environment

The cat's reducing its carbon paw print with a shoebox that's more bag than cardboard. Showcased recently at the Design Museum in London, the new packaging will supposedly help the lifestyle apparel company reduce paper use by 65 percent and carbon emissions by 10,000 tons every year.

The Clever Little Bag, designed by Yves Behar of fuseproject, reduces cardboard use and does away with the need for a plastic carrier bag. Instead, the package features a reusable shoebag with an attached loop that goes through a cutout to double as a carrying handle.

According to Puma, the … Read more

PORTLAND, Ore.--After rowing solo across the Atlantic Ocean and a good stretch of the Pacific for more than 8,400 miles so far, Roz Savage is getting better at finding pleasure in it.

"I won't say that I positively enjoy it. It's more like enjoying not banging your head against a brick wall anymore," Savage said in a recent interview. "Some people love it out there on the ocean. I'm a land creature."

So what's a land creature like her doing in a place like that on a 23-foot row boat?

Partly, to challenge herself. But mostly, to inspire people to take better care of the planet. This week, the ocean rower and environmental campaigner is temporarily trading her boat for a much bigger one, the National Geographic Endeavour, where she will speak at an ocean-themed TED Prize conference in the Galapagos. Next week, if conditions are right, she plans to set off on the final leg of a three-stage trip in her attempt to become the first woman to row solo across the Pacific.

Savage admits she does not fit the description of your typical adventurer of old. As she puts it in her book "Rowing the Atlantic," she doesn't sport "a frost-encrusted beard," nor is she tall. She is just under 5'4" and blonde. Savage, 42, was born to Methodist preachers in Cheshire, England, and attended Oxford University, where she first took up rowing. For more than a decade, she worked as a management consultant and project manager. While she may not be a Shackleton or a Cook, she does have a name fitting of an explorer. (A student asked her during a recent visit to a San Francisco Bay Area school, "How did you come up with your stage name of Roz Savage?") … Read more

IT pros looking to make their workplaces greener might want to check out a new CompTIA exam.

CompTIA, or the Computer Technology Industry Association, is now offering a Green IT exam to certify IT professionals in the use of environmentally-friendly technologies and policies. CompTIA is a nonprofit trade group that offers certification, research, and other services to IT professionals. The new exam is geared toward IT supervisors, data center managers, and other IT admins who need to ensure that their operations and resources are green, said CompTIA.

More specifically, the exam covers key environmental topics such as waste disposal, preserving … Read more

It seems all the talk of a product's environmental friendliness is falling on deaf ears for many gadget buyers, at least according to one new study.

According to the Gadgetology Report released Thursday by Retrevo, 42 percent of consumers don't care if the gadget they buy is green or not. And when asked if they felt guilty for not buying environmentally friendly gadgets, nearly 60 percent of respondents answered no. Sixteen percent of the respondents indicated that for them, price would trump the green factor in their buying decisions.

However, the report also shows that nearly 40 percent … Read more

Waste from discarded electronics will rise dramatically in the developing world within a decade, with computer waste in India alone to grow by 500 percent from 2007 levels by 2020, a U.N. study released Monday said.

E-waste--a term describing electronics including phones, printers, televisions, refrigerators and other appliances--grows globally by 40 million metric tones a year. Toxins are emitted when it is improperly burned by scavengers looking for valuable components, such as copper and gold.

A report released in Bali on Monday (PDF) by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) predicted that by 2020, e-waste from computers would grow … Read more

Think Silly Putty, and you'll probably have a very good idea what the brains at Japan's Tokyo University have created. The new material, called "elastic water," retains its Flubber-like consistency by mixing a few grams of clay and organic matter to H20, essentially binding the whole into a jelly-like putty.

The aqua substance isn't headed for toy retail outlets, though we won't be surprised if it does spin off in that direction. For now, its intention is more visionary and intended to facilitate quick tissue attachment.

The Japanese scientists--who detail their findings in the … Read more

A battery charger is essential gear for any household with a game console (those controllers burn through AA's like nobody's business), childrens' toys, or anything else battery-powered.

Because, let's face it, you'll pay a lot more in the long haul for disposable batteries than you will for a good charger and some rechargeable batteries.

Of course, a good charger--one with features such as a heat monitor and status LCD--can cost you upward of $70 or more--batteries not included.

Today only, Amazon has the La Crosse BC-9009 AlphaPower Battery Charger for $34.99 shipped. And in addition … Read more

A few days after leaked e-mail messages appeared on the Internet, the U.S. Congress may probe whether prominent scientists who are advocates of global warming theories may have misrepresented the truth about climate change.

Sen. James Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican, said on Monday the leaked correspondence suggested researchers "cooked the science to make this thing look as if the science was settled, when all the time of course we knew it was not," according to a transcript of a radio interview posted on his Web site. Aides for Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, are also looking into … Read more

Maybe this is the way to save newspapers?

PressReader brings more than 1,300 newspapers to your iPhone and iPod Touch.

In other words, it's a dream come true for news junkies. The app itself is free; you pay only for the content.

The above video explains most of what you need to know, but I'll sum up. PressReader lets you browse each and every page of the selected newspaper, zooming in and scrolling as needed.

Of course, if you've ever tried reading a PDF on your iPhone, you know it's not exactly comfortable. That's … Read more