earth day
Latest
Microsoft ground up old CDs to make its new Xbox controller
Microsoft announced a new sustainable Xbox controller today. Arriving as an Earth Day promotion, the Xbox Remix Special Edition wireless controller uses recycled materials from old gamepads, auto headlight covers and reclaimed CDs (among other sources) to give each accessory a unique look. Although it offers no special functionality, it allows gamers to vote with their wallets for environmentally friendly manufacturing.
Twitter bans climate change denial ads
'Climate denialism shouldn’t be monetized on Twitter,' the company said.
Uber Green rides now cost the same as UberX trips
Riders no longer need to pay a $1 surcharge to request a hybrid or EV.
Amazon’s latest renewable energy projects include its largest solar farm to date
It has invested in dozens more wind and solar projects across the globe.
Instagram brings its fundraiser tool to Reels
The feature is being rolled out in more than 30 countries as part of Meta's Earth Day efforts.
Apple starts $200 million fund to remove CO2 by restoring forests
Apple has launched a $200 million Restore Fund to capture CO2 by reviving forests.
How to livestream the majesty of nature from your couch
Just because you're sheltering in place during Earth Day doesn't mean you can't remotely tour the best zoos, aquariums, and nature preserves on the planet.
Green apps to help you celebrate Earth Day indoors
Green apps can set you on the right path to being environmentally friendly, even when that path doesn’t take you outside.
Lyft offers free bikeshare trips on Earth Day
While you might still think of Lyft primarily as a ridesharing company, it also has the largest bike-sharing network in the country -- thanks to its Motivate acquisition last summer. To celebrate Earth Day and promote its carbon-free transport, the company is offering free bikeshare rides on Monday, April 22. You'll be able to hop on a free bike in New York City, Washington, DC, Chicago, Minneapolis, Columbus, OH and Portland, OR. But each city will handle the promotion slightly differently, so check in with your local network before you plan to ride.
The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for April 22, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
Remembering Earth Day with five stunning iPhone landscape photos
It's Earth Day today so it is only fitting that we spend some time admiring our wonderful planet. Here are five wonderful landscape photos taken with an iPhone for those who can't make it outside, but wish they could. A beautiful photo of Garmo Negro in the Spanish Pyrenees taken with an iPhone 4 by Flickr member inakihuarte. Gorgeous photo of the mountains in North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest taken with an iPhone 4 by Flickr member Howard Kang. Lovely sunset taken with an iPhone 4s and beautified with Snapseed. Taken by Flickr member Aaron McIntyre. Wonderful panorama shot of Ireland's Dunree Beach taken from Fort Dunree with an iPhone 5 by Flickr member Greg Clarke. Striking picture of Stout Grove redwoods taken with an iPhone 4s by Flickr member Ray Bouknight. [Image at top is a baby goat in a cornfield maze in France as taken by by Flickr member "A Guy Taking Pictures" with my added text]
In honor of Earth Day, Google expands 'Giving through Glass' program
In honor of Earth Day (today, that is), Google's announcing another wave of its Giving through Glass program for non-profit organizations. The program, originally launched late last year, equips groups including the World Wildlife Fund and Give Directly with Google's wearable computer, with the goal of "bringing more transparency to philanthropy." Now, Mountain View is looking to partner with another five nonprofits -- submissions are open today through May 20th, and the selected organizations will win a $25,000 grant in addition to Google's hardware. Nonprofits can head here to apply, and everyone can head past the break to check out a WWF researcher using Glass while tracking rhinos in Nepal.
