Time again to give thanks- should there really only be one day set aside for that?- and we’re certainly grateful for the tremendous feedback we’ve received since launching Love Tomorrow Today. As always, we invite you to let us know about programs and people making a difference or tips to incorporating simple change into our daily lives.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving! This weekend, remember to reduce, recycle, reuse and…relax! Don’t forget, eating leftovers (delicious, food coma-inducing leftovers) is good for the planet!

Sam’s Club and Aquafina have teamed up once again in support of Keep America Beautiful’s ‘Great American Cleanup,’ the nation’s largest annual community improvement program. The partnership has produced the ‘Return The Warmth‘ program, aimed at challenging local communities and schools to contribute to the ‘Cleanup’ project. Through this year’s program, an estimated 189 million plastic bottles were recycled, exceeding the stated goal of 80 million and more than doubling the results from last year’s campaign, where 70.6 million bottles were recycled.

A total of 25,000 fleece jackets made from recycled plastic bottle material have been distributed to the 100 schools that collected the most bottles. In addition, the top 50 schools received a $1,000 Sam’s Club Gift Card. “Return the Warmth has been a testament to Sam’s Club and Aquafina’s creativity in putting Keep America Beautiful’s message of ‘closing the loop’ to work, and teaching it to school children across the country,” said Keep America Beautiful President & CEO Matthew McKenna. “Nearly doubling our goal in collecting 189 million PET bottles through our Great American Cleanup participating organizations has been simply astounding.”

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I didn’t know the “green nightclub” was a trend, but head over to the Times’ Green Inc. blog to read how NYC’s hottest new eco-hotspot Greenhouse wants to show people “that partying and sustainability aren’t mutually exclusive.” Oh boy…

NYT Green Inc. - ‘Green’ Nightclub Trend Comes to New York

We’ve blogged about the environmental considerations of the new MacBook, and now Apple’s touting their new line as “The Greenest Family of Notebooks.” Watch the ad, let us know what you think.

The mayors of Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose approved Better Place’s $1 billion plan to build up an electric service network. Unlike Prop 1A, which authorized a $10 billion public investment from the state for a bullet train- and that was just the down payment- Better Place’s plan is supported by private investments and involves installing thousands of parking-meter-size plugs in homes, lots, garages, and shopping centers for an electric fill-up. San Francisco’s Mayor Gavin Newsom suggested public contributions would come in the form of tax incentives and rebates. more…

Earlier this year, FEED Projects introduced it’s newest initiative, the FEED 100 bag. Available exclusively at Whole Foods Market, each bag will provide 100 school meals to hungry children in Rwanda through the UN’s World Food Program (WFP). FEED Projects was started in 2007 by Lauren Bush, the model, activist and honorary spokesperson for the WFP, and Ellen Gustafson, a former United Nations Communications Officer, to feed and educated children in impoverished places.

We see the bag as a great example of the possible synergy between fashion trends and responsible consumerism.

This time next week, we’ll be emerging from our turkey comas. Ah tryptophan! My favorite of the essential amino acids! Thanksgiving is, for my money, the best holiday of the year. It’s one we all share- as Americans- and, without the stress of having to find the right presents, the focus is food, family and gratitude. But the holidays can also present certain challenges to sustainable living. For starters, Thanksgiving is the busiest time of the year for US travelers. With all that travel, shopping, cooking and eating…it’s a holiday that produces a lot of waste.

With a few tweaks to your normal routine, it’s possible to save time, money and waste this Thanksgiving. Often, simply being conscious of your consumption guides you towards responsible decisions. According to the Nature Conservancy, an estimated 96 billion pounds of food are discarded nationally every year, 5 million tons of trash during the holiday season alone. So, maybe if no one really finished your homemade pumpkin pie last year, make less this time around! I know, I know, you mistakenly put in a cup of salt instead of a cup of sugar, but, seriously, back away from the stove…!

