APPLE FILES FOR SOLAR PATENT
Ever since those bags came out with the solar panel flaps to plug and "juice up" your devices while you carry on (no pun intended) with your day, I always wondered when someone is actually going to put them ON the devices. Looks like Apple is the first to do, as usual! So innovative, I looove that company (wish I could buy stock!).
Can you imagine your iPhone and MacBook going solar? A photovoltaic laptop... How *uber-fabulous* is that?!?!? I can't wait!
ECO2GO: LESSEN YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT WHILE YOU TRAVEL
With airline companies going out of business faster than last season's jeans, and flight schedules more chaotic than my "terrible two"-year-old niece, travel has not been fun lately. In 2007, delayed flights wasted $1.6 billion in fuel alone. Gas is not exactly cheap - my Aunt in Japan says it's $6/gallon, and I said we're not that far behind. How to alleviate the rising cost of gas (and ergo, ticket prices), but more importantly, how to lessen your carbon footprint while traveling or going about your daily routines? The answer: ECO2GO! It's a mobile application that allows you to track and reduce your carbon footprint, share ideas and inspire others from around the world to do the same from around the world. Spread green goodness!
My friend Nathalie is a trend forecaster with the French company Promostyl and specializes in sustainability awareness. She travels all over the world presenting in conferences, both private and within the industry. Before she travels, she told me she studies the public transportation system and map of the area she is traveling to, so when she arrives at the airport she takes the bus to whatever hotel she's staying at that is nearest to where she is presenting, so she can walk to the venue. This is *exactly* what will make her squeal with joy! (Okay, she doesn't do that. I do that.)
MARKS & SPENCER: CRADLE-TO-CRADLE?
Some department stores in Europe and Asia have grocery stores in them. Imagine Nordstroms with a Ralphs (or better yet, a Whole Foods) in it. It's an unusual thought to fathom for us Americans, but hey, speaking of lessening your carbon-footprint, isn't it more efficient? Target already does it. But I digress.
What I'm excited about is how Marks & Spencer, a department store in England, is taking measures to not only recycle and reduce waste, but to achieve the divine nirvana of going green: cradle-to-cradle manufacturing and processing (see http://www.storyofstuff.com/ or my blog on May 17th, "Grab Your Garbage"). Mark & Spencer's Eco-Plan is the stuff my eco-dreams are made of. For one, you know that grocery store they have within the store? Instead of the old food getting dumped, they are going to stop sending food waste to landfills and use it to generate green energy for the stores via anaerobic digestion. Don't know exactly how that works, but it definitely sounds better than the conventional energy we use now. For more eco-orgasmic ways on how this British giant is going to implement its Eco-Plan, click on the Harvard Business Review on Marks & Spencer.
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