Green Business

GM has business and political reasons for making the Chevrolet Volt a huge success and one way to pursue that is by expanding product reach. China is now the second largest economy in the world and as such it holds a strong allure for companies looking to pull in more profit amid recessions hitting other countries. GM isn’t waiting on that opportunity, it just announced the arrival of two Chevrolet Volts in China, which will act as shuttles for special guests to and from Shanghai’s Expo Park.

The Chevrolet Volt won’t be available for consumers in China until 2011, so this event is mainly for publicity which will create buzz and hopefully translates into product demand. It makes sense for GM to produce as many Chevrolet Volts as it can, in as many markets as possible now; before competitors build a vehicle that offers a similar value proposition.

Cheap gas is great for travelers, great for commerce, and certainly brings a smile to anyone who pays for it regularly. But is it good for the environment? Probably not. In the last couple of years gas prices have fluctuated up and down, and though it might hurt your wallet more at the pump to pay more for gas, it also stimulates more sustainable habits and technology innovation.

So in the short term, the U.S. economy can certainly use encouragement, but hopefully cheap gas prices don’t also make drivers forget some of the side effects it causes too. The national average for gas is about $2.68 per gallon and that’s “. . . about 6 cents a gallon less than a month ago and 7 cents less than it was on the Friday before the July Fourth weekend”.

There’s no question that the entertainment industry generates a lot of waste from printing scripts or even shooting on location. After Conan O’Brien walked away from the Tonight Show, NBC gutted his $50 million dollar set that he used for just seven months. Others in Hollywood are actually getting the message about being green which has changed a lot of productions like film Inception as well as tonight’s Emmy Awards.

When you think of the Emmy Awards, you think of the ceremony but not the work done behind the scenes. Blurbs have to be written for the presenters, the venue needs to scrubbed clean, and workers need to grab some lunch. All of that adds up to waste in the form of paper, disposable plates, plastic water bottles, and much more.

Saying “opportunity” is looking at it positively. The solar power industry is quickly moving from sidebar to mainstream as more businesses and consumers adopt it as a way to supply part or all of their energy needs. Not all is ideal in solar power land though, because many of the materials used to build solar panels are toxic when broken down during the recycling process in developing countries.

That sort of challenge isn’t new -- the electronics industry has earned criticism for a while now because consumer appliances, personal computers and smartphones are not easy to recycle without releasing toxins into the atmosphere and water supply.

The solar industry hasn’t had to deal with this challenge en masse yet because solar panels on average have a lifespan of 20 years or more. Since solar has just recently begun its transition to mainstream, the amount of waste is still a trickle in comparison.

Sure, those little French bulldogs look cute, but purebred breeds frequently face crippling joint disorders, breathing difficulties, skin problems and other hereditary diseases. Most French bulldogs require caesarean section simply to give birth due to their disproportionate body structure. One of the most humane and environmentally-friendly decisions you can make as a prospective pet owner is to adopt from a shelter rather than encourage breeding for fad or profit's sake.

Adopting from a shelter reduces feral populations, discourages puppy mills and prevents the deaths of unwanted animals who either cannot find a home or do not meet health or breed standards. Spaying and neutering also reduces overpopulation and lowers the risk of testicular, ovarian or uterine cancer in many animals.

Access to renewable energy for individual consumers has been a pipe dream for most because installations typically range from $20,000 to $30,000. Even with tax credits, that kind of investment takes a while to offset. It’s an opportunity that Clarian wants to capitalize on with its Sunfish plug-in solar power system.

Basically Clarian’s idea is to sell a solar power system for about $800 that allows consumers to safely install their own renewable power source. Sunfish won’t supply all of the power you need, but it can certainly offset how much you buy from a traditional power company.

Compact florescent light (CFL) bulbs have been popular with homeowners because of their lower energy costs and wide availability. CFLs can provide years of light but they also contain mercury which can make cleanup difficult if the bulb shatters. Many ignore the cleanup standards issued by the EPA and simply toss the bulb in the trash. In addition, incandescent bulbs will be phased out starting in 2012 and many people are looking for alternatives like mercury-free LEDs to light their homes. Home Depot is making a major push online and in-store for consumers to buy their low-wattage LED light bulbs.

Take the world’s current situation which right now places most of its energy needs squarely on the shoulders of fossil fuels, and mesh that with the renewable energy efforts taking place and what do you get?. Looking forward a couple of decades, venture capitalist Vinod Khosla predicts that the U.S. will be producing too much energy and that demand won’t keep up. He thinks that boost in output will arrive from renewable sources and wants to see more focus on technology innovation which in his words has “infinite” potential.

If nothing else, Khosla is a smart (or lucky) marketer because his idea has just enough appeal and strangeness to create buzz. If the U.S. is successful in its continuing efforts to generate lots of renewable energy, and population growth remains similar to what it is today, then feasibly energy generation would catch up to demand at some point.

When it comes to back to school time, many parents seek out green items to arm their children for the upcoming year. Recycled notebooks, backpacks made from sustainable fibers, and reusable lunch containers have become hot items. Crayola is trying to green their crayon manufacturing process with solar energy and add recycled materials to a very small part of their packaged markers.

Any parent can tell you that kids go through a lot of crayons during childhood. Crayola makes about three billion of the wax sticks annually and hopes to have a lot of them made using solar power. Hidden behind their manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania, the solar farm is made up of a 26,200 panel array and occupies 15 acres of land. The company expects that the 1.9 megawatt system will be able to generate 30 percent of the energy for the plant each year.

If you frequently find yourself smiling and nodding in crowded bars because you can't hear what your friends are saying, you might want to consider becoming a musician. No, not because musicians get lucky, but because musical training has been shown to prime the ear and make it easier to pick out speech against a noisy background. Music gives us a universal language, and an opportunity to harmonize with nature.