Photo Credit: Shoshana Guy.

Jeff Corwin takes a break to hydrate while filming the newest edition of MSNBC's Future Earth series: 100 Heartbeats on location in a cloud forest in Panama. Good thing he had his trusty Green is Universal canteen with him!

In an effort to reduce the plastic water bottle waste of our productions, Green is Universal has supplied various productions heading into the field this fall with these reusable water bottles, from NBC to MSNBC, Bravo to USA Network and more.

To learn more about what NBC Universal is doing to green our productions, go to http://www.greenisuniversal.com/guide/.

If you can't tune in to all our green programming this week, get some green power from your mobile phone and help protect Mother Earth. Sign up for Green Is Universal's Mobile Green Alerts. It's simple, efficient, and a great way to stay green while on the go! It also helps you stay connected to greenisuniversal.com.

Sign up for Green Is Universal's Green Alerts and receive text messages with tips on how you can do your part for the environment. From changing a light bulb to recycling old clothes, these tips make it easier to give back to the planet no matter where you are. Living green has never been so easy!

To sign up, text GREENU to 46833 with your mobile phone. Standard Text Messaging Rates Apply.

*To STOP your alerts, reply STOP to one of our messages.

As I'm going through all of the amazing green routines people have sent us, I see a few questions that keep popping up.  A big one is about stopping junk mail and catalogs.

To reduce the sometimes overwhelming amount of junk mail you receive, the nifty site greendimes.org can solve most of your problems.  A basic, free membership will provide you all the tools you need to stop most junk mail.  If you need to send written statements to some companies, Green Dimes will even send you the pre-written card, so all you have to do is sign and send!  It couldn't be easier.

Now, the reason I say most junk mail, is because another big portion of mail that I'm seeing email questions about stopping is credit card offers - something that Green Dimes claims they can't reduce.  So I found this site from the Federal Trade Commission, that explains exactly how to opt-out of pre-screened offers of credit and insurance - hallelujah!

Got plans this Saturday night? Pencil this one in your calendar: Earth Hour. All you have to do is turn out your lights. It may sound crazy, but everyone is doing it. Seriously. Everyone.

Earth Hour is a global event that takes place this Saturday, March 28, from 8:30-9:30 p.m. Like the wave at a baseball game, a bout of darkness will traverse the globe. In an effort to show Mother Earth some support, people in countries around the world will unplug their computers, switch off their lights and turn off their TVs.

Even big corporations, like our mother ship NBC, are getting into it. NBC will turn off its marquee lights at Rockefeller Center in New York City in support of the Earth Hour initiative.

If we can do it, so can you. Instead of lamenting an hour without your beloved electricity, make a thing of it. Light some candles, play some board games and (gasp!) engage in conversation.

If you've ever wondered how you can help the earth and aren't ready to make a big commitment, then celebrate Earth Hour this weekend. If you think little old you can't make a difference, take the words of Galadriel from Lord of the Rings to heart. "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future." As in fiction, so in life. Switch off, man.

By Julie Fiedler
NBCNewYork.com

"Greening" the company line is standard practice in the electronics industry, and we've been getting plenty of it here at CES 2009. After all, if washing machine A uses half as much energy as machine B, it must be better for the environment.

Right?

If only power consumption was the sole culprit, then corporations really would be as green as they claim to be. The industry has plenty of massive hurdles to clear in non-recyclable components, phantom/standby energy, harmful byproducts caused by manufacturing processes and -- the worst -- electronic waste.

So what makes a company come off as having nothing more than a green tongue, and who's actually walking the walk?

Read the rest of Trevor's blog at DVICE.com

At first blush, the ecobutton looks like another USB toy to distract you from your real work, but click it when you walk away from your desk, and you get to see just how much energy -- and money -- you can save by slashing standby power use.

Let's be honest. We all hate our PC's "hibernate" mode. It takes forever to warm back up and we're busy. But plug in the $20 glowing ecobutton (relax, the light itself uses practically no power), give it a push when you walk away, and your computer goes into rest mode that cuts its power usage up to 90%.

Grab a coffee, come back and click it again, and you first get a screen showing you how much energy, carbon and cash you've saved by using the ecobutton. Click it again and you are right where you left off, ready to go. If you like to double-click because you don't care how much money you're saving your boss, you can do that, too -- it still gets you back to ready mode ASAP.

Phantom power hunting -- a new sport at this year's CES -- can have a remarkable impact on the user's bottom line, especially if you're, say, a company with a few hundred desktop PCs. Ecobutton estimates it could help save $1.3 billion in wasted energy and 5 million tons of carbon coughed up by 165 million idling American PCs.

By Trevor Curwin, DVICE.com

New York eco-boutique Areaware trotted out their line of sustainably harvested Magno wooden radios at this year's CES. Everything except the electronics themselves is made entirely of new growth wood by artisans in a small fishing village in Java.



The Magno comes in small and medium sizes, and features a cool mix of retro and Fisher Price-y styling. They do recommend oiling the uncoated surfaces of the radio "to encourage a deeper connection between user and object."

The multi-band radio -- AM, FM and shortwave -- includes wood-wrapped jacks to connect your iPod or other MP3 player in the back. A small one retails for $200, a medium for $250.

By Trevor Curwin, DVICE.com

Kinesis Industries debuted its 2-in-1 handheld recharger here at CES, putting solar and wind power generation together in one rugged package.

It has the largest battery capacity of its competitors, with one fully charged K2 able to rejuice a typical cell phone 5 times over; just one hour of wind or sun will give you 30 minutes on the phone. LED lights on the side let you know just how much charge you have left.

You can stand up the K2 or leave it on its side for optimal sun exposure, and a clip in the bottom allows it to hang from your car, bike or ATV an recharge with wind. It comes with a built-in USB port, and a convenient screwcap on the bottom hides all the additional adaptors you need.

The K2 will retail for around $100.

By Trevor Curwin, DVICE.com

With the new mCube90G power adapter from Innergie and Green Plug, road warriors now have a lighter, greener option to toting around all those different power supplies and cables.

The adapter is green in two ways: It cuts your devices' phantom -- or standby -- power usage and it allows manufacturers to standardize one universal power connector, meaning fewer device-specific power sources get made. These power supplies tend to have longer lives than the gadgets they juice up, but get thrown out with the obsolete tech.

Stringent rules in some states force electronics manufacturers to keep phantom power usage in devices to 0.5 watts. But plug two of those 0.5-watt devices into a single mCube90G adapter instead of a typical power strip, and it will save that extra 0.5 watt. Four-plug -- and larger -- versions are planned.

By Trevor Curwin, DVICE.com

Power-adaptor-maker iGo debuted an 8-outlet surge protector that cuts standby power consumption -- the minimal power your tech uses while plugged in but not turned on -- by 80%. And it looks pretty slick for something you're used to kicking out of the way under your desk.



The firm's proprietary "Green Technology" allows the surge protector -- available this summer at just under $70 -- to communicate with the attached devices, using technology already found in most electronics, and effectively ending any powering up once they're fully charged.

And if you're using it in your home office, it also has a couple of "dumb outlets" that lets certain devices stay plugged in like normal, perfect for a clock or that coffee maker you've got on a timer in the morning.

It's one of three greener power options the firm rolled out today using their "Green Technology"; they also have a dedicated laptop charger and a wall socket that's essentially a one-plug version of the surge protector.

By Trevor Curwin, DVICE.com