Office Depot has just announced the opening of its first "Green" store, located in Austin, TX. The grand opening event, complete with a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, was attended by Office Depot executives, state dignitaries, City of Austin Mayor Will Wynn, representatives from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and local environmental organisations. Office Depot's "Green" store has been pre-certified for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards by the USGBC. The store will use less water and energy during its daily operations and increase recycling efforts to diminish the size of its "overall environmental footprint". "The City of Austin is ... Full Story

America celebrates its birthday today and there are some who feel that it's a good time to remind the world we should be focused toward preserving what resources we have while being responsible about recycling every day items such as computers, phones, paper, and other items. There are ways in which we can all save energy and most of them don't require a lot of effort. Here are some examples: 1.) Curb air conditioner use. It's a common fact that air conditioners can suck up a lot of energy whether it's through electricity or fuel. No one is suggesting that you sweat ... Full Story

In the mid eighties, the Indian government asked the CMC (Computer Maintenance Corporation) to invent a technology solution for the Ministry of Health’s Family Planning program. The problem that had to be solved was that volunteering Family Planning workers in some experimental environments were given Apple Macintosh laptops, the equipments filled with audio visual instruction programs on birth control systems which were used motivating the female villagers. Too bad that the majority of the villages weren’t facilitated with electricity — and the volunteering women experienced that their pc batteries needed to be recharged before they even could complete their working day’s ... Full Story

Shetland Islands Council (SIC) recently announced that it had successfully achieved its goal of reducing the amount of waste heading to its landfills. The Council was successful in doing so as a result of the local energy plant which burns waste. Other Councils in Scotland who have been less successful in reducing waste and who are struggling to meet recycling and waste reduction targets set by the Scottish Government may have to pay large fines. Shetland decided to deal with waste in the 90s by building an “energy recovery plant”.  The plant was a more economical alternative to shipping waste elsewhere for ... Full Story

A primary school in Pembrokeshire has been rewarding for its recycling efforts and other environmentally friendly initiatives by being awarded solar panels worth £20,000. Tavernspite School, near Whitland, is the first school in Wales to benefit from a new scheme promoting free solar panels in schools. The Green Energy for Schools scheme is attempting to put the panels into 100 schools around the UK and is a joint initiative between the government of the UK and the Co-operative Group. In Wales, the only other school to successfully apply for the solar panels, which are capable of generating 3,000 kilowatts of energy per ... Full Story

ScottishPower Renewables and partner Eurus Energy are taking the concept of recycling to a whole new level by announcing plans to redevelop the oldest wind-farm in the UK and boost its efficiency. The wind farm is in Powys, mid-Wales, and was the largest of its kind in Europe when it was first built in 1992. Now, a joint venture is seeking permission to redevelop Llandinam. If approved, the wind farm would become the tallest in the country. The wind farm currently operates 103 turbines and generates 31 megawatts of clean green energy. If the redevelopment plan is approved, the wind farm would ... Full Story

Brighton, New York is hosting a rally tonight to initiate a year long campaign to increase interest in recycling and reduce wasted energy. "Making our community more energy-efficient, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and decreasing our dependency on imported oil is critical," commented Supervisor Sandra Frankel. Franklin launched a task force to advise the town on ways it could help the environment. The rally and challenge came from the recommendations of the task force. Frankel commented that she wanted to work with residents and government to educate and engage residents in the work of environmentalism. In April, she hosted a community ... Full Story

In a breakthrough development, Recycled Energy Development, an industrial cogeneration specialist, will pair with Denham Capital Management, a private equity firm, to develop a $1.5 billion portfolio of ‘energy recycling’ projects. These projects will use waste heat from factories and other industrial facilities to generate power. Thomas Casten, the chairman of Recycled Energy Development, commented that large amounts of energy is unused by factories and power plants. Cogeneration efforts could tap into heat that could be used to cut greenhouse emissions and boiler fuel costs. "RED sees climate change mitigation as an enormous economic opportunity for U.S. industry," Casten said. ... Full Story