This post was updated at 11:55 a.m. PDT to better describe the scope of TCG's work. It was also updated at 12:52 p.m. PDT with the corrected spelling on Clare Munn's name. We also corrected the photo credit and Sandhu Gurkirpal's title, both of which had been provided incorrectly by a company representative.
The Communication Group, a San Francisco-based marketing firm, isn't just about touting its clients' environmental friendliness. It's about showing them how to be more environmentally friendly.
TCG CEO Clare Munn
(Credit: Clinton Fein)The firm, also known as TCG, is helping corporations take their first green steps through what it calls its Green Prepare program, a 12-step process for companies to become greener. The program was the brainchild of TCG Chief Executive Clare Munn, who had run a similar type of eco-labeling program for companies in Zimbabwe before the country's economy collapsed. After starting TCG and going through the tedious green certification process, she realized that there might be a market for eco-labeling here, too.
In the first stage of the Green Prepare program, a TCG consultant does a walk-through of a client's office or workplace and comes up with 12 steps for sparing the environment. The steps might include simple fixes like, for offices, making sure printers are set on double-sided printing and using recycled paper, and that there's a cartridge toner/battery recycling system in place. Other steps might be using filters on water taps for getting drinking water rather than buying water in plastic bottles, or using energy-efficient light bulbs. Nothing revolutionary, but still things that might be neglected in many workplaces.
When the company has completed 6 of the 12 steps, it signs TCG's "Blue Step Promise" to strive to complete the rest and is awarded a certificate and logo in return that the company can then display.
The idea is that the Green Prepare program might also serve as the first step for corporations that want to become green-certified through other regional programs, Munn said.
Livermore, Calif.-based skincare product company GS Cosmeceutical, which used TCG to develop its Web site, recently got involved in the Green Prepare program.
"It has been an eye-opener," said Sandhu Gurkirpal, the company's chief operating officer. He became more aware, for example, that computers should be disposed of via certified green network recyclers.
Gurkirpal is also considering changing the company's cleaning process for the pots used in making its skin care products. Today the pots are boiled, but they might as well be high-pressure steamed, he said, which could save both water and energy.
GS Cosmeceutical has also become a supporting member of OASIS, or the Organic and Sustainable Industry Standards, which helps determine when products can be called organic. Gurkipal emphasized that the company's recent efforts are about more than image and helping the environment. "We wouldn't be doing this if we didn't think we could save money."
The next step for him is to figure out what TCG calls the company's "green story"--something a company already does for the environment that can be used as part of its overall communications strategy. Maybe it's using energy from renewable sources or furniture from recycled material, or maybe it's creating an incentive program that encourages employees to identify practices that aren't environmentally sound.
While all the Green Prepare services up to this point are free, TCG will charge for creating and communicating the green stories. These, however, are not compulsory to create.
When I bought my 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid, I realized that I was only going to achieve incrementally improved gas mileage. Nevertheless, I made the plunge because: 1) It felt good to do so, and 2) I knew that I would be getting a fat tax credit from the IRS.
Now that the IT industry has gone ga-ga over green technology, it makes me wonder where the heck Uncle Sam is in this process. Green is good for the environment, but it ain't free. Lots of large companies want to invest in green IT (and other green initiatives) but altruism alone won't get the job done. Businesses need good old ROI before parting with their dough.
Given the fact that taxpayers are receiving a rebate this year in order to stimulate the economy, isn't it time that the federal government steps up with some tax breaks for green initiatives? This could certainly benefit the IT industry, which I admit is a selfish rationale, but I'll feel a bit better about myself when the air is a bit cleaner and we begin to free ourselves from our $100-a-barrel oil habit.
Adobe Systems on Monday is set to finally release Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) software, which is on the leading edge of a movement to make Web applications act more like traditional desktop applications.
At the company's Engage event in San Francisco on rich Internet application design, executives will announce the availability of AIR 1.0, a free download for Windows and Macintosh.
The New York Times is releasing a beta of an AIR application called ShifD (seen here on an iPhone), which enables users to move content--including Web links, notes, and Web maps--from their desktop computer to a mobile device.
(Credit: New York Times)Also on Monday, Adobe will release Flex 3.0, its application development tool that is now free and open-source. Another development tool, called BlazeDS, for linking Flex applications to back-end business applications, will also be released into open source as planned.
