tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39790314504095180332024-03-05T16:13:48.803-08:00Green PrintingParks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-14307101142143164592009-03-31T14:56:00.000-07:002009-03-31T15:02:29.339-07:00Loggers Try to Adapt to Greener Economy<span style="font-size:85%;"><nyt_byline version="1.0" type=" "> </nyt_byline></span><div class="byline"><span style="font-size:85%;">By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/y/william_yardley/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More Articles by William Yardley">WILLIAM YARDLEY</a></span></div><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span> <div class="timestamp"><span style="font-size:85%;">Published: March 28, 2009 </span></div><br />LOWELL, Ore. — Booming timber towns with three-shift lumber mills are a distant memory in the densely forested Northwest. Now, with the housing market and the economy in crisis, some rural areas have never been more raw. Mills keep closing. People keep leaving. Unemployment in some counties is near 20 percent.<br /><br />Yet in parts of the region, the decline is being met by an unlikely optimism. Some people who have long fought to clear-cut the region’s verdant slopes are trying to reposition themselves for a more environmentally friendly economy, motivated by changing political interests, the federal <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/u/united_states_economy/economic_stimulus/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="More articles about economic stimulus.">stimulus package</a> and sheer desperation.<br /><br />Read the rest of the article at the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/business/energy-environment/29forests.html?_r=1&hp">New York Times</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-5046712191645450272008-07-03T08:21:00.000-07:002008-07-03T08:38:00.790-07:00Global Warming Called Security Threat<span style="font-size:78%;">By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/andrew_c_revkin/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More Articles by Andrew C. Revkin">ANDREW C. REVKIN</a> and <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/timothy_williams/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More Articles by Timothy Williams">TIMOTHY WILLIAMS</a> </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/us/15warm.html"></a><br /><br />For the second time in a month, private consultants to the government are warning that human-driven warming of the climate poses risks to the national security of the United States.<br /><p>A report, scheduled to be published on Monday but distributed to some reporters yesterday, said issues usually associated with the environment — like rising ocean levels, droughts and violent weather caused by <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival news about global warming.">global warming</a> — were also national security concerns...<br /></p><p>Read the rest at the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/us/15warm.html">New York Times</a></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-13401047035343576182008-04-24T06:12:00.000-07:002008-04-24T06:14:07.189-07:00Friendly Skies? With Oil Above $100, Aviation Sees Green Appeal<div class="post-date"> April 22, 2008, 11:19 am</div> <div class="post-info"> Posted by Keith Johnson </div> <div class="post-content"> <p>This Earth Day, a high-flying reminder from the Green Continent that what’s environmental is ultimately about what’s economic.</p> <p>The world’s aviation industry says it’s taking climate change seriously, though it’s probably the bottom line that caught its attention. Either way, at the Third annual Aviation and Environment Summit in Geneva, airlines, airports, and aircraft makers <a href="http://www.enviro.aero/declaration.aspx">all pledged for the first time to cut emissions</a>.</p> <div style="width: 200px; float: left; padding-right: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"> <img src="http://s.wsj.net/media/planes_art_200_20080422111304.jpg" style="margin: 0px;" alt="planes_art_200_20080422111304.jpg" height="150" width="200" /><br /> <div style="padding: 0px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 5px; font-size: 11px; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Looking for gas money in the couch. (Associated Press)<br /></div> </div> <p>Aviation accounts for about 2% of global emissions of greenhouse gases, although some scientists say the effect could be magnified because the emissions are high-altitude. Granted, that’s less than half as much as the cement industry—but aviation’s sheer visibility and relentless growth has made it a popular target for climate campaigners.</p> <p>Now, the industry says it’s listening. Companies like Boeing and Airbus, and international aviation trade groups and airports, all signed off on a four-step plan to curb emissions from aviation. The four “pillars”: New technologies, including cleaner fuels; better fuel efficiency in fleets; more efficient air routes and air-traffic management; and “positive economic instruments” to cut GHG wherever it’s “cost-effective.”</p> <p>What’s the common denominator there? Hint: Jet kerosene now costs $145 a barrel. And there’s no easy way to “hedge” against higher fuel prices when crude is $118 a barrel.</p> <p>Higher fuel prices hammer airlines. Fuel has overtaken labor costs as airlines’ No. 1 expense, and that takes some doing. U.S. airlines, already fretful that a slumping economy will stint air travel, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120832627512318985.html?mod=WSJBlog">got drygulched </a>this <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120841362332922443.html?mod=WSJBlog">earnings season </a>by higher fuel prices. Cost savings, even from fuel, is one of the factors behind the Delta-Northwest <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120855829214927583.html?mod=WSJBlog">merger</a>. </p> <p>Airlines got the green bug a few years ago when fuel prices started rising. That explains the appeal of newer aircrafts, like Boeing’s Dreamliner, which uses lighter materials and new-generation engines to cut fuel consumption. Airbus’ big answer, the superjumbo 380, is to pack more passengers into a plane—which means lower unit costs for fuel, among other things. </p> <p>The other pillars in Geneva address the same concerns. Airlines hate zig-zag air traffic routes that make them burn fuel dodging military no-fly zones. Airlines hate antiquated air traffic rules that make them stagger-step down for landing, or circle endlessly, burning extra fuel. And airlines are scared to death that Europe will see them as an easy target as it seeks to revamp economy-wide limits on greenhouse-gas emissions.</p> <p>So what’s the answer? Bail us out, please. The summit’s declaration calls for governments to help finance research into new technology, revamp air traffic, and to make sure that any global climate change accord is “equitable.” In other words, a new meaning for the term “flag carrier.”</p> </div> <div class="post-info"> </div> <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/04/22/friendly-skies-with-oil-above-100-aviation-sees-green-appeal/?mod=WSJBlog" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to Friendly Skies? With Oil Above $100, Aviation Sees Green Appeal" class="permalink"> Permalink </a> | Trackback URL: http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/04/22/friendly-skies-with-oil-above-100-aviation-sees-green-appeal/?<div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-31300181442105137092008-04-22T11:04:00.000-07:002008-04-22T11:15:47.798-07:00Yahoo! Free is Good - Earth Day '08It's not a charity or a business: It's an idea that perfectly good used stuff deserves a home other than the landfill. Instead of throwing out things like furniture, dishes, bikes, and electronics, people in a reuse group give these items away for free to other people in their community who can use them. <a href="http://green.yahoo.com/earth-day/find-a-group.html">Find a local reuse group.</a><br /><br />Also check out their <a href="http://green.yahoo.com/">Yahoo! Green</a> website.<br /><a href="http://green.yahoo.com/"></a><br /><a href="http://green.yahoo.com/earth-day"></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-4800524902089360732008-04-14T06:25:00.000-07:002008-04-14T06:26:25.283-07:00Earth Day, April 22, 2008<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Americans produce enough trash every year to fill a line of garbage trucks that would stretch from the Earth half-way to the moon. That’s 4.6 pounds of trash per person, per day. All of that waste doesn’t have to go to waste, though. With Earth Day approaching Carbonfund.org is asking for your help to turn rubbish into a local, renewable fuel source. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p>Methane landfill biodigesters like the ones that Carbonfund.org supports in New Bedford, Massachusetts typically produce enough electricity to power 850 households and remove 162,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year – the equivalent of planting 49,000 acres of trees. So instead of just wasting trash, we’re urging you to use this Earth Day to put our trash to work for the environment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p>Parks Printing takes our commitment to the environment seriously. That is why we are reducing our carbon footprint with Carbonfund.org and why we asking you to do the same. An alternative energy future awaits us - all it needs is you. With your help we can make renewable energy the norm instead of the alternative, while helping kick our dirty, fossil fuel habit. Reach for the green and support Carbonfund.org’s Earth Day Challenge today!