Fashionably Green

From Yves Saint Laurent and Stella McCartney to Marc Jacobs and Prada, more than 20 of the world’s favorite fashion brands have come together to generate awareness and raise funds for the environment. Be it a Burberry Prorsum trench, a Gucci tote or a floor-sweeping skirt by Jason Wu, a portion of the proceeds from each exclusive Runway to Green piece goes to leading environmental organizations.

Algae Nuclear Waste Clean Up

Researchers at Northwestern University and Argpnna National Laboratory believe that freshwater algae could become a key component in nuclear waste clean-up .Studies done on Closterium moniliferum, a bright green pond algae, found that it could be effective at sequestering Strontium 90, one of the most dangerous radioactive materials created in a nuclear reactor and consequently present nuclear waste sludge.

Smart Windows

Raven Windows are made with a special nanomaterial coating which makes the windows responsive to outdoor temperature. The Raven Windows act as "an intelligent window filter that automatically blocks solar heat when the outside temperature is too hot, while delivering solar heat inside when the outside temperature is cold."

Forest in USA

Top 10 Solar Power States

1. California: 47 percent with 971 megawatts

2. New Jersey: 14 percent with 293 MW
3. Colorado: 5 percent with 108 MW
4. Arizona: 5 percent with 101 MW
5. Nevada: 5 percent with 97 MW
6. Florida: 4 percent with 73 MW
7. New York: 3 percent with 54 MW
8. Pennsylvania: 3 percent with 54 MW
9. New Mexico: 2 percent with 45 MW
10. North Carolina: 2 percent with 42 MW

Talk and Charge

Scientists at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, South Korea think they've developed the technology that could charge your cell phone battery by the sound of your voice and the length of your phone conversations. The technology produces energy from the vibrations caused by sounds.  The prototype consists of tiny zinc oxide wires sandwiched between two electrodes.  A sound pad on top vibrates when hit by sound waves which causes the zinc oxide strands to compress and release.  That generates an electrical current that charges the battery.

Kindle Books Outselling All Print Books on Amazon

Amazon has announced that its Kindle ebooks are outselling all printed books. For every 100 print books sold, Amazon sells 105 Kindle books. A study last year by the Cleantech Group found that a Kindle has a lower carbon footprint than printed books once you replace the purchase of 22.5 new books with ebooks.  Now that Amazon is selling so many ebooks, it's clear people are reducing their reading-related carbon footprints very quickly.