Adobe has been working on AIR for at least two years, when Kevin Lynch, now Adobe's chief technology officer, first publicly spoke about it. The company plans to build AIR versions of many of its Web applications, including photo-imaging application Photoshop Express and Premier Express for editing video, he said.
AIR is software for making Web applications appear like more like desktop programs. Applications can run offline, access data on a person's hard drive, have a desktop icon, and run without the need of a browser.
Developers can use any Web development kit, such as Ajax frameworks, to write applications that will run on AIR or they can use Flex.
These Web-native desktop applications have become an active area of software development--Adobe says that there are over 100 AIR applications--and alternatives to AIR are starting to appear.
The Mozilla Foundation, makers of the Firefox Web browser, launched a project called Prism that brings offline access to Web applications.
Lynch said that AIR is far ahead of what Prism offers but he expects many other platforms that bridge the Web with desktops to emerge.
"We're just getting back the lost treasures of the desktop that we lost when we went to the Web," Lynch said.
He said AIR is not competitive with Microsoft Windows or other operating systems; it's a layer above operating systems that enables people to use Web development techniques and toolkits.
A version of AIR for Linux is expected later this year, he said. Adobe will also create versions that run on mobile devices in the future.
Salesforce.com on Monday will release a free toolkit that will allow developers to write applications on its Force.com hosted development platform using Flex and AIR. The main driver for bringing offline access to Web applications is mobility, said Adam Gross, vice president of developer marketing at Salesforce.com.
The New York Times, for example, has created an application with AIR that will enable people to transfer content, such as Web links and maps, from their desktops to mobile devices.
"Our customers want offline access because they have users in mobile contexts like people in hospitals with tablet PCs or retail settings like supermarkets," Gross said. "I think we're going to see a variety of new technologies around how to effectively create offline Web applications."
Adobe made the low-end edition of Flex open source to lure developers who prefer open-source and standards-based software because it does not tie them to one proprietary technology or vendor.
Lynch said that Adobe intends to use open-source software and practices more. He noted that many pieces of its development products are already open-source, including the scripting engine in Flash, which was donated to the Mozilla Foundation for inclusion in the Firefox Web browser.
Lynch, who was named chief technology officer of Adobe earlier this month, said Adobe's different product teams are changing to embrace rich Internet applications, AIR, and online services to complement its existing products.
"This is a very, very important time in Adobe's history. We've made some big shifts--Postscript, multimedia, the Web," he said. "Rich Internet applications is one of those important transitions."
This entry was updated on January 28 to reflect the film's award status.
PARK CITY, Utah--On one end of the documentary spectrum, you have films that are akin to extended works of journalism. They are in-depth, objective examinations of issues, personalities or phenomena that often leave you thinking that truth really is stranger than fiction.
A still from the film, Fields of Fuel, which is screening at Sundance.
(Credit: Fields of Fuel via Sundance)On the other end are advocacy films, which seem increasingly popular here at the Sundance Film Festival, particularly when it comes to politically charged issues such as the war in Iraq and the environment.
The latter type of documentary can be just as informative as the former, if done right. Take Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, a 2006 festival film, which many people credit with having woken up the general public to the potentially grave consequences of global warming.
Another such example at this year's festival is Fields of Fuel, which received a long standing ovation at its first public screening here Monday. (Update: It turned out that Fields of Fuel won the festival's audience award for documentaries). In the film, director Josh Tickell tells the story of his life as an activist pushing for the use of biodiesel and other alternative fuels in an effort to reduce our dependency on foreign oil and protect the environment.
I tend to be wary of advocacy docs for fear they'll be feature-length brainwashers. But Tickell's film is fair, honest, informative and--a biggie for me--nicely edited. And I suppose it was convincing, too--it got me thinking about buying a car with a diesel engine and I went online to find the nearest biodiesel fuel pumps.
Josh Tickell has traveled the country trying to persuade consumers to switch to biofuels or other alternatives to reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil.
(Credit: Fields of Fuel via Sundance)Tickell's efforts have already been well documented. (Click here for my colleague's story on his efforts.) He's written two books on biodiesel, done countless interviews and is perhaps best known for traveling the country in his biodiesel-powered "Veggie Van" to promote alternative fuel. But the documentary might just appeal to consumers in a different way.
I was a little turned off, especially at first, by the fact that he's telling his own story in scripted pseudo-interviews. I'd prefer someone else doing the interview, exposing us a little more to Tickell the person, as opposed to Tickell the activist. Viewers get a little of that, however, when he reflects upon his frustration at one point in the film when it seemed all his efforts had made no difference. "If anything, the U.S. slipped backwards," he says, reflecting on the early Bush years.
