We searched high and low to find these eleven iPad 2 cases that are both eco-friendly and stylish.

It’s an email machine, e-reader (imagine, a floor without magazine stacks) and app-wonderland, all wrapped into one sleek little case. If you don’t already have an iPad, chances are an iPad 2 is high up on your wish list and a stylish case to put it in would be second. We made that part easy for you with these top eleven picks of stylish and eco-friendly iPad cases.

Nau Pad Stash
Featuring clean lines and a slim profile, Nau’s Pad Stash combines old world style with new world functionality. Die-cut from wool felt, this case has a flip-close front cover, four accessory pockets and doubles as a stand for easy viewing. On the inside, recycled wool felt insulates and protects your iPad from scratching.
$75, Nau

Laser-etched Natural Bamboo Case by Grove
These all-natural bamboo cases are entirely hand-made in Portland, Oregon. The company doesn’t outsource, but creates everything, down to the packaging and website, on-site. Production is kept small-scale and limited and Grove believes in slowing things down in order to maintain the highest quality product. What really makes this one special though, is the wide range of beautiful laser-etched designs available. You can even design your own or, if adornment is just not your cup of tea, get a plain one.
$139-$169, Grove

Rickshaw Sleeve for iPad 2 in Earl Grey Performance Tweed
Made to order in Rickshaw’s San Francisco factory, this case comes with plush, laptop-grade padding and a plush, soft liner that works double duty protecting and cleaning your screen at the same time. Available in four different colors.
$40, Rickshaw Bags

Cork iPad Sleeve
This sleeve made from cork, brings your iPad a little closer to the earth. Cork is naturally water-resistant and durable and its soft, textured surface will protect your laptop from scratches or wear. It will also work kind of like a coaster to keep your iPad in place on slippery surfaces. Handmade in Spain, the Cork Sleeve will develop a unique patina with use.
$39, UncommonGoods

Felt iPad Sleeve by ribandhull
This sleeve features a simple, classic design and a flap with two metal snaps that are fully lined and reinforced (so they don’t cause any damage to your iPad). All of ribandhull’s products are entirely designed and produced in their Warsaw studio from the finest materials. This one is made with vegetable tanned leather and a thick 100% wool, German designer felt, which is water repellent and anti-pilling. More colors are available.
$52, Etsy/ribandhull

DODOcase for iPad 2
The DODOcase exterior gives your iPad the look and feel of a hard-bound book, which not only makes you look smart and book-ish but prevents theft as well. Made from solid core bamboo and black Moroccan cloth and constructed using traditional bookbinding techniques, the cover folds back to be used as a stand. The DODOcase’s magnetic insert also activates the iPad’s auto wake/sleep feature to wake and sleep your iPad instantly. Available in a variety of interior color choices.
$59.95, DODOcase

Michael Roger Landmade Cork iPad 2 Sleeve
This iPad sleeve (which also works for Netbooks) is made with sustainably harvested cork from Spain and features a beautiful, unique pattern (two different kinds are available). A zipper ensures that your iPad stays securely in place.
$69, Michael Roger Bookbinders

Recycled Mink iPad sleeve
This is for you glamor girls out there. This iPad sleeve is handmade to order from a 1960s vintage mink stole. It has beautiful, soft fur on one side and pre-loved black leather, upcycled from old jackets and pants on the other side (for an extra charge, you can get it in wrap-around mink). It’ll surely get your friends talking.
$175, Shannon South/ReMade USA

Kork 2 for iPad 2
This upgraded version of the Kork is lighter and thinner than its predessor and comes with many new features such as Apple Smart Cover integration, tray-mode, natural sound amplifier, and a camera hole. The company calls it “a complete ‘Swiss Army Knife’ for your iPad” and ensures this is the only cover you will ever need.
$49.95, A Produkt

Plaid Doctrine iPad Sleeve
Sewn in the USA from water- and stain-resistant high performance fabric made from recycled bottles, this sleeve features two large front pockets to hold accessories like chargers, headphones, and phones. It’s ultra lightweight, foam-padded, and fully lined in recycled, ripstop nylon. Comes in three different styles of on-trend plaid.
$59, Plaid Doctrine

Voltaic Spark Tablet Case
It may lack in the style department, but this clever case will not only protect but also charge your iPad. Featuring 8 Watts of solar embedded into a streamlined shell made from recycled PET, (which is waterproof, lightweight and UV resistant), the Spark stores over a full iPad charge of clean, green solar energy for you to use anytime. It also charges most other tablets, phones and professional digital cameras. Ten hours of sunlight will fully charge the battery.
$299, Voltaic

These eight iPhone 4S cases (which work for the iPhone 4 as well), are both eco-friendly and stylish.

Everyone has had the moment of total panic that comes with dropping their smartphone on the floor, fearing that this will be the time it shatters into a million little spider-webbed pieces. Before this happens to you, get a case. Here are the top eight eco-friendly options we found for the iPhone 4S (which will also work for the iPhone 4 as well).

