Triple Pundit

• Copenhagen: Why Bother?

  With little more than a week to go before the start of the COP15 climate change conference in Copenhagen, the “Road to Copenhagen” starts to sound a little tired, even as participants prepare for actually heading to Copenhagen. With the roller-coaster-like ride of pre-COP15 news, reeling from despair to faint glimmers [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 11:05am EST
  by Tom Schueneman

• SolarClover: Simple and Affordable DIY Residential Rooftop Solar Energy System

  One of the greatest barriers of entry for residential solar power systems has been the high cost of installation. And for some, another turn-off is the aesthetic of conventional rooftop panels.  The SolarClover residential rooftop solar energy system, from Armageddon Energy, has been designed to address both issues.  SolarClover is a uniquely-shaped [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 7:00am EST
  by Jace Shoemaker-Galloway

• Buy Nothing Day: The High Cost of a Bargain

  This excerpt from The Price of a Bargain by Canadian journalist Gordon Laird is presented in honor of Buy Nothing Day. Happy anti shopping! For better and for worse, ours is the age of the bargaineers – the engineers of bargains – whose factories extend from rice paddies to suburban basements [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 5:01am EST
  by 3p Guest Author

• The Monopoly Named Monsanto

  Monsanto is the largest seed company in the world. It controls 95 percent of the market for insect and herbicide resistant cotton traits. In 2008, Monsanto had shares of up to 65 percent for traited corn and soybeans and about 45 percent for traited corn. During the late 1990s and [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 5:00am EST
  by Gina-Marie Cheeseman

• Whole Foods Invests in Mobile Slaughterhouses

  This Thanksgiving, much attention has been paid to how your bird was raised, but how about the manner in which it was killed? The head meat buyer at Whole Foods, Theo Weening, made public the company’s effort to collaborate with both USDA and state regulatory agencies to develop certifiable mobile [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 11:02am EST
  by Tori Okner

• Putting Deforestation into Focus at COP 15

  Rainforest degradation is the third largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and robs one billion of the poorest people on Earth from their source of livelihood. These are just two of myriad reasons that the world leaders meeting next month at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 6:00am EST
  by Mary Catherine O'Connor

• German PV Solar Industry Is Thriving

  Germany will add up to three gigawatts (GW) of solar power capacity this year due to a strong demand in the last part of this year, the head of Germany’s Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft (BSW-Solar) solar industry association announced. Germany is the world leader in photovoltaic (PV) solar panel power, with 5.3 [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 5:00am EST
  by Gina-Marie Cheeseman

• Black Friday? Buy Nothing Day? How About Buy Something Responsible Day?

  The idea of waking up at the crack of dawn the day after Thanksgiving to go shopping for trinkets among hordes of what seem like crazed zombies strikes me as a horrible kind of torture. Nonetheless, millions of Americans consider “Black Friday” a kind of celebratory tradition, with this year [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 1:20pm EST
  by Nick Aster

• Obama Announces He Will Attend COP15 Climate Conference

  The White House officially announced today that President Barack Obama will go to Copenhagen to attend the COP15 climate conference, a commitment Obama has thus far been reticent to make, saying that he would attend only if his presence would help secure a successful outcome in the climate negotiations. It now [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 12:37pm EST
  by Tom Schueneman

• KLM Flies into Sustainable Air Transport

  Is that the smell of bio-kerosene in the air? If you were one of the passengers on KLM Royal Dutch Airline’s first passenger flight powered by bio-kerosene this week, then you were also one of the first to get a whiff of this new sustainable fuel, if indeed it is [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 6:00am EST
  by Bill DiBenedetto

• Tickling the Ivory . . . And Playing to a Deaf Audience: How Traditional MBA Programs Still Don’t Get It

  By Martin Melaver Recently, I was invited to meet with the Dean of a prestigious MBA program. I didn’t haven’t the foggiest notion what he wanted from me. Still don’t for that matter. As I waited outside his office, I felt all of ten years old being called in to see [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 5:40am EST
  by 3p Guest Author

• How to Change Careers: “Job’s Aren’t Hot, People Are.”

