Don’t get us wrong. We love that companies are embracing an environmental ethic. We’re thrilled that they’re glomming on to the third week in April as a chance to preen their green feathers. Hey, we’re GreenBiz. This is our world. But like everyone else, we have our limits, especially when it comes to the gusher of Earth [...]

Turns out something as innocuous and well-meaning as recycling your newspaper may end up producing some unintended consequences down the line. Swiss researchers have discovered that toxic mineral oils from recycled newspapers can be absorbed by foods commonly packaged in cartons made from recycled cardboard. Some samples of pasta, rice and cereal had mineral oil content of [...]

COLLINGSWOOD, NJ — Eco-conscious grocery shoppers say they remain committed to their green purchasing habits, but they’ve grown wary of “natural” labels and say there should be standards for products bearing that description. The findings are among the results of a poll conducted by Mambo Sprouts Marketing to gauge the buying habits and the outlook of 1,000 [...]

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Since Aveda was purchased by Estee Lauder Companies in 1997, the smaller, environmental-focused personal care company has benefitted from the larger scale of its owner while also influencing Estee Lauder’s sustainability efforts. Aveda makes special mention of its relationship with Estee Lauder Companies (ELC) in its latest environmental and social report , laying out the many ways the [...]

Portland, OR, & Oakland, CA — Solar power, biofuels and biomaterials continue to hold the best cleantech job opportunities in the U.S. with the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley again topping the list of 15 metro areas in the country with the greatest job activity, according to a new study from Clean Edge . The firm released [...]

GOTHENBURG, Sweden —  Some employees of the city of Gothenburg have cut their transportation emissions by up to two-thirds with a commuting tracking tool developed by Volvo IT . Commute Greener is a phone and web application designed to help people reduce the carbon footprint from their commute to and from work. Users enter how they currently commute, and [...]

Next month’s GreenBiz Innovation Forum focuses on the intersection of sustainability and innovation, including how innovation happens inside large companies. Tim O’Reilly, one of the “innovisionaries” to be featured at the event, has been thinking about such things for a long time. He is largely credited with driving both the open source and web 2.0 technology movements [...]

OAKLAND, CA — How much water went into making your jeans? How much energy was used to manufacture those hiking boots? What’s the carbon footprint of a windbreaker? A new tool developed by the outdoor gear industry hopes to answer those questions and more to help companies understand what goes into their products and then [...]

OAKLAND, Calif. and NORTHBROOK, IL — A new standard for green business practices unveiled today by UL Environment and Greener World Media , publishers of GreenBiz.com, has as its aim the ambitious goal of measuring and certifying the sustainability of manufacturing companies. The two organizations released the draft standard for a 45-day public comment period. “ULE 880 – [...]

SHEFFIELD, United Kingdom — A dress designed in collaboration between fashion and engineering students leads to a greener gown for (indoor) nuptials. Students at  Sheffield Hallam University in the United Kingdom have created five dresses that dissolve in water as a way of highlighting the issue of clothing waste in the U.K. — where 1.5 million metric tons [...]

We’ve seen no shortage of packaging improvements by companies over the past decade, but these 10 packages and concepts represent some of the most innovative, far-reaching and promising efforts we’ve come across. In no particular order, here they are: 1. The Smallest Detergent Bottle Method’s squirt bottle for its 8x concentrated laundry detergent is a case of [...]