Laser-Etched Natural Bamboo Case by Grove
These all-natural bamboo cases are entirely hand-made in Portland, Oregon. The company doesn’t outsource, but creates everything, down to the packaging and website, on-site. Production is kept small-scale and limited and Grove believes in slowing down their production in order to maintain the highest quality product. What really makes this one special, though, is the wide range of beautiful laser-etched designs available. You can even design your own.
$89-$119, Grove

Re-Case by Miniwiz
Made entirely from “trash” as they say on the case, this option really walks the talk. Rice farming by-products, usually discarded as agricultural waste, are reprocessed and added to post-consumer thermo-plastics to form a highly durable material of architectural grade. It is also recyclable and able to be manufactured at an unbeatable minimum of CO2 emissions.
$24.95, Miniwiz

Case-Mate Jett Metal Case
Machined from a single block of aircraft billet aluminum (a sustainable metal that can be recycled over and over), this sturdy metal case is for those of us who need some serious protection. Without changing the design profile, it completely encases your phone for optimal protection and even comes with a tool set for assembly.
$50, Case Mate

Ribandhull Bridle Wallet/iPhone Case
This tan leather bridle wallet not only holds your cash and cards but your iPhone too. How stylish is that? Entirely handmade in Warsaw from premium Italian vegetable tanned bridle leather, this case will only grow more beautiful with age.
$95, Etsy/ribandhull

Shannon South ReMade USA iPhone Sleeve
If you still like your phone un-cased as you use it, a sleeve is a good way to protect it from being scratched and damaged in transit. This simple, stylish idea by ReMade USA comes in black or brown and is made entirely from recycled leather jackets.
$29, Shannon South/ReMade USA

Felt iPhone Cozy
Boasting some serious personality-traits, this felt cozy is for those of you who like to give your electronics names (you know who you are). Hand sewn with 100% Eco-fi Polyester Felt Fabric (which is entirely made from recycled bottles) and in double layers for extra protection, this mustached option is fade-resistant and washable. The cozies are made to order in the color of your choice, and you can get them adorned with your initials instead of facial hair.
$7, Etsy/ILOVEfelt88

Wood Camera iPhone Case
This one is for you hipstamatic-addicts out there. In addition to your snapshots looking like old photos, now your phone itself can look like a vintage camera. Each case is made using sustainably harvested walnut wood (lined with felt to prevent scratching) and surface-engraved using lasers.
$42, Photojojo

Eco Wool and Brown Vegan Leather iPhone Wallet
This wool felt cell phone case is handcrafted using dark gray wool made from recycled PET bottles. Your phone is held in place by a faux (vegan) leather strap with a snap closure (the snap is lined on the inside to prevent it from scratching the glass). There are also two inside pockets for stashing your cash and cards.
$20, Etsy/Cartergray

ColumnArmed with an iPad. And dangerous?

After a weekend in New York for eco fashion, it was off to Cape Cod with our managing editor, Amy DuFault, who makes her home here with her family: a musician-designer husband, two children and a cockapoo named Mick. They live in a classic New England cottage flanked by two ponds and woods. It’s April, but it’s still quite cold, and the winds whip through the bare trees and howl around the house. Inside, it’s warm and cozy, and Amy and I work on spring plans from the dining room instead of the office downstairs, where we can catch glimpses of house wrens and ospreys in the branches of the oaks and fat gray squirrels scurrying across the decks.

In between calls and ticking off to-do lists after dinner last night, Amy looked up from her laptop: “Sara? Let me just read you this email.” I know that tone of voice well. It’s the tone that comes with sharing a query from a hopeful writer wanting to cover the healing properties of crystals on a passionate case of eczema or the story about how slathering oneself in essential oil of Dalmation sage mixed with powdered placenta can cure the depression. It’s the tone that asks if we’d like to advertise cat psychics. Or perhaps we’d like to attend and cover the trade event in San Pedro about new 1.3763% more efficient copper conductors in industrial incinerators? It’s a dynamic industry.

This proposal was from one Clyle Reed, who suggested we introduce an eco-spirit section led (obviously) by him, and named for him. It was written in English, but appeared to have been improved upon by either a spambot or a drunk Scot. We really couldn’t decide. Topics would include his mother, his childhood, and his expertise in – among other gifts – spirit gathering.

We’ll blame the time of day; Amy responded. “Tell me more, Clyle.” This unleashed a flurry of emails from the Lord’s minion (his actual email address). We fell into an earnest – and loud – discussion about culture and psychology, or more accurately, online oddballs and insanity, forgetting that Amy’s young teenage son was nearby. As we read email after email from Clyle, aghast at what we’d semi-wittingly unleashed, her son ignored us, engrossed in whatever he was doing on his iPad. A few more minutes of our noisy analysis, and he sauntered into the kitchen. “Sometimes I really worry about what the world is coming to,” Amy said, shaking her head. And then we heard it. A snicker from the kitchen.

We looked at each other. We looked at the kitchen, graced by one immensely puffed up child, grinning ear to ear. He croaked “Clyle!” before collapsing into a fit of laughter as we shrunk in horror. The query, so strangely and brilliantly written. The succession of increasingly eerie ramblings, the insanity of which would have impressed John Updike; the perfectly crafted personal blog; the fresh gmail address. We’d been had by a thirteen-year-old, and he’d been audience to the entire progression of his macabre puppet show. Needless to say, he was thrilled by our total mortification. After we managed to make eye contact with him, we explained why the joke – while ingenious – was inappropriate. We sent him to bed post haste, so that we could laugh until we cried.

Kids these days. I remember rolling my eyes in frustration for months at trying to teach my mother how to use email (“You don’t use caps, Mom!”); this child had created an entire supporting ecosystem in mere minutes for his prank. He knew how, he accessed the services and tools, and he did it all in moments for a lark – for free. The internet is now home to one more blog which will never be used again, and Cape Cod is currently host to two embarrassed adults who, while fast themselves, are clearly no match for a seventh grade boy.

