Toyota has been tying the image of plants to their Prius for a long time—there were the solar powered flowers they set up in U.S. cities to promote it, the billboards they created for the car out of plants, and the greenery-heavy print and TV ads (like the one pictured above). But now the company has taken their love of plants a step further and tapped real flowers to help reduce the C02 emissions of their Prius manufacturing plant in Toyota City, Japan (yes, that’s the real name).

The C02 combating flowers have been genetically engineered from the cherry sage and gardenia plants to improve the environmental impact of the Prius plant in two ways: First, by absorbing nitrogen oxides from the air and second, by creating water vapor, which—in theory—should cool the area around the factory. Unfortunately, few details are available on exactly how much positive effect these flowers can be expected to have and it’s not clear whether the genetic modification was a necessary step, as both the plants that have been modified had those properties to begin with (and probably could have been planted together). Click here to read more

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In the latest Washington Post On Leadership video series, Steve Pearlstein sits down with Vinod Khosla, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems, to discuss hybrid cars, global warming solutions and his leadership in the field.

Khosla: “Most of the environmentalists do a good job defining the problem. They do a terrible job finding and proposing solutions. They think the only way to get in balance with the environment is to use less of everything. They don’t think there’s cleaner ways to get more electricity, or more oil, or more cars. And I’m a firm believer, technology is the real solution. The world will not go backwards. Human beings aren’t made that way. And so you have to come up with different solutions.”

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Going out to eat at a fast food restaurant (or ordering in) can leave you with feelings of green guilt—there’s the disposable containers things are served in, the energy impact of the restaurant, and often even the questionable food itself. But there are times when work went a little too late for you to head home and create a full locally-sourced organic meal. If you’ve got a Pizza Fusion restaurant in your area, though, you don’t have to choose between convenience and your conscience. The chain of pizza restaurants offers up tasty pizzas, sandwiches and salads, while maintaining some of the highest green standards we’ve ever seen.

For starters, the menu is 75 percent organic (well documented, certified organic at that) and made up of locally-sourced ingredients whenever possible. The meat toppings are antibiotic and hormone-free and the chicken is all-natural free range. Down to the beverages available (organic and sustainable beers, wines and sodas) everything you’ll eat at a Pizza Fusion restaurant has been carefully thought out for the environmental impact it has. And it’s served in containers made from corn starch and potatoes that biodegrade in 60 days. Click here to read more

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January 20th was an epic day in the history of the United States and cause for celebration for people the world over…especially anyone keen on green. It was a day all about Obama and the hope for a better America; the man eco-centered citizens have been eagerly awaiting in hopes that the environmental shortcomings and disappointments of the previous administration will be replaced with earth-driven change.

In Obama’s inaugural address he repeatedly spoke of the importance of environmental improvement, stating that the way we use our energy not only threatens our planet, but strengthens our adversaries, and calling upon America to harness the sun, the winds and the soil to fuel cars and run factories. But now it’s time to see how those goals come into being, to see how we achieve those aims, and because of the ecological decisions made by the Bush Administration in its last days, Obama will have to jump headfirst into his environmental agenda.

One of the first areas we can look to for action is the auto industry, where several decisions must soon be made. Obama must finalize the rules of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards, a task dropped by Bush’s team in its final days. He’ll also have to decide whether or not he’ll be signing a waiver allowing California to establish its own limits on greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks and determine what kinds of fuel-efficiency specifications will be included in any further bailouts for General Motors and Chrysler. Click here to read more

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