Website Design and Promotion

Google Leading the Green Way

Google is setting a great example of what steps a large, influential corporation can do to help green the planet.  They've just installed a 1.6 megawatts solar roof on its corporate campus, which will provide about 1/3 of their electricity. Google is also awarding $1 million in grants to support plug-in hybrid cars and has plans to award another $10 million.

Green Cars on Yahoo!

It's always nice to see big corporations trying to "green their act" a bit (whether it's a marketing ploy or not — obviously the demand is there, which is the important thing). Yahoo! has introduced a Green Cars section to their site, for new and used cars.

Yahoo! gives each auto a "Green Rating" on a scale of 1-100, based on each model's environmental friendliness. #1, with a rating of 87, is a Honda Civic Hybrid, just ahead of the Toyota Prius. In fact, Honda and Toyota are pretty much still running the show in terms of producing environmentally friendly cars.

There's also information on most of the green technologies and fuels as well as a community where users can discuss green cars in general.

Greenpeace Puts the Pressure on Apple

A cool campaign by Greenpeace attempting to put the pressure on Apple computers for environmental waste. Make sure you watch the TV commercial at the site.

In case you haven't seen the original Apple commercial that Greenpeace is spoofing here it is. It's actually very funny, even though it's also very sexist. If you haven't seen it yet, watch it first before watching the Greenpeace version.

Green Kudos

Here's a unique, green marketing effort.  DeepMarket.com, "a blog that researches new techniques for stock market analysis," has joined forces with CarbonFund.org in a special promotion in which, for every blog that links to their site, they'll offset one ton of carbon emissions.

Sure is a great way to garner some attention and do some good at the same time. To read more about this initiative on TreeHugger, click here.

Carnival of the Green #28

This week we are hosting the 28th Carnival of the Green. A big thanks to City Hippy and Triple Pundit for organizing this great carnival! Thanks also to Earth Echo International for hosting Carnival of the Green #27 last week and to Animal Broadcast Network for hosting Carnival #29 next week.

And now... on with the Carnival:

Enrique at commonground references a post, Organic Food Goes Mainstream, from the Christian Science Monitor on concerns around the growing popularity of organic food:

Still, while some organic-food fans welcome its broadening mainstream appeal and ready availability, others worry that the entry of corporate behemoths into the organic-food market will weaken standards or squeeze out small farmers.

Sue Richards at My Menopause Blog links the concept of thinking local to the food we put into out bodies:

Think local act global is a green catch phrase that I thought I understood. With this latest body part awakening, changing my perception of local to be my own flesh and blood, will naturally improve my global act.

The Worsted Witch has a post asking what we can do to educate artists and crafters about the dangers of using vinyl products: "Help! Can crafty tree-huggers free the crafting community from the evil hold of vinyl?"

Don Bosch at The Evangelical Ecologist highlights a survey released this week by Field and Stream. The poll indicates a large majority of hunters, fishermen, and other outdoorsmen who characterize themselves as evangelical conservatives think global warming is happening and that people are causing it. Links to poll questions and raw data too.

Harlan Weikle from Greener Magazine posts on a 1500 year old building, the Hagia Sophia, an environmental prototype for the 21st century. It cost $1.2 Billion, required 40 years to construct and has stood it's ground against earthquakes, continental drift, invasions and aerial bombing.

Stephen Filler Blogs Against the Empire and describes the public relations efforts of Entergy, the owner of the Indian Point nuclear plant, 35 miles north of NYC, to keep the plant open in the face of broad community opposition.

Lars Hundley from Practical Environmentalist points to a great new article in Business Week called Ethanol: Myths and Realities. It's a balanced look at the pros and cons of Ethanol, and how much of a difference it might really make.

Joel Fuhrman, MD from DiseaseProof.com advocates a vegetable-based diet for optimal health, here is his list of ten super foods to eat plenty of.

Joshua Rosenau presents New Monkey Genus posted at Thoughts from Kansas.

Cookbook author, Cathleen Hockman-Wert, describes an innovative project in Oregon that partners local farmers with local churches. The extra sweet benefit: low-income folks also get a free share of the fresh, local food. Cathleen is co-author of Simply in Season, a cookbook that celebrates local, sustainably produced foods.

Phillip Barron presents an inconvenient truth posted at nicomachus.

Daniel Collins blogs about widespread erosion in China that has forced the country to start an afforestation program, which has now impacted Japan's chopsticks imports.

Siel of green LA girl offers three parts in her de-car-ing series:

Part 1: Consider moving to a more walkable, bikeable 'hood
Part 2: Get a bike!
Part 3: Be sure to bike safely

This one is a little scientific, and about fuel cells specifically. Dr. David Ng from the University of British Columbia's Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory (AMBL) offers "Microbial Fuel Cells From Rhodopherax Ferrireducens."

"Why are we afraid of nature?" Al uses his weekly CityHippy Question to explore why we freak out when certain animals come near us. Why are we so bothered by bugs? Why do ducks drive his wife delirious? Join in a great conversation and hear about Al's lucky escape from a gang of fanged sheep [ahem].

Savvy Vegetarian points to an article about 12 Missoula-area organic farms that will offer an alternative to the USDA organic certification - a "Homegrown" label focused on growing and selling food locally - within 150 miles of their markets.

Animal Broadcast network writes on Permaculture and the Native American Tradition.

Alexandra Cousteau from Earth Echo International writes the Lost Boys discussing the effects of over-fishing on a remote coastal community in Panama.

Josh Rosenau writes On Being Right at Thoughts from Kansas.

