Welcome back eco-enthusiasts for another edition of green news of the week featuring a variety of green stories from around the blogosphere.  This weeks’ highlights: responsible celebrities, greener deliveries from Office Depot, Ford offers a zero emission solution, 10 Plants that clean the air in your home, the impact of cheese on the environment, and Vivienne Westwood launches her new eco-chic reusable bags.  If you see a headline that inspires curiosity, just click on it to read the full article.

Vote for the world’s most ‘Responsible Celebrity’
Voting is now open for the INTERNATIONAL GREEN AWARDS™ inaugural Best Green International Celebrity Award.  The nominees include 15 well respected celebrities who are ambassadors for the environment and sustainable development, aptly deemed ‘responsible celebrities’.  I think everyone knew Leonardo DiCaprio would be included but check out the star-studded list of nominees and see which of your favourite green celebrities made the cut.

Office Depot Replaces Cardboard Boxes With Reusable Totes
Office Depot is offering greener shipping by switching to reusable plastic totes instead of cardboard boxes combined with reusable paper bags.  The reusable bags are made from 40% post consumer recycled paper content and the reusable plastic tote that protects the bags during transportation contains 60% post consumer recycled plastic. Their new GreenerOffice™ Delivery Service demonstrates Office Depot’s commitment “to reducing the environmental impact of our deliveries while responding to our customers’ interest in saving resources and reducing waste.”

Ford, SunPower partner on rooftop solar for EV owners
Electric Vehicles (EV) may be even greener.  Ford and solar systems provider SunPower announced Wednesday that they would partner and provide drivers of Ford’s Focus Electric car with a rooftop solar system intended to offset the electricity required by the vehicle to run.  So not only will it never need a drop of gas, but with a rooftop solar system, the car would represent zero emissions.

10 Plants That Clean the Air Inside Your Home
“Although there are many different chemicals we would like to eliminate from our diet, the three most common ones found in our homes are benzene (a component of crude oil and solvents), formaldehyde (a colorless gas recently added to the Report on Carcinogens linking it to cancer) and trichloroethylenes (chlorinated hydrocarbons mostly used in industrial solvents). A study by Dr. Bill Wolverton, a former research scientist at NASA, resulted in a comprehensive list of the most effective plants to remove toxic chemicals from our air.”

Is Your Cheese Killing the Planet?
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) worked with CleanMetrics, and ranked protein based on their life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions per four-ounce serving.  As it turns out, cheese is the third worst offender behind beef and lamb.  Why?  “Cheese has a high carbon footprint because it takes a lot of milk to produce a pound of cheese — 10 pounds of milk, on average, go into producing a pound of hard cheese,” says report author Kari Hamerschlag, senior analyst at EWG. “You’re producing the milk from a dairy cow that is emitting large quantities of methane, which has a global-warming impact 25 times higher than carbon. And then you have the methane and nitrous oxide that are also generated from the cow’s manure. And then all of the grains that go into feeding the cows, which range from corn to alfalfa and other forage, and there’s a footprint associated with that.”

Vivienne Westwood Launches Chic Recycled Handbag Line
Vivienne Westwood is promoting reusable bags made from recycled materials with her Ethical Fashion Africa collection and a variety of eco-friendly handbags.  “Handmade in Nairobi, the collection is produced from recycled materials by marginalized communities of women, with the support of the International Trade Center’s Ethical Fashion Program of the United Nations.”