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-27924975870692657962008-04-09T09:00:00.000-07:002008-04-09T09:09:27.591-07:00Paper and Packaging Products Are The Right Choice<span style="font-family:verdana;">MEMPHIS, Tenn. - When people buy paper products, they are doing the earth a </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">favor. That's because paper products are manufactured with wood fiber - the </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">one natural resource in the world that can regenerate itself in harmony </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">with the environment. The best news is we are growing more wood fiber than </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">we use. The forests are growing - not disappearing. There are 12 million </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">more acres of forests in the U.S. today than 20 years ago. Since 1965, the </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">number of trees growing in U.S. forests has increased 39 percent, </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">considering that in the same period of time our population has nearly </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">doubled.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Unlike other raw material, the rapidly growing trees we use to produce wood </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">fiber are perpetually grown and re-grown in forests managed for that </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">purpose. As long as there is sunlight and well-managed forestland, we will </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">have a limitless supply of wood fiber. And, the more renewable wood fiber </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">we use, the less we'll need of alternative resources that will eventually </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">run out.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Only wood fiber can guarantee that a world soon to hold 10 billion people </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">will have the material we need to allow us to build our homes, safely </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">package our food and communicate with each other - all without using </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">alternatives that deplete our natural resources or damage the environment.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">So "saving trees" is not the environmental answer - using more paper and </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">packaging products with wood fiber is.<br /><br />Jay James<br />Division Manager<br /><a href="http://www.xpedx.com/Company/environmental.aspx">xpedx</a> / Dallas<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-48716838759338527302008-03-13T09:56:00.000-07:002008-03-13T09:57:31.762-07:00EPA toughens requirements for cutting smogWASHINGTON - The air in hundreds of U.S. counties is simply too dirty to breathe, the government said Wednesday, ordering a multibillion-dollar expansion of efforts to clean up smog in cities and towns nationwide. <p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>The Environmental Protection Agency announced it was tightening the amount of ozone, a key component of smog, that will be allowed in the air. But the lower standard still falls short of what most health experts say is needed to significantly reduce heart and asthma attacks from breathing smog-clogged air. </p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson called the new limits "the most stringent standards ever," and he said they will require 345 counties — out of more than 700 that are monitored — to make air quality improvements because they now have dirtier air than is healthy to breathe.<br /></p><br />Johnson said that state and local officials have considerable time to meet the requirements — as much as 20 years for some that have the most serious pollution problems. The EPA estimates that by 2020 the number of counties failing to meet the new health standard will drop to about 28. <p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>About 85 counties still fall short of the old standard enacted a decade ago. </p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span><b><strong>Large areas would fail<br /></strong></b>Some of those chronic polluters are far above the old limit — Los Angeles County and a large swatch of southern California, for example, and a long stretch from Washington up to New England on the East Coast. Some areas that would be newly included under the stricter standard include Indianapolis and Cleveland's Cuyahoga County in the Midwest; Mobile, Ala., and Jacksonville, Fla., in the South and El Paso, Texas, and Tulsa, Okla., out West. </p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>All of Florida and Oklahoma currently comply with the smog standard. Nine counties in each state don't meet the tougher requirement. </p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>Johnson's decision was met with sharp criticism from health experts and some members of Congress accused the EPA chief of ignoring the science. The new standard goes counter to the recommendations of two of the agency's scientific advisory panels — one on air quality and the other on protection of children. </p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>The new EPA standard will lower the allowable concentration of ozone in the air to no more than 75 parts per billion, compared with the old standard of 80. </p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span><b><strong>New limits assailed<br /></strong></b>The science boards had told the agency that limits of 60 to 70 parts per billion are needed to protect the nation's most vulnerable citizens, especially children, the elderly and people suffering from asthma and other respiratory illnesses. </p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>"Today's decision means millions of Americans will not get the protection that the law requires," said Bernadette Toomey, president of the American Lung Association, which had strongly urged the EPA to follow the advice of the science boards. </p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>Johnson said he took those recommendations into account, but disagreed with the scientists. "In the end it is a judgment. I followed my obligation. I followed the law. I adhered to the science," Johnson said in a conference call with reporters. </p><p class="textBodyBlack"><span id="byLine"></span>Johnson said he did not consider the cost of meeting the new air standard. States and counties would have to require emission reductions from factories, power plants and cars to meet the tougher health rules. </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-8952593826616978982008-03-06T06:41:00.000-08:002008-03-06T06:48:15.641-08:00Beijing says water a "severe test" it can pass<p> BEIJING (Reuters) - China's capital has been "severely tested" in ensuring there will be enough safe water for the 2008 Olympics but is sure that recycling run-off and tapping additional sources will avoid shortages, a city official said.<span id="midArticle_byline"></span></p><span id="midArticle_0"></span> <p> Beijing lies in the country's arid north, a region where urban growth, industrialization and pollution have strained supplies, forcing the city of 16 million to draw increasingly on declining underground sources.</p><span id="midArticle_1"></span> <p> With the Olympic Games opening in August set to lift demand, Beijing has turned to neighboring Hebei province, enduring a long drought, to supply 300 million cubic meters of "back-up" water through a network of canals.</p><span id="midArticle_2"></span> <p> Northern China has had very little rain or snow throughout the winter, adding to worries. But Zhang Shouquan, a deputy chief of the Beijing water bureau, said athletes and visitors could expect clean, full supplies for pools, taps and a big scenic lake.</p><span id="midArticle_3"></span> <p> "How to ensure water supplies for the Olympic Games period has been a severe test for us," Zhang told the Chinese-language Sohu news Web site (news.sohu.com) in an on-line interview.</p><span id="midArticle_4"></span> <p> "Now our water quality is fine and we can absolutely guarantee supplies for the competitions ... We can certainly ensure the water-quality security for athletes."</p><span id="midArticle_5"></span> <p> Zhang gave apparently contradictory numbers for supply and demand, saying that Beijing planned to supply 3 billion cubic meters of water in 2008, which he said was "much higher than the past year." But he also said that in recent years Beijing had consumed up to 3.5 billion cubic meters of water a year.</p><span id="midArticle_6"></span> <p> "The problem we have now is that, as well as shortfalls in water sources, there is also severe pollution of the aquatic environment," Zhang said. "Our task in cleaning up water is extremely arduous."</p><span id="midArticle_7"></span> But a combination of increased water-saving and recycling, the planned extra supplies from Hebei and tapping underground sources would ensure that the spike in demand could be met, Zhang said.<br /><br /><p> Critics including Dai Qing, a prominent Beijing environmental advocate, have said that the Olympic Games projects are badly straining aquifers, which have already fallen sharply in recent years.</p><span id="midArticle_0"></span> <p> But Zhang appeared to suggest that pumping underground supplies could be safely increased -- for a while.</p><span id="midArticle_1"></span> <p> "We still have abundant underground water," he said. "Although there may be some situations of shortages, we can absolutely guarantee providing water sources under safe transfer conditions for a period of time."