it the old college try.

PACT underwear launched this week with a campaign that demonstrates choosing wisely doesn’t have to accompany images of melting ice caps and flooding deserts