Isn’t it nice to look up at a billboard, just once, to see that no one is trying to shove a product down your throat? A joy, indeed – and a nice thing to see at the outset of the holiday season, when, nearly 2 months from Christmas, we’re already being bombarded with “BUY ME!” ads.

Via [Treehugger]

What’s more annoying than driving down to your local brothel only to find that there’s no parking available? It’s enough to make you stay home – and that’s exactly why Berlin’s Maison d’Envie, or House of Desire, is now offering discounts to clients who arrive on bicycles.

Thomas Goetz, the brothel’s owner, hopes that the discounts will stimulate sales and help the environment at the same time. From New York Daily News:

The bordellos in the capital of Germany, where prostitution is legal, have seen business suffer with the global financial crisis. Patrons have become more frugal, and there are fewer potential customers coming to the city for business trips and conferences.

But Maison d’Envie has seen its business begin to return since it began offering the euro5 ($7.50) discount in July, Goetz said.

To qualify, customers must show the receptionist either a bicycle padlock key or proof they used public transit to get to the neighborhood. That knocks the price for 45 minutes in a room, for example, to euro65 from euro70.

Those who arrive on foot, however, are out of luck.

“We haven’t found a way for people to prove they have walked here,” Goetz explained.

It’s a win-win: get double the exercise, see Berlin up close and personal, and get a discount on a prostitute. Who can argue with that? Even Berlin locals who don’t frequent brothels are cool with it, since it cuts congestion and pollution in this busy urban capital.

But why stop at brothels? This concept could be used by practically any kind of business and it’s a trend that we’d like to see remain long after the economy has picked back up again.

Link [New York Daily News]
Photo credit: Flickr user jesse.millan

Amid all the hubbub over Van Jones’ resignation and Obama’s focus on other issues, talk of green collar jobs in America has slowed down somewhat – but that doesn’t mean that those jobs aren’t out there. The clean-tech sector remains a bright spot in a dull economy, and a report released by Clean Edge research on Thursday hints at where those jobs are.

From CNET:

Based on the number of job postings and placements, and public and private investment, the report found the solar industry to be the leading clean-tech sector, followed by biofuels and biomaterials, conservation and efficiency, smart grids, and wind power.

For those willing to move for a job, the report lists the 15 areas in the U.S. where people are likely to find the most clean-tech job activity, as well as a separate list for global clean-tech hotspots.

Here’s the breakdown:

1. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
2. Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County
3. New York-northern New Jersey-Long Island (N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa.)
4. Boston-Worcester-Lawrence-Lowell-Brockton (Mass., N.H.)
5. Washington, D.C.-Baltimore (Md., Va., W.V.)

See the rest of the list – which includes Denver, Seattle, Houston and Detroit – over at CNET.

The report, “Clean Tech Job Trends 2009” (PDF) also includes tons of other info for clean-tech job hunters including schools that offer green career training, websites where you can find green job listings and a list of the best green-tech blogs, so it’s definitely worth a read.

Link [CNET]
Photo credit: Oregon DOT

Which of the S&P 500 companies are the least environmentally friendly? Newsweek unveiled its Green Rankings last week and while there has been a lot of discussion about the top 5, there’s another story to be told in the bottom 5.

Unsurprisingly, nearly all of the bottom-ranking companies on the Newsweek list are in the energy industry. Here they are with their green scores (based on environmental impact, green policies and performance, and reputation):

Consol Energy – Basic Materials – Green Score: 28.65
ConAgra Foods – Food and Beverage – Green Score: 27.49
Allegheny Energy – Utilities – Green Score: 25.04
NRG Energy – Utilities – Green Score: 22.75
Peabody Energy – Basic Materials – Green Score: 1.00

Pretty big drop there for the bottom company, Peabody Energy (the world’s largest private-sector coal company). Peabody Energy comes in dead last thanks to its incredibly high toxic emissions and the negative impact that its product has on the environment.

This company is one of the biggest offenders in violating the Clean Water Act, injecting billions of gallons of coal slurry and sludge into the ground in the past 5 years. Pine Ridge, a subsidiary of Peabody Energy, reported to West Virginia officials that 93 percent of the waste it injected into the city of Charleston has illegal concentrations of chemicals like arsenic, lead, chromium, beryllium and nickel.

Green business expert Joel Makower has a great overview of how the companies were scored and, as he notes, the list isn’t perfect. Since it’s only a list of the S&P 500, far greener companies than the top 5, like Patagonia, are left out. However, it does bring together a lot of data in a way that’s efficient and easy to understand. If only they included a greenwashing factor – each company’s real efforts versus its claims about being green. Maybe next year.

