Green Options » Yahoo

Green Talk Radio: Achieving Corporate Carbon Neutrality with Yahoo! Green

Sean Daily — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:00:17 +0000

Sean Daily, Green Living Ideas’ Editor-in-Chief, talks with Chris Page, Director of Climate and Energy Strategy of Yahoo! Green, about new Yahoo! announcements, the corporation’s commitment to carbon neutrality, and the specifics of achieving neutrality on a corporate level through carbon projects and third party certification.

[Courtesy of our friends at GreenLivingIdeas.com]

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One Week Left to Enter in Yahoo! Green’s “Make it Green” Contest

Lucille Chi — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:45:31 +0000

In the Spring on Ecolocalizer we featured the start of the Yahoo! Green “Make it Green” Competition. Now with only one week left, the possibilities for new entries are endless. If you have a brilliant eco-creative idea, and want to see it manufactured for real, then enter now. Yahoo! Green explains:

“the best ideas will be made into real products and stocked on real shelves. The innovator will get a share of the sales for 20 years, plus $2,500 and possibly an appearance on PBS’s Everyday Edisons. It’s a great way to turn an idea into reality. For this last week, we’re waiving the submission fee. We’ve had more than 110 ideas submitted and 10,000 votes from the community.”

So what is most popular idea so far? Well,

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Internet and E-Commerce Businesses Are A Long Way Off From Reducing Their Carbon Footprint

Reenita Malhotra — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:06:17 +0000

Are you like millions of others who assume that an online business, just by virtue of being online, translates to having a lower carbon footprint? If so, then you are in for a shock. Although this is a fairly common assumption, the truth is that internet powered businesses often have a higher energy consumption requirements than offline businesses and so might have a long way to go before they can become green.

And the situation looks like it could get worse over the next few years. Get this….

According to the EPA, over the next five years, power failures and limits on availability will stop operations at more than 90% of data centers
Gartner predicts that early 50% of data centers worldwide will have trouble finding the electricity they need to cool and power their computing equipment
97% of respondents in a new survey conducted by the Business Performance Management Forum (BPM) said that it was important for internet and e-commerce businesses to reduce their carbon footprint.

But despite this, very little action is being taken by online businesses to reduce energy consumption.

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New York City’s Green Taxi Program Red Lighted By Federal Judge

Jerry James Stone — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:45:09 +0000

A federal judge has stopped Mayor Bloomberg’s attempt to clean up the air in New York City by using fuel-efficient hybrid taxis.

The judge, Paul A. Crotty, of Federal District Court in Manhattan, issued a 26-page ruling (PDF) to stop the city from enforcing the rule because, he said in a written order, the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in a key legal argument — that only the federal government has the right to set fuel efficiency standards under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, which bars state and local governments from setting their own, competing standards.

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Three Easy Ways to Ease Stress: Breathe, Notice Emotions, and Meditate

Lucille Chi — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:01:43 +0000

Breathe Deep: Use breath awareness to relax as yoga master Rodney Yee shows you a seated breathing pose. Feel at ease all day long by taking stretching and breathing breaks. Kundalini yoga, for example, is one of the best guided breathing classes you can take to harmonize your mind, and body and clear away negative energy so we get back to feeling good.
Notice Emotions: The golden key to unlocking negative stress is becoming aware of how we hold it in the body. Watch how Deepak Chopra explains that stress is an important aspect of life and we can learn to transform it into a positive force.
Meditate: Healthy living site Lime offers a Meditation Room to help
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Learning to Create Happiness All Around Us :: Three Really Easy Ways to Boost Your Mood

Lucille Chi — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:48:11 +0000

Do you hope to be happy, smiling and ready to make change in the world? Well, here are some helpful mood boosting tips to help us reach those happy goals:

1. The Things to Be Happy About site (shown above) shares quotes to lift your mood daily. This is one of my favorite sites because of the open knowledge sharing and fun approach to each topic.

2. In recently reading about resilience on Yahoo I learned: “You need to know what resilience is so that you can remember that you have it. Resilience is an emotional muscle that can grow with use and practice — or atrophy if ignored.” The simplest way to go beyond your comfort zone is to learn a new skill. Here are some more key take-aways about finding resilience:

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Don’t Just Recycle, Freecycle Network(TM) it!