Apple pokes fun at Samsung in new Earth Day advertisement
With Earth Day upon us today, Apple this week has touted a number of its more environmentally friendly initiatives. First up was a fascinating piece from WIRED highlighting Apple's efforts to reduce their carbon footprint. This was accompanied by a complete revamp of Apple's environmental page, a Tim Cook narrated video highlighting the company's environmental values, and earlier today, a report that Apple now offers free recycling for all of its used products. What's more, CNET reports that Apple today took out some green-oriented ads in the UK which detail Apple's concern with the environment while also taking an ever-so-slight jab at Samsung. "There are some ideas we want every company to copy," the advertisement's main headline reads. The fine print reads: There's one area where we actually encourage others to imitate us. Because when everyone makes the environment a priority, we all benefit. We'd be more than happy to see every data centre fuelled by 100% renewable energy sources. And we eagerly await the day when every product is made without the harmful toxins we have removed from ours. Of course we know we can continue to do better. We've set some pretty ambitious goals for reducing our impact on climate change, making our products with greener materials and conserving our planet's limited resources. So the next time we come across a great idea that can help leave the world better than we found it, we look forward to sharing it. Apple, of course, has not been shy about alleging that Samsung deliberately copied many of its iOS innovations. Currently, Apple and Samsung's second California litigation remains ongoing while the two companies are still duking it out in a number of jurisdictions across the globe. As a final point, Mac Rumors points out that the Apple logo at various Apple retail outlets has been updated in honor of Earth Day.
Daily App: GoodGuide helps you find green, healthy and socially responsible products
GoodGuide is your guide to all things that are good for you and good for the environment. The guide is available on the web and in a pocketable version that you can carry on your iPhone. The GoodGuide app for iOS contains ratings for over 210,000 products in a variety of categories, including food, health and beauty aids, pet food, baby care and more. Each item is rated on a scale of 1 to 10 based on its social, health and environmental impact. You can quickly view an item's overall rating as well as detailed ratings for health, safety and environment. One of the most useful features of GoodGuide is its scanner tool that allows you to scan product barcodes to find out more about the items that you are about to purchase. The app lists information about the brand that makes the product, its ingredients and alternative products that you may be interested in buying. GoodGuide's biggest drawback is that its product catalog includes only those items that are commercially available in the US. You can use the app outside the US, but the product information will be limited to those items that are available in the US. GoodGuide is available for free and is compatible with the iPhone. It requires iOS 7.
Earth Day 2013: Five apps that'll help you protect and enjoy our amazing planet
More than 1 billion people today will take part in Earth Day 2013. Governments, businesses, organizations and individuals will take time to celebrate the incredible planet on which we live. Below, you will find five apps to help you get outside and enjoy nature as well as take steps to protect the Earth in your daily life. iRecycle [iOS Universal; Free] Reduce, reuse and recycle. Use iRecycle to find convenient recycling opportunities when you are at home or away. iRecycle provides you with more than 1.5 million ways to recycle more than 350 materials. Vegetable Tree - Gardening Guide [iPhone; $3.99] Use Earth Day to get started on that garden. Vegetable Tree covers the basics of sowing, growing and harvesting of a variety of vegetables. There is also information on seed depth, germination soil temperature, pH Range, indoor and outdoor requirements and more. MapMyHike+ GPS Hiking [iPhone; $2.99] Get outside today and enjoy some fresh air. When you head out, don't forget to fire up MapMyHike+ GPS, which lets you track your hike and log them for future reference. Keep track of every path you follow and build an online journal of your hikes. WattchIT [iOS Universal; $2.99] WattchIT lets you analyze home electricity costs on a per room basis. Use the tips in the app to make changes in your electricity usage and save money. An excellent, but smaller companion to WattchIT is Stopwattch, which lets you set a timer to measure the energy usage of a single appliance or electronic device. Geography Quiz Game [iPhone; Free] Learn more about the world in the Geography Quiz Game. You can play online against other via Game Center or play against your friends in multiplayer tournaments.
Philips' L Prize-winning light bulb goes on sale Sunday, priced between $20 and $60
It's a little strange crowning a "winner" when only a single company enters the contest, but that's exactly what happened during the L Prize celebration in August of last year. Philips was the only outfit to take the US Department of Energy up on its offer, earning some $10 million to develop what might go down as the most radically designed, wildly expensive bulb your table lamp has ever seen. That said, the victorious bulb is a big fan of Ma Earth (and her of him), using just 10 watts of energy while outputting light similar to that of a 60 watt incandescent. It'll hit retailers like Home Depot this Sunday (Earth Day) for around $50 a pop, while some utility companies may subsidize 'em in an effort to hit the magical $20 price point. Hey, no one said saving energy would be remotely affordable, right?