My own “kid” brother, who is 25, can text on his smartphone without looking at it. In fact most of the time it’s in his pocket. I’m not so much older than he is, but the rapid iteration of technology savvy – not just from generation to generation but between siblings and a year or few – is remarkable. He’d be an easy victim for Clyle, too.

The unreserved integration of technology by “the youth” scares many people, who fear for the innocence and safety of our children. I’m not one of them. While I don’t hole up in my house fervently watching for signs of the Singularity, I believe the fact that kids use technology without thinking about it – while we are still muttering and marveling over the details of the transition – is a positive thing.

Yes, there are predators on the internet, but there are predators IRL (that’s “in real life”), too, and what today’s kids intuitively grasp is that living online and off seamlessly is a productive, useful way to make life better because they can. They know this well enough to be wry about it, if last night’s missives from Clyle are any indication.

They’ll have to grapple with text thumb and their brains will be studied for changed learning patterns – consequences of change we are only beginning to understand and won’t be able to dismiss. But we should look at this cultural shift another way. One thing these children will not do is waste time. They will have grown up used to living in the present, all the time, and there will be little pause for regret, much less the gridlock and analysis paralysis of our social and political fabric. Jenny McCarthy’s inane babbling about indigo children has it all wrong; these are kids who simply have horse sense with no patience for horse shit. Their brains have been trained to look at reality and now, not myth and belief and maybe, and they’re used to witnessing the results of their actions in real time. We played Telephone with cans and strings and grew up to spin messaging with publicists. They’ve grown up with the iPhone and Android and Google cache, and they’re going to be kicking livid at what we’ve done.

So I doubt the results of this “tech stuff” will be anywhere near as apocalyptic as the cynics fear; I doubt things will even fray. Shame and love and altruism are still effective social motivators, and unless these suddenly evolve out of us thanks to “the Twitter,” will continue to be. Belonging is everything to humans, and our children will wonder why we cared so little about this, and why we did everything so stupidly. While we whine without ceasing about “their” infatuation with instant gratification – texting, Facebook, games – they’re soon going to ask what the kettle has to be so shrill about.

It’s a truly useless cynic who sees a dystopian future instead of a hopeful one. If we can manage to hand them the world without destroying it first, they may just be able to save it.

This is the latest installment in your editor’s column, The Insider’s Guide to Life, exploring topics such as media, culture, sex, politics, and anything else. Cheers and spellcheck!

Image: Zawezome

The battle between telecoms Verizon Wireless and AT&T is more heated than ever, especially with the release of the new Verizon iPhone. Everybody is talking about which iPhone is better – and we already know who has wider coverage and more reliable service (Verizon, without question). But which company is delivering knockout punches in the sustainability department?

Here’s how each company stacks up, based on sustainability information found on their websites and in their most recent sustainability reports.

Verizon was the first telecom company to establish efficiency standards in 2008, and in early 2010, the company announced a comprehensive sustainability strategy that includes the addition of 1,600 alternative energy vehicles to its fleet, employee education programs and progress on smart grid deployment.

Eco-options:

• Refurbished phones available directly through the VerizonWireless.com website. Through its HopeLine program, Verizon collected over 1 million phones in 2009 and refurbished 927,000 of them, donating 23,000 to domestic violence organizations. Verizon has collected more than 8 million phones since the program began in 2001. Verizon offers postage-paid labels to easily recycle phones and accessories.
• Currently offering both the Samsung Intensity II and the Motorola Citrus, two phones with notable green features.

Sustainable operations:

• Reduced its overall carbon dioxide emissions by more than 793 million pounds and improved its rate of emissions per millions of dollars in revenue to 60.2 metric tons in 2009.
• Reduced energy consumption in its facilities by 84 million kilowatt hours in 2009 through temperature monitoring and energy-efficient lighting.
• Named to Newsweek’s Global Green 100 in 2010, ranking at number 45.
• Reached number 61 in last year’s Maplecroft Climate Innovation Index, which lists the 100 top performing companies in the U.S. for their climate-related innovation and carbon-management programs.
• Collected 500,000 PCs and other electronics for recycling or resale, and recycled 26 million pounds of material from cable removed from its network in 2009 alone.
• Donates money to the American Forests’ Global Re-Leaf Program each time a customer opts for paperless billing. The partnership resulted in over 70,000 newly planted trees in 2009.
• Forty-nine Verizon Wireless stores have been awarded the EPA’s Energy Star for energy efficiency and environmental protection.

Green research & development:

• Set the global telecom industry’s first energy-efficiency standards in 2008, pushing vendors of its networking equipment to reduce power consumption of these products by 20%.
• Launched a demonstration facility in Columbia, Maryland in 2009 where it showcases the green features of its passive optical network (PON) technology. This networking technology could support high bandwidth services like 3DTV among as many as 1,000 users per network using 75% less power and 80% less space than ethernet solutions.
• Received the Groundbreaker Award from the Clean Economy Network Education Fund in 2011 for developing broadband, wireless and global IP network technology that enables more sustainable business practices.
• Teaming up with Motorola for a trial of eco-friendly set-top boxes for FiOS TV customers, which will use less energy and come in 75% recycled packaging.

