This week, leaders from around the world met at the international summit building for carbon emission discussions in Copenhagen, Denmark. Government leaders are hoping to make agreements that will help us all move towards more sustainable societies.

The United States, who when joined with China account for 50% of the entire earth's emissions, is feeling the pressure. President Barack Obama plans on joining the committee towards the end of the week when more leaders are present and more brainstorming has been done.

It's likely that Australia will have a strong presence in Denmark as well. An environmentally focused group from Australia recently created the first ever world-wide community dedicated to fighting carbon emissions with fun. They provide packages to help you spread eco-friendly practices in your workplace.

Their latest promotion uses the ever popular promotional stickers. Each sticker displays a carbon fighter slaying the "C" shaped carbon. The stickers urge people to recycle and conserve energy. One sticker reads, "Go for the Stairs," and depicts the carbon "C" as an elevator being violently shaken. Another urges you to turn off the lights and one more to promote car pooling. 

                             
Each has a twisted illustration, a clever hook and an awesome message. We're got to make every aspect of our lives more sustainable.To my surprise they even have a promotional sticker about promotional mugs. It reads, "Use a mug, not a plastic cup." It shows swords all piercing through the carbon "C" but only sticking out of the custom mugs. Like our promotional eco-friendly mugs, they're durable and long lasting.

An article in Time Magazine once said, "Don't blow it - good planets are hard to find." With our planet earth piling up with trash and our atmosphere subject to increased global warming, it's pretty fair to say that we're blowing our chances as earth's residents. Though astronauts are seeking out other life sustaining planets it's important to make our planet more sustainable. With the use of environmentally friendly promotional items, we've made that very possible.
                                    
People are making great efforts to slow global warming while some are realizing that climate change is not our only environmental problem. Animals across the world are also in danger of loosing their own lives due to our invasion of their habitats. Underwater eco-systems are under increased strain because it is there that the most diverse species exist. When one organism is eliminated, it could ultimately change the course of the lives of every other species in the eco-system.

The leatherback turtles, found in both the Atlantic and Pacific, are one of the 1000+ endangered species on the earth. These beautiful creatures that reach sizes up to six and seven feet, are under risk because of egg harvesting, food availability and most commonly, fishery bycatch. Fishermen use gigantic nets made from rope or wires to catch edible fish for our consumption. They drag these heavy nets across the oceans floor and grab any living creature in its path. Once the nets are raised, the attractive fish life are scooped out and preserved, but the majority of other animals and plant life are left for dead.
                  
To raise awareness of these endangered leatherback turtles, the Canadian Sea Turtle Network joined with National Geographic magazine for a great promotion. Green nets bound each magazine enclosed with personalized cards marking the page of the article. The cards explained the cause and functioned as awesome awareness event giveaways.

To read the magazine, recipients had to cut through the net, and in essence, free the leatherback turtles. I urge everyone to spread the word that we need to cherish this earth - because it's all we got. With beautiful custom turtle shaped ornaments, you too can spread leatherback turtle endangerment awareness. With knowledge, comes action.  Let's spread what we know with the use of promotional eco-friendly products and help restore the earth to the way it's meant to be.
                                   

The historic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was built in 1870 on a strip of sand more than a quarter mile from the water's edge. It was thought to be safe from the sea's force. For almost a century, it was. But by the 1970s, the slow rise of the ocean's waves threatened its foundation. The lighthouse was a mere 160 feet from the water's edge.

To preserve the landmark, the nation's tallest brick lighthouse, the National Park Service moved it more than half a mile inland—an engineering feat that took a decade to plan and cost taxpayers a whopping $10 million.

Beach-front owners on the Outer Banks are losing ground, too. People from all over visit the shores, which are now lined with beach houses, explains Doug Stover, cultural resource manager of Cape Hatteras National Sea Shore. "What's happening," says Stover, "is that they're losing more sand so they're trucking in more sand ... to preserve their homes."

How global warming raises sea levels

Higher seas are one of the most certain consequences of global warming. Why? For one, melting glaciers and polar ice sheets add water to our oceans. Glaciers store water on land. When these huge ice masses melt into the oceans, it adds volume and water levels rise. (The concept is simple to demonstrate. Add a bunch of ice cubes to a glass of water that's already full to the brim and it will overflow. That extra water is like the extra ocean water from melting glaciers.)

On top of that, water expands as it gets warmer. So as the temperature rises, the same amount of water takes up more space. This raises sea levels higher.

Risks multiply as sea levels rise

Rising sea levels are a double whammy for the coastline. Not only do they flood the land, but higher ocean waves also erode more coastline. Coastal residents face a constellation of concerns: higher flood risk, more property damage and higher insurance rates. (Higher insurance rates can also cost taxpayers, since the federal government subsidizes flood insurance for many coastal properties.)

