To everyone who has posted a positive comment on our blog. So much of finding a better future is embodied in positive energy and optimism. It is always about seeing past the clouds to the next sunny horizon. You help us do that, and we hope we help you do the same.
Also, we shot five new shows this week, and we are excited, in New England, about moving to ABC 6 on Saturdays at 3p, EST (this week, because of network commitments, 1:30p, EST). Watch for us as we add many new media outlets, and keep listening each Weds, from 12-1p, EST, to our show on WARL 1320 and their related, worldwide stream.
Nice piece on Ebay: How eBay Uses its Website to Drive Sustainability and Innovation
By Annie Lescroart
Published January 26, 2012
Here's the link:
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2012/01/26/how-ebay-uses-its-website-drive-sustainability-and-innovation
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Thanks to Mark Learn
For the good news out of CA: California air board to vote on landmark electric-car rules
By Paul Rogers
progers@mercurynews.com
Posted: 01/25/2012 04:48:58 PM PST
Updated: 01/26/2012 09:39:09 AM PST
Link to the news story: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=8519707
Part of the story: "In a move that could reshape the American automobile industry, California regulators Thursday are expected to approve sweeping new rules requiring that 15 percent of new cars sold in California by 2025 run on electricity, hydrogen or other systems producing little or no smog.
The regulations by the California Air Resources Board, dubbed the "advanced clean car rules," would start in 2018, ramping up each year and ultimately resulting in 1.4 million "zero emission" vehicles on California roads by 2025. Today there are only about 10,000 such vehicles in the state.
This is a really large step. It's transformational," said Tom Cackette, an engineer and chief deputy director of the air board. "Ten years from now, the market is going to look quite a bit different..."
How about this part: "The air board estimates that those regulations will add $1,900 to the price of a new car by 2025 -- but will save $5,900 in gasoline costs over the life of the average vehicle."
That is a significant savings over the added costs of the car, and could get better--hopefully, not worse--as gas prices rise.
We applaud CA for again taking the lead in reducing air pollution. We now have great technology and great cars for moving away from carbon-spewing, imported oil vehicles. The economics work long-term, and the benefits to our country, financial, political, environmental, are staggering.
Starting at 15% is a good place to begin. Ending at 1005 would be nirvana.
Plug in, America, and thank you, CA, for teeing up the newest, greatest industrial revolution.
By Paul Rogers
progers@mercurynews.com
Posted: 01/25/2012 04:48:58 PM PST
Updated: 01/26/2012 09:39:09 AM PST
Link to the news story: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=8519707
Part of the story: "In a move that could reshape the American automobile industry, California regulators Thursday are expected to approve sweeping new rules requiring that 15 percent of new cars sold in California by 2025 run on electricity, hydrogen or other systems producing little or no smog.
The regulations by the California Air Resources Board, dubbed the "advanced clean car rules," would start in 2018, ramping up each year and ultimately resulting in 1.4 million "zero emission" vehicles on California roads by 2025. Today there are only about 10,000 such vehicles in the state.
This is a really large step. It's transformational," said Tom Cackette, an engineer and chief deputy director of the air board. "Ten years from now, the market is going to look quite a bit different..."
How about this part: "The air board estimates that those regulations will add $1,900 to the price of a new car by 2025 -- but will save $5,900 in gasoline costs over the life of the average vehicle."
That is a significant savings over the added costs of the car, and could get better--hopefully, not worse--as gas prices rise.
We applaud CA for again taking the lead in reducing air pollution. We now have great technology and great cars for moving away from carbon-spewing, imported oil vehicles. The economics work long-term, and the benefits to our country, financial, political, environmental, are staggering.
Starting at 15% is a good place to begin. Ending at 1005 would be nirvana.
Plug in, America, and thank you, CA, for teeing up the newest, greatest industrial revolution.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Just a reminder of what we are fighting for
As we search for the very best reasons why we should invest in a brighter, cleaner future, as we contemplate investments and ROI's in sustainability, as we seek to balance ecological prudence with economic gain, it is important to stand back and remember, on a much larger scale, why there is no choice, no dispute, no other road to go down.
Here's a beautiful new picture of our incredible planet from one of our newest satellites:
Beautiful.
Enjoy the weekend.
Here's a beautiful new picture of our incredible planet from one of our newest satellites:
Beautiful.