Link [Newsweek] + [Joel Makower]
Photo credit: PeabodyEnergy.com

For every company that’s intentionally trying to manipulate consumers with vague or misleading green claims, there are many more businesses who are trying to do the right thing, but are sort of confused about what they should say. Enter the new guidelines to packaging sustainability claims developed by Greener Package, which should clarify some important points.

These anti-greenwashing guidelines will be used to review claims made by suppliers who submit their product data to the Greener Package Database.

From Earth 911:

“Consumer demand for sustainably produced products is a key driver in promoting progress at the manufacturing level,” said Victor Bell, EPI’s CEO, “Third-party validation is critical in combating greenwashing, which—if left unchecked—could erode consumer confidence and ultimately the public’s interest in buying sustainable products and packaging.”

The database offers companies that manufacture packaged goods a means to research and compare sustainable packaging materials, containers and suppliers. The data will also feed Walmart’s Packaging Scorecard system.

Submitting a company or material to the database utilizes a “middle ground” developed by Greener Package, where companies submit to a voluntary, third-party review.

“In effect, the reviewer serves as a neutral third party making a good-faith effort to review backup documentation from suppliers to compare to a common guideline in order to save the users of the database time from having to do the same for each listing each time they search,” according to Greener Package.

A service like this is invaluable, especially when fear of greenwashing accusations scares some businesses away from even trying to be greener in the first place. The cost for review will be between $110 and $330, well worth the investment to provide both businesses and consumers with some peace of mind.

Link [Earth 911]
Photo credit: Lunchbreath

Grist put together an amazing collection of the 12 of the most outrageous examples. Check out these three (images are at Grist):

Citgo: “Local. Loyal. Like it should be.” The crop of new billboards from the petroleum company owned by Hugo Chavez’s Venezuelan government makes sense only if the rather undemocratic president lives around the corner from you. Which he doesn’t.

Barnes & Noble: Maybe you’ve heard of this cute little bookstore around the corner. It’s got a DIY-looking video blog with the tagline, “All bookselling is local.” Except when it isn’t.

“Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, a U.S.-based subsidiary of European processed-food behemoth Unilever, has seen fit to subject Canada (Canada?) to an eat-local campaign,” reports Grist Food Editor Tom Philpott. He’s dumbfounded. Here are those locally sourced ingredients of which Hellmann’s is so proud:

WATER, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, SOYBEAN OIL, VINEGAR, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, EGG WHITES, SALT, SUGAR, XANTHAN GUM, LEMON AND LIME PEEL FIBERS, COLORS ADDED, LACTIC ACID, (SODIUM BENZOATE, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA) USED TO PROTECT QUALITY, PHOSPHORIC ACID, NATURAL FLAVORS.

It’s absurd, but the sad thing is, a lot of people will fall for it. Head to Grist for the rest of the list, which includes Starbucks and Lay’s.

Link [Grist]

Right now, there’s a veritable army of green workers being trained across the country in fields ranging from conservation to clean energy. That’s great news to most people – except the older green workers who are afraid they’re going to be pushed out of their jobs by young trainees.

The Labor Department is paying to train people for green jobs, and younger workers tend to get more training money than adults. The fact that older workers have to update their knowledge to compete, paired with the lower cost of employing apprentices makes even this booming job market tough if you’ve got experience under your belt.

Youth Radio’s David Dominguez interviewed L.A. green workers, young and old.

This is ETI, the Electrical Training Institute of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Here, you find a mix of older union workers, called journeymen, and young apprentices, like 24-year-old Anthony Hernandez. Right now, Hernandez and his fellow trainees are learning how to install solar panels.

Anthony Hernandez: “We’ll be brought up as apprentices with the solar and the green movement so the journeymen will have to relearn everything. Hopefully it will be to our advantage and easier for us to install.”

Anthony used to be non-union electrical contractor, but decided to join the union for the safety training and benefits.

Frank DuMarcos: “I’m learning not to change the future, but to keep up with the new technology.”

That’s electrical journeyman Frank K. DuMarcos. He’s a 10-year union veteran. He admits that jobs often boil down to the brutal bottom line of a contractor’s budget. And that creates tension.

“Some contractors hire apprentices because apprentices are cheaper than a journeyman. Some apprentices only make $20. A journeyman makes over $37. I’ve been on jobs where they had two journeymen and they had 15 apprentices.”

But older workers needn’t worry too much, according to Jerome Ringo, President of the Appollo Alliance, which is devoted to creating green jobs around the country. He says that older workers will have an opportunity to retrain and that all workers, regardless of age and experience, will have a chance to benefit from investment in green jobs.

Listen to this Youth Radio story at the American Public Media Marketplace.

Link [American Public Media]
Photo credit: Flickr user greenforall.org

Tsk, tsk. How can Verizon Wireless show intelligence and class by dropping its ads on Glenn Beck’s idiotic Fox show (for his comments about President Obama’s supposed ‘racism’) – and then turn around and give money to another conservative whackjob?

