The Anheuser-Busch brewery in Houston, TX will have 55% of it energy needs met from landfill biogas. It’s a big move for the country’s leading brewer- AB holds a 49.2% share of U.S. beer sales and is a subsidiary of the world’s leading brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev- and, if the program is a success, could bring the entire industry along with it. Landfill biogas consists of roughly 50% methane, a green house gas 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and is created when organic material decomposes in landfills. It can be converted into alternative fuels, heat, steam or used to generate electricity.

The project is a partnership between the brewery, Republic Services (a leading provider of solid waste collection) and Ameresco Services (the largest independent energy services company in North America). Pipelines connect the brewery to McCarty Road Landfill, the main recipient of refuse from the residents and businesses in east Houston and surrounding suburbs.

In the project’s press release, AB explains, “the benefit of this clean energy project is equivalent to planting more than 121,050 acres of pine or fir trees or taking 97,550 motor vehicles off the road. Additional gas from the McCarty Road landfill also is captured, processed and sold to a local utility.”

Check out our previous posts on various green initiatives by brewers.

[source: Anheuser-Busch, PR Newswire]

In a presentation at TED in January (but published earlier this month), Kevin Surace, CEO of Serious Materials, discusses his company’s (potentially) world-changing invention, a new eco-friendly drywall material. He introduces EcoRock, a clean, recyclable and energy-efficient drywall created by his team at Serious Materials and explains why it can make such a difference.

As he explains, 52% of the world’s CO2 emissions is tied to building construction. In fact, the CO2 emissions from just one house are the equivalent to driving your car around the planet six times. With that in mind, Serious Materials began R&D to develop a new type of drywall that could dramatically reduce those emissions. After testing 5,000 different mixes, Surace’s team hit upon a winning formula. Popular Science magazine named EcoRock ‘Green Product of the Year,’ for its re-invention of drywall.

As the company explains,

Traditional gypsum drywall has remained virtually unchanged since its invention over 100 years ago.  Our increasingly fragile world requires rapid innovation to meet the changing conditions of our environment.  EcoRock is an evolutionary leap in drywall— an advanced solution that offers superior performance today, without sacrificing the prosperity of tomorrow.  We call this ecolution.

It’s Cradle to Cradle Gold certfied, uses 80% less energy to produce gypsum drywall, is made of 80% recycled materials and is designed to be entirely re-utilized at the end of its life. Bring on more ecolution!

PepsiCo this week opened its first overseas “green” plant in China in the western city of Chongqing, part of the beverage giant’s continuing efforts to expand its reach in emerging markets, broaden its portfolio of locally relevant products and achieve a range of ambitious sustainability goals.

The Chongqing plant is the first “green” beverage plant ever built in China - and the first plant of any kind in the industrial center of Chongqing- to comply with rigorous LEED standards. The plant uses over 35 water and energy saving designs and utilizes the world’s most advanced technology, including an environmental management system that monitors water and energy use on every production line and every piece of individual equipment in real time.

The facility is designed to use 22% less water and 23% less energy than the average PepsiCo plant in China. To save water, the plant utilizes a high-pressure cleaning system, water-free conveyor belt lubricant and water-saving fixtures. Plant associates re-use water for landscaping and general cleaning instead of using potable water. To save energy, 75% of the plant’s indoor areas feature natural lighting, including a skylight in the packing area and warehouse. A roof garden insulates the office building and saves energy for cooling and heating.

The new plant is expected to help PepsiCo annually reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3,100 tons; water usage by 100,000 tons; and overall energy use by four million kilowatt hours compared to the former Chongqing plant. It also will serve as an educational center to raise awareness of good environmental practices among students in the local community.

“This plant reflects our deep and long-term commitment to China,” said Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo chairman and chief executive officer. “It is also an important milestone in our green journey, on which we are partnering with the Chinese government, industry and others to continue to promote the health and longevity of our planet.”