AT&T has many green initiatives in the works including big plans to spend $565 million on 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles through 2018, which is expected to cut the company’s greenhouse gas emissions dramatically. Most of these sustainability goals were announced in 2009, with progress updates expected in 2011.

Eco-options:

• Sells refurbished phones directly through the ATT.com website, and offers postage-paid labels to mail in old phones and accessories for recycling.
• ZERO Charger, an Energy Star USB wall charger that is compatible with many devices, makes it easy to slay ‘vampire’ energy consumption.
• Currently offering the Samsung Evergreen, a cell phone made from 70% post-consumer plastic with a box made from 80% recycled paper.

Sustainable operations:

• Reports a ‘slight decrease’ in 2009 carbon dioxide emissions over 2008 levels based on incomplete data. AT&T does not yet fully disclose its carbon performance figures.
• Named to Newsweek’s Global Green 100 in 2010, ranking at number 57.
• Reduced its energy intensity by 23.8 percent over 2008 levels, mostly by analyzing energy performance at its 500 largest energy-consuming facilities.
• Stepped up use of alternative energy, including the installation of two large-scale solar power plants, powering an Austin facility with 10% wind power and the addition of 3,700 solar panels to a facility in San Ramon, California.
• Kept 72.1 million pounds of network scrap material out of landfills through reuse, resale and recycling.
• Announced a new waste-reduction strategy that asks suppliers to provide slimmer packaging that uses fewer materials by the end of 2011

Green research & development:

• Formed the AT&T Business Sustainability Advisory Council to help businesses make smarter sustainability choices and investments.
• Established an initiative to analyze the energy consumption of software in its data centers, which may help IT leaders design greener data centers in the future.
• Developed the Global Media Environmental Module (GMEM), a design that compresses the footprint of Information and Communication Technology equipment, reducing required space by 40 percent and lowering cooling energy needs by 40 percent.
• Made “Machine Learning” software available at no charge to nonprofit and research organizations that aid in conservation efforts around the world.

VERDICT: VICTORY FOR VERIZON

This is a close race, with both companies in the midst of big changes that have not yet produced measurable results. But in terms of sustainability facts and figures, AT&T has a lot more “we will” and “we plan” in areas where Verizon can say “we accomplished” – for now.

Image: PopSciBlog

You corner a tight table for one – for you and who else? Your loyal laptop or other wireless device, of course.

If you haven’t noticed, the Neoprene sleeve is emerging as the new evening bag for an increasing number of singles. Yep, the gadget that has evolved into a fifth limb is perhaps the most accessible date we can score for Saturday night drinks,  Sunday brunch and midweek caffeine rushes in makeshift offices. ”Busy? “No, baby, you can turn me on anytime. Just say the password! Yahoo!”

While the debate rages over whether restaurants should ban or restrict WiFi users, the public display of affliction is everywhere, from chichi downtown bistros in Dallas (a Lemon Drop for you, a refresh button for your Pro) to buzzing coffee bars in Seattle where users can catch up while sipping a skinny something.

Call it a cult phenomenon of a society that has never been more disconnected emotionally. Not long ago, we relied on that soiled paperback in the shoulder bag or crumpled newspaper rolled up in the back pocket to join us at our tables. Nobody threatened to take those away unlike the current climate of cafes taking WiFi off their menus, as noted in the Los Angeles Times.

Is it rude to be glued to the screen and to occupy tables once your meal is through? Well, as far as conducting our business in public, we can agree a gal with her Macbook is much less a social pariah than, say, a dude in a neighboring booth carrying on a painfully audible, one-way, cell phone conversation. ”Oh, yeah, for sure, she stood me up, and like, I’m so hella horny!”

Accepting we are often lost without our laptops to lean on when going solo on the town – it is good to know about happening nodes to hang with our gadgets - apart from the typical coffee house in the hood.

Here are some savvy suggestions:

The Summit, 780 Valencia Street, San Francisco

Showcasing the play of sweet and savory pulled off by noted pastry chefs (such as Gabriel Mitchell known as the “sugar pimp”), this art space in the Mission also attracts like minded connoisseurs who also devour displays of applied arts of industrial, graphic and textile design. “Oy, me and my laptop are getting so cultured!”

Oddfellows Cafe and Bar, 1525 10th Street, Seattle

A hippified 1908 dining hall, this fave watering hole where cocktails come in Grandma’s glassware and where mac and cheese and pork nuggets pass for gourmet is familiar MacBook territory day and night. Hey, it’s Seattle. Enough said.

Intellegtsia Cafe, 1331 Abbot Kinney Blvd.,Venice Beach

Okay, so it does classify as a coffee bar, but this one features few tables but ample open space with stadium concrete steps and cushions to sit on with your device and sip possibly the best cappuccino or coffee-by-the-cup in L.A. (purchased directly from growers), along with tasty croissants and other treats. Described as a cross between a chemistry lab and a high tech Italian cafe, you will enjoy the personalized one-on-one barista service prior to connecting.

Camera Cafe, 44 Museum Street, London

No honey, but in need of a honey latte on a blustery day; then take your laptop to this WiFi friendly and highly quirky cafe in the Bloomsbury area. It serves a variety of cakes, sandwiches and snacks, and plays French music to tourists and regulars. Unlike the typical coffee house, the front room features a shop packed with second-hand cameras lovingly restored. Inside the cafe, photos hung at funky angles cover the walls, adding a bit of Parisian eccentricity to the scene.