Verizon has become a sponsor for a global warming denial rally organized by none other than Don Blankenship, CEO and President of Massey Energy, which has destroyed far too much of Appalachia with mountaintop removal mining.

From the NRDC:

Who is Don Blankenship?

He has been called “the scariest polluter in America.”  Just last December, my colleauge Pete Altman exposed the videotape from a speech in which Blankenship indulged in his patented version of full-blown climate change denial and also called various pro-environmental elected officials “greeniacs” bent on destroying the American way of life.

His rally next week will feature speeches by prominent global warming denier Lord Christopher Monckton, the Science & Public Policy Institute (global warming skeptics), conservative Fox blowhard Sean Hannity.  Ted Nugent and Hank Williams, Jr. are among those who will provide musical entertainment.

The website for the ‘Friends of America’ rally even offers up a petition against the Waxman-Markey climate bill. The majority of the rally’s sponsors are in the dirty energy and manufacturing industries including Coal-Mac, West Virginia Oil Marketers and Petroleum Products, Inc. Verizon looks pretty damn out of place on that list.

Verizon Wireless spokesman Jim Gerace explained it away by saying, “his company simply paid $1,000 for the right to be able to sell its products at the rally. It’s nothing more than that … and the groups who are trying to make it more than that are misguided. I’m definitely bothered that people are trying to put us in the middle of an argument.”

Aww, poor Verizon. Imagine, people getting angry over their support of complete and total destruction of beautiful mountain ranges and the dumping of toxic waste into waterways. It’s inexplicable!

Jeff Biggers said it best at The Huffington Post:

Can you hear us now, Verizon Wireless? Time to dump Massey Energy with Glenn Beck.

Link [NRDC] + [The Huffington Post]
Photo credit: Flickr user unanimous graphics

Leave it to China to find a way to produce just about anything on the cheap, and do it really quickly. Despite the Obama administration’s dedication to getting America’s clean energy industry off the ground, China is leaving us in the dust and it’s looking unlikely that we’ll get a good chance to catch up.

In fact, the Chinese are preparing to build plants right here in the United States to assemble their products, to get around protectionist legislation.

From The New York Times:

The Obama administration is determined to help the American industry. The energy and Treasury departments announced this month that they would give $2.3 billion in tax credits to clean energy equipment manufacturers. But even in the solar industry, many worry that Western companies may have fragile prospects when competing with Chinese companies that have cheap loans, electricity and labor, paying recent college graduates in engineering $7,000 a year.

“I don’t see Europe or the United States becoming major producers of solar products — they’ll be consumers,” said Thomas M. Zarrella, the chief executive of GT Solar International, a company in Merrimack, N.H., that sells specialized factory equipment to solar panel makers around the world.

China’s commitment to solar energy isn’t likely to make a big dent in the fight against global warming, especially given the country’s own skyrocketing emissions, much of which are caused by the pollution that goes hand-in-hand with running ultra-low-cost factories.

America still has the world’s largest supplier of photovoltaic cells – First Solar in Tempe, Arizona – but China’s Suntech is not far behind. Suntech plans to build a solar panel assembly plant in the United States “to facilitate sales — ‘buy American’ and things like that”, according to the company’s president for global sales and marketing.

Link [The New York Times]
Photo credit: OregonDOT

Emerging from bankruptcy, the new GM has made many a promise about becoming greener and more sustainable – but don’t ask them to do anything about the environmental impact of their ‘old’ cars. The company has announced that it will no longer participate in a partnership that collects toxic mercury switches from vehicles before they’re recycled.

With the popularity of the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program, this decision means that thousands of GM mercury switches could end up polluting the environment.

From The Huffington Post:

GM said its new company is not a member of the partnership because it no longer makes vehicles with mercury switches and is not responsible for the older vehicles. The old company, which is still under bankruptcy court supervision, said it is reviewing agreements involving the former company and declined to comment.

Roughly 36 million mercury switches were used in trunk convenience lights and antilock brakes in vehicles built in the 1980s and 1990s. More than half of them are in GM vehicles built before 2000.

The auto industry partnership, called the End of Life Vehicle Solutions Corp., or ELVS, was created in 2005 to prevent mercury emissions from being released into the environment when vehicles are crushed and shredded. It works closely with the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program, which the Environmental Protection Agency helped form with automakers, the steel industry and environmentalists in 2006.

Unfortunately, the loss of GM’s annual dues is having a huge impact on ELVS’ budget. Without those funds, the program may be forced to scale back operations or even stop what they’re doing entirely.

If GM is really serious about being green, they’ve got to take responsibility for things like this.

Link [Huffington Post]
Photo credit: Flickr user dave_7