If, like me, you were a television-obsessed kid in the early 90’s, you no doubt remember a cartoon called Captain Planet and the Planeteers. For those of you unfamiliar with the show, here’s a short synopsis: five teenagers from around the world work together to stop the evil forces of industrialization and pollution from destroying the Earth. Each teen has a ring that corresponds to one of the four classic elements—Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water—along with a fifth one called “Heart” (and if you’re singing the theme song to yourself right now, you’re not alone), which when placed together summon a mulleted blue superhero named Captain Planet. If this all sounds stupid and heavy-handed to you, it’s because it is—and it certainly hasn’t aged well—but it was good-natured “edutainment” that taught me a lot of valuable lessons about our human duty to the planet and each other. Read the full story

As with any decision, the consideration to begin using any source of clean, renewable energy to fuel your business might be lengthy; consider the pros and cons of going green and make sure it truly works for you. New options in alternative, green energy continue to emerge, so keep in mind—there are plenty to choose from. One of the most popular sources seems to be solar energy.

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The prices of fossil fuels and coal continue to climb, burdening small businesses with ever- higher costs of effectively and comfortably supplying energy to their buildings. Instead of guzzling harmful sources of energy, companies should consider going green and lifting much of the financial load off their shoulders by looking into alternative sources like geothermal power. Read the full story

“In 2004, about 6% of all energy consumed and about 9% of total electricity production was from renewable energy resources,” reports the Energy Information Association. The developed world’s dependence on harmful sources of energy such as fossil fuels is nothing new; the Industrial Revolution spurred this trend. But, as energy prices now rise steadily in today’s withering economy, many small businesses find themselves drowning in the costs of powering their organizations. This won’t be the norm forever, though. One of the most important and exhilarating—and possibly one of the riskiest—ways to help the economy, and aid in reversing the global warming humans and their industries have brought on, is to invest in alternative energy sources. Read the full story

You already know that telecommuting is an effective way to save your business money and increase employee morale. But like most things in life, it’s much different in practice than in theory. In real life, working from home presents many unexpected obstacles in the form of noisy kids and pets, lack of communication, and even loneliness. Here’s a quick four-step guide to beating the Work-at-Home Blues and making your commuting, non-sustainable friends jealous. Read the full story

OMG, I have no time this week! Looks like we’ll have to blaze through an abbrev.’d ed. of WSF!

G.R., G.S., K! Read the full story

Purchasing high efficiency equipment produces big savings on your bottom line. To help you pay for it, New Jersey just added two new programs to its Clean Energy product portfolio, the Clean Energy Solutions CHP grant program and the Clean Energy Solutions Capital Investment (CESCI) Loan/Grant. These programs help underwrite new efficient heating systems that produce onsite energy. These proven technologies also produce savings by insulating your business from energy market price increases. Read the full story

Last week, I linked to a TriplePundit post about the death of the words “green” and “sustainability,” asking what words we should replace them with, if we should replace them at all. The piece’s author, William Brent, suggests “red and black” and “sustaINABILITY” as phrases that are more honest and indicative of the current state of the environmentalist movement. I find both of those expressions demoralizing and unhelpful. Sure, “green” carries as little meaning as “organic” these days, but do we really need to introduce the public to a new set of colors to identify such a divergent array of efforts? Read the full story

If you’ve never heard the term “Web 2.0″ before, sorry buddy, but you’re out of touch. Chances are however that you’re already familiar with Web 2.0, even if you don’t know it. Ever watched a video on YouTube, written on a friend’s wall on Facebook, or uploaded a photo album to Flickr? Then you’ve experienced Web 2.0. What you maybe haven’t realized yet is that it’s is one of the best places to build and advertise your small business and, yes, save energy doing it. Read the full story

Kids these days! What do they know? What with their RSS feeds, carbon credits, nanotechnologies—who understands any of that? We, the tycoons of yesteryear, the proprietors of good ol’ Small Business USA, the gas-guzzlin’ folksy types who still think we control the world, sure don’t get it. And why should we? It’s not like attitudes are changing or the rest of the world matters, no sir! We have our old money and our clunkers and those always be secure! The economy’s booming right now! We control Washington! We’re not in complete denial! Read the full story