environment archive at Information Innovation Exchange

Archive for the 'environment' Category

Al Gore on Finding a Real Purpose for Web 2.0

Published by rwatstein November 9th, 2008 in web 2.0, environment and green. 0 Comments

Forget about swapping party pictures on Facebook and other “gee-whiz stuff,” says former Vice President Al Gore. “Web 2.0 has to have a purpose.” And since it’s Al Gore , you know that purpose has got to be green.

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A Shower Meter That Measures Water Use While You Sing and Scrub

Published by rwatstein November 9th, 2008 in innovation, environment and green. 0 Comments

The ECO Showerdrop from Product Creation uses a numerical display to show how many liters of water you’ve used and how much time you’ve spent in the shower.

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Frost and Sullivan Award Recognizes Orange Business Services’ Green Credentials

Published by rwatstein October 25th, 2008 in environment and green. 0 Comments

Frost and Sullivan recently announced that Orange Business Services, a brand of France Telecom, was awarded the company’s 2007 European Green Excellence Product Innovation Award. This award was conferred on the basis that Orange Business Services has shown a commitment towards environmental issues throughout the past year. The European Green Excellence Product Innovation Award, 2007, is awarded for initiating developmental steps and unique product designs that are in line with a sustainable and environmentally conscious goal in a company’s industry sector. This award underlines a company’s innovation of a revolutionary and unique solution that has tremendous environmental benefits. At the same time, this solution also presents great marketing potential. This award also proves that the company has adopted a successful and sound business strategy.

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Library Jounral Talks to John Augelli, Executive Director of the Rosenberg Library, Galveston, TX

Published by rwatstein September 27th, 2008 in libraries and environment. 0 Comments

After Hurricane Ike slammed Galveston, TX, September 13, there was little immediate word regarding the Rosenberg Library (web site inoperative), the 75,000 square foot complex downtown that houses a library, archives, and museum and serves as the headquarters for the Galveston County Library System. Now, John Augelli, the library’s executive director, tells Library Journalt that he and two other staffers stayed behind “thinking it would be good to be there, to see what I could do.” Initially, that wasn’t much. Instead, they listened, and watched, as a storm surge wiped out the first floor with over six feet of water. “It was a sound that you’d never forget.” Now, the library is at the beginning of a long recovery that began with pumping out the water, emptying the first floor of what used to be the children’s collection, and drying out the space to ensure that humidity does not damage valuable archival material.

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Wikia Green

Published by rwatstein September 27th, 2008 in environment, wiki and green. 0 Comments

Wikia Green asks users to sign up and be a part of creating a green wiki guide. Created by Jimmy Wales, cofounder of Wikipedia, the goal is to offer more lifestyle tips, product options, and how-to’s. The content differs from that on Wikipedia in three main ways: Content is written from a green point of view, is focused on things you can do, and is more accessible and relevant to an average reader.

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University Libraries Go Green by Cashing in on Unneeded Books

Published by rwatstein September 27th, 2008 in libraries, environment and green. 0 Comments

From the minivan-driving mom carrying a chic cloth tote to the grocery store to the celebrity cruising around town in a hybrid vehicle, it can seem like everyone is going green. Add libraries to the list. Libraries across the country are actively participating in a process called “green weeding,” which weeds out and discards outdated, unpopular, irrelevant and often abused books so library collections stay well-maintained, according to an article in the Library Journal. Libraries are also striving to reduce their footprints by making conscious and collective efforts to pursue only environmentally friendly discard options.

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Green Weeding

Published by rwatstein September 27th, 2008 in libraries, environment and green. 0 Comments

Gone are the days oftiptoeing to the dumpsters with boxes of weeded books in tow. Lots of libraries are now taking advantage of the many low-cost services and solutions that promise to help extend the lives of collection discards. Some of these options can be very profitable. Some create goodwill within the local community. Some may seem more labor-intensive, while others require only a computer, a printer, and a few free shipping labels. Thanks to the ever-growing number of possibilities, libraries can select the solutions that best match their own staffing levels and space issues. Above all, every single library—no matter the size, budget, type, or location—can actively participate in “green weeding,” another form of library resource sharing.

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Report: Green Efforts Improving on Campuses

Published by rwatstein August 31st, 2008 in education, environment and green. 0 Comments

More campuses in the United States have shifted their focus to environmental and sustainability programs, but funding and staffing issues have prevented them from implementing green initiatives on the scale campus administrators would like, according to a new report released recently by the National Wildlife Federation.

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Read the full study Campus Environment 2008: A National Report Card on Sustainability in Higher Education here

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Al Gore’s Inconvenient Plan

Published by rwatstein July 26th, 2008 in environment. 0 Comments

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Recharge Your Gadgets Without Electricity

Published by rwatstein July 5th, 2008 in gadgets, environment and green. 0 Comments

Some new alternative recharging ideas: For USB devices try the hand-cranked Super Battery. Go solar with a 58″-long waterproof solar roll (right), which recharges anything electronic. Try a personal wind turbine that can hook up to various devices when you are on the go. And put more human power into recharging by using the Weza Foot Powered Energy Source.

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Appalachian State University’s Library Recognized for ‘Green’ Design

Published by rwatstein May 26th, 2008 in libraries, environment, green and design. 0 Comments

Two leading library magazines have recognized Appalachian State University’s Carol Grotnes Belk Library and Information Commons for its green architecture. The April edition of American Libraries included the Library among 27 facilities spotlighted in its “2008 Library Design Showcase.” The libraries featured were said to “demonstrate a commitment to making a beautiful space that serves both the community and the planet.” Prior to American Libraries, Belk Library was included in last December’s issue of Library Journal which highlighted 21 academic buildings at 168 public library projects in an article titled “Going, Going, Green.” Belk Library and Information Commons opened in summer 2005. It has 221,000 square feet, making it about 50 percent larger than the 1960s structure it replaced.

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Top Ten Greenest Colleges in the U.S., 2007

Published by rwatstein May 4th, 2008 in education, environment and green. 0 Comments

The Sierra Club selected the top ten most environmentally friendly colleges and universities in the country. Results are based on clean-energy purchases, green-building policies, bike facilities, food served in dorms, recognition by environmental organizations, among other factors. Arizona State University, Bowdoin College, Carleton College, Emory University, and Northern Arizona University received honorable mention for their efforts.

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Association of American Publishers Releases ‘Handbook on Book Paper and the Environment’

Published by rwatstein February 25th, 2008 in books and environment. 0 Comments

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) has unveiled a new Handbook on Book Paper and the Environment. The AAP hopes the practical guide will assist publishers in navigating the confusing and often arcane issues relating to the development of environmental sustainability practices within the book publishing industry.

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Big Mac Japan Crashes Government Website

Published by rwatstein September 15th, 2007 in government and environment. 0 Comments

Japanese government website crashed as people raced to take up an offer of a half-price McDonald’s hamburger in exchange for pledging to fight global warming. The Japanese unit of the US burger giant Tuesday offered a Big Mac for 150 yen (1.3 dollars), about half the normal price, to anyone demonstrating a commitment to preventing climate change. People were asked to check up to 39 boxes on a form they could download from the environment ministry’s website, each listing a way of reducing carbon dioxide emissions blamed for global warming.

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