</p><span id="midArticle_2"></span> <p> (Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Nick Macfie)</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-34559631946619032512008-02-21T10:21:00.001-08:002008-02-21T10:21:51.193-08:00Homebuilders Reach for High Performance Green Standards<b>ORLANDO, Florida</b>, February 20, 2008 (ENS) - All homebuilders are invited to participate in the U.S. Energy Department's Builders Challenge, a voluntary national energy savings effort to build 220,000 high performance, energy efficient homes by 2012. <p> Energy Department Secretary Samuel Bodman announced the Challenge Thursday at the International Builders Show in Orlando, Florida where 92,000 building industry professionals from around the world convened to see the latest in building products, services and technologies. </p><p>A high performance home would use at least 30 percent less energy than a typical new home built to meet criteria of the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code, Bodman explained. </p><p> Thirty-eight homebuilders have already pledged to build an estimated total of 6,000 high performance homes. </p><p> The goal, Bodman said, is to build 1.3 million homes of this high standard by 2030, allowing Americans to save $1.7 billion in energy costs, or the carbon equivalent of taking 606,000 cars off the road annually. </p><p>"The Department of Energy's Builders Challenge aims to redefine the way homes across this nation produce and use energy," he said. </p> <table align="right" border="0" width="325"> <tbody><tr> <td><img src="http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2008/20080220_home.jpg" height="266" width="325" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td><h5>This energy efficient home in Westminster, Colorado features south face glazing, solar panels on roof, self-powered solar air heater, and a computer to turn lights on and off, raise and lower shades by the weather. <span style="font-size:-2;">(Photo by John Avenson courtesy <a href="http://www.nrel.gov/" target="_blank">NREL</a>)</span> </h5></td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p> Homes account for 21 percent of the energy used in the United States every year, with an average annual utility bill of $1,767. Homebuyers are increasingly concerned about rising energy costs, and the impact of fossil fuels as a major source of greenhouse gases. </p><p>In order to meet Builders Challenge requirements, a high-performance home must score a 70 or lower on DOE's EnergySmart Home Scale, also called the E-Scale, which rates a home's energy performance, enabling homebuyers to make smart energy decisions when purchasing a home. </p><p> An E-Scale label would be placed on a home's electrical panel to identify it as a Department of Energy Builders Challenge home and to provide an understanding of the home's energy efficiency. </p><p> Typical homes built today average a score of 100 on this scale. The Builders Challenge aims for a rating of 70 or lower, making these homes 30 percent more energy efficient than a typical new home. </p><p> The ultimate goal, said Bodman, is to have all new homes rate a zero on this scale. Also called zero-energy homes, these homes produce at least as much energy as they consume. </p><p>The Energy Department is making "builder option packages," available for the Builders Challenge, which provide guidance for building high-performance homes specific to different climate zones. Meeting particular criteria outlined in these packages can also allow homeowners to qualify for a $2,000 federal tax credit enacted in section 1332 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. </p><p> In order to qualify for this credit, each home must have a level of annual heating and cooling energy consumption at least 50 percent below the annual level of heating and cooling energy consumption of a comparable home. </p><p> The Builders Challenge will be easier to meet once the new National Green Building Standard is in place early this spring. </p><p> The National Association of Home Builders, NAHB, which held a Green Day at the show in Orlando, says the national standard will maintain the flexibility of green building practices while providing a common national benchmark for builders, remodelers and developers. </p><p> The National Green Building Standard is based on the three year old NAHB Model Green Home Building Guidelines, but enhanced to include residential remodeling, multifamily building, lot and site development - the first such standards in the country. </p><p> The standard is expected to be approved by the American National Standards Institute, ANSI, and published this spring, a panel of builders and those involved in the standards process told reporters in Orlando. </p><p> Miles Haber, a multifamily developer in Rockville, Maryland, said, "The National Green Building Standard will make it easier for builders to build green. Having this information available in an ANSI standard means that it's in the language that builders don't need a special consultant to understand." </p><p>The National Green Building Standard requires builders to include features in seven categories - energy, water and resource efficiency, lot and site development, indoor environmental quality, and homeowner education. </p> <p align="center"> <span style="font-family:Times New Roman, Times, serif;font-size:-1;">Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2008. All rights reserved.</span> </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-60672770514309587682008-02-14T13:09:00.000-08:002008-02-14T13:14:43.126-08:00The Economy and The Environment<span style="font-family:arial;">Volunteers at the South Plains Food Bank in Lubbock, Texas are doing their part.<br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/892/2487/1600/Growing%20Corn%20at%20the%20South%20Plains%20Food%20Bank%20Farm.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/892/2487/1600/Growing%20Corn%20at%20the%20South%20Plains%20Food%20Bank%20Farm.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In addition to helping the local economy like many food banks do these people are going the extra mile and helping the environment as well.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Exerpt from latest GRUB newsletter: </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This week on the farm we are thinking green. How can we be more ecology-minded and how can we teach the GRUB (GROWING RECRUITS FOR URBAN BUSINESS) kids this important lesson? BY EXAMPLE! I must say that one of my biggest lessons was learned from one of our shareholders, Sara Hanna. Last year following a work day at the farm she asked me where to put plastic waterbottles for recycling. I was embarrassed and ashamed to tell her that we didn't recycle anything but aluminum cans at the farm (and that is only to get $). Sara quietly gathered up all of the plastic bottles and took them with her. This scene has haunted me since. I made a new year's resolution to begin a recycling program at home, and I have stuck to it. I even recycled glass bottles from the farm after kids all had sodas out of glass bottles one week. But how do we truly incorporate this into our lifestyle? Good question. I am starting a "Green Corner" section of the newsletter beginning this week. I welcome input, advice, tips, suggestions, etc. from all of you. Since I have begun my recycling efforts at home I have more questions concerning what is and what isn't recycled in Lubbock (and why). Here's to learning together.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Debbie Cline</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Read More about GRUB at </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.hungershope.org/site/PageServer?pagename=receive_grub">hungershope.org</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-21438947188812113492008-02-12T10:16:00.000-08:002008-02-12T10:18:14.420-08:00Biofuel Crops Increase Carbon EmissionsFrom: <span class="name">, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.organicconsumers.org/">Organic Consumers Association</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.enn.com/editorial_affiliates/41">More from this Affiliate</a></span> <br />Published <span class="date">February 12, 2008 11:25 AM</span> <div style="clear: both;"> <div class="controls"> <img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/31038-1.jpg/medium" /> </div> <span style="display: none;">/pollution/article/31038</span><p><span class="bold">The conversion of forests and grasslands into fields for the plants offsets the benefit of using the fuel, researchers find. Greenhouse-gas output overall would rise instead of fall</span></p><p> The rush to grow biofuel crops -- widely embraced as part of the solution to <a id="KonaLink1" target="_top" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/31038#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="border-bottom: 1px solid green; color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static; padding-bottom: 1px; background-color: transparent;">global </span><span class="kLink" style="border-bottom: 1px solid green; color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static; padding-bottom: 1px; background-color: transparent;">warming</span></span></a> -- is actually increasing greenhouse gas emissions rather than reducing them, according to two studies published Thursday in the journal Science.</p><p> One analysis found that clearing forests and grasslands to grow the crops releases vast amounts of carbon into the air -- far more than the carbon spared from the atmosphere by burning biofuels instead of gasoline.</p><p> "We're rushing into biofuels, and we need to be very careful," said Jason Hill, an economist and ecologist at the University of Minnesota who co-authored the study. "It's a little frightening to think that something this well intentioned might be very damaging."</p><p> Even converting existing farmland from food to biofuel crops increases greenhouse gas emissions as food production is shifted to other parts of the world, resulting in the destruction of more forests and grasslands to make way for farmland, the second study found.