  An increasing number of job seekers have been attending green jobs conferences and networking events and reading a burgeoning list of green career guides as part of an effort to transition into a job where they feel good about their work. Too often they run into one of several common challenges [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 5:38am EST
  by Frank Marquardt

• Carbon Emissions Increased Despite Recession

  Despite an economic crisis dubbed the “great recession,” carbon emissions grew last year by two percent, to a total of 8.7 billions of carbon. Last year, every person in the world produced an average of 1.3 tons of carbon, according to a report by the Global Carbon Project. During 2000 [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 5:00am EST
  by Gina-Marie Cheeseman

• How a Subaru Plant Achieved a Zero Landfill Status

  The Subaru of Indiana Automotive (SIA) manufacturing plant in Lafayette, Indiana, became the first auto manufacturing plant to achieve a zero landfill status. None of the plant’s manufacturing waste goes into a landfill, because all of it is recycled and reused. SIA recycles 99.3 percent of its of excess steel, plastic, [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 5:00am EST
  by Gina-Marie Cheeseman

• Rethinking Landfills as Wildlife Refuges

  By Wes Muir, Director of Communications, Waste Management Increasing urbanization has led to an increased desire for environmental conservation. Across the country, areas of land are being cleared and filled with blooming landscapes to attract various birds and wildlife. Some house butterfly gardens and walking trails, while others host bird and [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 4:31am EST
  by Wes Muir

• Careers in Wind Farm Development: Meteorological Tower Services

  This is the third article in a seven part series on careers in wind farm development. The first and second parts can be viewed here. Wind energy data is collected and analyzed to determine the wind resources of a given site. This involves erecting a meteorological tower with anemometers, wind vanes, [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 8:14am EST
  by Sarah Lozanova

• Green Car Rally: The Rookie Chevy Volt Versus the Veteran Toyota Prius

  General Motors has been inundated in recent years with nothing but bad news. After filing for bankruptcy and receiving a controversial government bailout, the ailing car maker is trying to revolutionize the auto industry and breathe life back into its deflated sails with the introduction of the Chevy Volt. Considered [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 7:00am EST
  by Cory Vanderpool

• The Eight Biggest Myths About Sustainability in Business

  Vijay Kanal of Kanal Consulting just posted a piece on GreenBiz.com titled The Eight Biggest Myths about Sustainability in Business.  He kicks the piece off by saying, “Sustainability should be considered not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because it makes business sense. If an [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 6:00am EST
  by Deborah Fleischer

• Postal Service Releases First Sustainability Report

  The US Postal Service is in financial dire straits. It lost $3.8 billion in its most recent fiscal year, ending September 30th, and its available coffers are dangerously low. And then there’s the agency’s business model, which many argue is antiquated and unsustainable. But, according to its recently-released (and debut) [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 5:39am EST
  by Mary Catherine O'Connor

• Goldman Sachs $500 Million PR Campaign

  As you probably know by now, last week Goldman Sachs announced its program to help small businesses. The bank said it will spend $500 million to help small businesses. The timing is very interesting. A little over a week before, Goldman’s CEO, Lloyd C. Blankfein said the bank was “doing [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 5:00am EST
  by Gina-Marie Cheeseman

• Carbon Offsets: Angels Or Devils?

  In George Monbiot’s book, Heat: How to Stop the Planet from Burning, he compares buying and selling carbon offsets to “pushing the food around on your plate to create the impression that you have eaten.” Responsible Travel might agree with Monbiot’s statement. Last month the company canceled its carbon offset [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 5:00am EST
  by Gina-Marie Cheeseman

• A Quick Interview With Nick Corcodilos of Ask The Headhunter

  I had a chance to do a quick email interview with Nick Corcodilos, author of the Ask a Headhunter Blog and a frequent contributor to Fast Company. My questions for Nick concern the rise of so-called “green” recruiting firms and other folks capitalizing on the rise of green jobs – [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 4:53am EST
  by Jen Boynton

• EPA and GHGs: Ready, Set, Report

  In the grand scheme of things, if neither next month’s Copenhagen summit on climate change or pending U.S. legislation on the same topic fails to establish firm, enforceable consensus on carbon reductions, accounting and reporting, it may not matter very much. That’s because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has already done [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 5:14am EST
  by Bill DiBenedetto

• A Marketing Challenge for the Electric Utility Industry

  “95.6% of households are willing to change their energy consumption behavior to save money on their energy costs.” This finding comes from the 2009 Nielsen Energy Audit. “This survey strongly suggests the timing is right for utilities to engage their customers with green marketing initiatives,” explains Jonathan Drost, Nielsen Account [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 5:09am EST
  by Bill Roth

• Household Products Need Ingredients Listed On Labels

  Lurking under our bathroom and kitchen sinks are harmful chemicals. “Many chemicals contained in household products have been shown to produce harmful health effects,” Senator Al Franken said in his introduction of the Household Products Labeling Act. The current law requires that product labels only list “immediately hazardous ingredients,” but do [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 5:00am EST
  by Gina-Marie Cheeseman

• Why Rich Countries Must Lead On Climate Change

  “A much better use should have been made of the economic stimulus packages,” said Mohan Munasinghe, vice chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Speaking at the National Climate Seminar hosted by the Bard Center for Environmental Policy, Munasinghe mentioned that South Korea devoted 80 percent of its [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 5:00am EST
  by Gina-Marie Cheeseman

• Open Hands Farm: Another Farm Visit, Another Labor Lesson

  This is the fifth post in a series on the business of sustainable agriculture by the folks at Bon Appétit Management, a company that provides café and catering services to corporations, colleges and universities. To read past posts, click here. By Dayna Burtness Farms never cease to amaze me. Besides my grandparents’ [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 4:59am EST
  by 3p Guest Author

• Smart Grid: Revolution or Revolt?

