Dana Childs's blog

The home of the Utah's NBA team the Utah Jazz has been renamed the EnergySolutions Arena.

Why?

"As we were looking at companies to approach, EnergySolutions quickly rose to the top of the list as an ideal partner," said Larry H. Miller, owner of the team. "It is a national company headquartered in Salt Lake City, with a bright future and values shared by the Utah Jazz. For our arena, EnergySolutions was the right choice."

The right choice? Despite its fancy name, EnergySolutions actually cleans up toxic spills and nuclear waste for a living.

Not the most glamorous sponsor for a public arena, in our opinion. But what do we know? We ain't basketball fans...

Turkey byproducts are apparently not the most ideal source of biofuel, if this Missouri plant's woes are any indication.

They company already paid $100,000 in fines earlier in the year for foul odors.

Methane is a harsh mistress.

Been printing web pages and other documents forever and are tired of just how many almost totally blank pages are wasted? Us, too.

Finally... a solution.

A tiny software startup called Greenprint has introduced a printing utility for Windows XP that helps eliminate wasted pages.

It works with any printer and from any application.

Cool features: it can track the amount of pages you've saved and the dollar, greenhouse emission and tree impact of those savings.

Check it out at www.printgreener.com.

What do Al Gore, Rupert Murdoch, and the Rolling Stones have in common? They're all advocates of being "carbon neutral," the New Oxford American Dictionary's Word of the Year for 2006.

The phrase reflects the growing awareness of the importance of sustainability in the United States. It will be added to the next update of the dictionary, due in early 2007.

Erin McKean, editor in chief of the New Oxford American Dictionary, said, "The increasing use of the word carbon neutral reflects not just the greening of our culture, but the greening of our language. When you see first graders trying to make their classrooms carbon neutral, you know the word has become mainstream."

The good news - depending how you look at it: international regulatory agencies are going to let you carry fuel cells and certain fuels in airline passenger cabins starting in January.

The other news: The U.S. Fuel Cell Council (USFCC), apparently acting of its own accord to make lives easier for governments across the globe, wants fuel cell makers to tell them about products that fliers are likely to carry. They want to document them to make life easier for screeners and security personnel worldwide.

Starting today, you can opt to buy wind power at the supermarket checkout counter instead of a Cliff Bar.

Whole Food Markets is making Wind Power Cards available in $5 and $15 increments. According to the co., the cards enable consumers to buy certified wind energy credits roughly equivalent to their average monthly electricity consumption: 750 kilowatt hours for a family, 250 kilowatt hours for an individual.

In a bit of clever thinking, the cards double as refrigerator magnets so you can remind yourself several times a day just how green you are. 

I didn't catch anyone else in the room chuckling. But it struck me today as funny that Michael Peevey, President of the California Public Utilities Commission, the guy at the reigns of power (literally) for the sixth largest economy in the world, thinks his very own Silicon Valley is pronounced "silicone valley".

Am I the only one who finds glorious serendipity in the name of Michael Peevey, who's a big proponent of solar power?!

Once or twice could be forgiven. We all make mistakes.

Walgreens is now able to refill inkjet printer cartridges for about half the price of new ones.

Inkjet printers have become more affordable than ever, but the high cost of replacement cartridges - as companies choose to "give away the razors but sell the blades" - has many of us looking for a more economical way to keep our printers running. The millions of pounds of waste that ink cartridges create each year also leaves environmentally-conscious consumers hunting for greener alternatives.

Refilling cartridges takes about 15 minutes. The service is now available at virtually all of the 1,500 Walgreens drugstores with a photofinishing counter.

What if the refill doesn't work? Walgreens offers a 100% guarantee.

Anyone else used this yet?