Govind Singh — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 04:49:11 +0000

A year after having first noticed the green ‘cyber’wave, months after informing the world about Global Internet giants going green and weeks after being appointed as the new Moderator of the Delhi Freecycle Network(TM) group, the green ‘cyber’wave just got stronger. And Yahoo! has taken the lead. Starting Earth Day, it is not just spreading the message, “Free is good - Give stuff, get stuff. Do good for the environment” through its green pages, but is also working to achieve the same.

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Home of the Mean Green Screen: Yahoo!

Michelle Bennett — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:37:33 +0000

What does it take to encourage, empower, or help an office go green?

How about a touch-screen kiosk with real-time energy usage and tools to see your individual impact? Yahoo! has unveiled the Green Screen where employees can play with data to see how much energy they could save with simple changes around the office. If successful, Yahoo! hopes to spread this power(ful) tool from the cafeteria of their Sunnyvale headquarters to their other campuses so employees can discover how easy habits, like turning off that monitor, can make a big difference.

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Microsoft-Yahoo Merger, Greener Than Google?

Mark Seall — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:12:41 +0000

Just how green is the Internet? Going virtual has the potential to save significant amounts of energy, with a recent study predicting that Internet services could reduce carbon emissions by staggering 1 billion tons.

But look beyond the green hype, and the web has a dark secret - at the other end of your Internet cable, humming away, and hidden from sight, are thousands of energy hungry datacenters, running 24/7 and estimated to be using energy equivalent to all of the color televisions in the US. Worldwide datacenter energy usage has doubled since 2001 and is set to double again by 2011.

Google is today’s biggest datacenter operator, having more than twice the server capacity of any other firm in the world, but this could be set to change. The proposed merger of Microsoft and Yahoo would create a rival Internet giant with similarly huge capacity, creating new competition at many different levels.

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Top 15 Charity Search Engines: Donate to Charity for Free

Gavin Hudson — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 20:23:21 +0000

Can your search engine offset your carbon footprint? How about funding breast cancer research, environmental conservation, or pubic schools? Calling all web surfers: don’t miss these easy opportunities for everyday activism.

How it works

In 2006, an estimated $24.4 billion was spent on Internet advertising. (CBS, ZenithMedia) Some of this advertising money is spent placing ads on Internet search engines like Google and Yahoo. Each time we search the web, we see ads that fund the search engines. Advertisers benefit from marketing, search engines earn money, and we get to surf the web. Certain search engines donate their advertising earnings to charity, sometimes to the charity of your choice. All you have to do is to know where to search.

For example, to offset carbon emissions while you search, you can enter "carbon fund" (a carbon offset organization) into the bar on Goodsearch that reads "What do you Goodsearch for?" Now while you search the web, you will be fighting climate change. It’s that simple. I do about 35 searches a day, which adds up to over 22,600 kg (50,000 pounds) of CO2 that I can offset each year by using this search engine combination. Try this in your office or school to make an even bigger impact!

Here are 15 of the top charity search engines.

1. Goodsearch

"GoodSearch is a search engine which donates 50-percent of its revenue to the charities and schools designated by its users. It’s a simple and compelling concept. You use GoodSearch exactly as you would any other search engine. Because it’s powered by Yahoo!, you get proven search results."

2. Everyclick

"Everyclick allocates 50% of its gross revenue to charity each month. Each active charity receives a proportion of that sum equivalent to the proportion in which its supporters use the website relative to the supporters of other active charities. The activity of everyclick website users who do not select a specific charity will benefit all active charities on a pro rata basis."

3. Searchgive

"On average, your searches will generate about $0.01 per search and we will send your chosen charity a check when their account reaches $25.00."

4. Ripple

"Our search sponsor pays a small amount to ripple every time you search from the homepage. Ripple passes 100% of this amount directly onto our charities to help them fight poverty."

5. Magic taxi

"MagicTaxi gives 50% of its advertising revenue to charity. Each day we feature a different charity on our homepage. If you prefer you can support just one of our partners, click here to choose your favourite."