  In the mid-1990’s, while serving as the General Marketing Manager for Georgia Power, I had the honor of managing the team of exceptionally bright people that designed an industry-pioneering meter-linked, integrated real time pricing/demand side management program. Today, I understand this legacy system now bills $2 billion annually on the [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 4:49am EST
  by Bill Roth

• D-Day for Climate: Engage Students with Senators Now

  By Eban Goodstein, Director of The Bard Center for Environmental Policy Harry Reid made it clear last week. Sometime next spring, a decade of sweeping grassroots education and national activism will culminate in strong federal clean energy legislation, laying a policy foundation that will be vital for stabilizing the climate. Or it [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 4:45am EST
  by 3p Guest Author

• Al Gore Receives Global Humanitarian Award in Silicon Valley

  Nobel Laureate and former Vice President Al Gore received the 2009 James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award this evening for his successful efforts to raise awareness about climate change. The award was inspired by Applied Materials Chairman Emeritus James Morgan’s belief that technology can be a tool to turn ideas [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 5:01am EST
  by Dev Crews

• What to Report on? How Two CSR Leaders Decide

  We’ve all seen them.  Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports weighing it at nearly 100 pages, crammed with charts and graphs, and gray with type.  There’s valuable information in there, but unearthing commentary on issues of strategic importance can be daunting.   That’s why I was especially curious to hear CSR managers from [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 2:56pm EST
  by Cindy Mehallow

• EcoFactor and the Truly Smart Grid

  Technology works best when it’s least intrusive and does the heavy lifting for you. Apple understands this. And so, it seems, does EcoFactor, the winner of the recent Clean Tech Open. What it does behind the scenes is fairly complex, but for the user, easy and out of the way: It [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 6:55am EST
  by Paul S

• Sustainability and Employee Engagement: Anything Goes

  Engaging employees through sustainability is not a one size fits all approach.  From Walmart’s Personal Sustainability Project to  Sodexo’s Corporate Citizenship Program to Intel’s intranet to FMYI’s online collaboration, the variety is endless.  Each of the four members of the Net Impact Conference 2009 panel on Sustainable Innovation Through Employee [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 4:21am EST
  by Jennifer Elder

• Doing a World of Good for Fair Trade Artisans

  The term “fair trade handicrafts” summons images of wicker baskets and hand-dyed sarongs. But the business side of the fair trade marketplace is getting a little less old-world, thanks to World of Good, an organization that connects artisans in developing countries with mainstream retailers (including eBay and Whole Foods). The organization—comprised [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 6:38pm EST
  by Mary Catherine O'Connor

• SABA Motors Vision: an Exotic Electric Sports Car for the Masses

  Ever since I was a kid, when my father used give me Matchbox cars he bought on his way home from work, I’ve been crazy about cars. So I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to speak with Simon Saba of Saba Motors, whose EV vision is something any [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 5:22pm EST
  by Steve Puma

• Innovators Honored for Applying Technology To Brighten People’s Lives

  Boats outfitted with solar panels have become “floating classrooms” for children in the low-lying regions of Bangladesh, where floods have destroyed crops, schools, roads and infrastructure. They are among the more than 20 million people who became displaced last year due to climate change. In the past decade, Bangladesh has [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 3:49pm EST
  by Dev Crews

• Chrysler Pulling Plug on EV Development? Maybe Not

  It wasn’t all that long ago that Chrysler Corp. pocketed more than $12.5 billion in government bailout funds to avoid a bankruptcy filing, promising on the way to the bank to build more fuel efficient cars and produce electric vehicles by 2011. About three years later the U.S. carmaker has launched [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 12:00pm EST
  by Bill DiBenedetto

• Paul Hawken on the State of the Markets

  Sustainable Industries continues to impress me.  Yesterday’s SI Economic Forum featured Paul Hawken, well-known author (Ecology of Commerce, Natural Capitalism, Blessed Unrest) and sustainability guru (the mind behind Wiser Earth and a variety of other startups).  And while Mr. Hawken is a big draw, the discussion panel that followed also [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 11:48am EST
  by Scott Cooney

