2008 April · Environmental Leader · Green Business, Sustainable Business, and Green Strategy News for Corporate Sustainability Executives

Archive for April, 2008

WaMu Switches 1M Accounts From Paper To E-Statements

Through its year-long "Make A Statement, Plant A Tree" campaign, Washington Mutual Inc. has raised $1 million for the The National Arbor Day Foundation.The campaign pledged to donate $1 to ...

Clear Channel Sets Up SmartBike Bicycle Sharing In DC

Beginning next month, SmartBike DC will make 120 bicycles available for rent at 10 spots in central locations in the Washington, DC area, the New York Times reports. The District of ...

Bill Gates Uses 10,000 Times Energy Of Average American

Even the most energy conscious people in the U.S. use more than twice the energy of the average person around the world. And the wealthy even more. Bill Gates' impact is 10,000 times ...

Sony Pictures Chooses 365 Main’s Renewable Energy Program

Sony Pictures Entertainment has become the first customer of data center operator 365 Main to sign up for a new reusable energy program through the Salt River Project's Earthwise Energy program, ...

Environmental Defense Fund’s Fred Krupp On Renewable Energy

Green Canary Sustainability CEO Kevin Tuerff interviews Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund about his new book, "Earth: The Sequel" and the future of renewable energy and climate change....

Microsoft: Code Green

Microsoft plans to work more closely with independent software developers to help the company build applications that don't draw CPU cycles unnecessarily, InformationWeek reports. The Windows Vista operating system includes energy management ...

Mexico’s First LEED Gold Rating: HSBC Tower

The HSBC Tower in downtown Mexico City is the first building in Latin America to receive LEED Gold certification from the Mexico Green Building Council, TreeHugger reports. HSBC achieved the rating by implementing improved energy ...

AEP Corporate Sustainability Report Outlines Challenges, Performance

American Electric Power Co. has a plan to reduce and offset its greenhouse gas emissions. Demonstrating and deploying carbon-capture technology on two existing pulverized coal plants; building new plants with lower ...

New Plugs Improve Prius MPG

Pulstar Pulse Plugs have increased the fuel economy of 2005 and 2007 Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles by 6 to 8 percent, or 3 miles per gallon, according to the company. Tests on ...

AIA Picks Top Sustainable Building Designs

This year’s top picks for the best green building projects of the year from the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment’s are a showcase of sustainable design approaches, Inhabitat reports. Community connectivity, ...

Solar Tech Financiers In Race To Keep On Crest Of Solar Wave

A growing number of young companies are spending their brain power on software and financing, rather than photovoltaics, GreenTechBlog reports. In a deal with German solar panel manufacturer Conergy, web-based software tools ...

Sustainability Is Watchword for Biomass Industry

Sustainability was on the minds of many of today's speakers at the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, an annual conference attracting more than 1,200 scientists, business leaders, and government officials that began in ...

The Green Influence Factor

Research from Natural Marketing Institute's 2007 European LOHAS Consumer Trends Database, shows that culture plays a strong role in consumers' willingness to evangelize their commitment to a LOHAS lifestyle. For example, it appears that ...

North Pole Could Be Swimmable In 2008

In September 2007, Arctic sea ice reached a record low, opening up the fabled North-West passage that runs from Greenland to Alaska. Scientists from the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) ...

Enterprise Launches $1M Carbon Offset Initiative

Enterprise Fleet Management, a division of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, launched an environmental initiative designed to help its customers reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution, the St. Louis Business Journal reports. Through the program, ...

Russia Has No Plans To Cap Carbon Emissions

Russia says it has no plans to cap carbon emissions under a new climate regime, currently being negotiated to succeed the Kyoto Protocol after 2012, Reuters reports. Under Kyoto, Russia is considered ...

LA Passes Green Building Rules

On Earth Day, the City Council of Los Angeles passed an ordinance requiring builders of large commercial and residential developments to adopt green building rules that would potentially cut millions of tons ...

First Federal Savings Bank Touts Green Design

Interesting tour of the green features of First Federal Savings Bank in Mishawaka, Ind.

American Apparel Makes Big Cleaner Cotton Purchase

American Apparel is one of the latest garment manufacturers to extend its sustainable practices by joining forces with the Cleaner Cotton Campaign with the purchase of 30,000 pounds of Cleaner Cotton ...

Aspen Aims To Be Carbon Neutral, Mulls Tough Choices

In its quest to be greener, The Aspen Skiing Company is asking some tough questions in its question to be green. "Should it begin the ski season later?" "Should it can some ...