Enjoy the weekend.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Get Ready for a Great Conference
Renewable Now is honored to be the media partner to the RI Compost Conference, being held next month at the Hope Artist Village in RI. Take a look below:
This is a very important conference and they've brought some terrific experts together to tackle the hurdles but benefits of getting this State to separate out food scraps and get the compo-stables out of the landfill.
Other states and cities, including San Francisco, have done a great job of single-stream recycling with pick up of compost. RI needs to do the same.
Get in touch if you have ideas, information on other states or want to be a part of the conference.
We'll have a weekend edition.
This is a very important conference and they've brought some terrific experts together to tackle the hurdles but benefits of getting this State to separate out food scraps and get the compo-stables out of the landfill.
Other states and cities, including San Francisco, have done a great job of single-stream recycling with pick up of compost. RI needs to do the same.
Get in touch if you have ideas, information on other states or want to be a part of the conference.
We'll have a weekend edition.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World index
Congratulations to Novo Nordisk for grabbing the number one slot in the World rankings of sustainable companies.
Have you thought about what it takes to get to that level? Have you thought about the positive impact on profits, operations and company image such a sustainable level brings? We have and we hope to be in that same list and, eventually, garner that same top spot.
How about you and your company?
Here's the story. Our best wishes, again, to Novo and everyone else on this very prestigious list:
(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) January 25, 2012 - Today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Novo Nordisk was ranked number one in the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World index. The index is published annually since 2005 by Corporate Knights – a Canadian and North American business magazine.
Lise Kingo, executive vice president of Novo Nordisk, is proud of the acknowledgment and emphasises Novo Nordisk’s commitment to continue the sustainable growth path that the company has pursued for more than two decades.
“This is a wonderful recognition of our Triple Bottom Line approach and a clear indication that Novo Nordisk is poised for long-term business success. But most importantly it is an encouragement to continue to find new ways of growing our business in a way that is profitable, responsible and valuable for patients, employees and society”, Lise Kingo says.
The aim of the Global 100 is to highlight the global companies, which are most proactive in managing environmental, social and corporate governance issues. Out of the 11 key performance indicators, Novo Nordisk is rated among the best in energy productivity, greenhouse gas productivity, CEO to Average Employee Pay ratio, employee turnover and linking the remuneration of senior executives with the achievement of sustainability targets.
Corporate Knights selects the Global 100 from a base of 4,000 developed and emerging market stocks, based on their sustainability ratings from the world’s largest sustainability research consortium, The Global Sustainability Research Alliance which integrates research from 10 leading firms across the globe including Goldman Sachs | GS SUSTAIN, Société Générale, EIRIS, and RiskMetrics Group.
Number two and three on the list are Natura Cosmeticos SA and Statoil, respectively. Novo Nordisk’s sister company, Novozymes is rated number four."
For more information about Global 100: www.global100.org
Have you thought about what it takes to get to that level? Have you thought about the positive impact on profits, operations and company image such a sustainable level brings? We have and we hope to be in that same list and, eventually, garner that same top spot.
How about you and your company?
Here's the story. Our best wishes, again, to Novo and everyone else on this very prestigious list:
(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) January 25, 2012 - Today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Novo Nordisk was ranked number one in the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World index. The index is published annually since 2005 by Corporate Knights – a Canadian and North American business magazine.
Lise Kingo, executive vice president of Novo Nordisk, is proud of the acknowledgment and emphasises Novo Nordisk’s commitment to continue the sustainable growth path that the company has pursued for more than two decades.
“This is a wonderful recognition of our Triple Bottom Line approach and a clear indication that Novo Nordisk is poised for long-term business success. But most importantly it is an encouragement to continue to find new ways of growing our business in a way that is profitable, responsible and valuable for patients, employees and society”, Lise Kingo says.
The aim of the Global 100 is to highlight the global companies, which are most proactive in managing environmental, social and corporate governance issues. Out of the 11 key performance indicators, Novo Nordisk is rated among the best in energy productivity, greenhouse gas productivity, CEO to Average Employee Pay ratio, employee turnover and linking the remuneration of senior executives with the achievement of sustainability targets.