The audience was totally charged after the film as Tickell took the podium for a quick Q&A. He also brought up a huge cast and crew who he said had put "blood, sweat and tears," into the film.
Director Josh Tickell addresses the audience before the first public screening Monday of his Fields of Fuel at Sundance.
(Credit: Michelle Meyers/CNET News.com)Among the cast members were Jonathan Wolfson and Harrison Dillon, founders of a South San Francisco company called Solazyme, which makes biofuel out of algae. Solazyme demonstrated a car powered by its fuel at the festival and also announced a partnership with Chevron.
No word as of yet about Fields of Fuel getting picked up for distribution. Last year a similarly interesting activist documentary on global warming call Everything's Cool also got a warm Sundance reception, but never made it nationally to the big screen. (Thanks to a News.com reader who pointed out that the film had a small theater run in New York and Los Angeles.)
Among the other feature-length films at this year's festival with green themes are Flow: For the Love of Water, about why water is a dwindling resource; and Up the Yangtze, a film that quickly got bought for distribution about the building of the Three Gorges Dam and its effects on the lives of the locals and the environment.
There are also many environmental shorts screening, including Mr. W, by a Germany based filmmaking team called The Vikings. Mr. W, which preceded Fields of Fuel, is much better on the big screen but is totally worth a couple of YouTube minutes.
F. Xavier Helgesen had big dreams to build Web sites after graduating from Notre Dame in 2001 with an MIS degree, but then the dot-com industry crashed.
Instead he co-founded a company in 2002 that sells books otherwise destined for the landfill, sends some of the proceeds to literacy groups, and uses carbon-neutral shipping.
F. Xavier Helgesen in front of the warehouse of Better World Books, which funds literacy programs and uses eco-practices.
(Credit: Better World Books)Better World Books collects books from university bookstores and libraries and resells them, donating 7.5 percent of the price of the book to nonprofit literacy groups--Books for Africa, Room to Read, World Fund, and National Center for Family Literacy. Some of the books are shipped directly to Africa.
The Web site boasts 1.8 million used books and 500,000 new books, everything from 17th century tomes to popular fiction.
So far, the company has raised $3.5 million for libraries and literacy programs, donated 570,000 books, and kept more than 5,000 tons of books from being thrown away, Helgesen says.
The company also offers carbon-neutral shipping, adding 2 cents to 5 cents onto the cost of each book to buy credits to offset the carbon used in the distribution. More than 700 tons of carbon have been offset, according to Helgesen.
Customers get free shipping and pay only $2.97 for international shipments. The discount is possible because Better World Books sorts the mail before passing it off to the postal service, he says.
Better World Books also reclaims metal shelving from libraries that remodel--so far 680,000 pounds--using it to store its books on in its Mishawaka, Ind., warehouse.
How else does the company try to compete with Amazon.com and others? By commissioning software development that dynamically prices books and lists them on multiple marketplaces simultaneously. And then there are the custom book carts and work stations employees use in the warehouse that feature a Lazy Susan welded on top where a monitor sits and a thin Linux-based client connected to a wireless network. The carts run off a marine deep-sea battery.
"It was always in my mind to try to find a career where the better the business, the more it would benefit society and the environment," says Helgesen.
Lawyers for about 90 current and former residents of New York state filed suit against IBM on Thursday alleging that chemicals from an IBM plant have caused congenital heart defects in infants and kidney cancers in adults, and continue to cause problems.
The tort lawsuit claims that the plant released hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic and hazardous chemicals, including trichloroethylene (TCE), into the air, soil, and groundwater of Endicott, the birthplace of IBM, and the nearby town of Union over several decades.
A "toxic plume" continues to expose residents to hazardous vapors, according to the lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court for the State of New York in Broome County. More lawsuits, alleging wrongful death and personal injury, among other claims, are expected to be filed in coming months, the lawyers said a statement.
"As we explained to plaintiffs' lawyers before they filed this case, these suits have no basis in science or law, and IBM will defend itself vigorously," said IBM spokesman Michael Maloney.
IBM, which operated the plant from 1924 until it was sold in 2002, has paid out more than $2 million and taken other actions to clean up the contamination. The lawsuit alleges that the remediation efforts are not adequate.