• Live Near a Waterway? HydroVolts Can Power Your Home

  At Tuesday’s Academy Awards of Cleantech (The Cleantech Open), attendees were all abuzz about Seattle-based HydroVolts, winner of the $20,000 Cleantech Open sustainability prize. HydroVolts has created a floating in-stream hydrokinetic turbine that generates distributed renewable energy anywhere around the world.   Hydrovolts’ vision is to provide renewable energy to millions [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 11:10am EST
  by Amie Vaccaro

• h.u.m.a.n. Reinvents Vending with Eco-friendly Machines and Healthy Snacks

  h.u.m.a.n. Healthy Vending is on a mission to change the world–one snack at a time. The Los Angeles -based company is turning the $30 billion/year vending industry on its ear by using state-of-the-art, energy efficient machines filled only with healthy foods and drinks. In addition, h.u.m.a.n. (short for “helping unite man and [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 7:05am EST
  by Kathryn Siranosian

• It’s a Wrap: Amazon Launches Frustration-Free Packaging Certification Program

  Nothing is more frustrating than trying to remove a newly purchased item from its super-strong packaging.  You pull and you tug, you rip and you cut, but no matter how hard you try, the packaging just won’t budge!  Whether it’s a brand new DVD, a new electronic gadget, a child’s [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 6:03am EST
  by Jace Shoemaker-Galloway

• Self Reporting Doesn’t Cut it: Why We Need a National GHG Measurement System

  Say you’re the Mayor of San Francisco. You’re spending million of dollars every year to increase energy efficiency, install solar panels and encourage the use of electric cars — all in an effort to lower your city’s greenhouse gas emissions, in line with (hypothetical) newly-enacted Federal greenhouse gas reduction guidelines. Meanwhile, [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 5:54am EST
  by BC Upham

• Ecofactor Smart Thermostat System Wins Cleantech Open

  A maker of thermostat data systems that claims to be able to reduce heating and cooling costs for buildings by 20-30 percent won Grand Prize at this year’s Cleantech Open, one of the leading environmental technology competitions in the country. Ecofactor makes integrated systems that calibrate a residential or commercial thermostat [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 5:49am EST
  by BC Upham

• The Ultimate in “Clean” Tech: Sludge?

  Pop quiz:  what does our municipal sewage waste that gets processed at wastewater treatment plants, and the great Pacific garbage patch, have in common? Well, not much…yet. A clean tech startup by the name of Micromidas may change all that, and in the process, change the game for plastic packaging. Micromidas won the [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 5:16am EST
  by Scott Cooney

• Can A Company That Makes Roundup Be Sustainable?

  While waiting for the PBS show, the NewsHour, to begin, I saw a Monsanto advertisement which said, “Monsanto…producing more, conversing more…that’s sustainable agriculture.” On Monsanto’s website the company states its commitment to “help farmers produce more and conserve more” by 2030. One of the ways Monsanto will achieve its goal [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 5:00am EST
  by Gina-Marie Cheeseman

• Why Genea Energy Made Forbes List Of Most Promising Companies

  Southern California-based Genea Energy is ranked number 13 on Forbes’ America’s Most Promising Companies list. Doug Schneider, Genea Energy’s CEO, said, “Forbes saw in Genea a special potential for growth, and that just echoes what our management team has been saying all along. We have a very special business — [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 5:00am EST
  by Gina-Marie Cheeseman

• Oliberté Footwear: The Shoes with Soul

  When it comes to footwear, comfort, style, durability and affordability are important aspects when picking out a pair of shoes.  But there is a lot more that goes into shoes than just our feet. Canadian-based footwear company Oliberté, is stepping up and reaching out to impoverished African communities and making a difference [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 4:36am EST
  by Jace Shoemaker-Galloway

• Sustainability Lessons Learned Hitchhiking the Real Estate Cosmos

  By Martin Melaver Recently, I’ve been reading with my son The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. We’re at that point in the story when our travelers arrive on the planet of Magrathea. Magrathea, you may recall, made a name for itself millions of years ago by specializing in building designer planets [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 4:35am EST
  by 3p Guest Author

• Notes from the Cleantech Open Awards Gala

  At the last minute, I decided to attend Tuesday night’s Cleantech Open Awards Gala, and was pleasantly surprised at just how many companies with game-changing technologies were participating in the event. From the finalists to the runners-up to last year’s winners, the promise of what was on display was truly [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 1:38am EST
  by Steve Puma

• Data Storage Startup, Energy Manager, Win GreenBeat Innovation Contest

  The winner of the Innovation Competition, held as part of the GreenBeat 2009 conference in San Mateo, California, today, is actually a pair of winners. The judges could not quite settle on one of the 11 entrants and so instead awarded both Locust Storage, a startup (just out of stealth mode [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 7:08pm EST
  by Mary Catherine O'Connor

• How are We Going to Solve the Water (and Sanitation) Crisis?