[sources: PepsiCo, PR Newswire]

Maybe the folks at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department have been watching Mark Wahlberg’s 2003 remake of The Italian Job* (with all those great car chases through LA’s subway tunnels and viaducts), or maybe it’s the sweet deal they were able to arrange with BMW (ten bucks a month!). Under a test program approved last week by the County Board of Supervisors, LA County sheriffs will get 17 electric-powered minis and electric charging stations.

“It’s clean-energy, it’s cost-effective and it could prove to be a boon for the county,” says Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore. As Andrew Blankstein explains in his piece for the LA Times, “the cars are being donated by Mini U.S.A., a subsidiary of BMW, and will cost the department a $10-a-month processing fee. Maintenance of the vehicles and charging stations will be covered by BMW. A lease for the car typically runs $850 a month.” In return, the car company is looking for “feedback” about the program.

In the land of crazy freeway chases (OJ, anyone?), it’s good to see a little bit of sanity.

*check out Michael Caine’s original, also with Mini Cooper car chases.

[Sources: LA Times,via Gas 2.0]

We had the chance to spend some time at a remarkable new development in Hinesburg, Vermont, where contractor Chuck Reiss (Reiss Building & Renovation) and architect Rolf Kielman (Truex Cullins & Partners) are leading the way in building tomorrow’s homes today. Set on 24 acres of prime agricultural land on the outskirts of town (not far from Burlington), the South Farm homes have been designed and built to be “net zero,” meaning they will produce all the energy they need on site.

The land was bought in partnership by Vermont Building Resources (which Reiss formed along with a limited pool of like-minded investors) and the Russell Family Farm, and the goal was to ensure a modest but responsible development of this 24 acre parcel. Fourteen acres were set aside for continued farming, while a cluster of six passive/active solar homes was built on a portion of the land’s southern facing slope.

As Kielman points out, the principle of orienting a home on a piece of land to maximize efficiency is not a new concept. “You can go back to some of the basic principles involved in Greek town planning,” Kielman says, “you go to Delphi for example…all these Greek communities sit in these south facing bowls…and this was a perfect south facing bowl,…we could shelve all of these houses into the hillside, put most of the glass to the southside,…it’s a little like a tree, the way it sort of searches for the sunlight to sustain itself.”

Beyond positioning, Reiss and Kielman had to consider a range of factors to help reduce the homes’ overall energy load, including tightening the envelopes (limiting the homes to 1500-2000 square feet), using locally sourced materials where possible and introducing triple pane windows. Other environmental features include geo-thermal heating, radiant concrete floors, super insulated walls and roofs, active PV solar panels and significant south facing glass, which provides solar gain and great views down the valley.

The homes have been certified by the Vermont Builds Green program, which recognized the development’s conservation of agricultural soils and wetlands, location within 3 miles of a school and food store, building design (built into the hillside and with a roof oriented for maximum solar exposure) and its energy rating.

The homes will actually produce more energy than they use, making them each a little utility company.
“Green Mountain Power charges 13 cents per kilowatt hour,” Reiss explains. “It buys back electricity at 6 cents above that rate,…and when rates go up, the house earns more.”

“One of our goals was to say, ‘look, you can do this. This is not something that’s happening in the future.” I personally feel if we can demonstrate that with a subdivision of six homes, I don’t see why we’re building any other way.”

For more, check out the project’s brochure.

View the video on youtube or vimeo.

In another example of “finally, someone’s using their head,” British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has opened what it calls the first “people-powered” store. At one of the company’s stores in Gloucester yesterday, Sainsbury’s unveiled “kinetic road plates”, new green technology that will capture the energy of each car that enters and exits the parking lot, harnessing about 30 kWh each hour, enough to power its checkouts.

According to Alison Austin, Sainsbury’s environment manager, “this is revolutionary. Not only are we the first to use such cutting-edge technology with our shoppers, but customers can now play a very active role in helping make their local shop greener, without extra effort or cost.”

