Posted
on February 25, 2010, 11:41 am,
by Tara Holmes,
under
Business

According to a recent United Nations report, that’s being complied by Trucost, the world’s top 3,000 companies cause $2.2 trillion in environmental damage per year1. The report is said to include all 500 companies on Standard & Poor’s list of the largest publicly traded companies in the United States. Richard Mattison, the chief operating officer of Trucost, commented that the report not only examined company impacts but also goods and services, greenhouse gas emissions, local pollutions, particulate emissions, and use of natural resources like water and timber. While the aim of the report is to bring light to environmental business ethics, it’s also telling how complicated such reporting can become: many US companies do business and manufacture products globally making regulation, evaluation and monitoring a challenge.…
Posted
on February 24, 2010, 11:14 am,
by JPierce,
under
Other

LiveScience has a nice collection of “blue marble” images to help put things in perspective.
Posted
on February 22, 2010, 10:34 am,
by LGlick,
under
Cambridge,
Conservation & Efficiency,
Events,
Lighting,
Saving MoneyTags:
Barnraising,
volunteer,
Weatherization
On Sunday, February 21, eighteen volunteers participated in a community canvass campaign to spread awareness about simple home improvements to save money, energy, and the planet. The event organized by the Home Energy Efficiency Team and the Cambridge Energy Alliance sought to help cut carbon emissions in East Cambridge through a CFL light bulb exchange.…
The poster child of human environmental destruction in the 90’s is still imperiled, even if the focus has shifted to global warming. Of course the two are intimately related, and besides the forests’ huge impacts on local watersheds—effectively creating their own rain—the forests’ trees and soils obviously have a major impact on the carbon cycle. Still, the onslaught upon the lungs of the world is not only unrelenting but expanding.
Looking for a green activity to keep the February doldrums at bay? Check out these free events hosted by Somerville Climate Action on February 22nd!
Got water, ambient light, 2 minutes per day & a spare glass jar?…

Last week’s episode of NOVA Extreme Cave Diving was an interesting foray into “blue holes,” and the evidence they offer of paleo-climate. If you missed it, check the website to view it online. Similar, though less-breath taking evidence is offered in a recent paper from Yale.
This week’s Extreme Ice, provides a stunning and more in-depth review of the photographic documentation of glacial melting by James Balog, which we have mentioned before.

Given the monopolistic and powerful positions adopted by the oil companies since the beginning of the modern oil age in the nineteenth century, it is almost inevitable that their entry into the renewable arena will not be without problems. — ScienceBlog.com

The Cambridge Energy Alliance is debuting a poster art exhibit to inform the public about climate change and its impacts, the carbon emissions of Cambridge, and how local citizens can make a difference. Over 80% of Cambridge’s Climate emissions come from residential and commercial buildings, so eliminating wasted energy in our homes and workplaces is a priority.…
No, we didn’t get a new toilet. We converted our old one with a One2flush kit. Turning the handle one way makes a half flush and turning it the other makes a full flush.…