</p><p> The analysis calculated that a U.S. cornfield devoted to producing <a id="KonaLink2" target="_top" class="kLink" style="text-decoration: underline ! important; position: static;" href="http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/31038#"><span style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;color:green;" ><span class="kLink" style="color: green ! important; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-size: 12.2px; position: static;">ethanol</span></span></a> would have to be farmed for 167 years before it would begin to achieve a net reduction in emissions.</p><p> "Any biofuel that uses productive land is going to create more greenhouse gas emissions than it saves," said Timothy Searchinger, a researcher at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and the study's lead author.</p><p> The studies prompted 10 prominent ecologists and environmental biologists to write to President Bush and congressional leaders Thursday, urging new policy "that ensures biofuels are not produced on productive forests, grassland or cropland."</p><p> Since 2000, annual U.S. production of corn-based ethanol has jumped from 1.6 billion gallons to 6.5 billion gallons -- supplying about 5% of the nation's fuel for transportation, according to the Renewable Fuels Assn., an industry lobbying group.</p><p> Full Story:<a title=" (Full address: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-sci-biofuel)" href="http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-sci-biofuel8feb08,1,7253036.story?ctrack=2&cset=true"> http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-sci...<br /> 8feb08,1,7253036.story?ctrack=2&cset=true</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-65627992421224981282008-02-05T06:11:00.000-08:002008-02-05T06:12:07.032-08:00Erosion Takes a Toxic Toll in Alaska<div class="navigation" style="border-top: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-top: 5px;"> <strong><a href="http://www.newsdesk.org/archives/civics_society/"></a></strong>January 30, 2008 </div> <p>It has been widely reported that global warming threatens to sweep scores of coastal Alaskan towns into the sea.</p> <p>Now, the Anchorage Daily News reports that severe erosion is also threatening the ocean by dumping toxins from landfills and garbage dumps into the water.</p> <p>"A (dump) is kind of like a Pandora's box of surprises," said Tamar Stephens of the state's Department of Environmental Conservation, the Daily News reported.</p> <p>Among the materials of concern are heavy metals and biological contaminants.</p> <p>The U.S. military has spent millions of dollars to try to halt the erosion at Cold War-era landfills, but funding is in short supply for many small town dumps and some former military bases.</p> <p>At least five military bases threated by tidal erosion have no cleanup scheduled, the paper reported.</p> <p>The Baltimore Sun reported on the quest of Stanley Tom, a resident of Newtok, Alaska, to try to raise funds to relocate his entire village.</p> <p>The mostly Native American town is in such a precarious situation that the next big storm could wipe it out, activist Deborah L. Williams told the Sun.</p> <p>"The situation is very urgent," she told the newspaper. The area's permafrost is "melting like chocolate ice cream in the sun."</p> <p>Newtok is just one of 180 Alaskan towns that are threatened with extinction as increasingly rapid erosion sweeps them into the ocean.</p> <p>Historically, sea ice has protected the land from the brunt of winter storms, but scientists say that global warming has reduced the amount of sea ice, causing erosion to accelerate.</p> <p><i>--Will Crain/Newsdesk.org</i></p> <p><b>Sources:</b></p> <p><a href="http://www.adn.com/189/story/287263.html" target="_blank">"Fierce erosion sweeps wastes into Alaska waters"</a><br />Anchorage Daily News, Jan. 18, 2008</p> <p><a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.alaska13jan13,0,6758313.story" target="_blank">"Warming menaces Alaska villages"</a><br />Baltimore Sun, Jan 13, 2008</p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-91506488110887251322008-02-01T07:21:00.000-08:002008-02-01T07:25:07.583-08:00Environmental Dilemma<span style="font-family: arial;">Over the last several years a new trend is developing in the big-box retailers across the country: floor-ready garments shipped directly from the manufacturer to the clothing retailer stores. These garments are pre-hung and pre-ticketed before shipping so that all the individual store has to do is to open the box and hang up the garment. </span> <p style="font-family: arial;">But this convenience comes at a huge cost. With this new supply trend municipal landfills are receiving millions more hangers than in years past.1 Add on top of that the expected lifespan of most hangers on display: sometimes 2-3 months, often just weeks or days. The result is an environmental catastrophe. </p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><a href="javascript://"><img src="http://www.dittohangers.com/images/chart01.jpg" style="margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 20px;" onclick="MM_openBrWindow('chart01.php','','width=370,height=270')" align="left" border="0" height="149" width="194" /></a>Plastic and wire hangers have become so commonplace in the retail environment that they have become virtually invisible. That is until it’s time to dispose of them. Municipal recyclers won’t and can’t take them. Made of 7 different types of low-grade plastic (if marked at all), they are extremely difficult to identify and segregate on a rapidly moving recycling line. Made from multiple materials (plastic, wire, non-slip vinyl pads, etc.) the components are costly to separate. Most of all wire hooks are notorious for jamming the lofting cams in expense recycling machinery, bringing entire recycling lines to a grinding halt. </p> <p style="font-family: arial;">So where do all these plastic hangers go? Every year an estimated 8-10 billion unrecyclable plastic/wire hangers end up clogging our municipal landfills, requiring over 1,000 years to break down. That's 4.6 Empire State Buildings full of plastic hangers--every year. An estimated 3.5 million wire hangers end up in landfills and can take over 100 years to decompose. </p> <p style="font-family: arial;">And once in landfills these billions of hangers leach dangerous chemicals into our ground water, chemicals such as Benzene ([6] PS-Polystyrene) a known carcinogen and hormone disruptor Biphenyl-A ([7] PS-Polycarbonate) into our ground water.</p> <p style="font-family: arial;"><a href="javascript://"><img src="http://www.dittohangers.com/images/chart02.jpg" style="margin-left: 15px; margin-top: 5px;" onclick="MM_openBrWindow('chart02.php','','width=370,height=270')" align="right" border="0" height="139" width="163" /></a>Groundbreaking Ditto Hangers solve these industry-wide problems by designing hangers made from the most widely recycled materials in the world: Recycled Paper and PET Plastic. By choosing these two vastly different materials we provide an alternative for both the short-term “floor-ready” system and the longer requirements of floor reused hangers. </p> <p style="font-family: arial;">Either way, once the product’s lifespan is at an end, it continues to become a valuable, recyclable material for many other product generations.<br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" >From <a href="http://www.dittohangers.com/environmental_dilemma.php">dittohanger.com</a></span><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-29241194163575148812008-01-24T06:15:00.000-08:002008-01-24T06:17:24.196-08:00How green printing can make a good impression<span class="author">By <a href="http://www.grist.org/cgi-bin/search.pl?query=gristauthor=%28Joel%20Makower%29&reverse=on&sort=gristdate" title="More by Joel Makower">Joel Makower</a></span> <div class="date">03 Jan 2006</div> <!-- SwishCommand noindex --><div class="tools"><a href="javascript:showTools('tools2Top');"><span id="toolsMoreTop"><br /></span></a><a href="javascript:hideTools('tools2Top');"><span id="toolsLessTop" style="display: none;">(less)</span></a> </div> <div id="tools2Top" style="display: none;"> <div class="share"> <strong>Share:</strong> <a href="http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grist.org%2Fbiz%2Ftp%2F2006%2F01%2F03%2Fprinting%2Findex.html&topic=environment&title=How%20green%20printing%20can%20make%20a%20good%20impression"><span>digg</span></a> | <a href="http://www.hugg.com/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grist.org%2Fbiz%2Ftp%2F2006%2F01%2F03%2Fprinting%2Findex.html"><span>hugg</span></a> | <a href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grist.org%2Fbiz%2Ftp%2F2006%2F01%2F03%2Fprinting%2Findex.html&title=How%20green%20printing%20can%20make%20a%20good%20impression"><span>stumbleupon</span></a> | <a href="http://reddit.com/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grist.org%2Fbiz%2Ftp%2F2006%2F01%2F03%2Fprinting%2Findex.html&title=How%20green%20printing%20can%20make%20a%20good%20impression"><span>reddit</span></a> | <a href="http://www.newsvine.com/_wine/save?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grist.org%2Fbiz%2Ftp%2F2006%2F01%2F03%2Fprinting%2Findex.html&h=How%20green%20printing%20can%20make%20a%20good%20impression"><span>newsvine</span></a> | <a href="http://cgi.fark.com/cgi/fark/submit.pl?new_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grist.org%2Fbiz%2Ftp%2F2006%2F01%2F03%2Fprinting%2Findex.html&title=How%20green%20printing%20can%20make%20a%20good%20impression"><span>fark</span></a> | <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grist.org%2Fbiz%2Ftp%2F2006%2F01%2F03%2Fprinting%2Findex.html&title=How%20green%20printing%20can%20make%20a%20good%20impression"><span>facebook</span></a> </div> <div class="bookmark"> <strong>Bookmark:</strong> <a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grist.org%2Fbiz%2Ftp%2F2006%2F01%2F03%2Fprinting%2Findex.html&title=How%20green%20printing%20can%20make%20a%20good%20impression"><span>del.icio.us</span></a> | <a href="http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&bkmk=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grist.org%2Fbiz%2Ftp%2F2006%2F01%2F03%2Fprinting%2Findex.html&title=How%20green%20printing%20can%20make%20a%20good%20impression"><span>google</span></a> | <a href="http://myweb.