The Gloucester Quays location boasts some other innovative practices beyond the “kinetic plates.” The store plans to harvest rainwater to flush the store’s toilets and solar panels will heat up to 100% of the store’s hot water during the summer. As the store was being built, more than 90% of the construction waste was re-used or recycled.

[sources: The Guardian, via PSFK]

We love this technology! John La Grou, a long-time electronics inventor, audio designer and entrepreneur, and a team have created a new, smarter type of electrical outlet that will save lives, money and wasted energy. In a recent presentation at TED (see above video), La Grou began with a slide of a smoke detector- “a world changing invention” that has saved countless lives. But, La Grou points out, the smoke detector detects fires, it does not prevent them. Since one of the main causes of fires is electricity- faulty and misused wiring and appliances- La Grou and his team set out to prevent electrical fires before they begin. They created an inexpensive data receptacle that could be embedded in an appliance- in its plug- that could communicate with the power supply so that, if a fault is detected, it could shut off the electrical flow. The Intelligent Electrical Outlet- thanks to the Electrical Fault Circuit Interrupter (EFCI)- prevents overloads before they happen.

The invention also eliminates the need for parents to worry about those pesky “fork in the socket” mishaps. Each year in the U.S., over 2500 children are admitted to emergency rooms due to accidental electrocution. The Intelligent Electrical Outlet would make those accidents a thing of past, since the power is always off unless a smart plug is detected. Genius! And yet such a simple concept. A green, life-saving invention!

[source: TED]

The trash can hasn’t really changed in thousands of years. It’s not hard to imagine a first draft of Plato’s Republic ending up in something similar to the bin under Shakespeare’s desk. It’s just one of those things that achieved its useful/design equilibrium a long time ago. But BigBelly Solar is making a compelling case that it’s time for an update.

The Needham, MA-based company’s solar-powered trash compactor is catching on with municipalities looking to cut costs. The units cost between $3100 and $3900 (or lease for $70 to $90) depending on purchase volume, but the BigBelly says they typically pay for themselves in about two years. The can holds around five times as much trash as a traditional trash can, resulting in fewer collections, reducing money spent on man hours, fuel, and garbage trucks. According to BigBelly, the compactor, which has a wireless indicator that signals that the unit is ready to be picked up, cuts the need for trash pickup by up to 80%.

“We’re very excited to bring the benefits of on-site solar compaction to such a wide group of customers nationwide,” said Richard Kennelly, vice president of marketing for BigBelly Solar. “These compactors are made from recycled materials, and even work in areas that don’t receive direct sunlight.” Matt McKenna, CEO of the nonprofit Keep American Beautiful (see our earlier post about them) cites consumer reports that suggest “that convenience and accessibility of public trash and recycling receptacles are a major influence in encouraging them to dispose of waste properly and to recycle more.”

We’ll be seeing these contraptions popping up more and more. Jim Poss, BigBelly’s founder, was recently called one of “America’s Most Promising Social Entreprenuers” by BusinessWeek. And at last week’s U.S. Conference of Mayors, garbage heavy hitters Waste Management announced that it has become the exclusive waste and environmental services company distributor of BigBelly solar compactor technology in North America.

Watch this video of the BigBelly trash can.

When someone shows a talent for gardening, we say they have a green thumb. But many of the tools we use to keep a garden manicured, from weedkiller to gas-powered mowers and blowers, are anything but green. There are sites that provide some useful tips for more eco-friendly gardening, but, really, how many people will turn in their riding mower for a push mower? 

While production might be five years away, Husqvarna has unveilved a concept riding lawn mower that runs entirely on electricity and just might put the green back in gardening. The Panthera Leo runs on a lithium phosphate battery and can provide two hours of cutting time. The mower has five motors and is fitted with sound-absorbing cutting decks to minimize the noise. That’s good the planet and your neighbors!

