Ten greenest colleges in the nation

America’s institutions of higher learning are doing more than just molding and inspiring the bright minds of students. Many are also setting admirable examples of sustainable solutions to myriad problems.

States take on pollution while D.C. is distracted

While Capitol Hill has been focused on the financial crisis, states from one end of the country to the other were getting some work done last week for their citizens, reports The Daily Green.

Portions of the nation have signed various cap-and-trade systems in an effort to control pollution. Simply stated, cap-and-trade systems offer financial incentives for achieving emissions reductions.

Green real estate is taking over

By 2012, green building could represent 20% of the market, reports the Daily Green. This is shocking news in a real estate economy that’s seeing tough times.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Green Building Conference revealed the study that focused on changes in green building activity between 2001 and 2007. The findings far exceeded expectations.

Across the Ocean on Plastic Bottles

Two men who spent three months on a raft made of plastic bottles to raise awareness of ocean pollution have completed their trip across the Pacific Ocean.

The men traveled 2,600 miles on what they called “The Junk Raft” - a raft made up of salvaged sailboat masts, the fuselage of a Cessna airplane and six pontoons filled with 15,000 plastic bottles.

Melting Artic Ice Sets New Record

Artic sea ice has melted to the second lowest level on record.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center says the amount of sea ice is down to 2.03 million square miles so far this year. The lowest point on record is 1.65 million square miles, but with three weeks left in the melt season, scientists say this year could break that record.

Military Housing Goes Green

The U.S. military is working on its first “zero-energy” homes.

Environmental designers and green architects are meeting this week at Fort Campbell to draw up plans for two duplexes that will incorporate solar panels and geothermal technology. The goal is for the houses to produce as much energy as they consume from the power grid over a year.

Hydrogen Powered Go-Karts

The BBC reports on the first international hydrogen-powered motorsport race, which took place in the Netherlands this weekend.

Colleges ditch cafeteria trays to save water

Colleges around the country have found a new way to conserve water and energy - eliminating trays in their cafeterias. Two of the biggest companies that run college cafeterias, Aramark and Sodexo, say almost half of the colleges and universities they work with are dumping their trays.

BRICK Winner may replace Tavis Smiley

Van Jones, a 1996 BRICK Award (now the Do Something Award) winner, may be replacing Tavis Smiley, one of America’s most celebrated and respected media personalities, as commentator on the nationally syndicated “Tom Joyner Morning Show.”

Do Something saw the potential of this rising star way back in 1996 when he won a BRICK for founding and directing the San Francisco-based Bay Area Police Watch, an organization that assists survivors of police misconduct and brutality.