What’s our point? Well, while some green sites might suggest things like a vegan menu, we know, in reality, you’d probably get expelled from all future family events for a stunt like that. And why drastically change one of the greatest days of the year? As you’re thinking about Thanksgiving, consider all the little decisions that go into the day, and then consider tweaking them. Carpool to your Aunt Barb’s house, or, if you’re flying somewhere, consider offsetting the carbon (roughly $12 for a cross-country flight), where possible buy products with less packaging, and don’t forget the best part of Thanksgiving…leftovers!

According to a new study, 2009 will be a big year of growth in the green building market. McGraw-Hill Construction’s recently published “Green Outlook 2009: Trends Driving Change” projects a “possible tripling in the value of eco-friendly construction starts to reach as much as $140 billion.” Given its recent forecast for a 7% drop in overall construction starts, the “green growth” means the greening building market could represent more than a quarter of the overall construction market within a few years.

In September, McGraw-Hill Construction released a similarly optimistic study predicting a “big jump” in the growth and profits in green construction worldwide. “Green growth is phenomenal across the globe,” Harvey M. Bernstein, McGraw-Hill Construction’s vice president of Industry Analytics, Alliances and Strategic Initiatives, said in a statement announcing the report. “The business opportunities afforded by green building, even in the midst of a global economic crisis, are real and recognized by industry players.”

In this economy, we’ll take this as further proof that businesses are recognizing the duel bottom line of sustainable construction, where thoughtful design and responsible construction can save money and resources.

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Curitiba, Brazil is known amongst environmentalists and urban planners alike as a world model of sustainability - 30 years ago, they implemented the  ’Curitiba Master Plan’ to address the problems of urban living through progressive transportation systems and enviro-friendly social programs that address recycling creatively, expand green space and develop industry. I could go on (30 years ago!?!) but check out Frontline’s great coverage here. Pepsi recently announced their own model - a new facility in Curitiba that will focus on energy management through light conservation - that will serve as the standard for future PepsiCo facilities. The light system was created by Orion Energy Systems, who have retrofitted 80 PepsiCo facilities in the US so far.

Frontline - Curitiba’s Urban Experiment

Bill McKibben - Curitiba: A Global Model for Development

CNN Money - Press Release

Nissan Nuvo Concept

Inspired by an onion? Well, according to those quirky folks at Nissan, an onion inspired the look of their new all-electric concept car, the Nuvo. As the above video shows, the Nuvo is a big step forward for Nissan, which, unlike Toyota and Honda, has been slow to get into the hybrid/electric game. According to Nissan, the car has a top speed of 75 mph and a range of roughly 80 miles. With a battery that fully recharges in 3-4 hours, and charges to 80% after only 10 minutes, the Nuvo is not just another empty offering but could spell a new direction for Nissan. In fact, it could spell a new direction for the electric car biz. Carlos Tavares, Nissan’s VP for product planning and development, predicts that in the future people will choose to buy cars but lease the batteries, as technology and storage capacity continue to evolve dramatically from generation to generation. For more on that, see this post on PSFK. As for the car, let’s hope that new car smell isn’t inspired by an onion too!    -Rich more…

While the question with solar is always “How much?” some nano-engineering students at RPI have developed an anti-reflective coating to make solar cells capture the full light spectrum - 96% to be precise - from all angles, sunrise to sunset. An amazing breakthrough, especially if it allows current panels to be upgraded, and be introduced into the market swiftly. Clean Technica call it a “solar power game changer.” Read more there:

Clean Technica - Rensselaer Researchers Nano-Engineer Solar to ‘Near Perfect’ Efficiency

Growing up in Queens, I loved sneakers before kids waited on line all night for them. And I have always worn Nikes. When Nike Considered launched, I was excited by the natural look, focus on impacts, and the process they went through developing them with Staple Design. It clearly didn’t catch, though, and Considered became more about the process, than the look, evidenced in the development of the Air Jordan XX3. Now, their focus is on all products being ‘Considered’ by 2020, including the first Considered running sneaker, the 25th Anniversary Air Pegasus, shown above. A lofty goal, one even Patagonia has struggled with. We’ll be watching.