[sources: Husqvarna, via CarTech Blog]

Amsterdam has long been one of Europe’s most progressive cities. The Dutch capital is known for its Red-Light District, its museums, cannabis, canals and cobble stones. Soon it might be known for something else entirely- being Europe’s first “smart city.”

The city has begun a process of modernizing its infrastructure, adding 300 power hookups around the city to recharge electric cars, installing solar panels on bus stops and historic 17th century townhouses alike. While other cities (most notably Stockholm) are aiming to become “smart cities,” investing in renewable technologies and adopting stiff emission controls, Amsterdam is the poster child.

This month, the first 1200 homes were fitted with smart meter systems from IBM and Cisco. Some were provided financing from local banks, including ING and Rabobank, to retrofit their homes with cost/energy-saving upgrades.

Accenture has been brought on to help the city create a smart electricity grid, add smart meters and other broad and ambitious measures to reduce energy use throughout Amsterdam’s business, residential and public spaces.

[sources: Business Week, Accenture]

Just as it’s done with taxes (TurboTax) and bookkeeping (Quickbooks), the popular software company Intuit has just launched a free service aimed at helping small and midsized companies better understand their carbon footprint.

Green Snapshot pulls expense data from a company’s QuickBooks and estimates the carbon footprint of that business, providing customized recommendations of ways to go greener, save money and improve the efficiency of operations.

To create the app, Intuit partnered with Cooler, environmental software company, whose methodology, known as the Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Analysis (EIO-LCA) is backed by leading environmental organizations like the Natural Resources Defense Council, The Environmental Defense Fund and the National Wildlife Federation. The EIO-LCA calculates emissions based on financcial and economic data..

As Joel Makower writes in his piece for GreenBiz, “since the dawn of the green business movement, small and midsized firms have been largely left out of the picture. Regulators and activists have focused on large industrial players — the ones with the spewing smokestacks, drainpipes, and dumpsters — all but ignoring the roughly 98 percent of the companies around the world that have under 100 employees” Makower continues, “Will it work? Hard to know — the product is barely a couple weeks old — but you’ve got to like the strategy: a free add-on to a popular product that provides genuine value to customers and, just maybe, to Intuit itself, all the while burnishing the software company’s green cred.”

For more visit Intuit, and check out Makower’s full article.

Adam Kalkin’s Push Button House 1 was first displayed in 2005. Since then, Kalkin’s “quik houses,” known for their blend of industrial pragmatism and creative design, have set the standard in the growing field of prefab homes. The Push Button House starts as a shipping container until, quite literally, you push a button and motorized walls, powered by hydraulics, unfold to reveal a fully functional house. It feels like something out of a Luc Besson film, but it could be yours for about $100k.

[via SwipeLife]

As Candace Lombardi suggests on CNET, Tremont Electric’s “Personal Energy Generator” gives a whole new meaning to term “power walking.” Harnessing a person’s kinetic energy, the PEG allows you to recharge your handheld electronic devices while you walk, run, or bike.

We’ve been tracking the innovation of kinetic energy harvesting (KEH) with great interest. Last year, I wrote (wistfully) “someday we’ll put nanogenerators in almost everything. Imagine capturing the energy of a tennis match in the handle of your racket. Imagine storing the energy used to type on your keyboard all day long. Imagine nanogenerators in your ski pants that could power your iPod.”

Aaron LeMiex, Tremont Electric’s founder and PEG’s inventor, has brought us closer to that reality. The device doesn’t store the energy like a battery- instead, Lombardi explains, “it’s more of a kinetic energy real-time converter that must be plugged in to the device as it’s moving for the kinetic energy to be transferred as electricity immediately to the device.”

At 9 inches and weighing about 9 ounces, the PEG isn’t exactly ‘nano,’ but unlike some other KEH devices, you don’t need to wear this one. Simply slip it in a backpack, go for a walk, and in about an hour your portable device is charged up to 80%. It’s compatible with 90 percent of portable electronic devices including BlackBerry, iPhone, iPod, LG Chocolate, Magellan GPS, Nintendo DS Lite, Palm Treo, and most cell phones from Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sanyo, and Sony.”

