Category: Environment

Green Companies Will Prosper

There’s an alright post over at CopyBrighter from a little ways back that looks at the growing demand for green companies and how we need to cater to that demand and look towards the future. Essentially green companies will prosper because it’ll be the only option in due time, so why not be green now and profit from it?

It’s not that green companies should run as a hedge fund to profit from crisis… but rather, they should not underestimate the potential demand for what they are developing now. We must be prepared to leverage the imminent explosion of mass desire and honorably fulfill it.

Bottled Water and You

Bottled water is a good idea in times of disasters (when water systems are inoperable), but for the rest of the time is bottle water a good thing? No.

Green Options examines how you can lessen your impact on the environment by simply not drinking bottled water in the article Lighter Footstep: 5 Reasons Not to Drink Bottled Water.

What can you do?

There’s a simple alternative to bottled water: buy a stainless steel thermos, and use it. Don’t like the way your local tap water tastes? Inexpensive carbon filters will turn most tap water sparking fresh at a fraction of bottled water’s cost.

Consider taking Food and Water Watch’s No Bottled Water Pledge. Conserve water wherever possible, and stay on top of local water issues.

Lawsuits Champion the Environment

In the coming months many companies could face large fines from the damage that they have done to the environment. There is a growing trend in the USA and Europe to sue those responsible for environmental damage that as resulted in damage that went beyond just the environment. Confused? This example from the linked article should help you out:

In the United States, there are currently about a dozen cases involving demands for tighter regulation and claims for damages. Among them is a case brought by property owners in Mississippi against oil and coal companies they accuse of playing a role in Hurricane Katrina, which struck the region with devastating consequences in August 2005.

Solar is Hot in Germany

A german co-worker told me how it rains practically everyday in his native town. So how does the country become the world’s top solar power producer?

Apparently, what’s good for the planet is also good for the German economy:

There are now 250,000 jobs in Germany in the renewables energy sector… jobs in solar power alone to double to 90,000 over the next five years and hit 200,000 in 2020.

As with any new development, there are critics who want to slow down government incentives for solar power use, but the government has other plans:

So far just 3 percent of Germany’s electricity comes from the sun, but the government wants to raise the share of renewables to 27 percent of all energy by 2020 from 13 percent.

But why in Germany and not anywhere else in the world? Frank Asbeck of SolarWorld AG explains:

Germans have a fondness for inventing and developing technologies — especially when it might lead to big export rates. Helping fight climate change is a bonus.

Ship it safe, ship it popcorn

Until now Lush, a British cosmetics company, used shredded paper in the boxes in which it sold soaps, massage bars and other delicate items. As part of its drive to be greener, Lush has come up with a great solution for packaging: instead of using polystyrene chips to keep fragile items intact in the post, the chain is now using an edible and far more biodegradable solution: popcorn!

Popcorn packaging is just another example of how natural materials can replace many supposedly superior man made materials. The popcorn packaging will obviously reduce the amount of paper used by the chain. I would like to see if the popcorn will be grown locally and organically and reused or at least eaten. However, a side effect of this is that transport emissions will also be reduced, since popcorn is 60% lighter than paper.