The well known Barbie doll is getting greener. Richard Dickson, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Media and Entertainment, Worldwide, Mattel Brands states that "Barbie is always a reflection of current cultural trends and issues, and girls are increasingly aware of making a green statement," that is why Mattel has introduced the new green accessory line. "Barbie BCause is for eco-conscious girls who believe that being environmentally-friendly is the right thing to do, and we are thrilled to give extra meaning and extra style to what was once just extra Barbie doll fabric."

Over the last few years, The Hotel Carlton in San Francisco has celebrated several initiatives that have lead to its official Green Business certification but now this luxurious hotel is embarking on something new. The Hotel is committed to offsetting it's energy use through solar power. Hotel Carlton is the first hotel in San Francisco to install solar panels - it partnered with Sunlight Electric, to install 104 solar panels that cover 1,332 square feet of the hotel's roof. The Hotel estimates that the solar panels will reduce the hotel's electricity usage by 12 percent. And, guests will be able to view the total kilowatt energy generated by the solar power system through a computer monitor stationed at the front desk. 

Recently, bloggers on The Consumerist and Gizmodo wrote unflattering comments about Dell and their packaging process after a customer received a flash drive in a box large enough to ship 1000 flash drives. Dells' response was refreshing - they did not ignore the situation nor defend themselves but instead dispatched a packaging analysis team to meet with the vendor that shipped the flash drive. They also put together and implemented a directive to use envelopes for small items and small boxes for larger items. Furthermore, Dell has encouraged consumers and bloggers to continue to post their feedback. 

As gas prices continue to soar, some airlines have taken the unusual approach of increasing flight times by flying slower. Airlines have advised that the change is minimal and the longer flight time is absorbed into the extra time already built in for taxiing and traffic delays. However, the savings is in the millions for airlines. For instance, Southwest Airlines reports it will save $42 million in fuel this year by extending each flight by one to three minutes. 

In February, Virgin Atlantic proved to 200 journalists and millions of people that biofuel could be used in aviation by having a 747 take off with one of it's engines having a composition of 25% mixture of biofuel and standard kerosene jet fuel. The biofuel was a combination of coconut and babassu (Brazilian tree) oil. However, not all individuals were thrilled with this first. Some are concerned that growing crops for alternative fuels cuts into the availability of land for growing food.  

“There is a finite amount of land for food" stated Kate Horner, a climate and energy campaigner for Friends of the Earth, “and using it for the expanded production of fuel is driving deforestation, which accounts for one-fourth to one-third of our global emissions.”

OfficeMax is offering new yet familiar products created by TerraCycle. The newest products is a pencil case made from discarded containers of Capri Sun juice. TerraCycle, a company that strives to innovate products from "waste stream" materials will be providing a whole line for OfficeMax - other products include binders made from 100 percent reused cardboard, trash cans made from recycled e-waste plastic and non-toxic cleaning products packaged in old soda bottles.