Posts Tagged ‘Energy Consumption’

Home Wind Power: How You Can SAVE Money Using It

Home Wind Power: No More Energy Bills to Pay! Read on to Learn More

Over the past years, most people never considered wind power as a serious source of generating energy and electricity, that too, for domestic purposes. In fact, wind was perceived as just another natural phenomenon with very limited usage in life. People generally reveled when the weather was pleasant, and tried to protect themselves when storms or blizzards attacked an area.

However, the situation grew more serious over time, as the oil crisis hit the world. The prices of oil rose rapidly, and the need for an alternative, less expensive source of energy was felt acutely. Such an energy source would indeed be required pretty soon. Now, wind power fitted the bill perfectly. In addition, the supply of wind power was plentiful as well. Thus, many experts tried to combine automobile alternators to radiator cooling fans. This was expected to produce 12 volts of DC current, and was quickly stored away on automotive storage 12 volt batteries. However stretching whatever little power that was produced to 120 volts of AC current, proved to be an unpractical task for most people. And thus, these trials on wind energy harnessing came to an end. Read more…

Companies Increasingly Turn to Environmental Actions to Cut Costs

Fom Blog: gbb.org

While this recession has broken the mold in many ways, one surprising outcome is that corporate environmental activity has survived, even thrived during as companies increasingly turn to environmental actions to cut costs, comply with customer demands, and remain competitive, according to the annual “State of Green Business” report produced by GreenBiz.com

You may be inclined to think that the difficult economy of the past two years may have caused companies to put their green initiatives on hold. But, in a recent survey of CEO’s conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, more than 60 percent of CEOs said their companies are moving forward with green initiatives and believe those efforts will improve their company’s reputation. Overall, the recession had little impact on the green momentum: 61 percent of companies with green initiatives saw no effect of the recession on their strategies and 17 percent raised such investment each year.

These companies recognize that consumers’ concern for the environment has morphed into behaviors that are at least somewhat recession-resistant. When public relations firm Edelman surveyed 6,000 global consumers, they found that 87 percent believed it was their “duty” to contribute to a better environment and that even in a recession, 55 percent would pay more for a brand if it supported a cause in which they believed. Plus, as is the case with most corporate priorities, going for green makes sense in financial terms.

When it comes to your invoice, bill or statement, some simple and smart green initiatives can also provide meaningful financial benefits to your company. You can “get green (money) by going green”. Here are some tips:

• Consider changing the layout of your customer document from landscape to portrait. This will reduce the page count and potentially reduce mailing costs.
• Aim to maximize every sheet. Put some thought into your design and layout and consider options such as duplex printing. Again you will reduce production and delivery costs.
• Turn your invoice, bill or statement into a valuable marketing tool. It is the only “must read” document your customer receives from you. You have a captive audience…what are you telling them? Are you taking full opportunity of your upsell and cross sell opportunities? Done right, you can significantly increase your revenues while eliminating the costs associated with direct mail marketing campaigns and other, less effective, sales initiatives. You may even be able to eliminate certain bill inserts, by using effective messaging on the bill, or statement.
• What about converting more customers to electronic documents? This is the ultimate in cutting paper usage, as well as saving on supplies and postage.

These are just a few of the many “go green” opportunities that can translate into cold hard cash for your company. So go ahead…be green!

Five Ways Going Green Can Help Your Business Save Money

Top 15 Green Blogs

Reposted from: GBB.org

There are over 6,000 blogs related to the environment on Technorati, and countless more news feeds, and webzines.. There are hundreds of high-quality, well-written green blogs, so it’s very difficult to limit the list to just 15. This list seeks to balance depth with breadth and rankings popularity with diversity. These blogs represent many different topics, from general interest to news to lifestyle to tech.

1. Treehugger - Launched in 2004 by serial entrepreneur and designer Graham Hill, Treehugger defined a new online green space and quickly ascended to the ranks of the web’s top blogs. With radio, forums, video, television, its own social bookmarking network, and more than 30,000 posts, Treehugger is a comprehensive resource for sustainable modern living. Treehugger publishes posts by over 30 writers around the world updating 24/7. Discovery recently bought Treehugger and the site is now partnered to Planet Green. It’s not hard to see why: with over 2 million unique visitors per month and a Technorati rank of 19, Treehugger is by far the biggest green blog online today. The content is focused on green news, products, and events. Read more…

Deloitte: Best Practices for Going Green

By Deborah Fleischer

What do you think of when you hear Deloitte? You might think of a professional services firm or Big Four auditor. Today, the company has also put a big green stake in the ground, both looking internally to green its operations and as an offering in its consulting practice.

Two aspects of this work are worth noting: Deloitte’s internal green team, working to engage employees in sustainability, and its Green Sync™ tool.

I had the chance to have an e-mail exchange with Thomas Dekar, vice chairman of Deloitte LLP, regional managing principal of the North Central Region and corporate responsibility officer for the Deloitte U.S. Firms. He shed some light on the origins of Deloitte’s programs and offerings.

Read on to learn about Deloitte’s best green business practices for engaging employees in sustainability. Read more…

The Age of Sustainability: Why ‘Less’ Should Be More of Your Business Strategy

By Mahesh Pethe 

Business has officially entered “The Age of Sustainability.”

