In the home

Diaper companies wrap up funding

Two companies that deal in diapers have attracted notable funding within the past week, leaving Dan Primack of Private Equity Hub to muse about the rise of a "diaper bubble."

gDiapers, which makes eco-friendly diapers, announced yesterday that it raised an undisclosed sum from 2x Consumer Products Growth Partners and Golden Seeds angel investors. gDiapers' hybrid diapers, perhaps the Prius of the Pampers world, consist of a flushable, compost-ready insert that fits inside decorative cloth panties.

Online marketplace Diapers.com raised $7 million in Series B funding last week, mostly through Bessemer Venture Partners. The Web site sells … Read more

Divorce pains the planet

As if the burden of divorce weren't bad enough, people with failed marriages can be blamed for global warming, according to a study by Michigan State University.

Divorced couples use up more space in their respective homes, which amounts to to 38 million more rooms worldwide to light, heat and cool, noted the report.

And people who divorced used 73 billion kilowatt-hours more of electricity and 627 billion gallons of water than they would otherwise in 2005.

Dissolving a marriage also means doubling possessions, from the lowly can opener to the SUV. The report, however, did not estimate how … Read more

Clean air, better living, good price

When I was in the UK a few weeks ago, one of my friends asked me to visit with Aerstream, a company where he is on the board of directors. Aerstream is a case in point of the many exciting cleantech companies coming out of the UK. I had a chance to chat with Jeremy Smyth, one of their executives. Backed by a group of UK angel investors, they are looking to bring their product into the US shortly, and he had asked me to do some brainstorming with Jeremy on his various strategy options.

I came away extremely impressed. … Read more

Carbonrally: My carbon footprint's smaller than yours

Who knew tackling global warming could be so fun?

A Boston-area entrepreneur has launched a Web site called Carbonrally that aims to marry online games and social networks with consumers' desire to shrink their carbon footprint.

Here's how it works. The company behind Carbonrally, Carbon Challenge, regularly posts a "challenge" that translates into a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Choosing filtered tap water over bottled water, for example, translates into reducing 3 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a week. (No plastic bottles involved.)

Individuals or teams can take up the challenge. Typically, it's the "dark … Read more

Rushing to paint printers green

Printer companies are under attack as more people become concerned about global warming and toxic pollution.

The solution? "Printer Vendors Need to Greenwash Their Image."

That unfortunate headline was the theme of an e-mail newsletter this morning from Lyra Research, a well-respected firm that tracks the digital imaging industry.

Apparently the writer didn't realize or care that "greenwashing" is a negative term. It describes how companies aiming to appeal to treehuggers are painting a green face, without necessarily cleaning up their act.

Picky consumers detest this trend, which makes it nearly impossible to tell which … Read more

Many 'green' products don't quite weigh up, study finds

Environmental marketing firm TerraChoice found that many retail products overstate their environmental attributes, a practice which risks causing skepticism among consumers.

The company sent people to big-box retail stores to find products labeled as green. In the process, it found that almost all of them committed at least one of what it calls "sins of greenwashing."

Most common was the "Sin of the Hidden Trade-Off," where manufacturers claim a product has a green feature, such as recycled paper content, but don't pay attention to potentially more important issues, such as global warming or water use. … Read more

All-electric ATV: No myth to bust on this one

I had a chance to visit with the founders of a new San Francisco Bay Area clean-tech start-up called Barefoot Motors, which is building an all-electric ATV. I think is a great idea for an untapped electric vehicle product.

Think about it: Of all the potential electric vehicles out there, ATVs suck down a comparably large amount of gasoline per mile and are used primarily for short-range transport (range is a longtime achilles heel of electric vehicles). And some riders have a serious problem with the noise and the noxious exhaust fumes.

Add to that the fact that ATV riders … Read more

As eco-buzz grows, survey warns companies of green trap

America's consumers offer a warning to business leaders and marketers looking to ride the green wave: either back your eco-friendly words with socially responsible actions or risk a backlash.

The first major study to combine field observations with a national survey on purchasing behavior and social values has found increasingly conscious consumers who are demanding that companies be transparent about their practices and accountable for their impact on people and the planet.

According to the inaugural BBMG Conscious Consumer Report, nearly 9 in 10 Americans say that the words "conscious consumer" describe them well and that they … Read more

Software drafted to design greener buildings

CHICAGO--Fewer than half of architects were building with green features in mind five years ago, but 90 percent will be by 2012, according to Autodesk.

Seventy percent of respondents to Autodesk's Green Index survey said client demand is accelerating efforts to design buildings that use less energy, cut material waste, and cost less to operate.

Autodesk, which makes professional, 3D drafting applications, announced at the Greenbuild convention last week that it's developing software, code-named "Project Chicago," to help designers score ratings points from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system run by the U.S. … Read more