A nice site from Philips about switching light bulbs. Really nice graphics. Of course we like LEDs more than CFLs.

A beautiful image by Aleksandar Rodic.

(via ecogeek)Thanks, Aleksandar, for using a computer to create a digital image of a natural portrayal of a technological marvel. The image is available as a print from his website; also, a larger version is available for download (apparently for free.) The image won first prize at the AWEA conference in Pittsburgh.

If you are as inspired by this image as I am you might want to learn more about how you can harness wind energy from Paul Gipe's Wind Energy Basics.

Today is Blog Action Day, when bloggers from around the world are uniting to post about the environment.  Thank you to all the bloggers who participated, especially those who don't normally post about green issues.

However, since at earthscreen the environment is always the topic at hand, I would like to take this opportunity to post about a development in the world of green products.

An MSNBC article, Hyper-green Products Go Cradle to Cradle, puts it elequently:

Imagine consumer products made from healthy and safe materials that, at the end of their life, are taken apart and either turned into raw materials for new products or returned to the earth as compost. These products are manufactured using renewable energy and marketed with socially responsible strategies.

In this world, you can flush the dirty diapers down the toilet, spray household cleaners without fear of poisoning your houseplants (or family) and wax your surfboard without feeling guilty about the fish.

In essence: Shopping can be good again.

Consumer products can now receive a Cradle to Cradle certification, assuring that, from raw material to disposal, products are designed with maximum environmental concerns and can be made into something new when they cease to be useful.  Their is now a holy-grail of green design and I can't wait to see how many industries try to obtain it.

While earthscreen is currently in the process of getting cradle to cradle certified products on our site we do feature many products that have given new life to old materials and products that would have otherwise headed straight to the dumpster.  I believe these are especially important because they allow for our green intentions to not only be focused on the new, but to make sure we reuse the old.  My favorites are a bottle opener made from used bike chains and a picture frame made from old tires

Check out Breathing Earth! It is an amazing real-time data visualization that displays our global CO2 output along with births and deaths.  It really puts in perspective what a busy planet we live on and how there is no room for carelessness with Mother Nature.

www.breathingearth.net