Most people relate sustainability to climate change and our efforts to sustain Earth’s limited resources.

In the corporate world, it means businesses are being asked — or even expected — to take Earth’s climate into consideration in normal business operations. In this new age, business strategy has been required to adapt to profound changes in how consumers and partners buy, use, interact with and view their products and services. This is particularly true over the last 10 years and will likely continue for at least the next 20 to 30 years.

We have all heard of the phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle,” as the call to think about environmental sustainability when making decisions about products and services. But have you considered that this directive may be in conflict with the common business goal of selling more to achieve higher revenues and profits? Read more…

GreenCitizens launches “Green Business“, an online directory for firms operating in Green sector

By Pranay Jain

GreenCitizens.net, a first of its kind Green Networking Platform has officially launched “Green Business”, a free of cost online directory for firms operating in the world of Green – Energy, Environment, Carbon, Sustainability or Climate Change.

PR Log (Press Release) More than just an online directory, “Green Business” on GreenCitizens.net, provides a networking and marketing platform to organizations engaged in any aspect of green business. It has been created in a way to provide an interactive platform to all organizations.

Every company gets its own dedicated page on GreenCitizens.net, where it can talk about its vision, experience, its initiatives, projects and achievements, share photos and videos, update its followers of its developments and share news with the entire GreenCitizens community. It will act as a marketplace where you will be able to connect with other organizations, both suppliers and potential clients, pave way for strategic partnerships and create visibility for your organization. Read more…

The 20 Most Popular Stories of 2009

By GreenBiz Staff

Oakland, CA — What to make of the 20 most-read stories among the 2,350 (or so) articles and blog posts we ran during 2009 on GreenBiz.com,ClimateBiz.com, GreenerBuildings.com,GreenerComputing.com andGreenerDesign.com

It’s hard to make head or tails of them, in terms of the themes, interests, or. Yes, packaging and Walmart seem to be two recurring themes. Rankings and ratings stories always rank high. Beyond that, 2009 seems a muddle — as, perhaps, in real life, it was. After all, what links termites and windvertising?

Themes or not, here are the stories of ours that you, dear reader, clicked on, Googled, Digged, Scribd, StumbledUpon, tweeted (and retweeted) and linked to the most. Do you see any noteworthy patterns or trends herein? Let us know if you do. Read more…

Green Technology -Vancouver 2010 Olympics Shines with Sustainability Stars Program

Green Technology -Vancouver 2010 Olympics Shines with Sustainability Stars Program 

By Brendan B. Read 

In just over a month from now athletes, cheered on by spectators and supported and assisted by their trainers and family will begin competing for medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games, being held in Vancouver, B.C. Canada.

There is another set of winners from the Games that are already being honored: Games partners, sponsors and organizer VANOC for initiatives that demonstrate positive and measurable social, economic and environmental impacts through the Vancouver 2010 Sustainability Stars program. This showcase will demonstrate to other parts of the world innovations and methods that could help them achieve an improved quality of life while making a difference in the Vancouver area.
To be awarded a Sustainability Star an innovation must, says VANOC: demonstrate two or more sustainability features (social, economic and/or environmental); be directly linked to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games; and produce a measurable outcome. It must also be new to the Vancouver 2010 Games region or the Games in general or significantly scaled up through the Vancouver 2010 Games. Read more…

Obama: US spending necessary to create ‘green’ industry jobs

By Tom Raum

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — President Obama is promoting new U.S. spending to create tens of thousands of clean-technology jobs.

He outlined the initiative Friday after a weak government jobs report raised new questions about the sustainability of the recovery.

“Building a robust clean energy sector is how we will create the jobs of the future, jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced,” Obama said.

Obama announced $2.3 billion in tax credits — to be paid for from last year’s $787 stimulus package — that he said would create some 17,000 “green” jobs. The money will go to projects including solar, wind and energy management.

He said more than 180 projects in over 40 states — including six projects in Arizona — would receive the tax credits.

He also called for an additional $5 billion in spending for clean energy manufacturing, an idea being promoted by Vice President Joe Biden.

Such initiatives are “an important step toward meeting the goal I’ve set of doubling the amount of renewable power we use in the next three years with wind turbines and solar panels built right here in the U.S. of A.,” Obama said.

Obama spoke after the Labor Department said the U.S. jobless rate was unchanged at 10 percent in December, following a decline the previous month. But the government’s broader measure of unemployment — which includes people who have stopped looking for work or can’t find full-time jobs — ticked up 0.1 percentage point to 17.3 percent.

That, plus the larger-than-expected loss of 85,000 jobs in December, put new pressure on the administration to step up job creation.

“The road to recovery is never straight,” Obama said, although he added that the trend is pointing toward an improving jobs picture.

House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio ridiculed Obama’s effort.

“Instead of wildly pivoting from one issue to the next, the Obama administration needs to listen to American families asking ‘where are the jobs?’ and employers calling on Washington to scrap … policies that are already costing jobs,” Boehner said.

After generating 23 million new jobs during the 1990s, the economy is coming off a lost decade, with no net increase in jobs. Even so, losses have been moderating substantially since mid-2009 as the U.S. economy slowly recovers from its worst recession in decades.