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grist.org%2Fbiz%2Ftp%2F2006%2F01%2F03%2Fprinting%2Findex.html&t=How%20green%20printing%20can%20make%20a%20good%20impression"><span>yahoo</span></a> </div> </div> <!-- Start "Related Media" --> <!-- End "Related Media" --> Look around your workplace, and you'll likely find plenty of printed material, from business cards to brochures to books. Printing words and images on paper may seem like one of the more environmentally benign things your company does, but that isn't necessarily the case. If you examine the life cycle of printed matter -- from turning trees into paper through the witch's brew of chemicals involved -- professional printing takes on a decidedly non-green hue.<br /><br />The explosion of web and digital technology doesn't seem to have changed things -- as one pundit put it, the paperless office has turned out to be about as practical as the paperless bathroom. But if you still have to print, go green.<br /><br />Green printing is on a roll, moving beyond small, do-good companies and activist groups to larger corporations and government agencies that have mandates to purchase greener goods and services. As demand for green printing has grown, so too has the number of printers offering such services -- or, at least, claiming to.<br /><br />It's about time. The mechanics of most types of printing haven't changed much over the past half-century. Lithography and gravure -- the methods typically used to print books, magazines, and catalogs -- employ plates, which are used to apply ink to paper. Typically, the process involves a variety of inks, solvents, acids, resins, lacquers, dyes, driers, extenders, modifiers, varnishes, shellacs, and other solutions. Only a few of these ingredients end up directly on the printed page. The balance are used to produce films, printing plates, gravure cylinders, or proofs, or to clean printing plates or presses.<div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-86741097586325781562008-01-15T06:25:00.000-08:002008-01-15T06:26:33.587-08:00Tap vs. Bottled–What Should You Drink?<em>Glug, glug, glug--</em>that’s the sound a ginormous number of us make as we sip bottled water in our cars, at the gym, behind our desks. <div id="yf-article-body"><div class="dtk-art-body"><div class="dtk-art-text"><p>The sound you DON’T hear is the <em>thwack</em> of 60 million bottles a day being tossed into U.S. landfills, where they can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.</p><p>If that’s not enough to turn your conscience a brighter shade of green, add this: Producing those bottles burns through 1.5 million barrels of crude oil annually--enough fuel to keep 100,000 cars running for a year. Recycling helps but reusing is even better. Invest in a couple of portable, dishwasher-safe, stainless steel bottles like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GF9GLI?ie=UTF8&tag=ra%5Ffoodbitesblog-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000GF9GLI">Klean Kanteens</a> that won’t leach nasty chemicals into your water. (Don’t get into the habit of refilling the water bottle you just emptied; the polyethylene terephthalate it’s made of breaks down with multiple usings.)<br /><br /><strong>4 REASONS TO TURN ON THE TAP </strong></p><p><strong>1. Tap water is tested daily</strong><br />Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, water suppliers are <em>required</em> to provide an annual report on the quality of your local water and to test tap water daily. By comparison, the FDA examines bottled water only weekly, and consumers can’t get the agency’s results. You can easily get the lowdown on your state’s drinking water quality at <a href="http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo/index.html">http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo/index.html</a></p><p><strong>2. Tap water is a bargain</strong> <br />Bottled water costs about 500 times more than tap. If you’re into really fancy labels, up to 1,000 times more. </p><p><strong>3. Tap water is a tooth saver<br /></strong>It has more fluoride than bottled water, which helps prevent tooth decay. (Yes, you never outgrow your need for fluoride.)</p><p><strong>4. Tap water is often tasty</strong><br />Some places (New York City for one) have delicious water, but if you don’t love the flavor of yours, the solution is simple: Run your tap water through a Brita or Pur filter to remove most tastes and odors. The average home filter goes for $8.99 and produces the equivalent of 300 large (16.9 ounce) bottles of water. That’s about $0.03 cents a bottle, versus the $1.25 or so you’d pay in a market. </p><p><strong>One last thing:</strong> Don't just think about making this switch; actually do it. Today. It does the world <em>and</em> you good. Plus, allowing nagging, unfinished tasks (known as NUTs) to go undone can make your <a href="http://www.realage.com/?cbr=YAH07">RealAge</a> 8 years older!</p> </div> </div> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-762443636272591242008-01-14T07:37:00.000-08:002008-01-14T07:47:55.587-08:00How to Buy Sustainable Products<span style="font-family: arial;">By <a href="http://www.worldwise.com/buysusprod.html">WorldWise.com</a><br /><br />Here's a handy list of questions that give general clues as to the environmental sustainability of a product. While a scientific product lifecycle analysis is much more complex than this, reading labels with these questions in mind will be helpful when choosing products.</span><br /><br /><b style="font-family: arial;">1. Do I really want the product?</b><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Ask this question first. When you take a good look at what you are buying, you may find that you are buying a lot of things you don't really need or even want (even if they are "green"). When appropriate, buy an already existing second-hand product over a new one (such as antique furniture and used books).</span><br /><br /><b style="font-family: arial;">2. Is this product made from renewable or recycled resources, and taken in a sustainable way?</b><br /> <span style="font-family: arial;font-family:verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:85%;" ><li>Are the ingredients/materials listed? </li><li>What are the ingredients/ materials used that are not listed? </li><li>Any warning labels or environmental claims? </li><li>In looking at the lifecycle of the product itself, are the raw materials <i>renewable</i> (plant, animal, earth) or <i>nonrenewable</i> (metals and petrochemicals). </li><li>If a product is made from paper, plastic, glass, metal or rubber, does it contain recycled content? </li><li>Does the label indicate the materials used are organically grown, sustainably harvested, or have other explanations that describe sustainability?<br /><br /><b>3. Is this product safe for me and the environment?</b><br />There are now many safe, healthy, nontoxic alternatives available.<br /><br /><b>4. Is this product practical and durable, well made, of good quality, with a timeless design?</b><br />Considering environmental costs, there is less impact from quality products that last. Superior goods more than pay for themselves in long-term durability and satisfaction.<br /><br /><b>5. Is there any information about the manufacturing practices that tells of environmental improvements?</b><br />This is the area where there is the greatest environmental impact and the least information given. If no information is available, we can make assumptions based on our general knowledge such as recycled paper using less water and energy in the manufacturing process than virgin paper.<br /><br /><b>6. How will the product be disposed of and what will be the environmental impact?</b><br />Is it biodegradable? If it cannot be used up, cannot be added to your compost pile or be safely run down the drain, take it to local recyclers for safe disposability.<br /><br /><b>7. What kind of packaging does the product have?</b><br />Purchasing in bulk using recyclable containers is best. Glass, metal, paper, and some plastic packaging is also readily recyclable.<br /><br /><b>Some choices are fairly obvious</b>, such as choosing between a toxic drain cleaner with lye that eats through skin, or one that’s nontoxic. Other choices are more difficult because of the complex web of both our needs and environmental concerns.<br /><br /><b><i>Each choice we make affects the world around us and being wiser about them makes our world a better place for all of us.</i></b></li></span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">For more information read the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.worldwise.com/wiseguide.html">wiseguide</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> at worldwise.com</span><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-26276288466039582082008-01-11T06:21:00.000-08:002008-01-11T06:58:49.934-08:00Use Community: Smaller Footprints, Cooler Stuff and More Cash<p style="font-family: arial;">By <a href="http://www.worldchanging.com/alex_bio.html">Alex Steffen</a><br /><br />If we want to build a society which is both prosperous and sustainable, we're going to need to innovate ways of delivering the material goods which underpin that prosperity at a small fraction of the ecological cost they exact today. We must learn to live large while leaving tiny ecological footprints.