  Here’s the deal. 1 billion people lack access to clean water. 2.5 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation. Every year 3 to 5 million people die from water-related diseases. Water will surely be the biggest issue of our time, globally. So, what are the strategies being used to bring clean [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 4:31pm EST
  by Matthew Savage

• As Asia Outpaces America in Cleantech, US and China Agree to Cooperation

  Obama’s recent trip to China felt like a bit of a bummer, with the Times pointedly portraying the President as a solitary figure, wandering alone on the Great Wall — and getting stone-walled by the PRC’s leadership. But behind the scenes, hard-working diplomats hammered out agreements on what could be the [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 3:47pm EST
  by BC Upham

• Price Competitive Sustainable Manufacturing: Valley Forge Fabrics

  Manufacturing in America has eroded over the decades to approximately 10% of our country’s annual Gross Domestic Product. The Bureau of Labor Statistics documents 3 million jobs lost in manufacturing between 1996 and 2006. At an average manufacturing hourly wage of $18.50 representing a loss of $115 billion in annual [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 11:03am EST
  by Bill Roth

• Seventh Generation Launches the Million Baby Crawl for Toxic Chemical Reform

  Take a look at the baby in this video. He’s innocent, adorable, and completely irresistible . . . At least that’s how Seventh Generation hopes the U.S. Congress sees it. Seventh Generation, the nation’s leading brand of non-toxic and environmentally-safe household and personal care products, has joined forces with eco-advocate Erin Brockovich [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:37am EST
  by Kathryn Siranosian

• Electric Cars Should Be Customized for Different Drivers: Report

  A report released recently by McKinsey and Company argues that electric car makers should consider engineering their vehicles for different market segments, rather than try and build a “one size fits all” electric car. According to the report, the “one size fits all” model means a longer range, and thus a [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:30am EST
  by BC Upham

• Careers in Wind Farm Development: GIS Specialist

  This is the second article in a seven part series on careers in wind farm development. The first part can be viewed here. The creation of a wind farm requires a wealth of geographic information for effective planning. A Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialist provides much of this material through maps [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:18am EST
  by Sarah Lozanova

• How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sarah Palin Wearin’ Your Product?

  Marketers’ jobs aren’t easy. They need to politely, but aggressively, get the word out about their products, and then get those products into as many pairs of hands as possible. And sometimes that works out a little too well, or in unexpected ways. A good case in point graces the [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:18am EST
  by Mary Catherine O'Connor

• Power to Your Pedals: Bike Powered Cell Phone Chargers in Kenya

  Two electrical engineering students at Nairobi University, 24 year old Jeremiah Murimi and 22 year old Pascal Katana, have developed an innovation to literally bring power to more people in Kenya.  Using salvaged parts from old televisions and radios, the duo retrofitted the dynamo attached to all bikes sold in [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:06am EST
  by Carly Smolak

• GreenLink Alliance’s Executive Director on Taking the Mountain Less Traveled

  I believe I was born to help protect the environment. My first vivid memory of the awe-inspiring power of nature came when, as a young teenager, I traveled with my family to the remote wilderness of Colorado for a pack trip deep into the Rocky Mountains. I remember feeling humbled [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:05am EST
  by Cory Vanderpool

• Kaiser Permanente: “60 Sustainable Seconds”

  As part of a new initiative, every month Kaiser Permanente (KP) will feature an online video of an employee or physician who is doing something worthwhile in regards to healthcare and sustainability. The program is called 60 Sustainable Seconds with Kathy Gerwig, KP’s environmental stewardship officer and vice president of [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:01am EST
  by Gina-Marie Cheeseman

• Protecting Ecosystems Makes Money

  Protecting ecosystems saves money, according to a new study, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB). The UN Environment Program (UNEP) hosted the study. The study emphasizes putting a price tag on saving the world’s ecosystems from destruction. The study itself puts a price tag on the ongoing cost of [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 5:00am EST
  by Gina-Marie Cheeseman

• Campaign against Sustainable Forestry Initiative escalates

  ForestEthics versus SFI. The green industry is overwhelmed by trustmarks and certification organizatons. As a result, consumers don’t know whom to believe anymore. As it turns out SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) is funded and managed primarily by large logging companies, whereas ForestEthics is an environmental nonprofit dedicated to protecting endangered [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 4:48am EST
  by Audrey

• Green Event Hit and Misses for 2009 Net Impact Conference

  About 2,600 MBA students and business professionals from around the world got together a week ago at the 2009 Net Impact Conference at Cornell University to learn and discuss how to use business as a force for social and environmental good.  The event was a success on many levels, and [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 3:02am EST
  by Nayelli Gonzalez

• Chance to Win $200 by Giving Your Opinion on Your Workplace’s Sustainability Initiatives!

