From a High School ‘Pepper’ Project to a Start-up Company?

Kids at Harmony High School in Washington State had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

All they thought they were doing was building a greenhouse at school.

But then they started growing different kinds of peppers and, thanks to a little guidance from their teacher, himself a big pepper enthusiast, they realized they might have a business on their hands.

Too soon to know if Harmony’s pepper students will hit it big. But they hope to sell their peppers in local farmers markets.

See how easy it is to “grow” a green business?

To learn more, check out this Seattle Times article.

By Doing Their Schoolwork, They Created an Award-Winning App

So back in 2005 a bunch of college students were trying to come up a class project that would help protect the planet.

Their project not  only earned them an “A.” It launched them on careers as environmental app designers.

The student, who attended Middlebury College in Vermont, now run Brighter Planet, as company whose app for calculating one’s carbon footprint while traveling recently won a US Environmental Protection Agency award.

Of course, it helps to have a helpful professor. The original idea came to him one day while eating some bacon and eggs with his father. The professor told the students about it and the students having been running with the idea ever since.

This Company Uses the Visually-Impaired to Help Make Shirts from Recycled Materials

Talk about a “win-win.”

Imagine making a tee shirt completely from recycled materials and using visually-impaired workers to do the sewing.

That’s what a company in West Virginia called SustainU is doing, according to a recent New York Times article.

SustainU’s boss went looking for a nearby factory to make the shirts in order to keep his shipping costs down.

He found Winston-Salem Industries for the Blind, a North Carolina employer of the visually-impaired.

Sadly, the unemployment rate for the visually-impaired reportedly is nearly 70 percent. But SustainU’s boss says he’s getting shirts made as well as any made by sighted people.

Sustaining people and the environment: that really is a win-win.

To learn more, read this New York Times article.

Unilever Exec: Consumers Want ‘Green’ Products

Don’t let all the political rhetoric about whether global warming is real fool you.

Fact is, consumers want products that have been made with environmental friendliness in mind.

Just ask the European head of consumer products maker Unilever. Jan Zijderveld recently told CNN that improving his company’s environmental practices could help double sales.

Sustainability, he said, is the key. Companies can’t afford to use up the planet’s natural resources. Their customers will rebel.

You can bet that if a company sees a way to double its sales, it’s going to go for it. That could be VERY good for the environment.

For more, check out this CNN article.

Insides of Doors of Ford Escape Made from Edible Plants

The auto industry keeps pushing to “green” its vehicles. Some things are obvious – like hybrid and all-electric vehicles. Other things have to be looked for.

 Case in point: the insides of the doors of the new Ford Escape. They reportedly are made from a common plant found in Asia.

By using the kenaf plant, Ford hopes to save in a couple of different ways that are good for the environment.

First, Ford will cut down on the oil it normally takes to make insides of car doors. Second, Ford will cut down slightly on the weight of the Escape, which in turn will make it slightly more fuel efficient.

To learn more, check out this PC Mag story.