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Czech Environment Minister Jan Dusik resigned Thursday from the caretaker cabinet, saying the prime minister had put pressure on him to decide hastily on plans to upgrade a controversial large coal-fired power plant.

The ministry has yet to rule on the project, which has drawn objections from environmentalists and from Micronesia. The Pacific nation fears increasing floods as a result of climate change partly due to carbon emissions from the Czech Prunerov plant.

Why would the world’s largest manufacturer of modular carpet be interested in systems thinking and education for sustainable living? An InterfaceFLOR executive says it’s essential for business leaders to address the technical as well as the softer side of sustainability when greening a company.

The Senate is close to wrapping up talks ahead of introducing a compromise climate change bill, said a top Democratic lawmaker who discussed ideas with industry groups on Wednesday.

“We’re planning to button up our efforts somewhere I hope next week,” Senator John Kerry told reporters after meeting with a coalition that represents automakers, forestry and paper companies, Big Oil, steel, mining, electricity and others.

Kerry is working with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and independent Senator Joseph Lieberman on a bill to require U.S. industry to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases associated with global warming.

In a town where green building is latest rage among mega resorts and gaming palaces, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation has upped the ante on eco-friendly development and business operations with the launch of a sustainability program for its properties in Vegas and beyond.

Councillors have dumped plans to landfill nuclear waste in what could be a big blow to Government plans to increase the country’s nuclear generation capacity.

With the launch yesterday of the company’s latest and most energy efficient 32-nm processors, hardware manufacturers and data center managers got a big boost in their green IT efforts.

Step-by-step guide to turning household waste, yard clippings, and more into free, nutrient-filled compost and mulch.

A guide to inspecting and making repairs to every part of the house.

Tropicana is shrinking its most popular size of orange juice by five ounces due to freezes in January that put the squeeze on orange crops.
 

Levels of the main greenhouse gas in the atmosphere have risen to new highs in 2010 despite an economic slowdown in many nations that braked industrial output, data showed on Monday.

Carbon dioxide, measured at Norway’s Zeppelin station on the Arctic Svalbard archipelago, rose to a median 393.71 parts per million of the atmosphere in the first two weeks of March from 393.17 in the same period of 2009, extending years of gains.

Two awards recently bestowed on companies and organizations around the globe highlight new levels of sustainability for fish and fowl alike.

Plastic bags marked as degradable may not be as environmentally-friendly as consumers think, according to new research.

Health and safety guidelines for commercial wheelie bins have been changed after a teacher who climbed into one was crushed to death, an inquest has been told.

Three years before Walmart announced it would squeeze 20 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its supply chain, the retailer rolled out its Supplier Energy Efficiency Program with the goal of helping its suppliers save electricity and money, in turn bringing down the price of products.

The California Air Resources Board recently announced that they will begin monitoring and limiting the emissions of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) in high-voltage electrical equipment starting in 2011. SF6 is the most potent of all greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change.
SF6 is approximately 23,900 times as potent as carbon dioxide, the world’s most prevalent greenhouse gas, at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

Japan’s business leaders are focused on cutting emissions, though they have about the same level of a roadmap as Americans; their neighbor to the southwest, however, has quickly moved into the spotlight as a challenger, and potentially an economic threat.

Arctic explorers have began studying the potential impact of ocean acidification after bad weather slowed the start of the project.

The Government has announced plans to harness the power of the sea to generate electricity for up to 15m homes.

Detection, prevention and least toxic control of bed bugs.

Companies in the greater Miami area can win a $4,000 greening package as part of an effort to raise awareness about green office practices among small and medium businesses.

Procter & Gamble is reformulating its Herbal Essences shampoos to reduce the amount of a carcinogenic chemical in them.
 

Aid to Artisans, a nonprofit group helping economically depressed artists generate sales from products created with local materials, also ensures the environment benefits from its endeavors.

The organization’s first project, started in Honduras more than a decade ago, involved recycling corn husks that even the pigs wouldn’t eat, said President Clare Smith. The husks were used to create wreaths and flowers that were then adorned with clay cherub figurines.

From these raw materials grew a thriving industry employing more than 600 villagers. Eventually, an export company owned by the local Hondurans was formed.

“The environment is a consideration in all our projects — it’s always a stipulation,” Smith said. “People are a part of the environment, so we try to integrate the two so everyone benefits.”

In Bangladesh, Aid to Artisans is developing a project to make paper products out the water hyacinth and another weed that clog many of the country’s rivers. However, the group must be careful not to create too large a demand for the paper.

“You have to be sensible,” Smith said. “While these plants now clog many rivers, if you had a big run on the paper, you could cause problems because a certain amount of the plants is needed to purify the water.”

Because of the delicate balance between creating economic opportunities and protecting the environment, Aid to Artisans develops relatively small-scale projects. Projects are currently under way in Jordan, Ghana, Mexico, Hungary, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet, Guatemala, Ecuador and Indonesia.

Aid to Artisans first sends designers to work with the local people in developing marketable products, then brings the products to the New York International Gift Fair, held twice a year, to take orders. The next step is to locate appropriate importers for the various product lines to create steady demand.

In 1990, the Mexican government created a reserve in a cloud forest along the Pacific coast, angering a local community which could no longer expand its coffee plantations by cutting down the forest. Ecologists who came to tell them about the law were threatened.

Aid to Artisans helped the community start painting T-shirts with images of birds and animals common to the cloud forests. A market for the shirts was created and now the community makes a living without continuing to destroy the cloud forest.

“We believe that what we do has to be suitable to both the people and their environment,” Smith said. “There’s an infinite number of things we can do to help save the planet — little by little.”

For more information about the group or to become a member, write to: Aid to Artisans, 80 Mountain Spring Rd., Farmington, CT 06032. Or call (203) 677-1649.

Earth Fact: Through the Aid to Artisans project in Honduras, more than 200 different products have been brought to the U.S. market.

Technorati Tags: environment benefits, save the planet, protecting the environment, cloud forest

The Carnegie Institution of Science released a new study this week finding that one-third of the carbon dioxide emissions developed countries release into the atmosphere result from goods and services produced outside their borders. The report’s details are troubling: Carnegie’s researchers estimate that 2.5 tons of CO2 per person are consumed in the United States but are produced elsewhere, and that figure spikes to 4 tons per European. Another point that will cause considerable disagreement among global climate negotiators is Carnegie’s analysis that one-quarter of the emissions in China are actually the result of its exports to its trading partners such as the United States.

A new website is to be the first tool in a wide-reaching campaign aiming to change attitudes towards waste in Northern Ireland.

Both Biwater and Cascal have been nominated for this year’s Global Water Awards that will be announced at an industry awards ceremony to be held in April.

The billionaire’s new NGO, Carbon War Room, puts the global shipping industry’s massive carbon footprint under the spotlight, and spread the word about simple ways to shrink its impact.

Support for green construction and LEED certification dipped slightly in 2009 but remains strong across the past three years despite the recession, according to the latest green building survey by Allen Matkins, Constructive Technologies Group and the Green Building Insider.
 

This survey of more than 1,600 design and construction professionals in the U.S. charts their latest perceptions and practices regarding green building — and compares them to attitudes and activities before and during the Great Recession.

Scientists from IBM and Stanford University claim to have made a major breakthrough in the reuse of plastics.

A British made Verderflex peristaltic hose pump has certainly proved excellent value for money for Radscan Intervex, a Swedish energy and environmental technology company.