[sources: Tremont Electric, CNET]

Sony Ericcson bolstered its green credentials earlier today, introducing two new phones made from old CD cases and water bottles. The GreenHeart C901 (top left) and Naite (top right) have all the features you’d expect on a new release (camera, video streaming, bluetooth,…) but are made from at least 50% recycled plastic and colored with “eco-friendly” water-based paints. The company claims that “thanks to these innovations, the overall CO_² footprint over the full life of the C901 GreenHeart™ and Naite is reduced by 15%.”

Both phones come with a low-power charger and an in-phone e-manual which reduces paper usage by 90 per cent and are part of the company’s GreenHeart™ program, aimed at elimating the use of hazardous chemicals from the product design and manufacturing process.

Both new GreenHeart™ phones build on Sony Ericsson’s industry leading ‘green core’, the result of a long standing commitment to eliminate the use of hazardous chemicals from the product design and manufacturing process..

In earlier posts, we’ve profiled efforts by other phone makers to green their products. Earlier this year, Samsung released it Blue Earth phone, and Motorola put out its MOTO W233 Renew. As Sony Ericcson pointed out, given the volume of products moved each year, the industry needs to tackle the issue of waste and efficiency. More than 1 billion phones are sold globally each year, along with boxes and other materials.

In yesterday’s post, we reviewed the “old school meets new school” qualities of the Baylis Eco-Media Player, a pretty sweet little green gadget. Just wind it up for a minute and the on-board generator will power the player (MP3, movie, photos, flash light, radio…) for 45 minutes. Today’s post is more “new school meets new schools,” as we hear news that Energizer has partnered with XPAL Power to create a compelling line of portable charging solutions for a variety of devices. As Darren Murph writes in his piece for Engadget, “the rechargeable power packs and emergency chargers — over ten of ‘em in all — will all ship by July of 2009 and will include devices for PMPs, PNDs, portable DVD players, netbooks and digicams.”

The Eco-Media Player Revolution

The good people at Baylis sent us their new Eco-Media player, the terrific Revolution. While it may never dethrone the iPod, the Revolution deserves some attention for somehow being both innovative and old school. Trevor Baylis, the British inventor best known for inventing a wind-up radio in the 1980s in response to the need to communicate information about AIDS to people in areas of Africa with no electricity, has steered the concept towards today’s generation of music players. The Revolution is a wind-up MP3 player that features video playback, a photo viewer, an FM radio, a voice recorder, a line input recorder, a text reader, expandable memory, and a flashlight. You can even use it to charge your cell phone.

Just 1 minute of winding will provide around 45 minutes of music play, and a full charge (via USB) will provide 48 hours of play time. The on-board generator makes it perfect for camping, long flights, or anytime you’re nowhere near a plug. But it’s also a nice bit of “green innovation.” We’ve enjoyed having one, and, if you’re looking for a fun “green gadget,” the Revolution is a good option. Terrapass offers it here for about $200.

Here’s a cheese-ball video of Baylis- is that Top Gun music in the background?- introducing the device to “a new generation.” But it’s hard not to root for Baylis and think…English inventor? Driving an old sports car? O.B.E.? Awesome!

We saw on Triple Pundit some big news about the growth of small wind. According to the site, the number of small wind turbines in the U.S. grew 78% last year. American Wind Energy Association reported a few days ago that 17.3 megawatts worth of new small wind turbines (with generation capacities of 100 kilowatts and less) was added last year. When one considers that the largest market segment of small wind turbines remains the residential kind (between 1 and 10kW), that’s a good number of individuals who are turning to wind- and taking advantage of some federal stimulus, renewable energy stimulus and other types of incentives.