  Have you ever wanted to know how many companies give their employees the chance to recycle or compost?  Ever wonder how your company stacks up to others in terms of sustainability initiatives?  Ever ask, “why is my boss such a jerk?”– only because your boss said no to your suggestion [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 4:05pm EST
  by Scott Cooney

• Double Helix Tracking Technologies Uses DNA to Track Timber, Fight Illegal Logging

  Think of it as CSI for the timber industry. Singapore-based Double Helix Tracking Technologies (DHTT) uses DNA tests to verify the origins of timber. Essentially, it’s the same technology that’s used in forensics and paternity testing –only DHTT has adapted it specifically for wood. “What we’ve done is to develop a very [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 2:50pm EST
  by Kathryn Siranosian

• Plastic Made With Wheat Straw Cuts Petroleum Use At Ford

  For years, Ford has been experimenting with materials to cut its petroleum use, and the 2010 Ford Flex will showcase the latest fruits of its labor. The Flex’s third-row storage bin will have a 20 percent wheat straw-based plastic content. While the change may seem small, it will cut manufacturing petroleum [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 5:44am EST
  by Richard Levangie

• What To Do With Paper Waste That’s Not Recyclable?

  Most paper waste is recyclable.  The margin may not be terrific on recycled paper products, except for clean white office paper, but it is usually sufficient to create secondary markets for most paper waste. The problem arises, however, when that paper is contaminated with food or for some other reason is [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 5:28am EST
  by Scott Cooney

• Organized Crime Mixed Up in Environmental Initiatives — Again.

  As goes the financial markets, so go the renewable energy markets. If there’s an opportunity to make a buck, or in this case, a euro, by ripping people off, rest assured, someone will do it. In the latest case, two Italian businessmen are accused of involvement in a scheme to collect [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 5:04am EST
  by BC Upham

• Recession Provides Opportunities For Land Conservation

  The housing market collapse presented land conservation trusts with the opportunity to purchase land slated for development. As a study by the Land Trust Alliance puts it, “land trusts are attractive buyers (to banks) because they don’t require further infrastructure investments.” Land trusts all over the country are taking advantage of [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 5:00am EST
  by Gina-Marie Cheeseman

• Is There a Generational Failure on Climate Change? Not Yet.

  By Eban Goodstein, Director of The Bard Center for Environmental Policy I have attended a lot of college climate change talks lately by 50+ year old white guy experts. They all feature a curious line directed at the students: “Our generation screwed up; we are sorry to leave you this mess, [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 4:55am EST
  by 3p Guest Author

• Capitalizing On Sustainability: Partnership Capital Growth

  Wall Street’s spectacular implosion in 2008—illustrated by the failure and subsequent sale of Bear Stearns to JP Morgan and, soon thereafter, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the government’s spectacular bailout soured many on Wall Street’s Masters of the Universe. But investment banks don’t just trade credit-default swaps and collateralized debt [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 4:52am EST
  by Frank Marquardt

• Greenbuild 2009 – The Three P’s in Action

  By Amy Berry I recently returned from the United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) 2009 Greenbuild Expo in Phoenix, Arizona. The conference boasted more than 28,000 attendees and more than 1800 exhibitors. Former Vice President Al Gore gave the keynote speech as leaders of the green building world converged to discuss [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 4:20am EST
  by 3p Guest Author

• Coming Up: Sustainable Industries Economic Forum with Paul Hawken

  If you haven’t heard Paul Hawken speak lately, and you happen to be in the Bay Area this week, now is a good time to put it on your to-do list. Our friends at Sustainable Industries are putting together another phenomenal breakfast forum on Thursday the 19th at the St. Regis [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 8:51pm EST
  by Nick Aster

• Green Building supports 7.9 Million U.S. Jobs

  I’m not typically one to debate the merits of green jobs because I see the value of green job creation every single day. Sure, there are a number of studies out there that question the validity of some green jobs or seek to find a more precise definition of what a [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 10:31am EST
  by Jeff Siegel

• Syfy Creates a “Sanctuary” for Kids

  There are few things more influential than entertainment, and the ability for characters (and the celebs who portray them) to drive retail consumption and inform pop culture. Every generation has spawned a myriad of fads from Farah Fawcett’s feathered bangs to Jennifer Aniston’s signature “Rachel” haircut to iPods, mobile apps, [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 6:30am EST
  by Gennefer Snowfield

