Media Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Green Businesses

RICOH Completes Time Square’s first 100% Solar Powered Billboard

The Ricoh Eco Board, which is 47 feet high by 126 feet long, is the first billboard in Times Square to be totally lit by solar energy. It is powered solely by 62 solar panels and 24 thin-film PV solar modules, and illuminated by 16 LED floodlights. Ricoh made a promise not to use conventional electricity from the grid to light the Eco Board and will allow it to go dark due to lack of sunlight. By using only solar power to light the sign, Ricoh is playing a part in reducing the amount of carbon emissions released by conventional electrical power sources. A special ceremony to celebrate the completion of the Eco Board will take place on June 8 in New York's Times Square. "When Ricoh decided to advertise in Times Square, we wanted to do so in an environmentally-responsible way that would have minimal negative impact on the environment. Our hope was that the Eco Board would become a powerful symbol of Ricoh's commitment to green practices and would challenge o…

Benefits of Sugarcane Ethanol to Hit New TV Ads During Indy 500

Sugarcane ethanol is a clean, renewable fuel that reduces greenhouse gas emissions by over 60% compared to gasoline and can save money at the pump. These are just a couple of the points made by various race drivers that compete with ethanol in the IZOD IndyCar Series, in two 30-second television ads that debut on Sunday, May 30, during the telecast of the 2010 Indianapolis 500 race. The ads, produced for the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA), feature sequences of short phrases with facts about sugarcane ethanol delivered by Indy drivers, including Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ana Beatriz, Takuma Sato, Davey Hamilton, E.J. Viso and the pole sitter for Sunday's race, Helio Castroneves, a three-time Indy 500 winner. Since last year, UNICA has provided 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol for the IndyCar Series. "For the first time ever, we are taking our message about sugarcane ethanol to national network television during one of the most prestigious sporting ev…

Video: Future of Connected and Sustainable Cities

A short film looking at the challenges and opportunities facing cities.

Nissan Sets Price for the LEAF

Written by Megan Treacy on 30/03/10 We've all been waiting to hear what exactly Nissan has meant by "competitively priced" when describing the LEAF. Well, now we know. The all-electric sedan will have a sticker price of $32,780, slightly more than expected, but still pretty cheap for an EV. At that price, the LEAF is a good $10,000 more expensive than gas-fueled sedan models like the Honda Civic, Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima, but cheaper than announced prices for EV models like the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Coda Automotive's sedan and far below the nearly $60,000 Tesla Model S. Plug In America calls the price a "game changer" and I'd have to agree. Not convinced? Here's more to consider. The price includes the installation of a home charging station, it will be available for lease for $349 a month (not too shabby when you compare it to the mortgage-sized lease payment for the Tesla Roadster) and once you apply federal tax credits, you're actua…

Green Branding: Saving the Planet One Cliché at a Time

Sustainability Must Go Mainstream Punk rock wouldn't be very punk if everyone listened to it. This isn't the case with the sustainability movement — which, as we argued in our first guest post on why green branding and marketing is important, isn't going to "sustain" anything unless everyone gets on board. Good-for-the-world businesses need to express sustainability as the vibrant, exciting, game-changing proposition it is if we are going to engage a critical mass of people and take sustainability firmly into the mainstream. We should put our heart and souls into what we do. And that means we need to differentiate ourselves. And you can't do that by using the same typeface as everyone else. You can't do it by basing your logo on a leaf or by putting a hand cupping a seedling on the cover of your annual report. You can't do it by being yet another green business to use a tag line that says "Saving the planet one [your product here] at a time." But there are plent…