We’re be posting a new webisode of One Degree TV about a development of homes (designed by Truex Cullins and built by Chuck Reiss) that combines thoughtful design elements, locally sourced materials and some green tech. These ‘net zero’ homes are elegant examples of the fact that we can (and should) be incorporating green/efficient thinking into all new homes!

Honda Fit

Honda is on a roll. The newest incarnation of the Insight is turning heads, and, with a sticker price well under the comparable 2010 Prius, it just might challenge the reining hybrid champ. Now comes word that Honda will roll out a gas-electric hybrid version of its popular subcompact, the Fit, in late 2010, a year and a half ahead of schedule. The move is aimed at tapping the ever-increasing demand for low-emission vehicles. According to a recent survey by JP Morgan, one in five cars sold in 2020 will be a hybrid, and Toyota and Honda have a leap on the competition.

In Japan, the new Insight became the first hybrid ever to top the best-seller list in country last month. Meanwhile, Toyota will resume overtime at its factory in central Japan to meet strong demand for the new Prius. The company plans to raise its output by 20%, a strong indicator that, even in these market conditions, consumer interest in cost-saving, green cars is on the rise.

[via Reuters]

The 71-storey Pearl River Tower

The Pearl River Tower, now under construction in Guangzhou, China is being called the most energy efficient superskyscraper ever built. Once completed, the 1017 foot tower in the capital of Guangdong province will boast wind turbines, solar panels, sun-shields, smart lighting, water-cooled ceilings and state-of-the-art insulation, enough to put just about every skyscraper in the U.S. to shame.

As Jonathan Watts writes for The Guardian, China “is in the middle of the greatest building boom in human history. Six of the world’s 10 tallest buildings completed last year were in China, including the 492-metre-tall Shanghai World Financial Centre. Even taller structures are on their way – such as the Shanghai Centre, 632 metres,  and at 600 metres, the Goldin Finance 117 in Tianjin.” The struggles of the world’s economy have not done much to slow the extraordinary pace of development. As Watts explains, “engineers are completing four more tower blocks every day,” but “almost all fitted with air conditioning, heating, lighting and lifts that will run on coal-powered electricity,” making the 71-storey Pearl River Tower so unsual.

If, as one management consultancy suggests, China will “erect up to 50,000 new skyscrapers by 2025,” the success of the Pearl River Tower can go a long way in setting a green trend.

For more, check out the original article here.

Facebook, it turns out, can help you do more than reconnect with your fifth grade girlfriend. Timberland, one of the most forward-thinking retailers out there, has partnered with changents to create a new eco-trivia facebook app called Earthkeepers Hero: Mission Possible, where players are invited to “get down-n-dirty for environmental change.” You’re presented a “mission,” and green trivia gets you through each scenario.

Timberland Earthkeepers is the retailer’s eco-division, launched to educate consumers about protecting the outdoors and to focus the company’s efforts in minimizing its impact. As the company explains, “we realize that by making our products, we’re part of the problem. We believe it’s time for companies, like ours, to take a look at how the way they do business affects the environment and do something about it. Earthkeepers is one way we’re trying to do exactly that. Our goal—inspire and engage one million Earthkeepers.”

The Facebook app is a fun way to do just that.

With an impressive 8,844 solar panels, Taiwan’s recently finished solar-powered stadium just might revolutionize the sporting world. The 50,000 seat stadium, designed by Toyo Ito, will generate all of its electricity from solar.

A test run performed earlier this year demonstrated that it takes just six minutes to power up the stadium’s 3,300 lights and two jumbo vision screens. Additional ‘green’ features include permeable paving, reusable and locally made materials.

The stadium will generate an estimated 1.14 gigawatt hours of electricity every year, which will be enough to power up to 80% of the surrounding neighborhood on the days when the stadium is unused. The stadium will officially open later this year for the 2009 World Games.

For more, check out Deputy Dog’s article.

golf in the desert?