Hypebeast - Nike 2009 Considered Design Program

Business Week - Patagonia’s Ongoing Recycling Program

With its bright lights and bustling of activity, Times Square is, in many ways, the energetic center of Manhattan, but it’s also its epicenter of consumption. Its mention wouldn’t necessarily make you think of the green revolution. But thanks to Ricoh Americas Corporation, the office supply and document-storage company, Times Square is about to get a bit greener. Ricoh is building a $3 million billboard on the northwest corner of Seventh Ave and 42nd Street that will be powered by the sun and wind.

The sign (pictured here in an artist’s rendering) will feature 16 wind turbines and 64 solar panels and will measure 126 feet wide and 47 feet high. Construction  is expected to begin later this month, with an official lighting ceremony scheduled for early December. According to the NY Times, the sign will likely cost Ricoh as much as $200,000 a month. But that cost is standard for such a prime location, and unlike the other billboards in Times Square, the payback will be quantifiable, “generating its own electricity — enough to light six homes for a year — the sign could save as much as $12,000 to $15,000 per month” and up to 18 tons of carbon a year. As Ron Potesky, a senior marketing VP for Ricoh explains, a the sign will serve as a message “to customers, other companies and the world that resources and energy can be used creatively. The point is that there are ways of being environmentally friendly to the planet, even on a billboard.”

Is it just me or have things at NBC really taken a turn for the better since they hired Jack Donaghy as the Head of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming? NBC, and its parent company GE (a subsidiary of the Sheinhardt Wig Company), is “going green” again.

All this week, the network is profiling environmental issues, sustainable organizations and the efforts of those making a difference to the planet. In a repeat of last year’s initiative, the hosts of the Today Show are heading to “the ends of the earth,” to explore climate change. In a dramatic live broadcast last year, Ann Curry reported from the South Pole, Al Roker from the equator and Matt Lauer from the Artic Sea. Once again, NBC is offsetting the carbon footprint of its traveling hosts. In addition, the Today Show will be offering a host of segments focused on educating viewers on greening their daily habits, such as “It’s Easy Being Green: 7 Ways to help the planet.”

NBC’s “Going Green” web site provides still more environmental pearls of wisdom. One of the offerings is “Jay’s Green Garage,” where Tonight show host Jay Leno profiles some innovations in green vehicles and sustainable car care. Here’s a video of Jay learning about Honda’s Natural Gas Civic. more…

The organic food movement, for all of its imperfections, has been good for the environment. Greater scrutiny of how food is grown and how animals are treated has brought issues of sustainability to the fore. But in contrast to agriculture, so-called aquaculture - fish farming, shrimp farming and so on- has been slower to evolve, and retailers have been slower to demand it. That’s beginning to change.

Earlier this year, Whole Foods became the first major retailer to announce a comprehensive set of aquaculture guidelines, adopting strict standards aimed at avoiding damage to sensitive habitats, limiting waste and reducing pollution. The move is being welcomed by environmental groups, like the Environmental Defense Fund and the World Wildlife Fund, both of which have contributed to the “aquaculture dialogue.”

Starting two years ago, Whole Foods began consulting with environmental groups and scientists and visiting its suppliers’ farms to develop its own comprehensive set of guidelines, which includes a ban on preservatives, antibiotics, hormones and other chemicals commonly used in fish farming. “Right now, we need a way to source our seafood in a way that meets our customers’ expectations,” said Carrie Brownstein, seafood quality standards coordinator at Whole Foods. “We don’t want to be waiting on the sidelines. We want to be very active in the process.”

With other retailers, such as Wal-Mart and Wegmans, following suit, it looks like Whole Foods is, once again, helping to move the rest of the industry forward.

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Residential solar power sounds great, especially with the rising costs of “dirty electrical” power. But solar is still prohibitively expensive for most people. Enter 1 Block Off The Grid, a community-based purchasing program aimed at promoting widespread adoption of residential “clean tech” energy by addressing the principal barriers, cost and complexity. To address issues of cost, 1BOG aggregates large numbers of buyers, leveraging a group’s bargaining power to negotiate large discounts for members, and streamlining the sales process for vendors. To address issues of complexity, 1BOG helps buyers wade through the many considerations, such as how to apply for local energy rebates, how many panels are necessary and what technologies are available in their area.

