We often don't think about our staircases as being eco-friendly, but these skateboard steps show that just about anything can be reused and refurbished.

Created by husband and wife team Ted Hunter and Norah Jackson, the Roarockit company teaches people how to build customized skateboard decks like the one below:

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Do you have 20 minutes to spare? What if I told you that those 20 minutes might change your entire way of thinking and living?

Take a break from your work. Shut off your television. Sit down in your computer chair and visit the website TheStoryOfStuff.com.

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I admit it, I actually like watching the History Channel.

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I've lived in Baltimore for about 3 years now, and it's a pretty decent city. It's definitely not one of the greenest cities in America, like Portland, but it's slowly making positive changes to push forward with Obama's soon-to-be "green revolution."

Now, instead of sewage polluting the beautiful Port of Baltimore, it will be used for something else:electricity.

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Something is smelly in San Antonio...and it's not just the cows!

Apparently San Antonio residents produce about 140,000 tons of biosolids (a nice term for human waste) per year, which in return produces a LOT of methane gas. And methane gas can be converted into natural gas.

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Visiting the zoo has always been a favorite pastime for Americans
because they get to see exotic animals from other countries. In fact,
over 80% of the cities in the U.S. have their very own zoo complete
with animals, rides, refreshments, and….animal waste?

It’s true. Zoos create millions of pounds of animal waste each day, and one of those zoos is the Miami Metrozoo.

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Last May an earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale killed more than 70,000 people in the Sichuan province of China. The terrible tragedy left many people homeless , and they are still homeless 8 months later.

To help the victims of the earthquake Chinese authorities shipped old subway trains that were used for the Olympics to Sichuan to be used as homeless shelters.

Altogether 10 trains that have six subway cars will accommodate up to 1,200 people.

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Apple iPhones have become one of the most popular smartphones in the world. According to Fortune Magazine, iPhone sales increased by 245% in 2008, making Apple second only to Nokia in worldwide smartphone sales.

Besides having access to email and instant messenger, one cool
aspect of the iPhone is the abundance of applications that you can
download for it.

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Did you know that the average desktop
computer consumes about 354-kilowatt hours of energy a day, and that
90% of that energy consumption comes from the computer being idle? So
can you imagine how much energy a supercomputer consumes?

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Did you know that about 5%-10% of the
world’s carbon dioxide emissions are related to the manufacturing and
transporting of concrete? In fact, about 20 billion tons of concrete
are produced every year, and that certainly has an effect on your carbon footprint.

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We’ve all heard the familiar saying, ‘Milk:
It does a body good.’ Well, there’s something else from a cow that’s
doing the farmers and people of Vermont good: manure.

The people of Vermont have discovered a renewable energy source that is reliable, easy to acquire and friendly to the environment.

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According to a report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-profit
organization that provides grants to improve public policy, the U.S.
states of Oregon, Colorado and Tennessee have emerged as the top
leaders for job growth in the clean-energy sector.

The study looked at green job growth in 38 states from 1998 to 2007.

Some other findings from the Pew report are:

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In 2006 50,000 gallons of industrial fuel leaked from a tanker when
it sank off the central island of Guimaras, which is next to the
Philippines.

This affected over 40,000 people and 120 miles of coastline, forcing
families to flee because of the overwhelming stench and high levels of
hydrogen sulfide (which can poison the central nervous system), benzene
(can damage bone marrow and lead to anemia) and toluene (can lead to
respiratory problems).

So what did the people of the Philippines use to clean up the oil spill? Human hair!

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Along with the U.S., China is one of the largest emitters of
greenhouse gases in the world. In 2006 the World Bank, which offers
financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the
world, declared that 16 out of 20 of the world’s most polluted cities
are in China.

So last Friday China announced that it is considering collecting environmental taxes from polluting companies.

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More than a dozen U.S. colleges signed up to support Earth Hour
on March 28, so to extend this preservation of the planet they can also
pledge to be car-free on World Environment Day, which is Friday, June 5.

If you don’t know what World Environment Day is, it’s a day that was
created by the United Nations General Assembly to increase
environmental awareness through political and public attention.

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