environment

Environmental activist and author Van Jones, one of the first to recognize the power of a "green collar" job corps as a tool for social justice, has been tapped by the Obama administration to serve as special adviser for green jobs, enterprise, and innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).

Under his new post, which he'll start Monday, Jones will shape and advance the administration's energy and climate initiatives "with a specific interest in improvements and opportunities for vulnerable communities," said Nancy Sutley, chair of the CEQ, in a statement Tuesday. … Read more

The X Prize Foundation announced the winner of its "What's Your Crazy Green Idea?" competition on Thursday.

The first-place winners, which will receive $25,000, were University of California at Irvine students Kyle Good and Bryan Le on the Capacitor Challenge team, for their idea that someone should develop a more efficient energy storage device to replace batteries, for everything from iPods to cars.

Unlike other X Prize competitions, the winners of "What's Your Crazy Green Idea?" were not picked by a panel of educationally pedigreed judges to build an invention for which they … Read more

Nevermind the Hollywood glitterati. Many of the films debuting at this year's Sundance Film Festival feature a more understated star known as Mother Earth, and she plays roles ranging from dramatic to mysterious to horrific.

With one film all about dirt, another about global overfishing, and another still about a family's attempt to live with no net impact on the earth, the environment is getting top billing this year at Robert Redford's indie film festival, which kicks off Thursday night in Park City, Utah, and runs through January 25.

Five out of the 32 documentaries competing at … Read more

That hat you see to the right is smokin'. No, it literally is. Chilean fashion designer Alexandra Guerrero made it from recycled cigarette butts.

Through her new company, Mantis, Guerrero combines purified smokes with natural wool to form a raw, textured material that can be woven into garments with a surprisingly appealing modern macrame flair.

Of course, as cute as the finished products may be, it's hard to imagine nonsmokers wearing Guerrero's creations without experiencing a significant ick factor. Still, you have to applaud the designer's creative contribution to the everyday-objects-from-recycled goods oeuvre.

"This project began … Read more

Gas may well be cheaper, but for how long? The markets shoot up, so does the demand for oil and suddenly you're filling your tank through your nose again.

In my daily quest to rid the world of its ills and leave only the smiles of stupefied faces, I believe I have found the solution to this crushing dilemma. It lies in two very recent scientific happenings.

Firstly, there was the mind-altering research performed at the Universite Laval in Quebec, Canada. Dr. Angelo Tremblay's team of intrepid psychosomatists found that it is entirely likely that thinking can make you fat.… Read more

A group working to save land in Namibia, projects bringing power to Indian villages and building earthquake-resistant homes in Indonesia, the maker of a single-use syringe, and a group that uses technology in classrooms in India were the winners of the Tech Museum awards held Wednesday.

The Biomass Energy Project, Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia won the 2008 Intel Environment Award. The group converts invasive bush into clean fuel. It employs 15 people at a biomass processing plant that uses a high-pressure extrusion process to create an economically viable alternative to firewood, coal, and charcoal. The fund is working to … Read more

Proper recycling of computer and electronic equipment is a pain. Not only do you have to carry it to a special place, you often also have to pay $10 or so per item. For this reason, I've seen a lot of people just leave their computer on the sidewalk and hope it will somehow disappear.

To ease this pain and boost environmental consciousness, according to the Associated Press, Dell and Staples announced Wednesday that you can recycle any Dell computer equipment for free at Staples.

This equipment includes any amount of Dell-branded PCs, monitors, keyboards, printers, mice, and other … Read more

How to best recycle electronics is a problem I've had to deal with more than a few times at CNET. I have to be honest, during busy work cycles, the garbage bin has looked very appealing as an easy out when an obsolete laptop or graphics card needs discarding.

Luckily for me, and my relatively weak will, more companies are starting to provide support for consumers that want to dispose of their old electronics with a clear conscience. On Thursday, Panasonic announced that it is creating a nationwide program designed to provide consumers "convenient and easy" recycling … Read more

Microprocessors capable of sniffing out and harnessing energy from the environment could very well be the answer to power scarcity, according to an expert in embedded systems.

Jack Ganssle, chief engineer at The Ganssle Group, has been developing embedded systems since the early 1970s. In the last three decades, he has managed more than 100 embedded products, ranging from deep-sea navigational gears to security systems for the U.S. White House, and sold off three electronic companies.

In Bangalore, India, last week for the Embedded Systems Conference, Ganssle sat down for an interview with ZDNet Asia to discuss the future … Read more