6. Seach Kindly

“100% of the advertising revenue generated from this website is donated to charitable organizations that our volunteers select every month.100% of the advertising revenue generated from this website is donated to charitable organizations that our volunteers select every month." Seach Kindly is powered by Google.

7. GoodTree

"GoodTree is a web homepage that supports charities each time you use the GoodTree web search. 50% of advertising revenue is given to charity. Approximately one-half a cent (U.S.) is generated per web search." GoodTree is also a social networking site. It’s search engine is powered by Google, Yahoo! and MSN.

8. CatchTomorrow

"The search engine that helps fund public schools. CatchTomorrow will donate 50% of its gross revenue to American Schools."

9. Lookie

"LOOKLE was created in Melbourne, Australia, in early to mid 2000. Its name being derived from the words ‘Look Learn Engine.’ This system is designed to donate up to 50% of advertising revenue raised to charity and search point values will be adjusted from time to time to meet that target."

10. rectifi

"We donate 92% of our advertising revenue to charity meaning you could be raising money for those in the developing world every time you search the internet." Rectifi is based in the UK.

11. Clicks4Cancer

"When you use Clicks4Cancer.com as your Home Page, these advertiser’s fees will be shared with us and we, in turn, will collect these commissions and donate 70% of all revenue to various charitable cancer foundations and organizations."

12. Charity Café

"We only cover the tiny costs we incur in running the site - so 100% of net funds are split equally between our listed charities." Charity Café is powered by Ask.com.

13. Oblatoo

"Every time you make a search you can see the amount pledged go up by 1p as we bid to raise £1m for charity."

14. The Green Spider

"TheGreenspider is a search engine that saves energy by using a coloured background. The search results are powered by Google. From the profits we make, we intend to invest in several environmental projects. More details to follow."

15. ClicksCount

"Every search carried out on this special Live search charity site makes a direct donation to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)." ClicksCount is a program of MSN in the UK.

References:

14 Charity Search Engines : Searching for Good | searchenginejournal

15 Charity Search Engines that help you give money to charity for free | doshdosh

Greening The Golden Years: Hastings, NE: America’s Greenest City

Max Lindberg — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 01:40:48 +0000

The small (25,000 pop) South-Central Nebraska city of Hastings, recently captured the title of "America’s Greenest City". Hastings was one of more than 300 communities across the country competing in Yahoo’s "Be A Better Planet", Greenest Cities in America" challenge.

The city received a grand prize of $250,000, and Mayor Matt Rossen told me the community is now planning how to best use the money. Here is that interview.

Environmental Defense: Inside a Carbon Calculator

Kira Marchenese — Wed, 23 May 2007 12:36:10 +0000

By Dr. Lisa Moore, Environmental Defense scientist. (Cross posted from Climate411.org.)

Photo: Green OptionsLast week, Yahoo! launched a new site that can calculate how much your carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions go down when you try their energy saving tips. It's fun to use, and I especially appreciate the snazzy interactive features because I know how hard people worked to build it. My colleagues and I provided the Yahoo! design team with the data they use in their calculations.

I hope you'll visit the site to see how simple changes in your house and car can save energy and lower emissions. But first, let me take you behind the scenes to the complicated world of carbon calculation.

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Matt Dillon and Yahoo! Kick Off Green City Challenge

Amy Stodghill — Mon, 14 May 2007 17:16:32 +0000

Photo: Green OptionsBeneath the electronic lights and rolling LED displays in New York City's Times Square, Yahoo! announced their "Greenest City in America" Challenge today.

The concept behind the challenge is to get individuals to make a difference by taking small actions in their every day lives. Yahoo! co-founder David Filo said he wanted to tap into the half a billion Yahoo! users to encourage greener lifestyles.

People can participate at the Yahoo! Be a Better Planet site. For each action you take through a Yahoo! green site you'll rack up points for you and your city. The city with the most points by June 8 will receive a small fleet of hybrid taxis. Individual participants with enough points will get a free compact flourescent bulb (CFL). Photo: Green Options

Actor Matt Dillon said, "I'm concerned with many environmental threats facing us and I want to do my part at reducing global warming." He encouraged the use of motion sensored lights, and suggested a few things each person can do such as replacing incandescnet light bulbs with CFLs, turning off the lights in empty rooms, walking or taking public transportation and unplugging chargers from outlets.