Golf courses have long been a target for environmentalists, many of whom view them as the ultimate symbol of wasteful consumption of natural resources (water and land) and unapologetic polluters (pesticides and fertilizers)- one critic insists the 18,000 courses in the U.S. are devastating the environment.

But are they going away? No, of course not. And, it’s worth noting that the Professional Golf Association (PGA) is perhaps the most philanthropic of any major sporting body, with each weekly tour event bringing in roughly $5-7 million to local causes.

That said, since it’s just unreasonable to strive towards a golf course-free America, it’s good to know people like Matt Shaffer are finding ways to lower the environmental impact. As Larry Dorman writes in his piece for the NY Times, Shaffer is a course manager at the celebrated Merion Golf Club, in Ardmore, PA, home to a record 17 U.S.G.A. championships. Seeking a way to drastically reduce water use while maintaining the integrity of the course, Shaffer turned to wireless sensors. In 2005, he installed a product called RZ Wireless, which led to four years of improved water conservation.

Looking to go further, Shaffer recently decided to upgrade, selecting now from a growing and decidedly more sophisticated marketplace than in 2005. “Well, what I thought was dry isn’t even my baseline,” Shaffer tells Dorman in the article, “these sensors are just so much more sensitive, so much better, so much more complete. I am now hooked. I’m a sensor addict.”

For the article, Dorman rates the leading companies in the space. The best so far “is a system called UgMo, a network of wireless sensors that mine subsurface data and link to a software package developed by Advanced Sensor Technology of King of Prussia, Pa., the original manufacturers of the RZ system,” which can cut an average of 10% of a course’s typical water use. That amounts to millions of gallons of water each year, which, for most courses, would mean the system pays for itself within the first year.

Shawn Emerson, the superintendent at Scotsdale, Arizona’s Desert Mountain Golf Club, a complex of six courses that span 500 acres, believes the sensors will save a total of more than 100 million gallons of effluent water and roughly $113,000.

Dorman continues, “competitors include the industry giant Toro, of Bloomington, Minn., and Environmental Sensors, Inc., based in Victoria, British Columbia,” each of whom has introduced wireless systems designed for golf courses within the past four months.

For more, check out the original article here.

We think the ‘street view‘ feature of Google maps has been a remarkable project. The 360 degree cameras, typically mounted on cars, capture street level photographs that allow users to pan, rotate and zoom through neighborhoods in cities throughout the world. While the project has raised some privacy concerns- Greece has banned Google from adding new photos within the country until the company addresses some of these issues- it has been largely embraced as another of Google’s genius innovations.

Some sites have helped fuel this ‘privacy debate’ by collecting the “best of” these candid moments- including a web 2.0 marriage proposal, ‘drunk dude passed out,’ an attempted murder, a flasher and more.

This summer, Google will add a green touch to this celebrated project by sending out a fleet of tricycles to capture map areas of Britain inaccessible by Street View cars. The Google Trike, which the company calls “a mechanical masterpiece comprising 3 bicycle wheels, a mounted Street View camera and a very athletic cyclist in customized Google apparel,” will capture areas of the UK chosen by the public. Britons will chose locations from five categories: castles, coastal paths, natural wonders, historic buildings and monuments and stadiums.

[via CNET]

Sprint has limped into the “eco”sphere with the unveiling of its new green-themed website, along with some new eco-friendly accessories.

The website provides details about the company’s green mobile applications, tips for customers about ebilling, wireless recycling programs, how to utilize its mobile GPS to save gas and where to recycle old phones.

In addition to the site, Sprint has rolled out some green accessories, including the Solio Mono solar-powered charger and two new cell-phone carrying case made from 100% recycled plastic water bottles. VP of corporate social responsibility for Sprint, Ralph Reid, explains, “Sprint customers will continue to see more eco-friendly options, whether through our products and services or our business practices, [which] will help consumers conserve natural resources and reduce their carbon footprint.”

That’s all good stuff, but, c’mon! When will they get the iPhone?!

via SustainableLifeMedia