1BOG started as a consumer-based initiative in San Francisco and rapidly became the largest group purchasing program for green products in the country. After a successful pilot program in San Francisco, 1BOG was purchased by Virgance, a company that scales new activism ideas. Virgance has now launched 1BOG programs in 20 cities, including Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Seattle and Miami.

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We’re all pretty well trained at this point to drop our bottles into the recycling bin. Seeing someone throw a bottle or can into the regular trash is like seeing someone light up a cigarette- sorry smokers, but it’s true, it goes against what we now know to be common sense for our own health.  Post-consumer sustainability is increasingly a mainstream interest. But how about Pre-Consumer sustainability? A new environmental program in the United Kingdom is engaging the leading retailers, brand owners and their supply chain to identify collaborative approaches to reducing the amount of packaging waste. Packaging optimization is not a new concept (see our recent post about Hewlett Packard for example), but the initiative, known as WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme), is encouraging widespread packaging changes a scale not seen here in the United States. The folks at WRAP found that as much as 50% of household waste in the UK was originating from the five leading supermarket chains and that targeting those retailers could affect change throughout the industry.

WRAP has been particularly successful in encouraging bottlers to convert to lighter weight glass. In the past year, more than 60 bottlers (of beer and cider) in the U.K. have optimized their bottles, eliminating over 32,000 tons of glass. With slight changes to a bottles height and diameter, the beverage companies are able to reduce the weight and amount of material needed by up to 30 per cent.

Pre-consumer sustainability programs like these have a direct (and positive) impact throughtout the supply chain, and we think it’s time for a WRAP-style initiative here in the U.S.

Few cities have been hit harder by the decline of the US auto industry than Flint, Michigan. As Detroit’s car makers fumble and falter, due in large part to their stubborn reluctance to be innovators in green technology,  Flint has fallen on hard times. But the city is hoping to recast itself as a hub for green transportation by turning sewage into fuel for its bus fleet.

Partnering with local Kettering University and the Swedish company, Swedish Biogas International, Flint is looking to turn its municipal sewage into biogas, which officials hope will begin powering buses by next summer. Biogas is often seen as too expensive an alternative to gasoline, but Swedish Biogas President Peter Unden believes the Flint plant can produce biogas that is 20 percent less expensive than gasoline. City officials hope it will attract other renewable energy projects and investments. As Kettering University President Stanley R. Liberty explained, “the future will be based on a science-and-technology economy. GM was a startup company; we need to go back 100 years and rediscover the entrepreneurial spirit that existed here.”

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New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg is helping to place the city at the forefront of urban green thinking. The newest initiative is a proposed 6 cent tax on the use of plastic bags. Other cities in the U.S. and throughout the world (particularly Europe and Australia) have already taken steps to address the vast amount of waste pollution created by plastic bags. An estimated one trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. Instead of opting for an out-right ban of plastic bags, as other cities have chosen to do (most notably San Francisco), NYC is hoping a tax can dissuade people from using bags and generate added revenue for the city. As David W. Chen points out in his piece in the NY Times, “city officials estimate that the fee could generate $16 million a year, a figure that Mr. Bloomberg would no doubt appreciate, given the lingering and concussive effects of the global economic crisis on the city’s economy.” The 6 cent tax is considerably lower than the 33 cent tax introduced in Ireland in 2002, where use of plastic bags dropped 94% within two weeks. more…

Among TIME Magazine’s just published list of the Best Inventions of 2008, we find ten directly related to issues of sustainability. There may well be others, but I’m not really sure what the world’s largest particle accelerator does exactly (other than overheat and need shutting down until spring). As this blog and others can attest, there has been an impressive range of new innovation in sustainability (from ‘Smart Meters’ to mobile phone/GPS carbon calculators, from wave-energy technologies to solar-powered bus stops), so TIME’s list is, of course, incomplete but interesting. Below are the links to those ten inventions, with my own brief description of each.