• EV Tech Center Abuzz Over an Electrified Future

  Electric vehicles and the changes they promise to bring to our transportation infrastructure are making lots of headlines these days, but to Ed Kjaer, the director of Electric Vehicle Tech Center, EVs are old hat. Kjaer drives an electric Toyota RAV-4 every day. He’s logged 83,000 miles on the rig, which [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 5:56am EST
  by Mary Catherine O'Connor

• Careers in Wind Farm Development: Project Developer

  Wind energy capacity in the U.S. grew by 8,358 MW last year, an impressive 50 percent jump in total capacity. This trend was accompanied by a 35 percent increase in jobs in the industry. Unlike trends in many industries, career opportunities are expected to expand, as wind power plays a [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 5:43am EST
  by Sarah Lozanova

• SolarCity CEO Says Solar Installation Biz Splitting into Big Guys and Little Guys

  Solarcity CEO Lyndon Rive said in an interview Friday that he is seeing a growing market schism between the thousands of small, local solar panel installers and a “half a dozen or so” national players that can provide “a trusted brand focusing on scale and services.” Rise of the Brand Names Solarcity, [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 5:39am EST
  by BC Upham

• Spacing Out on Solar Energy

  Solar power satellites are the yin to the yang of Ronald Reagan’s 1980s Star Wars fantasy, and almost as old. Scientists for decades have explored the potential of using space-based solar cells to beam power to the Earth. It’s an idea with very long legs, as they say, but now the [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 5:11am EST
  by Bill DiBenedetto

• Landmark “Electrification Coalition” Plays Down Environmental Benefits of EVs, Plays Up Oil Dependence

  More than a dozen top executives ranging from Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn to David W. Crane of NRG Energy and Frederick W. Smith of FedEx Corporation jointly announced Monday the launch of the Electrification Coalition, a serious and rigorous industry-backed non-profit with the goal of having 75 percent of all miles [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 5:06am EST
  by BC Upham

• Why Solar Rebates Are Becoming Extinct

  Solar rebate programs are winding down. Austin Energy cut solar rebates for homeowners by a third. Xcel Energy will cut its rebate program by about 50 percent. The Long Island Power Authority made an immediate cut in its rebate program, and one scheduled for January. New York reduced its solar [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 5:00am EST
  by Gina-Marie Cheeseman

• JumpStart Helps Cleveland’s New Entrepreneurs

  Cleveland is part of the “rust belt,” the moniker given to the upper Midwest because many of its factories and plants are no longer in operation. However, in 2004 Cleveland’s business leaders, government, and foundations created the nonprofit corporation JumpStart to help entrepreneurs. JumpStart invests only in companies that have [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 5:00am EST
  by Gina-Marie Cheeseman

• Secrets of Successful Social Intrapreneurs: Advice From Three Major Brands

  Sustainability careers are in high demand, judging from the record-breaking attendance at the 2009 Net Impact Conference this past weekend (2,400 participants, 60% of which were MBA students).  Problem is, there just aren’t that many full-time positions with “sustainability” or “corporate social responsibility” in the title.  But, it is possible [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 7:51pm EST
  by Cindy Mehallow

• Coca-Cola Rolls Out Plant-Based Recyclable Bottles

  Seemingly every day a different company announces a new greening initiative, so when Coca-Cola said this morning that it has begun distributing plastic bottles of Coke and other beverages made with up to 30% plant-based material, it might have seemed like just another press release. In fact, consider it a milestone. [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 12:42pm EST
  by BC Upham

• The “Impact” of the 2009 Net Impact Conference: Suggested Improvements

  This year’s Net Impact Conference was a big success. It was an incredible gathering of many current and future leaders in the sustainability field. That’s why the following bones that I have to pick are important to address – if we can’t get it right, who will? (I love you [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 11:51am EST
  by Matthew Savage

• Avoiding COP15 Burnout with “Expectation Management”

  “Climate change and climate policy in Europe and the U.S. – Opportunities and Challenges in the Run-up to the Copenhagen Summit and beyond” Thus was billed a recent conference I attended last week at the Aspen Wye River Conference center located in rural Maryland along the eastern shore of the Chesapeake [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 10:12am EST
  by Tom Schueneman

• Southern California Edison: On Teaming with Titan Automakers, and Sharing Customers

  The smart grid is coming! And so are (again, finally) electric cars! Want to know how this makes Ted Craver, the president and CEO of electric power generator and distributor Edition International, feel? Excited. And scared. “We’re looking at the confluence of public policy, environmental issues writ large, and enabling technologies [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 5:39am EST
  by Mary Catherine O'Connor

• The More Climate Regulation, The Better? A Report…

  A new report out of UC Berkeley argues the stricter the regulation of greenhouse gases, the better it is for state economies, from California to Connecticut, and everywhere in between. The report, entitled “Clean Energy and Climate Policy for U.S. Growth and Job Creation,” argues that improvements in energy efficiency, as [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 5:30am EST
  by BC Upham

