The remediation industry exists, in large part, to clean up the messes made by other industries. Most notably, when our buddies in the fossil fuel industry misplace billions of gallons of oil, a remediation company is contracted to clean it up. Unfortunately, clean up technology and methods are a new science, and many seem to harm the environment in the process of cleaning up. On the greener side of remediation is VeruTEK, a small chemical company that has just designed a clean up process without the negative effects.

Green-nano Zero Valent Iron, or G-nZVI, is a remediation catalyst that can clean up sites of chemical contamination without adding other harmful chemicals to the mix. Developed by the combined efforts of VeruTEK Technologies Inc., and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, G-nZVI will be the go-to clean up method for virtually all industrial chemical spills and disasters. The novel aspect of VeruTEK’s new catalyst is that it is a plant-based technology, whereas other remediation techniques involve throwing chemicals at the chemical spill.

G-nZVI is biodegradable and does not require a clean up after it has been applied to a contaminated site. It is also less expensive, less volatile, easier to store and has a longer shelf life than all other remediation chemicals. Remediation is also a booming industry, so the good scientists at VeruTEK stand to be rewarded in kind for their great work.

via: hartfordbusiness.com related: eco science and news

Feel the Power of Crystal Energy – Heather and Timmi, founders of Energy Muse jewelry are celebrating their 11th Anniversary with a 35% sale on many cool items for guys or gals now through July 10.

Choose from hip pieces of holistic bling like jewelry belts, medicine bags, energy hangers for you, and paw collar charms for your precious pooch.

Or bliss-out with Chakra rings, earrings, necklaces and bracelets all created with special intentions in mind: balance & focus; health & performance; wealth & success; passion & creativity; new beginnings and more…Players like David Beckham, Kate Hudson, Heidi Klum, Jason Mraz and Jeremy Piven are all wearing the good vibes of these body adornments.

A few personal faves:

• Chakra Energy Belts (above)
• From their Expressions Line, the Flow Necklace with Carnelian, Crazy Lace Agate, Green Aventurine -  freedom, openness, ease. The energy will take you anywhere you want to go, quicker, easier and a whole lot smoother.
• Energy Hangers and Energy Paws – (L to R below)

• Deep sea behemoth recovered. Giant Squid Found Dying off Florida (photo above) – natgeo
• As temps rise bugs get busy…Bugs a Growing Threat to US Forests – msnbc/ap
• Federal mandates will insure demand for ethanol remains strong…Deal to End Ethanol Tax Credit Seen This Week – reuters
• Haboob Hubbub: The Science of the Monster Phoenix Dust Storm – livescience
• Perhaps our oil industry should do the same…At US Nuclear Reactors, Crews Train for the Worst – npr
• Just breath into this breathalyzer and we can start paper training…NYC Pet Store Bans Drunken Puppy-Buying – myway

More and more big box companies are riding the green wave – case in point, the world’s biggest box, Target. Personally, I’m not a steady frequenter of big box stores but I recently had occasion to bop in there and I have to say, it’s pretty cool — wide aisles, well lit, friendly service and a nice selection of reasonably priced, quality merch.

Here’s what really impressed me: there was a decent selection of organic foods on the shelves; a sprinkling of organic produce; eco-friendly cleaning products like Seventh Generation; Burt’s Bees and other body-friendly health & beauty products; sheets made of organic cotton and towels made of bamboo (although I’m not a fan of bamboo towels, those I’ve tried didn’t seem to absorb water as effectively as organic cotton). I noticed they even have their own line of furniture derived from sustainably forested wood, called, Room Essentials. (more…)

NL Architects is attempting to domesticate, or urbanize, wind energy design by creating aesthetically pleasing wind turbines. These small generators can be integrated into urban landscapes, and provide clean, renewable energy without creating any disturbing noise.

The quiet ‘Power Flowers’ are designed to look like trees and capture renewable wind energy. The basic concept relies on Urban Green Energy’s ‘Eddy’ turbine. The Eddy turbine is a small turbine that is designed for residential use. Power Flowers use either 3 or 12 Eddy’s on their wind tree to capture as much emission-free energy as possible. (more…)

Our ever-growing population creates million of tons of landfill-clogging organic waste everyday. Nevada-based Ecologico-Logic has created a device they call ‘The Muncher‘ to quickly transform that waste into nutrient rich compost. The Muncher is an aerobic digester that uses mechanical, chemical and biological processes to convert solid waste into revenue-generating compost in less than an hour. The machine aerobically breaks down green waste, rotten food, meats, most organic, some inorganic compounds and derived municipal solid waste, in a fraction of the time it takes to traditionally compost similar material. (more…)

This should pique the interest of any literary types out there – an eclectic lampshade created from the recycled pages of a Dutch translation of the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. A perfect show stopper for your next book club meeting.

Comes sans wiring and bulb, and may feature the odd illustration. You can find it @ GreenWallNL’s Etsy shop.

Perhaps we should use the energy created by this past weekend’s Independence Day celebration to ‘free’ ourselves from the shackles of all the unwanted, unnecessary clutter clogging up our garages, storage rooms, attics, basements and minds.

Let me shine a little light on a bright new site that we can handily tap right into, called givmo.com. It’s similar to Freecycle, (which I used & loved when I helped a friend move), but there’s a big difference – Givmo is national, so you have a larger playing field.

You can donate items that you don’t need or want anymore and you can also look for pre-loved stuff. If you donate an item, the person who snags it for free, just pays for shipping — and if you find something you like, it’s free – you just pay the shipping.

Here’s how givmo essentially works – you send givmo a photo of the item, and when the item is “won” by someone who wants it, givmo sends you a shipping label. You put the item in a box, slap a label on it, and UPS takes care of the rest. Easy.

As if that weren’t enough, there’s more good karma — for every item you donate, givmo donates $1 to charity. The more you give, the more you get … and the better it feels, right? We also love how this approach keeps stuff out of the waste stream and landfills and into what I call, the use stream. Start using it and let your friends know about it, too.

(photo above: founder of givmo, Dustin Byrne)

A Tried and True Green Product Review … okay, we’ve given it a go, and here’s what we think of the reusable Hydros Water Bottle:

The concept is great: this BPA-free, made in America, reusable water bottle comes with a replaceable filter so you can turn on the tap, fill the bottle and stay hydrated while on the go. By now, we all know the planetary and monetary values of using reusable water bottles as opposed to disposable one-offs. If your pipes deliver inferior H2O, it’s key is to use a reusable bottle that will filter it.

Does it work? Well, yes, to a certain degree, and as far as I can tell. The filtered Hydros water tastes and smells fine. As stated on the company website: The new Hydros Fast Flow Filter™ reduces chlorine, chloramine, and particulates from tap water quicker than your pitcher filter. The filter is enhanced with natural, triclosan-free IonArmour® antimicrobial protection actively defending against the odor-causing bacteria found in other bottles.

Since a water testing meter was not provided, I used a TDS (total dissolved solids) digital water testing device that I happened to have (comes with the ZeroWater Pitcher) and compared 3 different glasses of water from my tap: (more…)