Marvelous Market, 1511 Connecticut Ave., Washington DC

Included in a blog on one of the safest places in Washington for meeting other geeks, this epicurean haunt open breakfast through dinner serves up the range from potent coffee and teas to exotic imported cheeses, salamis and olives. You will even find tempting Passover brownies, as depicted by one loyal taker. There are a variety of locations in the nation’s capital, but Dupont Circle seems to attract more of the laptop hounds. “Computer use is part of our business,” one of the managers tells me. “We are just happy to offer a nice place to sit and unwind or do what you need to do.”

Images: Serious Eats, The SummitSF, Tomatogeezer, Intelligentisa, Another Photograph, Wiredwitch

“Real Americans Buy American.” Growing up in the Motor City in the 1970s, that ubiquitous message, proudly displayed on the rear bumpers of so many Mustangs, Caddies and Pontiacs led this young man to wonder what the problem was. If the red, white and blue declarative were true, why would the Detroit Free Press be running what seemed to be a serialized front-page obituary for our town and our industry? Why would that big black number in The News’ headline have so many zeros after it? (How many people were laid off yesterday?) As near as I could tell, there were plenty of Americans around, and if they did what those bumper stickers told me they do, why was Detroit blight central rather than the boomtown my parents grew up in?

Eventually I learned the truth: Real Americans don’t buy American. Real Americans buy what they want.

This bitter truth periodically hits Detroit hard, and each time one has to wonder if the American auto industry’s hubris has led to its final death knell. I watched firsthand the slow motion response of the Big Three to real world energy and design challenges and the resulting economic devastation of the mid- and late-70s, and again in the late-80s and early-90s (when my parents lost their home and the family’s electrical supply business). Today, watching from my safe haven of California, I read stories of urban dystopia and (literally) scorched earth, the only hope being an unusually creative, industrious and determined population.

But once again, and like always it seems, there’s a blip in the flatline. Could there be life?

As Detroit’s North American International Auto Show enters its 23rd year as an international event, the city’s hometown industry isn’t looking so bad. Last year, reports Business Insider , saw Ford get back its number-two U.S. automaker slot after having lost that position to decelerating Toyota, while the top three fastest-growing brands were from General Motors. “Even Chrysler — a company once left for dead — gained U.S. market share and closed the gap with Honda, despite having a dearth of new models versus its well-stocked Japanese competitors.” (Tangentially, Business Insider, probably a good idea to can the “Pearl Harbor in reverse” rhetoric. It’s a bad week for kill-the-enemy hyperbole.)

Here’s more good news from the Wall Street Journal: Ford announced that it’s going to hire 7,000 workers and is expected to report that 2010 was one of the most profitable years in its 100-plus-year history. Meanwhile, GM says it had a strong end to the year, finishing with more than $20 billion in liquidity and that it expects to hire more U.S. workers if annual sales meet their expected forecasts. As for offerings, reports the Journal, the “40 new vehicles that will be unveiled represent an increase from 27 new models that debuted at the 2010 edition of the show… Chrysler will show off 13 models in addition to the 300 that have been completely redesigned or significantly overhauled. GM will show the Sonic and a compact Buick. Ford will feature a compact minivan based on the European C-Max model, as well as a battery-powered version of its Focus.”

Could the Big Three be getting it? Are they finally giving Americans what they want? Consider that this better-than-okay news is emerging from a horrifying industry free fall that began in 2008 and featured the bankruptcy reorganizations of GM and Chrysler in 2009. “Last year’s show had a funereal feel—spartan displays, sparse attendance, few of the lights, loud music and theatrical unveilings that had become the show’s trademark,” reports the WSJ. So keep in mind from where this upbeat news is coming from. When there’s nowhere to go but up, you won’t be penalized for thinking that any movement is good movement.

It also remains to be seen if this upswing is the result of a slow but sure economic surge that has buyers beginning to make those big purchases they put off for so long. Whether or not new offerings and reconfigured corporate structures will have the impact everyone hopes for won’t be determined in the immediate future. But one thing’s for certain; the old adage is true: “when the nation catches a cold, Detroit gets pneumonia.” The thing is, for the infirm, pneumonia can be fatal. And for Detroit, that adage isn’t funny anymore.

Image: country_boy_shane

There are a lot of people my age who yammer on endlessly about the demise of snail mail. These people love to wax nostalgic about the superiority of old-timey letters written on paper –  as if the simple act of using a Bic ballpoint automatically imbues writers with the eloquence of Charlotte Bronte. I could not disagree more, but I happen to love email – it’s fast and practical and also paper-free, which is good news for the rain forests.