#2. The Tesla Roadster: With a price tag of $100,000, this is by no means a mainstream invention, but this sportscar will change the way people think about electric cars.

#7. Chevy Volt: No one thinks of ‘green innovation’ when you mention Chevy, but that’s exactly what the US auto maker has finally delivered. With an all-electric range of 40 miles, it’s a good step towards catching up with the rest of the world (particularly Toyota and Honda).

#11. Green Crude: Researchers at Arizona State University are developing ‘carbon neutral gasoline,’ derived from algae, which might change the way we think about biofuel. more…

We’d all like to rest easier at night. If you’ve got a Hollander pillow, there’s more of a reason to feel comfortable. Hollander Home Fashions, the largest manufacturer of pillows in the U.S., plans to send zero waste to landfill within two years. The Oakland, CA-based company claims to be well on its way to meeting that goal, having found recycling streams for much of its trash.

Hollander, which sells over 35 million pillows a year through most major retailers, estimated it was putting 250,000 pounds of wrapping in landfills annually. The company has developed new manufacturing practices to minimize inefficiencies in production. “We took a look at everything we were throwing out, and we wanted to target the big things first,” said Ron Capranos, senior vice president of manufacturing and head of Hollander’s sustainability efforts. Hollander is able to sell its waste to recyclers, but it has also seen its disposal costs go down to about 38 percent less than last year. Hollander is also working to cut the carbon emissions of its trucking and reduce product packaging, sustainability efforts that compliment its Zero Waste program. The company estimates it has cut 4.2 million square feet of corrugate and uses 2.3 million less cubic feet of shipping space annually.

The bright lights of New York on a motion sensor? The skyline, the classic image of a tiny island with tall skyscrapers huddled together with their lights on all night, has long been an indelible trademark of the Big Apple, the city that never sleeps. Increasingly, businesses are acknowledging the energy waste (and, at a time when banks are clinging to any lifevest, the cost), and many have installed motion sensors into offices. In this video from the NY Times, “A Greener, Dimmer Skyline,” we see the ways in which a growing aesthetic of conservation is affecting the iconic image of the Manhattan skyline at night.

Thanks to a ’sign of things to come’ move by Amazon, we’re going to start getting less of what we don’t need from our online purchases. Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging, a multi-year initiative designed to alleviate “wrap rage,” features recyclable boxes that are easy to open and free of excess materials such as hard plastic clamshell cases, plastic bindings, and wire ties. Many manufacturers use large packaging to help retailers avoid shoplifting. Web-based retailers, like Amazon, aren’t motivated by such concerns. Amazon is focusing first on two kinds of items: those enclosed in hard plastic cases known as “clamshells” and those secured with plastic-coated wire ties, commonly used in toy packaging. The product itself is exactly the same—they’ve just streamlined the packaging.

Frustration-Free Packaging is being launched in the U.S. with 19 bestselling products from leading manufacturers including Fisher-Price, Mattel, Microsoft and electronics manufacturer Transcend. The project will expand across Amazon’s international sites beginning in 2009.

Add-ons are becoming the reality of air travel. With some airlines, it’s $15 for the first checked bag, $25 for the second, $50 for a window seat, $10 to get one that reclines and $1 to use the bathroom. Ok, maybe not the last two, but can those be far off? How about an add-on that won’t give you air rage, $12 to offset your share of carbon from the flight? VT-based Brighter Planet is helping people take those sorts of steps for a healthier environment, by providing practical, carbon emission reducing solutions for consumers and businesses. As we detailed on this blog last week, the recently published Living Planet Report suggests the Earth’s natural resources are being used up to 30%  faster than they can be replaced in a reckless environmental spending spree. Thankfully, Brighter Planet is leading the way in innovating ways to mainstream carbon offsetting and in demonstrating that small, day-to-day actions can make a huge difference for the environment. To date, Brighter Planet members have offset almost 50 million pounds of CO2, the equivalent of taking 1.5 million cars off the road for a day.

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