This website is fascinating.  It gives you another way to look at our planet and the things happen on it.  Consume.  Consume.  Consume.  Looking at the numbers really made me think about how vast the world we live in is, and how much our civilaztion uses.  Over $300 billion US spent worldwide on illegal drugs this year?  Not by me.  36 million abortions this year? Also not by me.  Now, I know most of these numbers are just triggered to increase at a certain rate per unit of time.  However, it still baffles me how some of these numbers are even calculated, like the number of people with no access to safe drinking water.  Other numbers are just downright scary.  $31 billion spent in the US alone on weight loss this year, and 20,000 people around the world died of hunger today.  Really?

Contributor: Elbert Traister

Photo Courtesy of Nytimes.com

The Solar Decathlon attracts some of the best and brightest students from all over the United States to do one thing:  utilize the enormous amount of power supplied by the sun.  Although, part of the rules state that you also have to do it in syle.  There are actually 10 categories by which projects are judged including design, comfort and marketability.  After all, what good is the most efficient solar panel if no one will buy it?  The teams each get $100,000 to get started, but after that, the sky's the limit.

Contributor:  Elbert Traister

Photo Courtesy of Nokia.com

According to a recent study, more than half the world's population pays to use a cell phone.  That's in the neighborhood of 3 billion cell phones in use today.  Cell phone turnover for the average user is somewhere between 1 and 2 years.  That's roughly 1.5 billion cell phones that get trashed EVERY year, or over 4 million per day worldwide.  With this kind of production, it's certainly not a bad thing to have a cell phone atop the list of World's Greenest Company.

Contributor:  Elbert Traister

Photo Courtesy of Softpedia.com

Mother's all around the world give.  They sacrifice.  Mother Earth is no different.  She continues to provide a sustainable environment despite the sometimes reprehensible actions of mankind.  It should then be no surprise that nature is often a source of inspiration for the most innovative technologies. 

Contributor:  Elbert Traister

Photo Courtesy of Popular Mechanics

Everyone pays gas taxes... until now.  If you own a hybrid, you pay less in taxes, but imagine a future where cars no longer use gasoline.  As exciting as the future looks for fuel efficient cars, there is a problem just over the horizon.  The US continues to put more and more cars on the road, which deteriorates the infrastructure of the nation more and more quickly and more money is needed to keep them in working order. 

Traditionally, the maintenance for this infrastructure is subsidized by the tax everyone pays when they fuel their cars.  As cars continue to become more fuel efficient, the tax dollars generated per car decline.  The question becomes:  where will the revenue to upkeep US roadways come from? 

Contributor:  Elbert Traister

Photo Courtesy of Gizmag.com

Mother Nature never ceases to amaze, and the lotus blossom is no exception.  Scientists at NASA are currently trying to adapt the surface of a lotus leaf into viable space technology.  The surface of a lotus leaf is attractive because it is covered with tiny spikes that keeps things like water and dirt from accumulating on the plant.  If NASA can mimic this natural phenomenon, they believe the harsh environment of space will become just a bit more bearable for astronauts and their toys. 

Contributor:  Elbert Traister

Photo Courtesy of Gizmag.com

The US is a world leaders when it comes to technology, but not cars.  Cars in the U.S. today get only 3 more miles to the gallon then they roughly 80 years ago.  The crux of the problem lies in the lax vehicle policies that allow cars to be driven when they only get maybe 15 or 16 mpg.  These kinds of cars were even deemed "clunkers" by the US goverment in the recent Cash for Clunkers promotion.  Fortunately, time has carried on, and the future of cars looks bright despite an awkward past.

Contributor:  Elbert Traister

Photo Courtesy of cleantechnica.com

Global warming has long been a hotly contested topic, and a new leader now heads the discussion.  Australia now emits more CO2 annually than the United States.  There are other greenhouse gases to consider, but CO2 has become the poster child for this global controversy.  Regardless of which country is at the top, one thing remains clear:  a unified, global effort will be required to overcome this increasing global threat.

Contributor:  Elbert Traister

Photo Courtesy of Newsweek.com

A list like this has been a long time coming, and it must've taken a really long time to put this together since the information was collected from no less than 3 sources.  Ultimately, though, in order for something like this to stick, the companies need to be regulated in some way.  Most likely, this would fall under some kind of government regulation, and nobody likes the sound of that.  However, that may be the best solution because at the moment, no company reports these kinds of environmental statistics the same way.  Some may even report just what makes them look good because of the lack of regulations.  Regardless, as the article states, this is just the beginning.

Contributor:  Elbert Traister

Photo Courtesy of gas2.org

Chevy.  Ford.  And now Volkswagen.  Volkswagen has thrown its hat into the ecofriendly car ring with its futuristic, diesel hybrid.  This aerodynamic 2-seater gets 170 miles to the gallon, and weighs a petite 800 lbs.  In a stumbling economy, car companies are finally revealing the future so many of us have been looking forward to. 

Contributor:  Elbert Traister