Update 11:45 a.m. PST: IBM built all sorts of equipment at the plant, including typewriters, mainframe computers, printed circuit boards, and integrated circuits.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for property devaluation and loss of business value and income, and for personal injuries. Plaintiffs also seek punitive damages, as well as attorneys fees, among other things.
IBM won a lawsuit filed against it in 2003 by two IBM employees who alleged they got sick from working with chemicals at a San Jose, Calif., semiconductor plant and eventually developed cancer as a result. IBM at one time faced more than 100 similar cases around the country, but they were eventually settled or dismissed.
Reading about Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize this week while juggling holiday shopping gave me a severe case of cognitive dissonance about consumption. This feeling intensified today when the viral video The Story of Stuff arrived in my e-mail inbox.
'The Story of Stuff' with Annie Leonard
The Story of Stuff illustrates the consumption chain and aims to reframe our conversation from unlimited production and consumption to sustainability and equity. The video is quite engaging, and I was impressed by its simplicity and effectiveness. No flashy graphics or sensational techniques, just simple line animation accompanying a 20-minute video lecture by sustainability expert Annie Leonard.
The story of this project is an interesting case study of viral video. Leonard has more than 20 years of experience studying factories and dumps around the world--giving her deep knowledge of sustainability issues, but not exactly a visible platform to launch a movement. Enter the video: according to Leonard's blog, The Story of Stuff has been viewed by more than 100,000 people since it was launched last week.
... Read More
Google Hemp Full-Zip Hoodie
(Credit: Google)Google is going green with its online store.
That means the company is selling organic cotton T-shirts, pencils made of recycled blue jeans, and other recycled and eco-friendly materials. And instead of plastic polybagging, it is using recycled wraps and stickers when shipping items. This is great news because plastic bags are a HUGE ecological problem. (Read about how plastic bags are killing birds and sea animals and have created a toxic floating debris island in the Pacific Ocean in the San Francisco Chronicle.)
Some of the items are kind of zany and fun.
For instance, this $39.95 zippered hoodie looks like your typical black hooded sweatshirt from the Gap. But it's not. It's made from the hemp plant. You know--that funny smelling weed. Hemp fiber is desirable for its strength, durability and absorbency.
How about this soy wax candle with a non-chlorine bleach wick made from, what else? Soybeans. Do not try to eat. Price is $7.50.
Google Sonic Rocks
(Credit: Google)
Google Hemp Footie Bag
(Credit: Google)Then there's this hand-crocheted hemp footie bag filled with recycled plastic fill. In my misspent youth we called them "hacky sacks," but I just learned that is a registered trademark of Wham-O. It also costs $7.50.
And finally, taking advantage of this year being the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love, Google is selling the "Summer of Love Translucent Wide Body Pen," which is available in five different colors and costs $6.95. Now how is that related to the Summer of Love?!
Finally, here's a phone plan that allows you to switch from the U.S. government's Secret Internet Protocol Router Network to the Unclassified but Sensitive Internet Protocol Router Network with a single keystroke.
(Credit:
General Dynamics)
The National Security Agency has authorized military and government personnel to order up a bunch of General Dynamics' Sectera Edge secure, wireless smartphones, which will not only allow them to make secure calls but also to e-mail and Web-browse in either classified or unclassified mode.
The phones will still operate right along with everyone else on the existing high-speed Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CMDA) and Wi-Fi commercial cellular networks.
Although it looks like a regular phone, the company says the Sectera Edge is designed to rugged military specs, allowing for the wear and tear of both the office and "war fighters completing a tactical mission." And it comes with a personal organizer that includes contacts, calendar, tasks, alarms and notes so you won't forget your loved ones' birthdays in the midst of a covert operation.
Deliveries are scheduled for later this year, with sales estimated as high as $300 million over the next 5 years, according to the company. The Sectera Edge is part of the NSA's Secure Mobile Environment Portable Electronic Device program, but there are civilian models available. Did we mention the secret handshake?
Is your family burned out on Webkinz and Club Penguin? Are you ready for a new online "game" with a purpose?
The public radio producer American Public Media has launched an interactive game called Consumer Consequences that allows users to model their own ecological footprints. The game prompts users to describe their lifestyles in terms of house size, car travel, energy use, food and shopping consumption, and the mathematical model behind the game translates the information into an easy-to-understand visual summary.
The bottom-line result tells you how many "Earths" of natural resources it would take to sustain all 6.6 billion humans...if everyone lived like you.
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