</p> <p style="font-family: arial;">We have extremely huge footprints today. If every person lived as the average wealthy American does today, we'd need almost ten planets worth of resources to sustain ourselves, while the gap between our consumption and the capacities of the planet's natural systems has already crossed into overshoot, threatening mass-extinctions and catastrophic climate change.</p> <p style="font-family: arial;">If we're going to have a bright green future -- if we want to avoid living out the rest of our lives in one long emergency, a kind of constant Katrina -- we need to reinvent our lives now, immediately, on a radical scale. British researchers found that in order to reach sustainable prosperity, Londoners would have to shrink their ecological impacts 80% in the next four decades. For affluent Americans, the number may be more like 90%. And the more we learn about the extent of the damage we're causing the planet, the shorter our timeframes for change become. I suspect that we need to be thinking more along the lines of cutting our impact in half in the next ten years.</p> <p style="font-family: arial;">Impossible, you say? I think not.<br /><br />I believe that three main barriers present themselves...</p><p><span style="font-family:arial;">To read the rest go to </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/006082.html">WorldChanging.com</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-86583357248199894772008-01-10T06:24:00.000-08:002008-01-11T06:31:29.791-08:00Cadillac out to beat Lexus to zero-emission luxury<div style="clear: both; font-family: arial;"> <div class="controls"> <div id="related"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div></div> <span style="display: none;">/sci-tech/article/28941</span><div style="text-align: left;"><img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/28941-1.jpg/medium" />By Kevin Krolicki</div> <div style="text-align: center;"> </div> <p> LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - General Motors Corp, looking to regain momentum against Toyota Motor Corp, sees a chance to beat the Japanese automaker to market with the first zero-emission luxury car.</p><p> GM seized the spotlight at a technology conference this week to show off a hydrogen- and battery-powered Cadillac concept car designed to run up to 100 miles per hour while emitting only water vapor.</p><p> Executives said the Cadillac Provoq fuel-cell concept vehicle showed GM is serious about challenging Toyota and its Lexus luxury brand for sales to the growing number of wealthy buyers looking to make an environmental statement on the road.</p><p> "We think we'll be able to take back some of the ground that Toyota owns today," said Cadillac general manager Jim Taylor, part of a team of GM executives who unveiled the Provoq concept outside of the established circuit of auto trade shows.</p><p> Taylor said Cadillac had suffered in competition with Lexus in California and other markets because of Toyota's lead in developing fuel-saving hybrid variants and in becoming recognized as the environmentally sensitive choice.</p><p> "We've got a misperception -- particularly on the West Coast -- that we're not working on this, that we're not interested in this," Taylor said of GM.</p><p> GM's hope is that the fuel-cell powered Cadillac Provoq (pronounced "provoke") will challenge that view and build on the positive reception for the Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid GM is rushing to market in another effort to beat Toyota.</p><p> The Volt and the Provoq are intended to run on GM's "E-Flex" architecture, a system the automaker is developing for a range of upcoming electrically driven vehicles.</p><p> For now, GM is sticking with an aggressive goal of selling the Volt by 2010, while also conceding that launch date could be delayed because of the challenge of developing a new generation of powerful lithium-ion batteries.</p><p> GM, like other major automakers, typically declines to specify whether concept cars like the Provoq will be turned into showroom models, a process that can take three to four years. </p><p> ROAD READY?</p><p> But GM executives in Las Vegas this week for the Consumer Electronics Show said the largest U.S. automaker was already developing the fifth-generation fuel-cell stack needed to power the Provoq and expected to take that version into production.</p><p> GM, which believes it has a lead in fuel-cell technology, said the fuel-cell stack shown in the Provoq was half the size of its current version with more power.</p><p> GM's fourth-generation fuel-cell technology, which combines stored hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity, is being used in a test group of 100 vehicles that the automaker calls the largest experimental fleet of its kind.</p><p> Cadillac's Taylor also said GM's luxury brand represented the logical choice for the automaker's first widely available fuel-cell vehicle first because its wealthier customers were willing -- and in some cases eager -- to pay more for cutting-edge technology.</p><p> "That's been our mission as part of the GM family," Taylor said.</p><p> Historically, GM has used Cadillac to roll out a range of technologies that found wide application -- like its OnStar communications service -- and some that fizzled like night-vision, he said.</p><p> GM is not alone in pushing for a wider roll-out of fuel-cell technology that had been confined to test labs until recently. Honda Motor Co Ltd will begin leasing a small number of its FCX Clarity fuel-cell sedans to drivers in Southern California later this year for $600 per month as part of a three-year program.</p><p> "There's been a lot of process in fuel cells since we've been working on them, more than some skeptics thought," GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner told reporters.</p><p> But Wagoner cautioned that the success of fuel-cell vehicles depended on bringing down their cost and increasing the number of hydrogen refueling stations from the current handful in markets such as Los Angeles.</p><p> "Putting in a hydrogen infrastructure is going to be challenging and it's going to require some vision and leadership at the government level. Will that happen here? Maybe. Will it happen in China? Maybe," Wagoner said.</p><p> (Editing by Steve Orlofsky)</p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-66676636281055348332008-01-08T06:37:00.000-08:002008-01-08T06:42:13.848-08:00Guide to Buying “Green” Paper<span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > 28 Nov 2007</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > Brussels, Belgium – From packaging paper to office paper and tissues, the </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >WWF Guide to Buying Paper </span><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >makes it easy for any organization to understand the most important environmental impacts of paper-making and to source responsibly-produced paper products, thus reducing their environmental footprint.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > The new guide — launched today at the European paper industry’s annual Paper Week — includes a </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/forests/our_solutions/responsible_forestry/forest_conversion_agriculture/paper_scorecard/index.cfm">scorecard</a><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > that enables buyers to evaluate the environmental performance of current and future suppliers on recycling, responsible forest management, pollution and climate change. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > The guide also provides recommendations on how to work with suppliers towards improvements. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >Taking responsibility</span><br /><span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > Paper has been an integral part of our cultural development and is essential for modern life. But the world´s paper consumption has quadrupled in the last 40 years and is growing further. </span><br /><p style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" > This tremendous expansion threatens the last remaining natural forests, and the people and wildlife who depend on them, in many regions around the world. Pulp and paper processing also releases vast amounts of greenhouse gases and a wide range of polluting compounds into the environment.<br /><br />"Paper buyers and producers need to take responsibility for their activities," said Duncan Pollard, WWF International's Conservation Practice and Policy Director.</p> <p style="font-family: arial;" face="arial">"We will now intensify the work with organizations buying large amounts of paper to implement the recommendations outlined in the new guide. It is important that paper buyers influence their suppliers to minimize their environmental impacts on biodiversity loss, climate change and water and air pollution.”<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Responsible buying</span><br />The need for a buyers' guide to responsible paper purchasing and use emerged from discussions WWF had with a number of major paper buyers: Canon, IKEA, Lafarge, McDonald’s and Unilever. Other buyers have also expressed interest in the new WWF tools.<br /><br />"We welcome these new WWF initiatives in enhancing the environmental performance of the paper industry," said Bob Latham from the Paper Merchant Robert Horne.<br /><br />"They help to improve transparency and data access. It is vital that paper producers and suppliers provide sufficient and verifiable information to buyers so that they can make informed choices. The WWF Paper Guide can certainly help here."<br /><br />Tetra Pak sees the <span style="font-style: italic;">WWF Guide for Buying Paper</span> as an important tool for understanding the environmental performance of the forest and paper industries.<br /><br />"The guide provides comparable data for buyers and decision-makers," said Lena Dahl, Forest Policy Officer at Tetra Pak International.