globalbriefs
Eco-Libation
Boxed Wine Beats Bottled Boxed, instead of bottled, wine is becoming au courant. Choosing to sip boxed varietals saves half the shipping weight, avoids the environmental impact of glass manufacturing and keeps the product fresher longer (typically six weeks in the fridge after the seal is broken). It’s why more wineries leading the way with organic vino are packaging it in a plastic, vacuum-sealed bag inside a recyclable cardboard box.
Popularity: 24% [?]
Globalbriefs
Green Halloween
Tricks for Earth-Friendly Treats
The scariest aspects of Halloween are the unhealthy sugar overload and disposable waste in costumes, decorations and pumpkins left to rot. Ranking second only to Christmas as America’s best-loved holiday in a FamilyFun.com poll, Halloween started going green across the country last year with the help of a grassroots, volunteer-run initiative on the Web at GreenHalloween.org.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Globalbriefs
More Student Farmhands Go Organic
More liberal arts students seeking an academic break, meaningful work or training and engagement in social change are headed to farms this summer. It’s a way to act on their growing enthusiasm for locally raised food, concerns over food safety and the environmental impact of conventional agriculture.
Popularity: 15% [?]
globalbriefs: Gleeful Frugalistas
Help to Make Ends Meet
These days, online browsing turns up an abundance of websites and blogs showing people how to make the most of what they have, rather than bemoan what they had. Some examples are Dollar Stretcher at Stretcher.com, AllThingsFrugal.com and FrugalMom.net. Tips range from refinancing a mortgage to gas and grocery shopping to frugal fashion. Many are based on good old common sense—backyard gardening, line-drying laundry, clipping coupons and borrowing movies from the library. But, original new ideas can surprise even veteran budgeters—such as swapping clothes and furniture, as well as DVDs. Local frugal living groups, too, are growing in popularity.
Popularity: 5% [?]
GlobalBriefs Seas the Day
Celebrate World Ocean Day June 8
Thousands of concerned citizens will gather on World Ocean Day, June 8, to deepen awareness of the universal benefits and alarming plight of Earth’s oceans, and the need to stop human activities from harming them. Inspiring community events, activities and celebrations will roll out at aquariums, zoos, museums and other educational institutions in all 50 states and 70 countries, based on the 2009 theme, “One climate, one ocean, one future.”
Popularity: unranked [?]
WELCOME TO Green Collar AMERICA
A WORKABLE WAY TO NEW JOBS AND 
SUSTAINED RECOVERY
by Brita Belli
Illustrations by Joe Weissmann
Yes, the traditional American economic picture is bleak, with every major sector—retail, banking, automotive and construction—reporting record job losses.Twenty-two of the 30 companies comprising the Dow Jones industrial average have reported job losses since the economy began crumbling in October 2008, including industries that many experts thought were strong enough to weather the storm; even construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar announced 20,000 jobs would be cut on January 27, and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced 8,000 job cuts the same day.
That month, the nationwide unemployment rate reached 7.6 percent, its highest level since the 1980s recession.But, the previously nascent green economy is taking shape, bringing with it the promise of new jobs.
Popularity: 29% [?]
Green jobs?
President Barack Obama’s task force on middle-class issues began its work Friday with a panel discussion on green jobs — and an announcement that the energy and housing departments would work together to spend $16 billion to weatherize homes and create a green industry for home energy efficiency.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Giving Back
More than a quarter of wealthy business owners recently surveyed by SunTrust Bank said they have allocated funds for green investment. Nearly a third have personally invest-ed in green funds. Pollution and energy policy are their two main drivers, complemented by a personal desire to do good.
Sixty-nine percent of the two hundred busi-ness owners canvassed said they plan to main-tain their current level of environmental giving, even if the economic downturn moderatelyaffects their businesses.
Source: GreenBiz.com.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Green jobs?
President Barack Obama’s task force on middle-class issues began its work Friday with a panel discussion on green jobs — and an announcement that the energy and housing departments would work together to spend $16 billion to weatherize homes and create a green industry for home energy efficiency.
Popularity: unranked [?]