Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Calculate and offset the environmental cost of your travel

Whether you are an occasional or an avid traveler the WWF Travel Helper, developed by Swiss firm routeRANK, will help you to make the right travel choices with the lowest carbon footprint.

And by offsetting with carbon credits, you will be investing in projects that reduce the equivalent amount of greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere by your trip.



Calculate your travel environmental costs with the WWF Travel Helper .

Times Square’s first eco-board powered solely by wind and solar energy

Times Square's first eco-board powered solely by wind and solar energy is provided by RICOH !

The first billboard in NYC that's fully powered by sun and wind - as in 64 solar panels and 16 recycled aluminum wind turbines lighting up 16 LED floodlights.

For Ricoh the decision to follow an eco-friendly path was taken over 30 years ago. And it’s a path that has resulted in the company being listed, for the fourth year in a row, as one of the 100 most sustainable corporations in the world.

To celebrate this achievement and to further its focus on sustainability Ricoh has pioneered New York’s first billboard to be powered by 100% natural resources (the wind and the sun).

If you don’t have the chance to walk by Times Square any time soon, well you can still have a look at this new Eco-Board via the live webcam on Ricoh-eco's website. Ricoh-eco's website

More info on www.ricoh-eco.com

Wind turbine tower maker cuts jobs

By WorkCabin.ca Staff

The economic downturn is taking its toll on a Canadian manufacturer of wind turbine towers.

DMI Industries, a heavy steel manufacturer that makes wind turbine towers, is cutting 20 per cent of its workforce across its three facility locations in North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Ontario, Canada.

The company is blaming declining demand and the difficulty for wind energy projects to secure financing in these tough times.

“We remain committed to the wind energy market and have confidence in its outlook for the future,” DMI president Stefan Nilsson said in a release. “Nevertheless, we are required to make the reductions at this time in light of the downturn for wind farm projects, which we expect to last through this year.”

It's a dramatic turn for the company which last fall had predicted continued significant growth for the wind industry. The company is now projecting installed megawatts of wind power to be 25 to 35 per cent lower than 2008.

The company's plant in Fort Erie, Ontario will lose 40 workers, reducing its workforce at the plant to about 170.

“Today’s actions are very unfortunate but necessary at this time," Nilsson said in the release. "The weaker outlook means a short-term step backward, but the actions taken now will help DMI maintain its competitiveness and productivity in all three facilities, and ensure the company remains well-positioned for continued growth and profitability."

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