Climate Technology

How to green your company’s cafeteria

Let’s do lunch … right. © Corbis. “Got anything green to eat?” That’s probably not a question you hear much around your company’s cafeteria, but you might soon. A growing number of companies are thinking about the environmental impacts of the food they serve. And along the way, the oft-maligned institutional food is giving way […]

Petal Pusher

Entrepreneur sees vast potential for organic flower industry Gerald Prolman is a man with an organic-flower plan. The California entrepreneur is not only after a significant chunk of the $20 billion-a-year cut-flower industry in the U.S. — he’s hopeful that cultivating demand for organic bouquets will transform grower practices in Latin America and Africa, where […]

Seventh Generation partners with Target

In the summer of its ground-breaking ad buy of an entire issue of the New Yorker, Target has also begun a pilot project to sell Seventh Generation's eco-friendly household products.

This is not your father's mega-retailer.

Your Love Is Liftin’ Me Hybrider

California dealers jacking up prices for scarce hybrids Californians may find themselves paying up to $4,000 over the manufacturer’s suggested retail price for a gas-electric Toyota Prius — if they can get their hands on one at all. Folks hankering for a Honda Civic or Insight hybrid also face dealer premiums and lean supply. Thanks […]

Seriously, now — why aren’t organics getting affordable?

So you like whole-grain bread, pesticide-free plums, and low-fat meat? Better ask for a raise. A recent study by researchers at the University of California-Davis reported that U.S. shoppers who consistently choose healthy foods spend nearly 20 percent more on groceries. The study also said the higher price of these healthier choices can consume 35 […]

Will hard-won environmental and social gains survive China’s economic rise?

The way China has catapulted itself onto the Monopoly board of global capitalism has caught most Western leaders on the hop. Like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid looking back at their pursuers, top U.S. and European Union businesspeople are wondering, “Who are those guys?” Yuan-a make a deal? After all, how much do we […]

Gloom and Doom Meets the Dismal Science

Economics the next big thing in green activism Green activists are increasingly embracing environmental economics, combining profit-oriented pragmatism with eco-idealism to make powerful cases for saving the environment. Although the field has been evolving for the past 40 or so years, activists really started to take note in the 1990s when a sulfur-dioxide emissions-trading program […]

Royale With Breeze

Northwest burger chain switches to pure wind power Fans of Pacific Northwest fast-food purveyor Burgerville will soon be noshing on burgers and onion rings cooked up with clean energy. The Holland Inc. — parent company of both the Burgerville and Noodlin’ regional chains — has announced that all of its restaurants will use regionally produced […]

Always Low Standards

Wal-Mart settles with Connecticut over environmental misdeeds Wal-Mart has agreed to pay Connecticut a $1.15 million fine for a host of environmental violations. State regulators first filed suit against the retail giant in 2001, after discovering that the company had improperly stored pesticides, fertilizers, and other hazardous materials outside, where they washed down storm drains […]

Trade to Black

U.K. market leads the pack in lucrative carbon-emissions trading Newfangled carbon trading has become quite lucrative in the Old World, where the European Union’s fledgling carbon market has taken off. Many doubted that the emissions-trading scheme (part of E.U. plans to meet Kyoto emissions-reduction targets) would prosper, especially since the U.S. — world leader in […]