The lighthouse's situation illustrates another way in which global warming puts coastal property owners in double jeopardy. When scientists from the National Academies of Science assessed the lighthouse's troubles, they found two main reasons for the eroding foundation: rising sea levels and hurricanes. Hurricanes are expected to get stronger as global warming worsens. (More about hurricanes and global warming.)

On the health front, rising seas also contaminate fresh water supplies with salty water in places like Philadelphia, New York City (its drought supply), and much of California's Central Valley.

Trouble throughout the country

Over the twentieth century, the seas rose between four and eight inches, ten times the average rate of the last 3,000 years. This alarming trend threatens all of the nation's coastal communities, where more than half the U.S. population lives. Other parts of the globe are vulnerable, too. More frequent and extreme flooding due to sea-level rise threatens low-lying areas near the mouths of the Nile in Egypt, the Mekong in Vietnam and Cambodia, and Ganges and Brahmaputra in Bangladesh and other rivers around the world. Italy's famous sinking city of Venice, which is surrounded by water and whose ground underneath is subsiding like Louisiana's, is also particularly vulnerable.

Scientists project that sea levels will continue to rise as a result of human-produced greenhouse gas pollution and could reach an additional 3.5 inches to 3 feet by the end of the century, with the possibility of even larger rises should the ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica disintegrate. A foot of higher waters could destroy anywhere from 50 to 1,000 feet of horizontal shoreline in many parts of the U.S., depending on the slope of the coastline and other factors. Here is a snapshot of different areas suffering from rising seas.

• One-third of the marsh at the Chesapeake Bay's Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is now submerged.

• The edges of mangrove forests in Bermuda are lined with recently drowned trees.

• The loss of wetlands, Mother Nature's first defense against storms, put Louisiana's coastline and New Orleans in a precarious position. About every thirty minutes an area of land the size of a football field in the Mississippi Delta vanishes and is replaced by open water. (While global warming is contributing to rising sea levels, part of Louisiana's land loss is due to subsidence from both natural and man-made causes.)

• On the West Coast, flat, low-lying coastal areas such as the San Francisco Bay area and parts of the L.A. area also vulnerable.

• If sea level continues to rise, thousands of square miles of land in densely populated areas such as the eastern U.S. may be lost in a century or two, and flooding during storm surges will worsen. Construction of physical barriers such as seawalls would be expensive and in some cases infeasible.

    We talk about eco-friendly options all the time here with our wide array of environmentally friendly promotional products, but last night I watched an episode of the Daily Show (a day late) in which Jon Stewart interviewed Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and heard a new an interesting idea to help the entire earth 'go green' in a way I had not heard of before. The conversation obviously went down a path of global warming and harmful emissions. Most of us have heard about the dangers that our future may hold if we don’t somewhat alter our lifestyles or come up with new energy saving or carbon-free solutions. But aside from turning off lights, carpooling, using ‘green’ products and a host of other suggestions, has anyone heard an innovative idea to help the entire earth get on the same page? Sure, wind turbines and solar panels are now being built much more regularly and certainly have had their impact. However, some of these solutions can be costly and therefore become more difficult to act on. Another problem comes from the space needed to create such energy grids. Steven Chu is aware of these obstacles and therefore has suggested some alternate ideas that can really have a substantial impact on our eco-system. For example, Chu suggests that when building a home or putting on a new roof to use a white roof instead of the traditional dark black or brown roofs that many of us are used to. Chu says that it costs no more to install a white roof than it does a traditional colored roof and it will not only help the earth by reflecting the sun light back into the atmosphere rather than them absorbing the heat and radiation, but it will also cut air conditioning costs, which is great for the homeowner and the environment because as Chu points out, the less you are using your air conditioner, the less you are using electricity, which in turn is of course helping the environment. With this idea in mind, Chu also proposes that roads are re-paved with an off-white or very light colored pavement. (Probably very similar to the color of a sidewalk so that it doesn’t blind drivers on sunny days) I had never heard this idea before, but it makes perfect sense. We already know that we are welcoming the suns rays and added heat when we wear black as opposed to white, and on a large scale this can have a significant impact on the earth’s climate and environment. It would be relatively inexpensive in comparison to some other solutions we know of and would even create jobs for those trying to make ends meet in a difficult economy. I am not entirely sure of all the parameters of the research that has been done thus far, so it is a little unclear as to just how many roads and roofs would need to be white, but Chu ended his interview on the Daily Show by stating that if this campaign were to be carried out, it would have a similar impact on the earth that taking 1 billion cars off the road for 11 years would have. That’s a very substantial impact for something that would not require a lot of money or a drastic change in procedure.

What is biodiesel?

Biodiesel is the name of a clean burning alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. It can be used in compression-ignition (diesel) engines with little or no modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics.

How is biodiesel made?