And email is better than ever now, thanks to a new program that lets you know if your email message is projecting a negative tone. This program will alert users if their emails sound angry, insulting or unfriendly. There are those who will object to this software, and rail against it as censorship or corporate control, or some such nonsense. But I think it’s a great idea. Writing is hard and people need all the help they can get – if using this software means you’ll antagonize fewer friends and colleagues, then what’s the harm?  Similar software has been developed to detect sarcasm in outgoing emails; again, this is terrific, but why stop there? I think technology should help us all it can – the following are other ways computers should be rigged to save us from ourselves:

• If you are over the age of twelve and you attempt to make a smiley-face emoticon out of punctuation marks, your computer should seize up and turn itself off in protest. The same holds true if you try to forward a video of cats playing the piano.
• If you are bragging endlessly about your kids, your job, or your beachfront property, a scolding message should appear on the screen, warning you that no one wants to hear it.
• If you are breaking up with someone via email, your computer should sadly inform you that you are simply not fit to live.
• When you’ve wasted an entire day playing Solitaire or Googling people from high school, a pop-up image should appear on your screen, sternly advising you to get a life.
• Computers should come equipped with some sort of virtual sodium pentothal that prevents people from blatantly misrepresenting themselves on eharmony, Match.com and other dating websites.
• If you are married and you try to contact an old boyfriend on Facebook, an ominous stick-figure of someone playing with fire should appear and warn you that you’re about to ruin your life.
• If you attempt to forward an email chain letter, a hand should reach out from your keyboard and bitch-slap you till you come to your senses. If the letter warns that breaking the chain will result in bad luck, illness or monetary loss, the computer should deliver a quick but intensely painful electric shock.
• On the other hand, I think all email providers should embed in every single email message this video by comedian Merril Markoe. It is a two minute clip (which is entirely in French for no good reason) and shows Markoe faking a heart attack while her dogs look on, sweetly and stupidly oblivious, happily depositing chew toys on her limp and lifeless body. The video is goofy and subversively warmhearted, and if everyone watched it several times every day, the world would be a happier place. Now that computers rule the world, they should be obligated to spread cheer wherever they can. Really, it’s the least they can do.

Editor’s Note: Susan Goldberg is a slightly lapsed treehugger. Although known to overuse paper products, she has the best of intentions – and a really small SUV. Catch her column, The Goldberg Variations, each week here at EcoSalon.

Image: Ed Yourdon

The Third Wave Green concept we’ve introduced at EcoSalon means taking a hard look at the environmental movement’s sacred truths and considering whether or not they exclude diversity of thought and, most important, hold up to scrutiny. Not always an easy or comfortable task.

Deconstruction – or probing an argument’s veracity by exposing even its most counterintuitive contradictions – allows ideas to evolve and survive over time. This approach is invaluable to creating a “sustainable” Green movement – one that can withstand the most savage attacks by short-term-focused corporate interests (and their legislative, cultural and media puppets), as well as the defeating apathy of a green-weary populace. We’re starting with 10 common green assumptions many of us subscribe to, and asking: should we?

1. Assumption: Vegetarianism and veganism are pro-planet

Reality? There’s a monocrop where that rainforest used to be

It’s true that consuming less meat is a sound way to help lessen your carbon footprint; but like most assumptions, the underlying truth is more complex. A hamburger may be worse than a Hummer (or so the oft-repeated refrain goes), but the mock-meat-processed-from-a-monocrop-in-Myanmar style of vegetarianism is no golden nugget of eco goodness. Better to eat ethically-produced meat on rare occasions as flexitarians do than abstain from the steak but make heavily processed (and unhealthy) faux meats a cornerstone of your diet. Further complicating things, there are numerous studies showing that what’s really sustainable is efficiency, and in some cases, that means meat production over other types of product manufacture – even vegetables. And then of course, there’s the fact that even a truck driving, Big Mac chomping “Average Joe” has a lighter carbon footprint, on balance, than a green-leaning parent raising American offspring.

2. Assumption: Vegan fashion is good; fur is murder

Reality? Dressing up the truth and let’s talk leather

A world without fur makes sense to many. But is wearing leather any different? How many advocates for banning fur eat meat or don leather shoes or coats? Is killing an animal for its hide ever okay? If so, when? Can someone who does still be Green? Fur is viscerally offensive to many – but by that same token, shouldn’t we recoil at all the boots made for walking? Further, how exactly did vegan get lumped in with green fashion when many vegan products are made of toxic synthetics derived from fossil fuels? If a plastic (vegan) jacket is really better for the planet than a wool one, let’s ask if it’s because it is truly more sustainable in terms of the resources required to make it. Or is it just more efficient today, in our current context of an ultimately unsustainable, but temporarily efficient and cheap, system?

3. Assumption: Environmental protection is the key to our survival

Reality? Go GINK (Green Inclinations, No Kids) or go home

Or: It’s not the hamburgers and Hummers, stupid, it’s the kids. While the Green movement focuses on wildlife habitats, pollution and greenhouse gas reductions, and other ways to save the planet, are its efforts moot if it fails on the population challenge? It’s easy to create a epic battle in our minds that pits us against our helpless environment. But might the real battle not involve the environment at all? Perhaps George Carlin was right when he said that if we get to be too irritating, “the planet will shake us off like a bad case of fleas.” Might our existence be merely a tick on the planet’s back and if we don’t tread a lot more lightly – i.e., multiply ourselves in a sustainable way – we don’t stand a chance with our to-date agreeable host, environmentalism or no environmentalism.

4. Assumption: Globalization hurts the little guy

Reality? Globalization helps the little guy

Those bandanna-masked guys on the street breaking the windows of Starbucks and Nike shops got their stories straight, right? If they’re anti-The Man, they must be green. Consider for moment what proponents of free trade and globalization are saying: global economic growth, job creation, lowers prices for consumers, capital and technology infusion into poor countries, giving them development opportunity. How about a more transparent global business infrastructure that could promote human rights? Sound like some pretty green motivations? Maybe throwing stones first and asking questions later isn’t such a great idea.

5. Assumption: Locavore, Locavore, Locavore

Reality? Eat global.

