by Kristen Nicole on April 22, 2009
By Kristen Nicole
Perhaps you’ve noticed the slew of celebrity-studded commercials and dedicated programing on broadcast and cable television the past few weeks, urging you to go green in honor of Earth Day. You may have also noticed that the trend is not lost in the online world. More specifically, the virtual world.
WeeWorld is offering environmentally friendly items for purchase in honor of Earth Day, an initiative that the virtual world launched a little over two weeks ago. So far over 10,000 “Recycle and Global Warming” signs have been downloaded by users showing their support for green lifestyles.
Another 2,500 green items including environmentally friendly clothing, wind turbines and even tree huggers, have been downloaded by WeeWorld users. The items are all part of the larger virtual goods trend, something that WeeWorld was quick to participate in.
The past year or so has witnessed several product roll outs from WeeWorld, with things like personalized rooms for WeeMee avatars, presenting a great deal of customization for users and branding opportunities for companies. WeeWorld has also created a Green Jean avatar that makes her way around the WeeWorld community to give tips on how to live a green lifestyle.
What’s more, is that many of these environmentally friendly items are available for purchase as well as gifts to send to others. Not only does this help generate revenue for WeeWorld, but it also incentivizes users to encourage their friends to consider a greener lifestyle as well. If we can be green in the virtual sense, maybe a little bit of that will rub off in our real lives. Life imitating art, right?
For WeeWorld, this is a great opportunity to also target teens and push green initiatives, also giving teen users a voice of their own. Personalized WeeWorld and their avatars are great ways to provide users with a way to show their support for Earth Day and green lifestyles overall.
by Brian Solis on January 13, 2009
AlwaysOn has officially kicked off its 1st GoingGreen East Top 50 competition. They’re are looking for the top emerging private companies that are creating new business opportunities in green technology. This includes private companies that are demonstrating significant market traction and pursuing game-changing technology in the following sectors:
• Solar Energy
• Biofuel & Agriculture
• Clean Energy (not solar or biofuel)
• Energy Storage Systems
• Energy Management, Smart Grid & Energy Efficiency
• Water Technology & Water Management
• Green Materials, Green Buildings & Green Nano/Micro-Tech
• Green Automobiles & Transportation
• Clean Manufacturing & Clean Products
• Resource Recovery & Waste Management
The winners of this competition will be officially announced in late February and will be honored at GoingGreen East, March 9th-11th at The Four Seasons Hotel, Boston, MA. They will also be featured in AO’s quarterly print “blogozine” and on the AlwaysOn website.
To nominate a company, please click here to fill out a qualification form.
To reserve your ticket to GoingGreen and take advantage of the 50% AO-Insider discount, click here!
Current Top 50 Nominees:
Solar Energy
1366 Technologies
Aquus Energy
Blue Sqaure Energy
Crossbow Technology, Inc
Evergreen Solar
GroSolar
Konarka Tech
Lightwave Power, LLC
Odyne
Petra Solar
RSI Silicon Products
Sencera
Solar & Thermal Systems, Inc.
Standard Solar
Stellaris
SunEdison Corporate
Suniva
Wakonda Technologies
Xunlight Corporation
Biofuel & Agriculture
Coskata
Ecore Intl.
Energex Pellet Fuel Inc.
Firefly Energy
Lehigh Technologies
Clean Energy (not solar or biofuel)
Advanced Electron Beams
Deerpath Energy
Energy Ingenuity
Everpower Renewables
New Energy Capital
Northern Power
Novomer, Inc
Own Energy
Protonex Technology Corp.
Regen Power Systems
Second Wind
Techno Spin
TPI
Wilson Turbo Power
Zymetis
Energy Storage Systems
Aspen Products Group
Lilliputian Systems
Primet Precision Materials
Solicore, Inc.
Energy Management, Smart Grid & Energy Efficiency
Advanced Power
Aircuity
Ameresco
BlueWave Strategies
BPL Global
Brighter Planet. Inc.
Carbon Solutions America
Clear Standards
Conservation Services Group
Danotek Motion Technologies
Eka Systems
Ember
Energy Window
eps corp
greenBytes Inc
GridPoint
H2Gen Innovations
MetroLight
Peregrine Energy Group
Positive Energy
Powerit Holdings
Premium Power Corporation
RealWinWin, Inc.
Renaissance Lighting
SmartSpark Energy Systems
Trilliant Inc.
Water Technology & Water Management
epuramat
Seldon Technologies
Green Materials, Green Buildings & Green Nano/Micro-Tech
Apricus Inc.
CellTech Power, Inc
EcoKote
GEO2
Hycrete
iCrete
LumenZ
Luminus Devices, Inc
Microposite
PPT Research
QD Vision
Segetis, Inc.
SOMS Technologies
Green Automobiles & Transportation
et3.com Inc.
NxtGen Emission Controls
Skymeter Corp
Zipcar
Clean Manufacturing & Clean Products
GoGrid
Precise Alloys
Permolex International LP
Sun and Earth
Resource Recovery & Waste Management
Coalogix
Electro-Petroleum
Powermaster
Seahorse Power Corp
Qteros
RecycleBank
by Michelle Lentz on December 4, 2008
by Michelle Lentz
When we were away for Thanksgiving weekend, I’d forgottten my curling iron and had to buy a new one. I had a terrible time opening the ridiculous packaging since I was in a hotel and had no scissors handy. In particular, I hate the hard plastic packaging that often comes around a tiny USB stick. Why? Why are these things so difficult to get into? Why so much extra plastic?
About a month ago, Amazon.com launched a new initiative called Frustration-Free packaging. They’re working with manufacturers to create easy-open boxes – no ties, no metal wraps, no clamshells, no extra plastics.
One of the first products to launch was the Fisher-Price Imaginext Adventures Pirate Ship. The new packaging eliminated ALL of the following:
- 1,576.5 sq in printed corrugated package inserts
- 175.2 sq in PVC blisters
- 36.1 sq in folding carton materials
- 36 in of plastic coated steel wire ties
- 2 molded plastic fasteners
- 3.5 sq in of ABC molded styrene
Right now there are only 19 products available like this, but I have high hopes that maybe this initiative by Amazon will help manufacturers wake up. In addition, Amazon’s simple packaging is more environmentally friendly than the original packaging. “It will take many years, but our vision is to offer our entire catalog of products in Frustration-Free Packaging,” Jeff Bezos said in the letter announcing the program.
Amazon’s Great Unwrap Race video is funny and perfectly illustrates both the problem and the solution. They also have a gallery of user-submitted Wrap Rage.
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Events, news, apps, and more – let me know at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, via Twitter, or Friendfeed.
by Michelle Lentz on November 21, 2008
by Michelle Lentz
Ecobags – reusable canvas grocery bags – debuted in the Cincinnati area sometime in 2007. My husband and I were rather taken by the idea and decided that it would be a great idea for holiday gift bags as well.
I was thrilled to discover that 1BagataTime actually offers holiday-themed bags. You can pack tons of things into these bags as well.
This year, 1BagataTime is offering a holiday ecowrap package. It’s not much – 10 bags and 10 bows for $15.99. Last year I got both green and red bags. They were an absolute hit with everyone who received one from us. It’s a nice way to help “green” your holiday wrapping.
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Contact Michelle with your news, apps, and events via email at michelle[at]writetech.net, Twitter, Pownce, or FriendFeed. Visit Michelle at Wine-Girl.net and Write Technology.
