green products

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Outcry Forces Apple Back to Green Program

Apple calls withdrawal from EPEAT 'a mistake'

(Newser) - Just days after Apple surprised many environmentalists by announcing it would pull out of the EPEAT eco-friendly certification program, the computer giant is back in, reports the San Jose Mercury News . Calling the original withdrawal a "mistake," Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering said the reversal...

Apple Exits Eco-Friendly Product List

Move may be tied to glued-in batteries

(Newser) - Apple has surprised environmental advocates with a sudden departure from a green products program, reports the San Jose Mercury News . The firm will no longer conform to standards set by EPEAT, an eco-friendly certifier backed by the EPA. "Apple has said that their design direction is not compatible with...

Recession Killing 'Green' Demand

Consumers say they want these products, but won't pay for them

(Newser) - Clorox had big hopes for its “Green Works” line when it introduced it in 2008, promising it would “move natural cleaning into the mainstream.” But thanks to the recession, that hasn’t actually worked out, the New York Times reports; Green Works sales have fallen from more...

Congress Buys GOP's Foam Cups From Ex-Koch Exec

But the cafeteria managers, not GOP, chose his company

(Newser) - The GOP's decision to bring back Styrofoam cups to a Capitol cafeteria has been a real boon for an old pal of the seemingly ever-present Koch brothers. The owner of WinCup, the company supplying the Styrofoam cups, is a former Koch Industries exec, the Huffington Post reports. But everybody swears...

Going Green? Bah! GOP Brings Back Foam Cups

Republicans reverse Democrats' green initiatives in Congress cafeterias

(Newser) - The Republicans are back in control of the House, and they're bringing something with them: styrofoam cups. The cups, along with plastic forks and a number of other things seen as not eco-friendly, were done away with four years ago by Nancy Pelosi to reduce Congress's carbon footprint. Now, the...

The Grossest Green Products
 The Grossest Green Products 
cigarette butt shirts?

The Grossest Green Products

Even obsessed eco-lovers might quail at some of these

(Newser) - Going green is good and all, but sometimes it can also be gross. ForkParty.com rounds up a dozen weird, eco-friendly inventions, some of which are also fairly icky:
  • Fertilizer: Specifically, made from human waste or, possibly even weirder, human remains.
  • Clothing: We all need something to wear, but would
...

Disaster Awaits Chevy Volt
 Disaster Awaits Chevy Volt  
opinion

Disaster Awaits Chevy Volt

Nothing about this car makes sense

(Newser) - Like Rush Limbaugh , auto industry observer Edward Niedermeyer can't think of too many reasons to plunk down $41,000 on a Chevy Volt. Among his complaints: It's too expensive, it has the interior room of a cheap economy car, the business model is lousy—GM could have sold it...

Plastic Wine Bottles Eco-Friendly, but Drink It Fast

Wine can go bad after less than a year

(Newser) - Some are looking to recycled plastic bottles as the future of wine packaging—but though they are more eco-friendly, such bottles are less wine-friendly, Reuters reports. They’re “fine for wine you plan to use under 12 months, but not for wines that are designed to improve in the...

'Natural' Foods Rile Up Organic Advocates

(Newser) - Americans are buying more so-called "natural" foods and angering advocates of organic, who say the distinction is a scam, the Chicago Tribune reports. The natural food market—that is, any food labeled "natural"—has spiked by 10% to $12.9 billion with cheaper-than-organic prices. But it's mostly...

Green Marketing Blossoms Despite Recession

'Eco-friendly' products are selling even as consumer spending dwindles

(Newser) - Manufacturers of eco-friendly products are finding themselves in the green despite the sputtering economy, Advertising Age reports. One research company reports 458 launches of products that claim to be sustainable or environmentally friendly in 2009, a trend that—if it holds—would triple the number of green launches last year...

Final 'Green' Frontier: Cemeteries

Increasingly popular embalming- and casket-free option freaked locals out

(Newser) - As the green movement contemplates the afterlife, more funeral directors are seeing demand for a sendoff without the embalming and sturdy coffins of traditional burials, the Wall Street Journal reports. Natural burials won't necessarily put funeral directors out of business: Yes, simple shrouds are available, but so is a $300...

Snowboard Makers Going Green

Manufacturers offer eco-friendly option

(Newser) - Snowboarders have a vested interest in stopping global warming, and the industry's gear is getting greener by the year, the New York Times reports. “To snowboard, we need snow,” said Bob Carlson, co-founder of Arbor, which has been using renewable materials for their snowboards since 1995. More and...

How to Keep Your PC Green
 How to Keep Your PC Green 

How to Keep Your PC Green

New York Times offers tips on cutting computer energy use

(Newser) - You’ve got the Prius and the reusable shopping bags, but did you know a PC and monitor perpetually left on use more than twice the kilowatt-hours per year consumed by a fridge? The New York Times reports what you can do to slow your computer’s energy drain:
  • Turn
...

Slow-Food Fest Plans Political Mouthful in San Fran

After showcasing local, sustainable eating, organizers will head to Congress

(Newser) - With the slow-food movement taking center stage in San Francisco at a 4-day festival beginning tomorrow, organizers are hoping the momentum carries all the way to Washington, the Chronicle reports. With lectures, garden tours, cooking demos, and restaurant dinners, Slow Food Nation aims to change US food policy by promoting...

Ten Steps to Greener Sex
 Ten Steps to Greener Sex 

Ten Steps to Greener Sex

From recycled bikinis to fair trade condoms

(Newser) - Eco-conscious sex certainly doesn't have too enticing a ring to it, but don't discount the enjoyable ways to spice things up while doing your part to save the Earth, says Greendaily.com. From the reasonable to the wacky, they've got you, er, covered:
  • Grab French Letter condoms, the world's only
...

Why Everyone in Berkeley Owns a Prius

Development of green political clusters starts at the beach

(Newser) - Nowhere in California is the power of green consumerism more apparent than the Prius-packed city of Berkley. The Economist takes a look at a "greenery by zip code" study that, somewhat unsurprisingly, places Palo Alto near the top and Bakersfield near the bottom of locales packed with certified green...

'Greenwashed' Products Mostly Hype

Some 'Earth-friendly' products are more about marketing than reality

(Newser) - "Green" is in, and many new products being marketed as Earth-friendly are in reality only marginally less unfriendly. The Boston Globe points to hybrid SUVs that get barely better mileage than their standard brethren, water bottles that use less plastic but still require large amounts of energy to make...

When Green Doesn't Mean Safe
 When Green Doesn't Mean Safe 

When Green Doesn't Mean Safe

Americans rush to eco-friendly cleaners, but dangers remain

(Newser) - Americans are increasingly buying eco-friendly cleaning agents, the Los Angeles Times reports, in an attempt to limit exposure to toxic chemicals. But consumer advocates urge caution in embracing the “green” label on cleaners, which is more marketing lingo than strict scientific criteria. A recent study found a common carcinogen...

Recyclers Turn Discarded Cellphones into 'Green Gold'

Waste from old electronics can pose a threat, or turn a profit

(Newser) - With a smelter burning at more than 2,100 degrees, Belgian recycler Umicore turns tons of e-waste - discarded cellphones, computers and televisions - into “green gold,” extracting precious metals in a process that, while not environmentaly pure is, in Greenpeace’s eyes, preferable to burying the waste...

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