</p> <p style="font-family: arial;">"Tetra Pak has been assessing its global paper board suppliers' performance for a number of years, evaluating nearly the same parameters. We are now investigating whether we can take some lessons from the WWF Paper Scorecard and incorporate these into our supplier evaluation." </p> <p style="font-family: arial;">"The Scorecard captures a selection of important environmental parameters and presents them in a way that is easy to understand," added Björn Lyngfelt, Vice President of Communications at SCA Forest Products.</p> <span style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" >"We have applied the scoring system on its products and will make the results available to its customers. As for all market instruments, at the end of the day it is the paper customers that will decide the usefulness of the Scorecard.” </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> WWF will credit transparency and responsibility of paper buyers and producers by offering its new Paper Toolbox as a web-based “meeting place” and resource centrr on environmental issues.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">Read the guide and get more information at </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/forests/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=118100">Panda.org</a><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-65583975279013003262008-01-07T09:23:00.000-08:002008-01-07T09:47:46.814-08:00Official: Organic Really is Better<p style="font-family:arial;">By <span class="byline"> Jon Ungoed-Thomas</span><br /><br />THE biggest study into organic food has found that it is more nutritious than ordinary produce and may help to lengthen people's lives. </p><p style="font-family: arial;"> The evidence from the £12m four-year project will end years of debate and is likely to overturn government advice that eating organic food is no more than a lifestyle choice.<br /></p><p style="font-family: arial;"> The study found that organic fruit and vegetables contained as much as 40% more antioxidants, which scientists believe can cut the risk of cancer and heart disease, Britain’s biggest killers. They also had higher levels of beneficial minerals such as iron and zinc. </p><p style="font-family: arial;"> Professor Carlo Leifert, the co-ordinator of the European Union-funded project, said the differences were so marked that organic produce would help to increase the nutrient intake of people not eating the recommended five portions a day of fruit and vegetables. “If you have just 20% more antioxidants and you can’t get your kids to do five a day, then you might just be okay with four a day,” he said. </p><p style="font-family: arial;"> This weekend the Food Standards Agency confirmed that it was reviewing the evidence before deciding whether to change its advice. Ministers and the agency have said there are no significant differences between organic and ordinary produce. </p><p style="font-family: arial;"> Researchers grew fruit and vegetables and reared cattle on adjacent organic and nonorganic sites on a 725-acre farm attached to Newcastle University, and at other sites in Europe. They found that levels of antioxidants in milk from organic herds were up to 90% higher than in milk from conventional herds. </p><p style="font-family: arial;"> As well as finding up to 40% more antioxidants in organic vegetables, they also found that organic tomatoes from Greece had significantly higher levels of antioxidants, including flavo-noids thought to reduce coronary heart disease. </p><p><span style="font-family:arial;"> Leifert said the government was wrong about there being no difference between organic and conventional produce. “There is enough evidence now that the level of good things is higher in organics,” he said.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Reprinted from the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article2753446.ece">London Times</a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Read more about organic food and living at </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.drgreene.com/555560.html">DrGreene.com</a><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-32829332828602724492008-01-02T08:25:00.000-08:002008-01-02T13:56:26.466-08:00China's Pollution Problem Goes Global<h3 style="text-align: left; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: normal;font-size:100%;" ></span></h3><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Can the world survive China's headlong rush to emulate the American way of life?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">By Jacques Leslie</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:100%;" >WESTBOUND ON THE EASTBOUND BEIJING EXPRESSWAY</span> </span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Long before Mr. Zhang's crowning highway maneuver, I'd realized that his flamboyant unpredictability was an asset. I'd hired him as driver and guide for a three-day trip from Beijing to Inner Mongolia on the recommendation of a Chinese environmentalist who'd enumerated all of Mr. Zhang's virtues except the most important—his suppleness under pressure, which would enable us to overcome the obstacles that are a constant feature of travel in China.<br /><br />Of course, Mr. Zhang's chief qualification was that he was an environmentalist, or, more precisely, a fellow environmental-disaster tracker. Now, having toured choked rivers, depleted forests, and grasslands that had ceded to encroaching deserts, we were near the end of our trip, with nothing in front of us but a two-hour jaunt down the broad, brutish Beijing Badaling Expressway to the capital. Ms. Lei, my delicate translator, had announced her wish to get back to Beijing before her four-year-old boy went to bed, and we were running late. Mr. Zhang's swashbuckling solution was a "shortcut": Instead of fighting his way along the paved, but circuitous, road to the highway, he sped down a narrow dirt path that held the promise of providing a more direct route. Within minutes he was doubling back on himself, loudly grinding gears as he cut through dust-shrouded cornfields and drought-stricken cherry orchards while peasants leaped out of our way and into the foliage. By the time Mr. Zhang found the expressway, the shortcut had cost us an hour.<br /><br />I already knew that China's roads are some of the world's most dangerous. A quarter of a million people die on them each year—6 times as many as in the United States, even though Americans possess 18 times as many cars—and the entire system is plagued with soul-withering traffic jams prompted by police inspectors who extract "fees" from coal-truck drivers. Lines of trucks often extend behind inspection stations for miles; truckers have waited in them for as long as two weeks.000 And now we couldn't get on the expressway because traffic was at a standstill behind a toll station. An abhorrer of inertia, Mr. Zhang cut across six lanes to the only booth with a short line and cockily paid the toll. For a moment we basked in his NASCARish dexterity. Then he slammed on the brakes. In front of us, the road was clogged with coal trucks lined up behind an inspection station far down the road. We'd been funneled into a classic Chinese bottleneck.<br /><br />Unfazed, Mr. Zhang made a 180-degree turn and headed west on the eastbound expressway. I braced for the inevitable crash. Then, just before we regained the toll station, he swung right and headed for the center divider, past a gigantic, disabled semi stuck perpendicularly to the flow of cars. The half-dozen policemen who stood around the truck gave no sign of noticing us. Through a gap in the divider, Mr. Zhang found an eastbound lane reserved for passenger cars and turned into it; as we sped toward Beijing, we saw that the line of motionless coal trucks extended for miles. Drivers dozed or ate dinner on top of their cargo. On this tottering foundation, the world's most dynamic economy has been erected. What globalization offers, it also takes away.<br /><br />To read the rest of the article go to <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/01/the-last-empire.html">MotherJones.com</a></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-48446771184729924632007-12-28T06:19:00.000-08:002007-12-28T06:28:50.732-08:00New Years Resolutions Go Green<div style="text-align: left;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span></div><span style="font-family:arial;">Start the New Year with Steps toward Helping the Environment!</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">By <a href="http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/lindalm">Linda McDonnell</a><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold;">When you're making your New Years resolutions, try adding a few environment-friendly practices you can follow all year to help save the planet.</span><br /><br />This New Year why not make a few resolutions to help keep the environment healthy. Simple changes in daily routines followed throughout the year can make a difference. Below are some suggestions that are easy to do and can set you on the road to sustainable living. Some may even save money as well as helping the environment.</span><div style="text-align: left;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"></span> </div><ul style="text-align: left;font-family:arial;"><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Reuse shopping bags, or better yet, get a durable bag to carry with you to the grocery store and on all your shopping trips.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Buy locally made and grown products. They usually require less packaging and eliminate the environmental costs of long-distance transport. The added bonus is that local fruits and vegetables are often fresher, and locally produced goods help support your own community.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Buy fewer disposable items. Look for long-lasting goods that won’t have to be replaced as often. You’ll reduce waste and save landfill space.