• Interfaith Power & Light: Energy From Heaven

  “The faith community must be heard, now is the time for people of faith to take a moral stand to save our planet.” –Reverend Canon Sally G. Bingham, president of The Regeneration Project Interfaith Power & Light I was raised by a God-fearing mom with a strong affinity for fire and [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 5:26am EST
  by Bill Roth

• AdaptivCool Greens Data Centers by Solving Air Distribution Problem

  Odds are, your data center feels as cold as a meat locker. And if it does, you’re wasting energy –and money. Data centers don’t need to be ice cold, says Rajesh  Nair, the founder and CTO of Degree Controls, Inc., based in New Hampshire. Rather than over-compensating for server heat loads, he [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 5:25am EST
  by Kathryn Siranosian

• Business Not As Usual: Twitter Commentary On Corporate Succession Planning

  When corporate executive change gossip spills outside the pages of financial pages of record and onto thousands of cell phones, something big and new is going on.  Wouldn’t you know,  the first big example has something to do with maintaining  a company’s green image. See Vattenfall Wakes Up to VattenFAIL [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 8:36pm EST
  by John Laumer

• John Perkins: Learning from the Economic Meltdown

  John Perkins, author of “Hoodwinked” and “Confessions of an Economic Hitman” says he had a hand in creating the current economic crisis.  As an “Economic Hitman” his job was to promote corporate interests at the expense of anyone, anywhere; an unjust, untenable, and unsustainable practice he referred to as “Predatory [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 5:41am EST
  by Jennifer Elder

• America Recycles Day: A Look at Single-Stream Recycling

  By Wes Muir, Director of Communications, Waste Management Since November 15 is America Recycles Day, this is an appropriate time to take a step back and consider what we can be doing better for the planet. From a resource management perspective, the four Rs – reduce, reuse, recycle and recover – [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 4:59am EST
  by Wes Muir

• Honest Tea Says It Will Stay Honest with Coca Cola Partnership

  Honest Tea’s President and “TeaEO” Seth Goldman doesn’t think he’s sold out. During the closing keynote address at the 2009 Net Impact Conference today, Goldman explained his decision to allow Coca Cola to acquire 40% of Honest Tea by reassuring event goers that his commitment to producing a healthy, organic, [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 8:41pm EST
  by Nayelli Gonzalez

• Johnson & Johnson’s Sustainability Strategy Includes Avoiding Greenwashing

  When you hear the name Johnson & Johnson, you might think about baby oil, baby powder and band-aids–and not necessarily think of them as leaders in sustainability.  At a speaker panel at the Net Impact Conference on Friday, several J&J company leaders spoke to how the company’s Credo is the [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 11:19am EST
  by Nayelli Gonzalez

• Adam Werbach’s Strategies for Sustainability

  When Adam Werbach talks, people listen. And for good reason – his career track has been explosive, from being elected the youngest-ever President of the Sierra Club at age 23 to his more recent work with Walmart attempting to engage all 2 million or their Associates. Currently, he is the [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 10:43am EST
  by Matthew Savage

• Sustainable Brands Boot Camp Kicks Off: Interview With Founder, Koann Vikoren Skrzyniarz

  The first online Sustainable Brands Boot Camp produced by the folks at Sustainable Life Media who convene the annual Sustainable Brands Conference kicked off yesterday. CEO KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz recently spoke to one of the SB community members, Diane MacEachern, Founder and CEO of Big Green Purse about what drove [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 9:15am EST
  by Nick Aster

• Will GM Declare “Environmental Bankruptcy”?

  One of the nice things about bankruptcy is that certain debts are forgiven and you get something of a clean slate. That may be fine in a strictly financial sense but when environmental externalities are concerned it may be playing fast and loose. General Motors, long criticized for being a [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 3:44pm EST
  by Nick Aster

• DripTech Offers Dirt Cheap, Scalable Irrigation for Developing World

  The Net Impact conference is as much about great speakers as it is about fortuitous encounters. Today at lunch I had the pleasure of sitting next to Peter Fyrkman of DripTech, a startup company aiming to tackle poverty by providing very cheap, easily scalable drip irrigation technology to small farmers [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 2:04pm EST
  by Nick Aster

• Net Impact Leaders’ Advice on Activitating Member Base

  Net Impact chapter leaders from around the country kicked off the 2009 Net Impact Conference today to share best practices on how to successfully manage a social impact club that adds value to people’s lives and their communities. Many words of wisdom were imparted, especially about finding new ways to [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 11:37am EST
  by Nayelli Gonzalez