Stories

Google recently announced that all of its future buildings will be built with no materials or chemicals that are on the Living Building Challenge’s Red List (p.29). This includes materials that contain such ingredients as mercury, asbestos, PVC, formaldehyde and lead.  This announcement ignited quite a fire under building material vendors since new buildings are constructed for Google at an astonishing pace of 40,000 square feet of office space per week.

Read more: Change in the Making: The Future of Building Materials

I remember as a child the thrill of picking out school supplies in August for the upcoming year. What fancy new pens would be hanging next to the designer notebooks?  Which color would I pick for a new book bag? I gave little thought to reusing last year’s crayons and pencils, or analyzing how environmentally friendly the products were. 

Read more: Toxin-Free School Supplies for All Ages

By Don Ernest, Freelance Technology Writer

Companies have always had to rely on fossil fuels, but the hard facts supporting the pressures for manufacturers and service suppliers to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) and CO₂ emissions are weighing heavily. What started out as ethical concerns have turned into very real economic concerns as companies try to maintain profits and retain customers, such as the U.S. Government, that are demanding more sustainable business practices from their providers. Not to mention, fighting increasing fuel costs on top of everything else.

Read more: Going Green with GPS Fleet Tracking

Editor’s note: This article is the second in a three-part series that investigates the connections among increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, the ocean’s role in absorbing carbon dioxide and the effect on marine ecosystems, and what happens to atmospheric oxygen levels when the base of the food chain—phytoplankton—dies off.

The first article on Fossil Fuel Emissions and Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide discussed how burning fossil fuels has increased the concentration of CO₂ in our atmosphere.  Although the rise in atmospheric CO₂ concentrations since the Industrial Revolution has been steep (a 40% increase), it would be even higher if not for the moderating effect of the ocean.

Read more: The Ocean as Carbon Sink: A Double Edged Sword