Istanbul during Ramadan.

If you prefer to walk or bike instead of using a car, enjoy being outside, use reusable bags, avoid plastic bottles, eat meat sparingly or not at all, research makeup and cosmetic products for safety, carry a refillable water bottle, and generally avoid buying crap you don't need and using the stuff you do have as long as it is useful, then you are well on your way to successfully completing by DoSomething

photo: Dmytri Kleiner via flickr

Here is the most succinct symbol of how humanity is using resources beyond the capacity of the planet to sustainable regenerate them, and is only increasing to do so: Global Footprint Network tells us that August 21, 2010 is

There's no doubt that the last decade or so has seen the rise of what we might term 'conscious capitalism'. Consumers have increasingly put a premium on paying more for goods and services that have a philanthropic bent -- look at the Fair Trade coffee of Starbucks, the organic produce at Whole Foods, or the donation of shoes through Tom's. Few would argue that this has been a positive development.

We've been focused on educating people about reducing their oil consumption (see our Minus Oil series), so when we heard from DoSomething about their Weekend Without Oil it was as if the idea had been plucked straight from our heads.

Image via Ellie Marie

When I first started Terracycle, I spent a lot of my time explaining what upcycling was. It was this foreign concept whose name wasn't on a lot of people's radar.

Cleaning the supply chain is one of the challenges of Walmart's sustainability project.

Image via Green Biz

If there's a giant retailer out there that's working harder than Wal-Mart to build it's green cred, I certainly haven't heard of it.

Photo via armatoj

We just noted the rising popularity of e-books as Amazon announced sales of digital books have consistently surpassed sales of hardcover books.

Photo by Horia Varlan

According to Amazon, e-books are outpacing hardcover books by around 50%, with about 143 e-books sold for every 100 hardcovers on average over the past three months, and 180 e-books sold for every 100 hardcovers last month.