Green food comes from where it comes from. If a “place” is highly specialized to make a food in an efficient, healthy and earth-friendly way, might it be better to buy from that source rather than buying the local resource-intensive butter from down the street? We tend to assume that environmentally friendly is somehow akin to being homespun or even quaint, but might our journey here be contingent on creating our own efficiencies, using our ubiquitousness to lessen the load on Spaceship Earth?

6. Assumption: Recycling. Of course.

Reality? Follow the money – and the resource suck

Companies profiting from the practice won’t tell you, and few will acknowledge that recycling is expensive, generates pollutants and is in itself a resource drain. Are there better ways to think about what we do with our used goods and trash – like worrying less about what we do with what we consume and more about simply consuming less? After all, there’s an answer to the taking out the trash problem: Stop making so much trash. This possible truth says forget the red herring cry of “recycle” and tell all who would listen: reduce!

7. Assumption: Organic. Always. Period.

Reality? Caution: Mad Men at work

In some grocery store aisles it’s common now see more “official” organic foods than the evil and bad “non-organics” that we’ve consumed since the invention of, well, the invention. As one stands gazing at organic pop tarts, one might well ask two simple questions: First, what does organic mean? Second, even if I do get a functional answer to question 1, can I believe what I’m reading on the box? Then, as one leaves the store with a couple hundred dollars’ worth of organic stuff, a really big question should loom large: Has this facet of the Green movement been hopelessly co-opted by broad definitions, false advertising and “greenwashing.” Also part of this Organic deconstruction: What about the war on pesticides? How well does that fit in with global health and nutrition efforts? Would the elimination of such chemicals, called for some organic adherents, make us healthier – or cause global famine?

8. Assumption: The green stuff is the good stuff!

Reality? All stuff is stuff

From high-tech to the gadgets designed to make you life more ecologically friendly, we’re bombarded with claims – many truthful – that the stuff we buy, from mining to manufacturing to fulfillment processes, is Green as grass. But what does that mean? More stuff is just that, and even the “greenest” of it requires raw materials, transportation and other resources dedicated to get that product into your hands – before it’s dumped when you’re done with it. Does buying Green help as much as not buying at all?

Of course, others have taken on some of environmentalism’s ”sacred cows,” as Wired magazine did when it took a look a issues specific to global warming, including:

9. Assumption: No nukes is good nukes

Reality? An inevitable option

A surprising number of the ecologically friendly are advocating what they say is clean, green, safe and inevitable. Is the Green tent big enough for these folks who say this fossil fuel alternative is the right way to go?

10: Assumption: Made in China, made by the devil

Reality? A big green ally

The Russians were coming. So were the Japanese. And now, enter the Chinese bogeyman. The fact is there are green-reputable manufacturers in China, and many expect the massive global player to be a leader in green tech and practices going forward. Could the new evil empire be a source of progress rather than just soot?

Some controversy for your environmentally focused brain? This is good. We pose such “alternate realities” not to come down on one side or another of any of these important issues, but rather to point to the eyes-wide-open self examination that must be absorbed into the movement at large if it is to escape the margins and permeate our thinking on a truly meaningful level.

Third Wave Green means not being afraid to question the norms and approach environmentalism from a variety of viewpoints. What are yours?

Special thanks to Sara Ost for contributing to this article.

Images: squacco, gfpeck, Tomorrow Never Knows

War, science denial and Fox News. It’s what’s going on in the world, but it’s not especially merry, merry. If you’re feeling anxious about the eco conversation turning an ugly shade of green at the family Christmas dinner, rest easy. It’s not all doom and gloom. (Besides, there will be plenty of time post-feast to take on Uncle Ulysses on Wikileaks, your sister Sue on why being green doesn’t actually make you a commie, and cousin Clive on the South Atlantic Gyre.)

So, for your dining pleasure, I submit to you three news items everyone can be happy about:

1. Good for flora…

How is this for a dream headline: “Amazon deforestation in dramatic decline, official figures show.”

This is from the Guardian, which reported this summer that data from satellites shows that large areas of forest destruction was about halved in the period between August 2009 and May 2010, compared with the same period a year earlier (to about 930 square miles from about 1860 square miles). The story notes that the Brazilian environment agency, Ibama, said “the drop was due to the increased use of satellite data to spot the felling of trees and new tactics to deter loggers, including ending their ability to hide under cloud cover.” Along these lines, we recently reported here that Google’s announcement this month of its Earth Engine will allow for even more monitoring and measurement of changes in the Earth’s environment. With its eye in the sky, the system will “function like a watchdog camera, supporting the development of ‘monitor, report and verify’ (MRV) efforts to stop global deforestation.” Go, trees!

2. Good for fauna…

Things are looking up for some pretty cool endangered species – you know, the sexy ones that get lots of press and for which even your most “who-cares” relatives have a soft spot. Consider first the mountain gorilla, the number of which in national parks of three African countries has risen by 26 percent in the last seven years, says a recent census. Next, how about those tigers, whose on-the-brink status has led to a recent summit among the 13 nations where the animals still exist in the wild. The takeway was $300 million raised to save the animals (including a cool million from actor Leonardo DiCaprio), as well as agreement to attempt to double their number by 2022. And finally, there’s the canary in our global coalmine – the polar bear – for which The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has just designated 87,000 square miles along the north coast of Alaska as protected “critical habitat” as part of a settlement in a lawsuit filed by environmental groups (although a lump of coal to the Obama administration for declaring polar bears merely “threatened” today).

