Carbon Footprint

J UNE 30-JULY 3 ARENDAL, Norway Hove Festival: This gathering is just as focused on the gorgeous natural surroundings as it is on the bands, which this year include Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Massive Attack, Muse, Beach House, and Florence and the Machine. Because you’ll be in the beautiful Scandinavian wilderness, you have the option of camping, but be warned that this is zero carbon footprint camping. So don’t plan to plug in your hair dryer in the morning or leave stacks of empty beer cans as you depart.

Applications are being accepted for restaurants interested in participating in the inaugural edition of the city's "Green Restaurant" certification program. The program, developed in 2010, will certify restaurants as "green" based on how well they perform on a checklist of five categories: reduce, reuse, and recycle; energy conservation; water conservation and protection; pollution prevention; and reducing their carbon footprint. Up to eight restaurants will be chosen as pilot locations over the next year; those that satisfy a minimum number of categories by spring 2013 will be named as Lowell's first Green...

"Green" travel is all the rage; even Prince Charles has sworn off his fleet of Royal Air Force aircraft and resolved to fly commercial (albeit not coach) to do his bit for the environment. Ecotourism is thriving in the world's back of beyond , and some conventioneers now insist on checking a city's eco-fides before booking their rooms. Inevitably, hotels would jump on the bandwagon. Tedd Saunders , a co-owner of Boston's Saunders Hotel Group and president of EcoLogical Solutions Inc. , situates green hotels at the vanguard of "urban eco tourism.

The blue cheese was from Marion. The heavy cream came from Lee. Most of the produce, from Pepperell. Robert Harris is so proud of the local products he uses in his catering that he adorned tables at a recent event with a map showing where the dinner ingredients were grown or made. "It's a great tool to demonstrate to our clients the care that we take in sourcing," said Harris, chef and owner of Season to Taste Catering and The Table, a 10-seat restaurant, both in Cambridge.

Applications are being accepted for restaurants interested in participating in the inaugural edition of the city's "Green Restaurant" certification program. The program, developed in 2010, will certify restaurants as "green" based on how well they perform on a checklist of five categories: reduce, reuse, and recycle; energy conservation; water conservation and protection; pollution prevention; and reducing their carbon footprint. Up to eight restaurants will be chosen as pilot locations over the next year; those that satisfy a minimum number of categories by spring 2013 will be named as Lowell's first Green...

NEW YORK - Pouring buckets of chocolate bars - 855 in all - on a stage seems an odd way to make a point about global warming. But Justin Rowlatt is not a typical environmental journalist. The British reporter known back home as "Ethical Man" spent six weeks traveling 6,500 miles across the United States on public transportation for stories on climate change. His reports are airing on BBC America's "BBC World News America" at 7 on weeknights, as well as in England. "Ethical Man" - a title he's not particularly fond of - came from a series of BBC reports three years ago. Rowlatt, his wife,...

LONDON -- Putting his money where his environmentalist mouth is, Prince Charles is swapping gas-guzzling private planes and helicopters for commercial flights, train journeys, and biodiesel cars. A longtime champion of green causes, the heir to the throne says action is needed now to avoid leaving a ruined planet to the next generation. "From February, we are going to look at the diary and see what we can do to reduce our carbon footprint," a spokeswoman for the prince's London residence, Clarence House, said yesterday on condition of anonymity in line with royal...

"When the well is dry, we learn the worth of water. " The card, with its Benjamin Franklin aphorism, is hard to ignore in the bath of a guest room at Thistledown Inn, a bed-and-breakfast in Morrisville. To reinforce the message, it explains where the inn gets its tap water, how much fluoride, chlorine, and sodium hydroxide are added, and where it ranks on the purity scale (relatively high). The eco-cards, as innkeeper Sheila Tymon calls them, address everything from composting to carbon dioxide emissions.

David Tolwinski is a convert. And he has his daughter to thank for it. Tolwinski was skeptical of the Toyota Prius when the hybrid vehicle first came out. Then, a few years ago, his daughter wanted a new car when she graduated from college and was heading to Arizona for graduate school. He wanted to buy her a small sport utility vehicle. She talked him into looking at the Prius, which uses a battery-powered electric motor along with a small gasoline engine. “She’s involved in climate studies and was idealistic — and I’m glad she is — about helping solve the world’s...