Corporate Knights selects the Global 100 from a base of 4,000 developed and emerging market stocks, based on their sustainability ratings from the world’s largest sustainability research consortium, The Global Sustainability Research Alliance which integrates research from 10 leading firms across the globe including Goldman Sachs | GS SUSTAIN, Société Générale, EIRIS, and RiskMetrics Group.
Number two and three on the list are Natura Cosmeticos SA and Statoil, respectively. Novo Nordisk’s sister company, Novozymes is rated number four."
For more information about Global 100: www.global100.org
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Some interesting updates from The Better World Club
BP Axes Solar Power Business
by Terry Macalister, guardian.co.uk
BP has taken the axe to its solar power business, saying it "can't make any money" from selling panels at a time when it continues to spend $20bn annually on oil and gas developments.
The energy group, which once promised to move "beyond petroleum", was an important player in solar but has over the last three years gradually closed its panel factories and made around 1,750 workers redundant.
At the same time, the company has gradually retreated from other areas such as carbon capture and storage and shut down its separate London headquarters for BP Alternative Energy.
Ford C-MAX Hybrid
by Larry E. Hall, hybridcars.com
In a move to chip away at Toyota's market dominance of hybrid cars, Ford will roll out two new hybrid models in 2012. The no-plug C-Max Hybrid and plug-in C-Max Energi are based on the five-passenger C-Max sold in Europe. In an announcement in June to expand production of the two C-Max hybrids, Ford said it had changed its mind about the seven-passenger gasoline-only version of the Grand C-Max in the U.S and the C-Max will be a dedicated hybrid vehicle. The C-Max Hybrid will arrive in the first half of 2012 followed by the C-Max Energi. "This is our Prius fighter," said Ford's head of global marketing, Jim Farley, during a recent press announcement.
US Looks Ahead After Ethanol Subsidy Expires
by Rob Lever (AFP)
After a series of bitter political fights, the US Congress allowed a subsidy for ethanol fuel to expire at the end of 2011, ending a program harshly criticized by environmentalists and others.
By taking no action, US lawmakers ended the credit of 45 cents per gallon refiners get for blending ethanol, which in the US market is made mostly from corn, into gasoline. Also terminated was a tariff on imports of 54 cents per gallon which was criticized by Brazil, a producer of sugar cane-based ethanol.
The programs were in place since the 1980s as a means of curbing US use of imported petroleum.
But over time, criticism grew that growing ethanol use diverted too much corn from food to fuel, and led to environmental and land use problems, by adding to incentives to plant more corn. The program also cost taxpayers some $6 billion annually.
That is very disappointing news on BP. For a company that was heavily promoting their investment in green, clearly they have abandoned many of those efforts. Of course, the business side, as we've talked about, always drives these decisions, but it is very disappointing to see BP falling back from a transformation to "beyond petroleum" company.
by Terry Macalister, guardian.co.uk
BP has taken the axe to its solar power business, saying it "can't make any money" from selling panels at a time when it continues to spend $20bn annually on oil and gas developments.
The energy group, which once promised to move "beyond petroleum", was an important player in solar but has over the last three years gradually closed its panel factories and made around 1,750 workers redundant.
At the same time, the company has gradually retreated from other areas such as carbon capture and storage and shut down its separate London headquarters for BP Alternative Energy.
Ford C-MAX Hybrid
by Larry E. Hall, hybridcars.com
In a move to chip away at Toyota's market dominance of hybrid cars, Ford will roll out two new hybrid models in 2012. The no-plug C-Max Hybrid and plug-in C-Max Energi are based on the five-passenger C-Max sold in Europe. In an announcement in June to expand production of the two C-Max hybrids, Ford said it had changed its mind about the seven-passenger gasoline-only version of the Grand C-Max in the U.S and the C-Max will be a dedicated hybrid vehicle. The C-Max Hybrid will arrive in the first half of 2012 followed by the C-Max Energi. "This is our Prius fighter," said Ford's head of global marketing, Jim Farley, during a recent press announcement.
US Looks Ahead After Ethanol Subsidy Expires
by Rob Lever (AFP)
After a series of bitter political fights, the US Congress allowed a subsidy for ethanol fuel to expire at the end of 2011, ending a program harshly criticized by environmentalists and others.
By taking no action, US lawmakers ended the credit of 45 cents per gallon refiners get for blending ethanol, which in the US market is made mostly from corn, into gasoline. Also terminated was a tariff on imports of 54 cents per gallon which was criticized by Brazil, a producer of sugar cane-based ethanol.
