Green is the new buzz-word in the toy industry this season as parents demand safer, healthier, eco-friendly toys. Recent toy-safety scares, combined with the surge in interest for more environmentally friendly products, have toy-makers finding new ways (and rediscovering old ways) of making toys that are safe and fun for children and for the environment. Ecologically-minded toy-makers, such as Green Toys, Earthentree, and Childtrek are finding ways to provide children with fun, entertaining and educational toys that are safe and that have a low impact on the environment. Natural, non-toxic, and recycled materials are used to make toys which range from hand-crafted wooden games to battery-free cars whose lights and sounds are kid-powered.

Popular materials for eco-friendly toys include non-threatened or plantation-grown hardwood, recycled plastic, and natural fibers, such as organic cotton and wool. Instead of traditional acrylic or oil-based paints, some toy-makers are exploring natural alternatives, such as soy-based inks and vegetable dyes, which are much safer for both children and for the environment. Some wooden toys are being left in their natural state or given a beeswax finish, and some fabrics used to make plush toys are being left unbleached to reduce the amount of chemicals used in the toy-making process.

As millions of Americans enjoy the holidays, large meals and special occasions where many places are set mean waste is sure to pile up. Make this Thanksgiving a green one by taking proactive steps to minimize the output of garbage and reduce waste while offering your guests a dazzling meal. Sometimes just being conscious can ensure you will enjoy a really green Thanksgiving. To help you along the way, here are a handful of tips that might make your Thanksgiving even more green:

Watt is considered an eco-friendly club—the first to be opened by the Sustainable Dance Club. Watt works to keep its wastes to a minimum by decreasing paper use, conserving water with rainwater toilets and waterless urinals. and producing about fifty percent of their energy using renewable energy sources.
But Watt’s real draw is its dance floor.

What if you could produce the electricity for your television by playing Dance Dance Revolution? Or what if all it took to power city lights was the energy collected from the vibrations of the cars that drove down the street?

Scientists have been working on harvesting the energy we release in everyday activities (like walking or dancing) and converting the harvested energy into electricity through a phenomena called piezoelectricity. Piezoelectricity is created when certain minerals, like quartz or salt, are compressed and give off an electric charge.

60 Minutes Reports: Poor Recycling Processes Lead to Pollution Disasters in China

The altruistic feeling of recycling may not always lead to good things as modern technology-intensive countries like the US follow the American mantra of "out with the old and in with the new." America exports some of the most toxic computer waste products in the world to poor rural communities in countries like China where these parts are broken down and melted in manners that are highly toxic to the low wage workers who inhabit these regions. Unlike the US, many importing countries of these outdated computer monitors, keyboards and CPU's have low recycling standards and fewer regulations needed to protect workers. Whole communities are exposed to toxic fumes and mercury and toxic compounds poison their rivers and streams making these regions some of the most polluted places on the planet. Even some recycling companies like Executive Recycling, mentioned in the 60 Minutes video below, claim they do not export junked computer products to China, while 60 Minutes uncovers may not actually be the case.

We all know that it saves energy to turn off the lights when we aren’t using them, but did you know that the amount and type of lighting you use can affect your health and mental attitude? The problem is called over-illumination. Over-illumination occurs when too much artificial lighting is used in an indoor area. Besides needlessly consuming energy resources, studies report that over-illumination can have adverse health effects on people working in over-illuminated environments, causing symptoms such as fatigue, headache, stress, and high blood pressure. Most of us have little control over the lighting situation in our workplaces, but here are some ways you can reduce the effects of over-illumination in your own home.

1. Open the blinds. Using natural sunlight instead of incandescent or florescent lighting during the daylight hours can substantially decrease energy usage. Studies show that increased sunlight has positive effects on an individual’s mental health and well-being, allowing him or her to be happier and more productive than when only exposed to artificial lighting.

2. Consider light base colors for decorating. Because lighter colors reflect more light than darker ones, large, lighter-colored surfaces allow sunlight to reflect farther into your living environment. Lighter colors seem brighter, allowing you to illuminate more space with less energy.

This interactive quiz will test your skills at International dining etiquette with such questions as:

• Do Chinese moms make their kids eat everything on their plates?
• If you're left handed and an Iranian host gives you a right handed-fork, what should you do?
• In a Spanish snack bar, what should you do with your crumbs, old napkins, food and wrappers?
• What do the English think about Americans who eat chicken with their hands?

Multiple choice answers might make it easier or might help to through you off even more. Play this interactive International dining etiquette quiz now.

Solyndra™ offers a unique cylindrical shaped solar panel that can, unlike traditional flat solar panels, capture both low-angle and reflected sunlight. This effectively creates a solar array that offers greater surface area to convert more of the sun's rays into energy. The net result is that flat roofed commercial buildings can sustain more solar arrays and offer companies greater energy output than traditional flat panel systems.

According to Solyndra, there are 30 billion square feet of rooftops that could take advantage of Solyndra's cylinder shaped solar arrays in the business sector within the United States alone. This, Solyndra has estimated, could offer 150 gigawatts of electricity were these commercial rooftops affixed with Solyndra's cylindrical solar arrays.

Unlike flat solar panels that require direct sunlight to efficiently turn sunlight into electricity, Solyndra's drum shaped units capture light from all directions. This means that Solyndra's solar arrays do not need to be tilted to the optimum angle the way flat panels must be setup. In turn, more surface area of a flat commercial roof can contain the Solyndra system over the traditional flat panel solar array producing better output.