IGPN - Index page

Purchasing the Environmentally Preferable Way--Green Steps to Manage Your Supply Chain [News]

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:11:07 +0000

Characteristics and Steps to Green Your Purchasing Power This article introduces the recent move by the City of San Francisco to open its database of green products. Meyer also sites the descriptions of EPP, which stands for environmentally preferable purchasing policies. Read the article by Dave Meyer Resources to Get You Started USEPA: http://www.epa.gov/epp/pubs/guidance/standards.htm Information Technology Industry Council: http://bit.ly/dcF5KM StopWaste.org: http://www.stopwaste.org/home/index.asp?page=468 Good Guide: http://www.goodguide.com/ Natural Resources Defense Council: http://bit.ly/9vetla

City of San Francisco leads Green Purchasing [News]

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:18:35 +0000

The city of San Francisco launched its Database available on the web: SF Approved List. Most of items are powered by Good Guide, but it also includes items that are originally chosen. An article about this news: San Francisco Shares Its Database for Green Purchasing Check out Good Guide's iPhone app

Visualized Carbon Emission Data [News]

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:28:53 +0000

Did you know that the total carbon emissions of the entire world peaked in 2007 and since then it has been declining?

Data from Timetric.

To view this graph, please install Adobe Flash Player.

In the US, it is so obvious that Texas and California are leading the country in carbon emissions.

6 House Plants That Can Improve the Air Quality In Your Home [News]

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 06:37:10 +0000

A great post from this blog. 3 Plants that Can Generate Plenty of Fresh Air Areca Palm: During the day, the Areca Palm generates a great deal of oxygen, taking the carbon dioxide you exhale and turning it into oxygen. While four shoulder-high plants for each person in the home is recommended, you can can still get benefits even with fewer plants around the house. Mother-in-Law’s Tongue: This plant generates more oxygen in the evening. With six to eight plants per person, you can help ensure a good supply of oxygen through the night — although you don’t need that many to get some of the benefits. Money Plant: If you are interested in removing volatile organic compounds from the air (VOCs), you can use the money plant to do so. It acts a filter that can remove VOCs like formaldehyde out of the air, improving air quality. 3 More Plants that Can Improve Air Quality in Your Home English Ivy: This beautiful plant is easy to care for, and can be trained to climb book cases to add a bit of nature to your home. It can also be hung from hooks in the ceiling. One woman I know grows it along the tops of her kitchen cabinets. Asparagus Fern: Another favorite, the asparagus fern is not actually fern. But it looks like one, and is easy to grow as a container plant. Grows lushly, and can add some green to your home, while purifying the air. Purple Heart Plant: If you want to add a touch of bright color to your home plant decor, the purple heart plant can be a good choice. Like the other plants on this list, it is easy to care for, and it flowers beautifully. Read the entire article here.

Making Green Procurement Easier [News]

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:05:53 +0000

What is green procurement anyway? Well, we think that we all define it personally. Here is a passage from an article that provides an interesting look on green procurement. "While green procurement is obviously a worthwhile goal, figuring out which product is greener than another and by how much can feel like you're working your way through a hedge maze and be just as time-consuming. But you can use the 100 Mile Diet idea to simplify the process. Generally, goods and services that are produced locally are going to be less environmentally damaging than goods and services produced from afar, as less energy is expended getting them to the consumer. Even if all I do is buy my office supplies from a supplier in my local town, rather than driving to another town to purchase them, I've eliminated the amount of carbon emissions my vehicle would emit as I drove those extra miles. Consider how much more vehicle pollution I could erase by doing this all year long." Read the entire article here.

Going Green: Laundry [News]

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:16:01 +0000

While there are many laundry products such as detergents that claim to reduce environmental impacts, it is more important to learn better laundry habits in order to reduce your laundry footprint. Read tips: Here and here. Going green on laundry has a positive image that even some girl from Singapore named her blog GreenLaundry even though the blog has nothing to do with the title.

Innovative Bicycle Sharing [News]

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 08:17:47 +0000

B-Cycle is a bicycle sharing service becoming available in major US cities including New York City and San Francisco. It aims to expand their business throughout the country.

Scan Product Barcode iPhone App [News]

Thu, 27 May 2010 06:30:37 +0000

GoodGuide provides information about products' ecological impacts. Its iPhone application scans product barcodes to show you their ratings.

Green Business Africa Summit & Expo 2010 [News]

Fri, 21 May 2010 07:41:27 +0000

The Green Business Africa Summit & Expo is Africa’s first flagship event that brings to the mainstream issues around sustainability in the business environment as well as green corporate social responsibility (CSR). Its Facebook group page and official site

Green procurement in the Asian public sector and Hong Kong [News]

Thu, 06 May 2010 01:30:07 +0000

CEO of Hong Kong Green Council and her associates have published a paper titled "Green procurement in the Asian public sector and the Hong Kong", which reviews the procurement practices and policies of five Asian countries and Hong Kong, in the context of an international overview of green purchasing and practices. To download the paper, click here.

Consumers worry about giving utilities power to shut off appliances [News]

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 07:54:49 +0000

"ClimateWire, 21 April 2010 - A decided majority of electricity customers would not sign up for demand management programs that allowed utilities to remotely control home appliances unless they could override the utilities' actions, according to a survey by Accenture, the global management consulting firm." Visit WBCSD site to read the rest of the article.

Sun's magnetic field may have caused freezing winter [News]

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 08:27:51 +0000

"It was the coldest winter in England since 1963 – the coldest in Scotland since 1914 –" Read more

Greening the Global Economy [News]

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 08:33:48 +0000

More than 600 experts from 75 countries gathered in Geneva to consider the social and environmental impacts of transitioning to a green economy. Read more.

Brazil's World Cup football team to sport 'green' and yellow strip [News]

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:27:04 +0000

"Brazil, Portugal and the Netherlands among teams to wear Nike's shirts made from recycled plastic bottles" "When Kaka and Ronaldinho stride out onto the pitch for the World Cup in South Africa this summer, few of their millions of fans are likely to notice that their yellow jerseys are made from old plastic bottles." Read the Guardian article.

Managing Peak Demand With Water Heaters [News]

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:09:40 +0000

In Idaho, farmers are paid to turn off their water pumps during [some summer afternoons]. A small company in Kansas pays its customers $12.50 a month to take part in the company`s program. Read the Green Inc. article.