Four Green Steps is an educational blog that contains information on various environmental topics such as green living, sustainable products, and corporate responsibility
Author: Zachary Shanan
Fox thought to be extinct found in California.
Three weeks ago, U.S. Forest Service biologists thought they found a fox in the mountains of central California that is supposed to be extinct.
The biologists looked to experts at the University of California, Davis to confirm this finding. Sure enough, the fox they stumbled across was this thought-to-be-extinct fox, a Sierra Nevada red fox (Vulpes vulpes necator).
Author: Melanie Kozlan
As technology develops and Apple offers a new version of the iphone every few months, we are faced with the increasing issue of e-waste. E-waste is trash accumulated from old electronics, appliances and gadgets- everything from VHS videos to broken blenders and old cellphones. 70% of metals filling landfills in the U.S.A. consists of e-waste. How do we combat this growing problem of electronic waste?
Continue reading →Author: Danielle Salley
Truth be told, today’s marketing schemes are typically worded to benefit the company in question, and rarely to benefit the environment. Then why do their products pretend to be something they’re not? We all know the answer: to sell! It is not surprising that companies are attempting to push the green buttons to distinguish their products over others, particularly since ‘going green’ is the new trend.
Consumers are more willing to buy a product with a green label on the front, even without substantiated green evidence, because it’s easier on all of our consciences. Take a household product for example: a cleaning detergent that says ‘environmentally friendly’ or ‘ecosmart’ would likely be purchased over another standard detergent. So how can we determine if we are being ‘greenwashed’?
Continue reading →Author: Ross Donald
Electric lighting is a primary consumer of energy in the home, comprising 15-25% of the average residence’s annual energy budget. If every home in America replaced just a single, standard bulb with one that is considered energy efficient, enough energy would be saved to light 3 million homes for an entire year. It would also save nearly $600 million in yearly energy costs and prevent 9 billion pounds of harmful, ozone-eating greenhouse gas emissions (roughly equivalent to that produced by upwards of 1 million automobiles.)