Source: Thomson Reuters

As concerns about climate change escalate and prices on fossil fuels like oil and natural gas soar to record levels, more companies are investing in ways to use methane gas to power homes and vehicles.

World Business Council for Sustainable Development

The practice of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is picking up steam, most notably in the information technology industry. A growing number of companies are taking on greater levels of responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products – from point of manufacturing through to end of the life recycling. E-waste recycling is taking off, but obstacles remain to its widespread practice in North America.

The Globe and Mail

While concerns over the environment remain high in the public consciousness, most Canadians are still used to grabbing non-recyclable food containers and coffee cups on their way to work and purchasing products that come with an excessive amount of plastic packaging.

The Seattle Times

Since the first curbside recycling program was initiated in 1987, Seattleites have become accustomed to recycling paper, glass, metals and yard waste. Many see it as their civic duty and a way to help the environment.

Still, the city of Seattle sends by truck and train more than 50 percent — 440,000 tons per year — of its municipal waste to landfills, much of it to Bend, Ore. A large percentage of municipal landfill waste is from construction and demolition debris, estimated to be between 20 and 30 percent nationally.

The Sun Times

An Owen Sound city councillor wants bottled water banned from municipal buildings.

City/county Coun. Arlene Wright has served notice she will introduce such a motion at council’s Sept. 22 meeting. It will call for a ban on plastic water bottles at city-owned buildings such as the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre, city hall, the Coliseum, the Owen Sound and North Grey Union Public Library and Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery.

World Changing

Eric Lombardi, the waste-management guru behind Boulder, Colo.-based recycler Eco-Cycle, is fighting incinerators around the world with a vision. Although his Zero-Waste Park may never be built, he has been able to use the artistic plan as an effective tool for discussion that has allowed city planners to consider alternative solutions.

International Herald Tribune

With record high jet fuel prices threatening to change every aspect of aviation, sustainability is the buzzword at Farnborough this year, and it is echoing as loud as the planes screaming by overhead.

The Christian Science Monitor

Stroll around a typical home-goods store and you might feel as though you’re walking outdoors – everything is turning green. Over the past year, more mainstream companies have jumped on the green bandwagon, unveiling “natural” cleaners, recycled products and packaging, sustainably made furniture, and housewares aimed at a growing market niche: the green consumer.

The New York Times

New York is just one of a number of cities that have moved to limit bottled water because of environmental and cost concerns. Bottled water costs 4,000 to 10,000 times as much as tap water, according to the Think Outside the Bottle environmental campaign. The plastic bottles, while recyclable, often end up in landfills. In addition, petroleum is consumed in producing and transporting them.

Collecting garbage and recyclables in California is about to get a lot cleaner, thanks to a joint venture between Linde North America and Waste Management (NYSE:WMI) that will create the world’s largest facility to convert landfill gas into clean vehicle fuel.