If you’re reading Inhabitat, you’re no doubt aware of how popular the ‘green’ trend has become. Businesses have finally started to realize that the environmental movement is here to stay, and that there is money to be made ingoing green. This is something that Inhabitat readers and concerned citizens should be happy about… sort of. While it is great that so many businesses finally see the green in ‘going green’, too often businesses approachgoing green in all the wrong ways– producinguseless ‘eco’ products,tone-deaf marketing, or even worse:greenwashing. Check out our list of thetop 5 mistakes that businesses make when trying to go green.

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Post tags:eco business,environmental business,environmental policies,going green,green business,green your business,Greenwash,tips to green your mistake,top 5 business mistakes

I like this idea for an Easter egg receptacle.  We’re going to be away from home this Easter and staying in a B&B,  so this is a good idea for somewhere for the Easter Bunny to leave eggs for the children.  It’s messy and a great kids’ craft and it’s made of stuff that is free, natural or would otherwise end up in the bin.

For full instructions on how to make a bird’s nest, visitGrowing Up Creative.

If you make one, please post a link to your image in comments, we’d love to see your works of art.

How-to make a bird’s nest[Growing Up Creative]

Yesterday, Colorado's state legislature finalizeda billto increase the state's renewable energy standard to 30 percent by 2020.

Colorado was one of the first states to adopt a renewable energy standard at all, committing in 2004 to get 10 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2015 and increasing that to 20 percent by 2020 in 2006.  This latest measure puts the state right behind California, who has the highest standard at 33 percent by 2020.

The bill also requires utilities to get 3 percent of their electricity from distributed sources like rooftop solar and other smaller wind and solar installations in order to give a boost to local renewable energy and construction companies.  That requirement alone will be responsible for 1 GW of clean energy, save 6.8 billion gallons of water and reduce emissions by 30 million tons of CO2 a year.

viaClimate Progress

Eco Factor:Sustainable architecture designed to have minimal impact on the environment.

Designed by Coolie Calihan and Charles Johnson, the Cidade Suspensa (Suspended City in Brazilian Portuguese), aims to refine urban architecture and bring it in harmony with nature and the environment. The site of this proposal is located on the dense urban waterfront of Rio de Janeiro and is to be completed in time for the 2016 Olympics.

The structure uses a massive suspension system to lift an intricate and dense city-like infrastructure off the Earth’s surface. Two pylons anchored on the ground support a web of tendons and framework that reaches into the ocean. This unique levitation system minimizes the footprint of the structure on the ground and expands opportunities for Rio’s future developments.

The structural pylons support all of the mechanical and transportation systems as well as the “biomass generator.” These generators also take advantage of hydroponics, water recycling, waste composting, fish farming and other agricultural sciences. They create a sustainable food source that can be directly distributed to the city inhabitants, thereby saving energy and reducing transportation.

The forms of the city are divided into three adjacent layers where voids are left from the structural web to create space for apartments, green spaces, markets and other urban environments to take shape.

Via:eVolo Skyscraper Competition

Key senators, industry officials, senior advisers and cabinet members met yesterday withPresident Obamato talk about the upcoming Climate andEnergy Bill. The bill has been largely put aside byCongressin favor of passingHealthcare legislationand yesterday’s meetings were an attempt byPresident Obamato get the bill moving. The talks highlighted the simple reason the bill is stalled: the Democrats are largely for a ClimateandEnergy bill and the majority of Republicans want to leave the “Climate” part out of it — mainly any kind of carbon capping or taxing legislation.

Read the rest ofThe Ins & Outs of the Upcoming Energy & Climate Bill and Why It’s Stalled

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