Biodiesel is made through a chemical process called transesterification whereby the glycerin is separated from the fat or vegetable oil. The process leaves behind two products -- methyl esters (the chemical name for biodiesel) and glycerin (a valuable byproduct usually sold to be used in soaps and other products).

Is Biodiesel the same thing as raw vegetable oil?

No! Fuel-grade biodiesel must be produced to strict industry specifications (ASTM D6751) in order to insure proper performance. Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel to have fully completed the health effects testing requirements of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. Biodiesel that meets ASTM D6751 and is legally registered with the Environmental Protection Agency is a legal motor fuel for sale and distribution. Raw vegetable oil cannot meet biodiesel fuel specifications, it is not registered with the EPA, and it is not a legal motor fuel.

For entities seeking to adopt a definition of biodiesel for purposes such as federal or state statute, state or national divisions of weights and measures, or for any other purpose, the official definition consistent with other federal and state laws and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) guidelines is as follows:

Biodiesel is defined as mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats which conform to ASTM D6751 specifications for use in diesel engines. Biodiesel refers to the pure fuel before blending with diesel fuel. Biodiesel blends are denoted as, "BXX" with "XX" representing the percentage of biodiesel contained in the blend (ie: B20 is 20% biodiesel, 80% petroleum diesel).

Why should I use biodiesel?

Biodiesel is better for the environment because it is made from renewable resources and has lower emissions compared to petroleum diesel. It is less toxic than table salt and biodegrades as fast as sugar. Since it is made in the USA from renewable resources such as soybeans, its use decreases our dependence on foreign oil and contributes to our own economy.

Where do I get biodiesel?

Biodiesel is available nationwide. It can be purchased directly from biodiesel producers and marketers, petroleum distributors, or at a handful of public pumps throughout the nation.

For more information on the general and technical definitions of biodiesel, the distinction between the two and why those distinctions are important, click here.

For additional information on biodiesel see:

• Fuel Fact Sheets
• FAQs
• Biodiesel for Kids

All the energy we use comes from the earth. The electricity we use every day doesn't come directly from the earth, but we make electricity using the earth's resources, like coal or natural gas.

Why don’t we use renewable energy all the time?

Unlike natural gas and coal, we can’t store up wind and sunshine to use whenever we need to make more electricity. If the wind doesn’t blow or the sun hides behind clouds, there wouldn’t be enough power for everyone.

Another reason we use fossil fuels like coal and natural gas is because they’re cheaper. It costs more money to make electricity from wind, and most people aren’t willing to pay more on their monthly utility bills.

How can we use renewable energy?

You might be using renewable energy today without knowing it! Iowa is home to more than 600 wind turbines, creating enough electricity to power 140,000 homes. Wisconsin and Minnesota also have lots of wind farms – and the number is growing every day.

Some people use "global warming" and "climate change" interchangeably, while others insist on saying it one way or the other. Both terms are usually meant to describe the increasingly negative impact human activity has on our planet's atmosphere and environment.

So which one is right? Does it matter?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's website has a potentially helpful sidebar titled: Climate Change or Global Warming?. It says the term "climate change" is preferred because it encompasses the full range of changes in the climate, in addition to rising temperature.

Global warming is simply the increase in the atmosphere's temperature that has been measured since the mid-20th century. But the rising levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gases that we've created are causing other changes in the Earth's climate. Stronger storms in some parts of the world, and drought in others, are also connected to human damage of the environment.

This is why the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (which shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change use the phrase "climate change" in its name and work. The U.N.'s definition is:

"Climate change" means a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.

While "climate change" is more descriptive and all-encompassing, "global warming" seems to have been around longer and has caught the public imagination.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary entry for global warming dates the phrase to 1969 and defines it as: "an increase in the earth's atmospheric and oceanic temperatures widely predicted to occur due to an increase in the greenhouse effect resulting especially from pollution."

The History of Climate Change Science site notes that much of the early work on the topic focused on rising world temperatures. A publicized statistic in 1967 said "average temperatures might rise a few degrees within the next century."

In 1988 -- the hottest summer on record until then -- scientists' claims about climate change gained public attention. The connection between heat and the climate was well-established, so the words "global warming" caught on easily.

The hugely influential movie, An Inconvenient Truth helped burn the words "global warming" into people's brains even further. And yet the man behind the movie, Al Gore, has a new nonprofit group called We Can Solve It that uses the term "climate change" and "global warming" in equal measure.

Whichever words you say, the effects are the same: We're harming our atmosphere, and we have to reduce our CO2 emissions to stop the problem. You can start by measuring your personal carbon footprint and making small changes that, when we all take part, will have a positive effect.

via: http://green.yahoo.com/blog/greenpicks/214/is-it-global-warming-or-climate-change.html

Switching the type of light bulbs we use at home is a small but impactful step we can take to both save money and help reduce pollution. This video explains why we think it's time to switch.