There has been an expanding trend with celebrities - to buy and use their eco-friendly automobiles. Celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio, a pioneer spokesperson of green cars seems to have reached his fellow celebrities, as more of them are trading in their gas guzzlers for eco-friendly alternatives. Today, you can see Georgy Clooney driving his Tango 600, a two seat electrically powered vehicle. Or pretty women such as America Ferrera, Cameron Diaz and Julia Roberts can be spotted driving the Toyota Prius - it is in fact the most common vehicle for celebrity green drivers. The newest addition to the green drivers however is surprising. It is no one other than Paris Hilton who bought herself a GMC Yukon Hybrid (full size SUV) as a birthday gift. 

Scotland has developed it's first eco-town at Cardenden - a blueprint for future development of sustainable communities. The development proposes 5,000 wooden eco-homes, of which 1,000 would be affordable housing, that will be built over the next 20 years.

Wal-Mart Canada has been present with the 'Companies for Conservation' award for the month of March by Hydro Ottawa. The award is to signify the important sustainability efforts that Wal-Mart has been making locally. "Wal-Mart is one of Ottawa's leading retailers when it comes to incorporating environmental best practices into their business," says Rosemarie Leclair, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hydro Ottawa Group of Companies. "The thousands of customers that visit their stores on a daily basis also have the opportunity to learn from their efforts."

Luoyang Zhonggui High-Technology Co. in China’s Henan Province is a green energy company that produces polysilicon for solar panels. However, according to the Washington Post, the same company has been dumping silicon tetrachloride, the byproduct of polysilicon production. The dumping is reportedly occurring close to a primary school in a village near the factory. Silicon tetrachloride is a highly toxic substance that poses environmental hazards. According to Ren Bingyan, a professor at the School of Material Sciences at Hebei Industrial University,"The land where you dump or bury it will be infertile. No grass or trees will grow in the place. . . . It is like dynamite -- it is poisonous, it is polluting. Human beings can never touch it," 

DHL has launched a new program - DHL GoGreen Express based out of the Asia Pacific region which will provide a carbon neutral shipping service. The program is a continuation of the existing carbon neutral or low carbon shipping methods that are available through the company in Europe and have been since January 2007. The Asia Pacific program will be available in 17 countries.  

Jacqueline Ottman predicts some changes in the world of green marketing this year. The first is that some green terms will stop being used. She anticipates there will be fewer claims of biodegradability. She anticipates that carbon offsetting will be halted until standards are put in place and that self-imposed eco-labels will be curbed and only respected, third party labels will be used. The second trend predicted is that electronic companies will present themselves more green by creating take back programs.