You probably already know that the federal government offers you tax credits for certain green home improvements. If you replace your windows with energy efficient models, or if you add solar panels to your home, or make a number of other improvements, you are eligible to get certain tax credits. This can be a great help in defraying the cost of making green home improvements. And, of course, the home equity loan you take out to help cover the costs comes with its own tax breaks.
But the federal government may not be the only place you can look for help …read more

Today is Blog Action Day. Bloggers from around the world are writing about a single them. This year, it’s global climate change. Interestingly, companies that have made an effort to be sustainable have actually fared quite well during the financial crisis — at least that what’s a report from A.T. Kearney claims. Environmental Leader reports on some of the findings in the report:
Over the six months from May through November 2008, the study found that in 16 of the 18 industries studied, companies committed to sustainability averaged $650 million more than the industry average in protected market capitalization per company.
I …read more

Being able to identify team members who are good or bad for a teaming environment is very important. If you are not able to identify a bad team member, you may be corrupting your teaming environment. So let’s take a look at the characteristics of a bad team member.
To help you identify potential bad team members, I have developed the list below. Most of these you should be able to identify during an interview or why reading their resume.

Not able to handle conflict with other team members.
Doesn’t like to share credit for team or buddy projects.
Has a tendency to live …read more

After the success of the Cash for Clunkers program in getting Americans to trade in their old, fuel-inefficient vehicles for newer, cleaner models, the Obama administration has now turned it sights toward old household appliances. The federal government will begin doling out money from the economic stimulus package to help customers replace their household appliances with Energy Star qualified appliances.
So far, California has received $35.2 million in federal money specifically designated for the task of updating California’s appliances in an attempt to reduce pollution. In addition to being easier on the environment, switching to more efficient household appliances will also …read more

In one of your future visits to Wal-Mart, you may notice that something has changed. Wal-Mart has announced that it will put into effect a program that will assign environmental labels to all of its products, labels that will allow customers to easily determine the environmental costs of producing their merchandise.
This move may come as a surprise to many of the environmental groups that have vehemently protested Wal-Mart for its alleged disregard of the environment. Wal-Mart has taken several steps toward reducing man’s effect on the environment, such as its massive sale of low-energy light bulbs to its creating much …read more

President Obama’s program to get old, high-polluting cars off the streets and replaced with newer, more fuel-efficient vehicles, affectionately nicknamed “Cash for Clunkers,” will kick off later this month. The federal government has invested $1 billion into a program that could provide some help to the auto industry and be of great benefit to the environment.
 
Although the program has been criticized for its strictness in defining which cars qualify as clunkers, analysts are confident that plenty of people will take advantage of the program. Those who own qualifying vehicles will be eligible to trade in their clunker and get a …read more

Earn money for reducing your energy use.

In an “ideal teaming environment” all the team members work together to ensure that anything negative doesn’t impact their team. Negative attitude and actions can cause a team to hit roadblocks that may disrupt the flow of teaming. Being able to identify the negative things is something that business owner or team manager should make sure they identify early on.
In order for business owners or team managers to be able to identify negative behavior, then they must be fully aware of their teaming environment. This doesn’t mean that they micro-manage their team members by lording over their ever move. What …read more

These days, everyone’s talking about going green. Before b5media’s business channel became Bizzia, I actually wrote the green business blog, and there was definitely no shortage of news and ideas about being more environmentally friendly. I also write for Green Options media, so I’m no stranger to sustainable concepts.
And I try to be a green consumer. I use reusable shopping bags. I buy organic and certified products. I changed to CFL light bulbs. But am I a green freelancer?
Sadly, the answer is often “no,” and I’m trying to change that!
As a freelancer, you’re really running a small business. You …read more

While many companies are currently struggling, research shows that companies with green products are only gaining speed. According to a recent study by Datamonitor’s Product Launch Analytics, companies have over 450 new products that claim to be sustainable or environmentally-friendly so far this year. If this continues for the rest of the year, there will be around 1,570 new green products launched in 2009, which is double the number of new green products in 2008 – which saw a doubling of the numbers from 2007.
Research firm TerraChoice found that many of these eco-friendly claims aren’t truthful, as greenwashing is rampant …read more