Earth Day: Lower your carbon output (and blood pressure) with Roadify
In this year's NYC Big Apps 2.0 competition, there was a lot at stake for the developers behind the 57 app submissions. Not only were they up for cash prizes, but the recognition of their efforts to leverage the city's data mine for the public good was certain to boost their profile in Silicon Alley, and possibly attract bigger investors (or customers!) to their offerings. For the grand prize winner, Roadify, the increased awareness of their commuter-support platform means big improvements: more people participating and more/better data. The service, which depends on crowdsourced reporting of available parking spaces, bus positioning and subway arrivals along with public data on transit schedules and privately-sourced data on gas or garage pricing, becomes more useful as more users are sending in their information. Roadify supports 'giving' and 'getting' parking spaces (or updating transit details) via SMS, but it's with the iPhone app that the service really shines. Users can share and check transit information, traffic conditions, gas pricing and more -- plus they can quickly find a parking spot in congested areas. Considering that New York City drivers sometimes find themselves circling and circling in the hopeless search for an open parking spot, any approach to cutting that time will save on gas, reduce pollution and make the Big Apple a happier place. If you're a frequent or occasional NYC commuter, check out the free Roadify app; you can also watch the Roadify demo video in the continuation of this post.
Earth Day 2011 giveaway from TUAW
It's Earth Day. For 41 years, April 22nd has been a day to raise the awareness of people worldwide about the impact that they have on our planet. Our very own Megan Lavey-Heaton just provided a look at an eco-friendly laptop bag from Plaid Doctrine, and we review a surprising number of products that are made with thoughtful consideration for environmental consequences. Here at TUAW, we've partnered with a group of Apple accessory manufacturers to give away products that are either made of recycled or natural materials, or that can be used to enhance your enjoyment of the great outdoors. Continue reading this post on the next page to see these great products and for more details on how to enter the giveaway.
For Earth Day, consider an eco-friendly laptop bag
Around the end of February, the good folks at Plaid Doctrine sent me one of their laptop bags to try for a week. These stylish, vintage-inspired bags are aimed at women who want a more elegant bag to carry in a professional setting. An extra bonus is that these bags are also eco-friendly: they're built from fabric made from recycled plastic bottles, vegetable-tanned leather and completely sourced and produced in the U.S. Although my taste runs toward backpacks (my current bag of choice being the Tom Bihn Synapse), I took the US$449 Eco Laptop to work. It's a great-looking bag, but it has a few drawbacks that might turn off some potential buyers. Read on for a short review of a solid eco-friendly bag -- just in time for Earth Day.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: cow treadmills, electric cars, and the Milan Furniture Fair
The Week in Green is a new item from our friends at Inhabitat, recapping the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us. It was a busy week in green design as the design world's most important trade show, the Milan Furniture Fair, wrapped up, and Earth Day hit with full force on Thursday, April 22nd. Inhabitat brought you the most incredible green designs from Milan -- from LED lamps made almost entirely from soap to Inigo Mauerer's stunning new stripped-down OLED chandelier to gigantic architectural LEGO bricks (with life-size lego furniture to match!) We also caught wind of several curious new energy developments from across the pond -- first, the UK is hatching a plan to recycle human waste into fuel by piping biomethane from the sewage system back into homes in Oxfordshire. Meanwhile a farmer in Norther Ireland has created a treadmill for cows that he thinks could generate 6% of the world's power. More conventional alt energy sources are on the rise as well - this week researchers announced advances in dye solar cells that make strides towards grid parity and a gasification process that is capable of doubling biofuel production. Several major auto manufacturers also got our engines racing this week as they unveiled the next generation of sleek electric rides. Toyota officially revealed plans for a minivan sequel to it's ever-popular Prius while Chevy charged ahead with the MPV5, a larger version of the Volt sedan that seats five and packs extra space in the trunk. And finally, if classic cars are more your style, don't miss this cloth-covered retrofit to a rusty old MG Midget.