The programs were in place since the 1980s as a means of curbing US use of imported petroleum.
But over time, criticism grew that growing ethanol use diverted too much corn from food to fuel, and led to environmental and land use problems, by adding to incentives to plant more corn. The program also cost taxpayers some $6 billion annually.
That is very disappointing news on BP. For a company that was heavily promoting their investment in green, clearly they have abandoned many of those efforts. Of course, the business side, as we've talked about, always drives these decisions, but it is very disappointing to see BP falling back from a transformation to "beyond petroleum" company.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Aquaponics Could Signal Future of Food/From Voice of America
Technique combines fish farming, soil-less plants
"Imagine growing vegetables and fish in the same space. That’s the idea behind aquaponics, a marriage of fish farming and soil-less plant cultivation in a single, sustainable closed system.
Supporters believe aquaponics can play a key role in alleviating food insecurity, addressing the problems of climate change, ground water pollution and overfishing.
Recirculating wetlands system
Aquaponics is really as old as nature itself.
“Aquaponics is really a recirculating wetlands system, so it’s happening right on the banks of our lakes," says Sylvia Bernstein.
Bernstein was a hydroponic gardener for years - growing plants without soil using a water-soluble chemical fertilizer - before discovering she could use the waste water from fish to grow organic vegetables and fruits.
“Honestly, I was very skeptical and just couldn’t believe that something as simple as fish waste could become a complete fertilizer," she recalls. "So I had to actually see a system that was in a friend’s basement. But when I did, it changed my life.”
That was three years ago. Bernstein built her first aquaponics system with her 15-year-old son on a concrete pad outside her home in Boulder, Colorado. In her greenhouse today, she mainly raises tilapia and trout - feeding them once a day.
There are no weeds in her aquaponics garden, and she doesn’t have to worry about watering. The plants are growing in containers at a table height for easy access.
“I, just this morning, pulled four radishes and some lettuce for lunch," Bernstein says. "In my greenhouse right now, I grow all sorts of herbs, tomatoes, peppers.”
Bernstein started her own business, The Aquaponics Source, with an online store, her own YouTube channel and a blog. She teaches aquaponics at the Denver Botanic Gardens and recently published a book about how to set up an aquaponic garden at home.
According to Berstein, a growing number of people in the U.S. and around the world are doing it, and enjoying the results: a year-round supply of healthful, safe and delicious food..."
We'll take a closer look on a future show.
"Imagine growing vegetables and fish in the same space. That’s the idea behind aquaponics, a marriage of fish farming and soil-less plant cultivation in a single, sustainable closed system.
Supporters believe aquaponics can play a key role in alleviating food insecurity, addressing the problems of climate change, ground water pollution and overfishing.
Recirculating wetlands system
Aquaponics is really as old as nature itself.
“Aquaponics is really a recirculating wetlands system, so it’s happening right on the banks of our lakes," says Sylvia Bernstein.
Bernstein was a hydroponic gardener for years - growing plants without soil using a water-soluble chemical fertilizer - before discovering she could use the waste water from fish to grow organic vegetables and fruits.
“Honestly, I was very skeptical and just couldn’t believe that something as simple as fish waste could become a complete fertilizer," she recalls. "So I had to actually see a system that was in a friend’s basement. But when I did, it changed my life.”
That was three years ago. Bernstein built her first aquaponics system with her 15-year-old son on a concrete pad outside her home in Boulder, Colorado. In her greenhouse today, she mainly raises tilapia and trout - feeding them once a day.
There are no weeds in her aquaponics garden, and she doesn’t have to worry about watering. The plants are growing in containers at a table height for easy access.
“I, just this morning, pulled four radishes and some lettuce for lunch," Bernstein says. "In my greenhouse right now, I grow all sorts of herbs, tomatoes, peppers.”
Bernstein started her own business, The Aquaponics Source, with an online store, her own YouTube channel and a blog. She teaches aquaponics at the Denver Botanic Gardens and recently published a book about how to set up an aquaponic garden at home.
According to Berstein, a growing number of people in the U.S. and around the world are doing it, and enjoying the results: a year-round supply of healthful, safe and delicious food..."
We'll take a closer look on a future show.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)