The blue cheese was from Marion. The heavy cream came from Lee. Most of the produce, from Pepperell. Robert Harris is so proud of the local products he uses in his catering that he adorned tables at a recent event with a map showing where the dinner ingredients were grown or made. "It's a great tool to demonstrate to our clients the care that we take in sourcing," said Harris, chef and owner of Season to Taste Catering and The Table, a 10-seat restaurant, both in Cambridge.

David Tolwinski is a convert. And he has his daughter to thank for it. Tolwinski was skeptical of the Toyota Prius when the hybrid vehicle first came out. Then, a few years ago, his daughter wanted a new car when she graduated from college and was heading to Arizona for graduate school. He wanted to buy her a small sport utility vehicle. She talked him into looking at the Prius, which uses a battery-powered electric motor along with a small gasoline engine. “She’s involved in climate studies and was idealistic — and I’m glad she is — about helping solve the world’s problems,’’ he said.

J UNE 30-JULY 3 ARENDAL, Norway Hove Festival: This gathering is just as focused on the gorgeous natural surroundings as it is on the bands, which this year include Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Massive Attack, Muse, Beach House, and Florence and the Machine. Because you’ll be in the beautiful Scandinavian wilderness, you have the option of camping, but be warned that this is zero carbon footprint camping. So don’t plan to plug in your hair dryer in the morning or leave stacks of empty beer cans as you depart.

NEW YORK - Pouring buckets of chocolate bars - 855 in all - on a stage seems an odd way to make a point about global warming. But Justin Rowlatt is not a typical environmental journalist. The British reporter known back home as "Ethical Man" spent six weeks traveling 6,500 miles across the United States on public transportation for stories on climate change. His reports are airing on BBC America's "BBC World News America" at 7 on weeknights, as well as in England. "Ethical Man" - a title he's not particularly fond of - came from a series of BBC...

"When the well is dry, we learn the worth of water. " The card, with its Benjamin Franklin aphorism, is hard to ignore in the bath of a guest room at Thistledown Inn, a bed-and-breakfast in Morrisville. To reinforce the message, it explains where the inn gets its tap water, how much fluoride, chlorine, and sodium hydroxide are added, and where it ranks on the purity scale (relatively high). The eco-cards, as innkeeper Sheila Tymon calls them, address everything from composting to carbon dioxide emissions.

"Green" travel is all the rage; even Prince Charles has sworn off his fleet of Royal Air Force aircraft and resolved to fly commercial (albeit not coach) to do his bit for the environment. Ecotourism is thriving in the world's back of beyond , and some conventioneers now insist on checking a city's eco-fides before booking their rooms. Inevitably, hotels would jump on the bandwagon. Tedd Saunders , a co-owner of Boston's Saunders Hotel Group and president of EcoLogical Solutions Inc. , situates green hotels at the vanguard of "urban eco tourism.

LONDON -- Putting his money where his environmentalist mouth is, Prince Charles is swapping gas-guzzling private planes and helicopters for commercial flights, train journeys, and biodiesel cars. A longtime champion of green causes, the heir to the throne says action is needed now to avoid leaving a ruined planet to the next generation. "From February, we are going to look at the diary and see what we can do to reduce our carbon footprint," a spokeswoman for the prince's London residence, Clarence House, said yesterday on condition of anonymity in line with royal rules.

NARRAGANSETT BAY, R.I. - “Do you know what we do with tour boats?’’ asks Henry Wood, as yet another tour boat passes by. “We moon them.’’ Which the 80-year-old proceeds to do, to the delighted shrieks of the passengers. If you’d spent a lot of time in a big house on a small rock in Narragansett Bay, you too might get tired of tour boats - along with curious kayakers, enormous freighters, kamikaze jet-skiers, and an occasional appearance by the gigantic Queen Mary II, which makes even Clingstone appear Lilliputian.

Zipcar Inc. is partnering with the University of Illinois to offer its vehicles on the Chicago campus. Financial terms were not disclosed. As part of the program, university members ages 18 to 20 have access to six vehicles, while members ages 21 and up can use all eight of the Zipcars on campus. Zipcar, which has partnerships with over 250 colleges and universities, said its services help students save money, avoid the hassles of parking and maintenance, and reduce their carbon footprint.