Post, Read, and Rate Green News

Check out Hugg ("Bringing you the green") - a great new blog where you can read the latest green stories submitted by users. You also get the chance to rate the stories about social and environmental responsibility by giving the ones you like a "hugg." Lots of good posts already, about sustainable energy, alternative fuels, environmentally friendly architecture, organic food, and more.

Carnival of the Green

City Hippy and  Triple Pundit have started The Carnival of the Green. Inspired by Carnival of the Capitalists, The Carnival of the Green travels to various green blogs. Each Monday a green blog hosts the carnival and then links to several other green posts of interest to the host.

This week's carnival is hosted by Jen's Green Journal. Jen has included posts on a variety of topics including green gift giving, a post debating real vs fake Christmas trees, recycling pros and cons, green washing campaigns by McDonald's and Walmart and a whole lot more.

Next week's carnival will be hosted by Dee's 'Dotes.

Check out the carnival. The hosts are posting a lot of great info that is of interest to socially responsible and ethical businesses, so go see what you can learn. And if you want to to act as a host for the Carnival of the Green you can go to City Hippy for information.

Update: Nathaniel and I will be hosting the Carnvial of the Green on May 22. See you there!

International Buy Nothing Day

Today is International Buy Nothing Day.

From Adbuster's website:

For 24 hours millions of people around the world do not participate-- in the doomsday economy, the marketing mind-games, and the frantic consumer-binge that's become our culture. We pause. We make a small choice not to shop. We shrink our footprint and gain some calm. Together we say: enough is enough. And we help build this movement to rethink our unsustainable course.

I encourage you all to participate by going the whole day without making a purchase.

I have always loved this day. We need be be reminded of the excess and waste that we all participate in. To focus our consciousness here for one day is only a tiny step, albeit an important one. So stay home, go for  walk in the park, put off making those necessary purchases, and reflect upon how you can avoid making unnecessary purchases...

By the way, one of my favorite Adbuster TV ads is the one for Buy Nothing Day which can be viewed here. 

Cool Blog: Musings of an Eco-Entrepreneur

Was reading a very cool blog today--Musings of an Eco-Entrepreneur--authored by  Shea Gunther.  Shea's been writing on a range of marketing/business/Internet/global/eco-entreprenueral/ topics.

Check it out here.

Socially Responsible Gift Giving

Treehugger has just come out with their Holiday Gift Guide. For the socially/environmentally conscious, there's a wide range of ideas from clothes to food and drink and plenty in between. Lots of organic, recycled, and generally eco-friendly products to look through.

And remember to think about how to not use regular wrapping paper. It's usually non-recyclable. Think reduce and re-use first. How about wrapping a gift within a gift? e.g., wrap a CD (such as Jack Johnson's amazing "In Between Dreams" which made Treehugger's list for all the great work he does, not to mention he's a very talented musician!) inside a scarf (organic cotton, of course). Or, re-use old calendar pages, etc.

Ways to Be Greener

Not much time for posting today, but I came across a great site for the environmentally conscious. Check out Ideal Bite. They've got some really good tips and interesting info on how to become greener. You can sign up for their daily eco-living tip, learn about environmentally friendly products, etc...

Business Gurus Write for Charity

Seth Godin is about to release a new edited book authored by 33 of the world's top business thinkers  called The Big Moo. The Big Moo is a follow-up to Seth's book, Purple Cow, in which Seth discuss the idea that in order for something to stand out in today's crowded market, it has to be remarkable, like seeing a purple cow would be.

What is especially cool about the book is that 100% of author royalties are being donated to 3 charities (Acumen Fund, The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Room To Read). You can learn more about some of the the fund raising efforts for The Big Moo at Remarkabalize.

Due to the high profile of the authors, the book is likely to raise a fair chunk of cash for these charities.

Seth has been posting reviews of his book on his blog. There is a good one at 800-CEO Read Blog.

It's great to see successful business leaders giving back.

What Does Your Shopping Support?

Found a great website — Responsible Shopper (www.responsibleshopper.org). It contains information on several of North America's largest corporations, from clothing to car manufacturers, and rates them on their social and environmental responsibility. Not surprisingly, most of the companies come out at the negative end of the spectrum or neutral at best.

The site is a wealth of information for the concerned shopper. It breaks down each corporation on their past and current issues, such as human rights, child/sweatshop labor, discrimination, cultural impact, health and safety, and environmentally-friendly initiatives. I found it to be very fair in that it acknowledges positive efforts as well as negative impacts to allow you to make an informed decision about what you're supporting with your purchases.

Looks like a big 'thumbs up' goes to Patagonia — the company is on of the few, or possibly the only one, listed which received the 'green' rating for both their "cutting edge" social and environmental policies.

Seth Godin on Marketing and Social Responsibility

Treehugger did an interview with Seth Godin, marketing guru and author of several best selling books  which touches on issues of marketing and social responsibility.

As in his recent book, “All Marketers are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World," Seth talks about the type of stories you must tell to get people to bring out their wallets.

He touches on topics such as global warming and why it doesn't fit the world view of many Americans as it's too "vague and distant." He also mentions his thoughts on the impending oil crisis and organic food.

Increasingly I have noticed that Seth seems to making political comments about marketing. It's great to see someone as popular as Seth talking about marketing and it's relationship to making the world a better place.

The Rainforest Site

Thumbs up to The Rainforest Site (www.therainforestsite.com). Every day that you click on the “save our rainforests” button, the site sponsors donate funds to save 11.4 square feet of rainforest at no cost to you. It’s purely sponsor driven. Check out the site for details on where the funds go, etc.

You can either add the site to your favorites and then go there whenever you remember or you can register to have a daily reminder sent to you. Overall, it’s a great concept in my mind.