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Compost leaves and garden trimmings. The compost will improve your garden soil while reducing waste.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">While you’re shopping with your reusable shopping bag, look for products with recycled content. Buying recycled closes the cycle by putting resources back into use.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">If possible, find a carpool partner to share your daily commute. Carpooling helps reduce air pollution and traffic congestion. It could mean room for more trees if less land is needed for highways!</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">If one of your resolutions is to get more exercise, try doing your shopping and errands on foot as part of your exercise program. Walking will help keep automobile pollution down and, like carpooling, help ease traffic congestion.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">If you have a ceiling fan that’s reversible, don't forget about it when summer ends. In winter, set it to rotate clockwise at low speed. As heated air rises, the fan will distribute it downward to keep you warmer without turning up the thermostat.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Switch to environmentally friendly commercial laundry soaps.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">More exercise! In sunny weather, dry your laundry the old fashioned way: outdoors on a clothesline. You'll save energy by not using the dryer.</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Try using natural, home-made cleansers instead of chemical ones. Here are a few simple recipes: For an all-purpose cleanser, mix ½ cup vinegar in one quart of water (reduce water for hard jobs). Use it in a spray bottle. Instead of commercial fabric softener, add ¼ cup (or less) borax to the laundry wash cycle. To deodorize and soften laundry, add one cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle.</span></li></ul><p style="text-align: left;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Starting the New Year with a few environmental resolutions can offer the satisfaction of knowing you’re doing something positive toward ecological sustainability.</span></p><p><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >From <a href="http://greenliving.suite101.com/">GreenLiving.com</a></span><br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-78384380047199334562007-12-20T10:38:00.001-08:002007-12-28T06:31:40.791-08:00Carbon Free Book<h4>An Interview With Author And Offsetter Larry Nocella</h4> <span class="stressentry"><p>Did you ever consider the greenhouse gas costs of publishing a novel? Author Larry Nocella did. His new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1425713815/ref=pd_rvi_gw_1/104-6513560-3795937?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155"><i>Where Did This Come From?</i></a> is the world’s first CarbonFree™ novel. </p> <p> Read on for our complete interview with award-winning author Larry Nocella about his novel <i>Where Did This Come From?</i> and his decision to offset with <a href="http://www.carbonfund.org/">Carbonfund.org</a>.</p><p><br /></p></span> <p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.carbonfund.org/site/uploads/nocella-thumbnail.gif" alt="image" name="image" border="0" height="160" width="104" /><br /><br /></div><p>Larry Nocella is Carbonfund.org’s first author to <a href="http://www.carbonfund.org/">offset the emissions</a> from a book publication, placing him on the cutting edge of writers and artists who seek ways to reduce their greenhouse gas output. </p> <p> Based in the fictional South American nation of Palagua, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1425713815/ref=pd_rvi_gw_1/104-6513560-3795937?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155"><i>Where Did This Come From?</i></a> follows the Huapi tribe’s desperate struggle for survival. When a leading U.S. toy manufacturer discovers a rare and beautiful crystal on the Huapi’s sacred land, mining operations begin immediately. Christmas shopping season is coming, and Crystal Clay is by far the top seller. Soon the Huapi find themselves and the jungle that supports them on the brink of annihilation. Can they hope to resist the desire of consumers who never bother to ask, <i>Where Did This Come From?</i> </p> <p> Carbonfund.org recently chatted with Larry Nocella about the novel and his decision to offset the carbon emissions associated with publishing it. </p> <p> <b>Carbonfund.org: Where did the inspiration for this novel come from?</b> </p> <p>Larry Nocella: It all began as I learned about what happens to animals as they are changed from living beings into what we call food. After watching a few documentaries on factory-farming, my stomach (and my conscience) turned and I decided to pursue being a vegetarian. </p> <p> That journey led me to question more than just food. I wondered about the origin of all things we purchase and the unknown impact we cause. Whether it’s food, sneakers, diamonds, oil, or chocolate, everything we consume has a mysterious and, sadly, often tragic story behind it. Demand drives the world. </p> <p> At first encounter, that realization can make you feel powerless, but then you realize your decisions matter, and therefore you can make a positive difference, so with the right attitude, coming through that ignorance, striving against it, is empowering. </p> <p> <b>CF: When did you get the idea to offset the carbon generated by publishing the book?</b> </p> <p> LN: They were born together. The title of the novel, <i>Where Did This Come From?</i>, paired with the physical book itself, is a summary of the unanswerable question that forms the core of the plot. </p> <p> I also prefer to lead by example. It didn’t make sense for me to raise all these questions and not even try to make a difference. I don’t believe that’s helpful. A lot of writing raises questions, but the writer doesn’t take a shot at a solution. I like to lead the charge toward brainstorming a solution. </p> <p> <b>CF: How did Carbonfund.org come to be your choice for a carbon offsetter?</b> </p> <p> LN: In short, simplicity. I looked at a few different carbon offsetters, and they wanted me to do a large amount of research. My thought was: but that’s what you’re for; I’m busy writing. Carbonfund.org made it simple: I got quick answers on what I had to do to become CarbonFree. It also adds one more aspect of the book to think about and discuss. </p> <p> <i>Where Did This Come From?</i> is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1425713815/ref=pd_rvi_gw_1/104-6513560-3795937?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155">available from Amazon.com</a>. Also, be sure to take a look at <a href="http://www.larrynocella.com/">Larry Nocella’s website</a>. </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-77363222432887136642007-12-17T10:37:00.000-08:002007-12-28T06:30:27.281-08:00Toy firms under fire over toxic Christmas<p><span style="font-style: italic;">As you finish your Christmas shopping, you might think twice before grabbing just any toy off the shelf for your little ones. Many toys have harmful chemicals in them that consumers are unaware of. But don't fret - there is a new website that has information on the most popular toys and whether they contain harmful chemicals or not. So before you run to the store for those last minute gifts, take a few minutes to browse the list first.</span><br /></p><p>New web site allows consumers to check if their kids' Christmas presents contain toxic nasties</p> <p>With toy firms looking to cash in on the Christmas shopping boom, pressure on them to remove hazardous chemicals from their products stepped up a notch today with the launch of a web site designed to allow consumers to easily check if their products contain harmful chemicals.</p> The <a href="http://www.healthytoys.org/" target="_blank">Healthy Toys</a> site is based on research from US environmental group <a href="http://www.ecologycenter.org/" target="_blank">The Ecology Center</a> that assessed 1,200 popular children's toys for toxic chemicals capable of harming human health or the environment, including lead, PVC, cadmium, arsenic, bromine and tin. It allows consumers to search by product name and gain information on its chemical content.<div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3979031450409518033.post-32203578568157972232007-12-14T11:03:00.001-08:002007-12-14T11:03:58.189-08:00Solar Powered Bluetooth HeadsetIqua Sun is the worlds first solar powered Bluetooth headset <table class="contentpaneopen"><tbody><tr> <td> <span> <a href="http://www.zegreen.com/environment/index.php/Green-Products/">Green Products</a> </span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" class="createdate" valign="top"> Wednesday, 21 November 2007 </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" valign="top"> <p>If you thought Bluetooth headsets couldn't get any better, think again. The Iqua Sun is <i>the worlds first</i> solar powered Bluetooth headset. Light and compact the Iqua Sun Bluetooth headset looks simple and modern in design, but delivers on performance.</p> <p>The Iqua Sun combines first-rate technology with elegance and innovation, drawing its power directly from the sun giving you complete freedom, for the first time, from any charging devices.</p> <p>Amazingly, the <a href="http://www.orangeaccessories.co.uk/bhs-603_sun_bluetooth_headset.html" target="_blank">Iqua Sun</a> weighs just 14 grams and fits directly into the ear, worn in complete comfort without the need for an uncomfortable ear hook. The headset boasts an impressive 200 hours standby time, and 9 hours talk time in complete darkness.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="blogger-post-footer">www.printparks.com</div>Parks Printing Companyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08205982300079140278noreply@blogger.com0