Photo: Green Options: Global Green CEO, Matt Petersen (left); Matt Dillon, actor (center); David Filo, co-founder Yahoo! (right)Matt Petersen, President and CEO of Global Green USA, stressed that when people take individual actions at home and at work, it will not only improve the lives of everyone but will send an important message to corporations and governments across the U.S. that Americans support the mayors climate protection agreement. The mayors climate protection agreement was initiated by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels to get mayors of cities across the nation to come together to reduce municipal green house gas emissions in leiu of federal support.

The Greenest City in America challenge is just the latest effort by Yahoo! as they move toward greening their practices and operations. Earlier this year Yahoo! teamed up with the producers of An Inconvenient Truth to create an eco-info site 18seconds.org, and last month announced plans to take Yahoo! carbon neutral.

Yahoo! Launches Yahoo! Green

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Mon, 14 May 2007 13:35:41 +0000

Philip's post today reminds that the IT industry in general is pretty energy-intensive. Today, one of that industry's major players is taking another step forward to reduce the environmental impact of one of its major assets: it's users. Yahoo! Green is a new site by the internet giant that provides users with a range of tools that help them lower their personal carbon emissions.

Meg Garlinghouse, director of Yahoo! for Good, told me on Friday that the new site, which will be officially launched with a big kick-off event in New York City, reflects the company's belief that bringing many people together to take small steps can result in a major reduction of our greenhouse gas emissions. At Yahoo! Green, users can commit to a range of various actions that will reduce their own environmental impact: installing a programmable thermostat, installing a CFL in a porch light, air-drying clothes in the Spring and Summer, etc. The site records each user's plan and calculates the emissions savings produced. These figures are then compiled to show the total amount of GHG emissions saved by all users participating in the program.

Yahoo! will also add an element of competition to the site: user carbon savings, as well as information gathered from other Yahoo! tools, will be calculated by their location, and the US city with the highest totals will be named "America's Greenest City" by the company, and awarded either a fleet of hybrid taxi cabs, or the cash equivalent, which can be used to "green up" a public building. The "Be a Better Planet" competition will run through June 8th. Individual participants will receive a free CFL for their efforts.

We're impressed, and we look forward to Amy's coverage of today's NYC event, which will feature Yahoo! co-founder David Filo, Global Green USA CEO Matt Peterson, and Academy Award-nominated actor Matt Dillon. When combined with it's own carbon neutrality pledge, its sponsorship of 18seconds.org, and its Earth Week challenge to employees to reduce the company's overall environmental impact by 20% (which was rewarded by staging a Sumo wrestling match between Filo and co-founder Jerry Yang — watch the video), it's clear that Yahoo! is taking significant steps to not only operate in a more sustainable manner, but also to educate others about the benefits of living a greener lifestyle.

Yahoo! Green

Got an Idea for a Green Ad Campaign? Send it to Yahoo!

Amy Stodghill — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 15:37:15 +0000

Yahoo! is jumping in on the 'create-your-own' commercial craze with a contest called "Big Shot in Cannes."

They're calling on all ad agencies to create an original 30-second spot with a green, or environmentally friendly focus. The point of the contest is to familiarize the agency teams with the user-generated content idea for advertising. Brands like Doritos (aired during the Super Bowl) and Dove (aired during the Oscars) have already experimented with the user-generated ads and have garnered a lot of press because of it.

All submitted ads will be available online and the highest rated clips will be judged by a panel of ad creative execs. The top three will head to the International Advertising Festival in Cannes, France in June.

Although the contest is directed towards professionals, anyone is eligible to enter. The contest ends May 7.

It should be interesting to see the difference between the professionally created ads and the user-generated ads. I'm also curious to find out how the idea of green will be portrayed.

The contest parameters for the topic are very non-specific, giving suggestions for green as a spot about hybrid cars, energy efficient light bulbs or recycling. I forsee ads selling specific products or possibly short advocacy pieces for getting people to take action, but I'm sure we'll see a wide range of topics covering the green realm.

Via MarketingVox; Brandweek