3. And good for us…

Hooray for the home team on the emissions front. As a result in an increase in United States fuel economy standards, a new EPA report is showing a 14 percent per mile drop in carbon dioxide emissions over the last six years, and a 16 percent drop in gasoline use, with a rise of 3.1 miles per gallon to 22.5. In fact, “C02 emissions have decreased while fuel economy has increased every year since 2005, reversing the trend of the previous eight years.” This doesn’t mean we’re all to breathe easy and lose our discipline on this issue, but good news is good news.

So there. Eat, drink and be environmentally merry. A little more champagne, please! Go ahead and top off the glass.

Special thanks to the Great News Network (GNN) for reminding me that all’s not dire on the environmental front.

Images: Sara&Joachim, Johan J.Ingles-Le Nobel, wwarby, ^riza^

It’s hard to make generalizations about Americans. But here’s one I’ll buy: We tend to rush things. Especially our shopping. Right now, in fact, millions of us, having left our holiday buying to the last minute, are scurrying about picking up our remaining gifts, including those we planned on purchasing since we saw that Canon, Panasonic or Nintendo ad months ago.

What we don’t do is think a lot about stuff. Like the stuff we rush to buy and where the stuff that makes up that stuff comes from. For example, how many people in that insanely packed Best Buy I passed by this morning are going in thinking about where the tungsten in that cell phone they’re about to purchase comes from – and who’s making a load of cash on it way up the product’s food chain?

Well, somebody’s thinking about it. And they want you think about it, too.

The Enough Project is a group dedicated to “helping to build a permanent constituency to prevent genocide and crimes against humanity.” Their focus is primarily on Africa where, 15 years after the murder of more than 800,000 people in Rwanda, the global response to current bloodshed on the continent is pretty much the same today as it was then – way too close to nil.

And your next trip to Best Buy may play a starring role in this drama. A large percentage of high-tech gadgets in today’s marketplace are made using “conflict minerals” mined in the Congo (where diamonds are also at issue), the profits from which are fueling and encouraging mass murder and rape, and other atrocities throughout the region. (This is according to the U.N. Security Council’s “Final Report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo” released last month.) As for the size of the problem, consider this: in the last 15-plus years, conflict in eastern Congo alone has caused more deaths than from any war since WWII.

The deal with the minerals is this, says the Enough Project: “Worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year, the conflict minerals trade [the ores that produce the ‘3Ts’ – tin, tantalum, tungsten – and gold] provides incentives for rebel groups, militias, and criminal networks within the Congolese army to control strategic mines and trading routes through patterns of violent extraction and deeply exploitative behavior.”

Tantalum, tin and tungsten are critical elements used in laptops, mobile phones and other common electronics most of us use every day. Electricity is stored in tantalum, tin is used in circuit board soldering, gold is essential to wiring and tungsten is used to make mobile phones vibrate.

Here are five product areas the Enough Project thinks we all should be asking manufacturers questions about:

Laptops

MP3s

Digital Cameras

Video Game Devices

Mobile Phones

To deal with the problem, the Enough Project recently began working with major electronics companies, engaging (or attempting to engage) 21 industry leaders to call their attention to the issue and inquire about the steps they are taking to ensure their products are “conflict-free.” Last week, it released a report called “Getting to Conflict-Free Assessing Corporate Action on Conflict Minerals,” which ranks the companies as to how well they’re doing in identifying where their minerals come from and taking action to eliminate or at least minimize the use of materials from the region. High marks went out to HP (the best of the bunch), Intel, Motorola, Nokia, Microsoft and Dell. Worst of breed on the issue were Canon, Panasonic, Sharp and Nintendo.

The group’s objective is to have companies at the top of the minerals supply chain “use their buying power to influence their suppliers, exerting pressure down the supply chain, a model of change that has had success in the apparel, forestry, and diamond sectors.” The project’s website reports that it has “seen dramatic changes” since the group began its work, including the passage of conflict minerals legislation in the United States.

The Enough Project is not attempting to instigate coordinated boycotts of certain companies or products, but the group is asking you to take action by learning about which companies are cooperating with efforts to end such blood profits and which are not, and is providing a easy way to engage in the latter in a coordinated campaign.

“We would hope that consumers understand that some companies are clearly taking positive steps toward becoming conflict free, however there is still a long way to go,” Enough Project Policy Analyst Aaron Hall told EcoSalon. “Consumer driven action is one of the most powerful tools for change in our country, and we would encourage people to visit our website, click on the ‘take action’ tab and contact your favorite companies as well as elected representatives and let them know your concerns. If they have been productive on the conflict minerals issue, thank them and ask them to continue to do more. If they are behind the curve, ask them why and demand action. The reduction of violence and mass atrocities in eastern Congo will not be possible without the momentum and pressure created by consumer based action.”

While putting the onus on you – the consumer – is debatable in terms of its ultimate efficacy, it seems that few companies are in any mood to police themselves and governments seem to have little to no interest in atrocities occurring in the region. In any case, maybe the next time the tungsten in your cell phone gives you that little bzzz letting you know so-and-so is calling, consider it a reminder to maybe take some time to better get to know your stuff.

Images: Axel Bührmann, MC4 Army, blogefl, Creative Tools, doobybrain, cloneofsnake