Citing false advertising, consumer advocacy group (and Wal-Mart thorn) Wal-Mart Watch is gearing up to file claims in both Arizona and Nebraska. TV spots recently began running in the Tucson and Omaha markets making the claim that local families receive a “raise” of $2,300 when Wal-Mart comes to town. A study, funded by Wal-Mart, cites this number as the savings that a typical working family can expect to save by shopping at Wal-Mart.

Unlike you might assume with such a campaign, these ads did not come from the marketing department. Rather, these are from Corporate Affairs. And, by the quotes from the Wal-Mart spokesperson, the marketing department does not want to be associated with this timebomb.

Read the complete article on the Advertising Age web site.

I first laid eyes on the Smart car while in France earlier this year and was intrigued by the size and style. Judging by its diminutive frame, I also assumed that gas mileage would be exceptional. There has long been speculation that the cars would eventually make their way to the States and it finally looks like the day in coming.

The big-wigs at DaimlerChrysler (owners of Smart) have set 2008 as the year that we Americans get to enjoy the vehicle that 750,000 of our European counterparts have been buzzing around in since 1998.

Frederick Staab wrote a great piece for Business Week about his weekend in New York City spent with the Smart.

We don’t carry furniture at Pangaya, but if we did, you can bet that we would offer the incredible line from ducduc. ducduc is a collaborative design house based on four basic ideals; self expression, nurturing, versatility, and the environment. The group uses sustainable design and manufacturing processes and donates 10% of all profits to children’s charities.

While certainly residing at the upper end of the price spectrum, ducduc shows that design can be fun and responsible, even if we adults can only admire as the kids have all of the fun. The ducduc web site is light on product details (read: none), so head over to Design Public for a look.

Early adoptors of hybrid vehicles were driven by environmental ideals, on a mission to “make a statement”. or interested in owning the latest technology. Under no circumstance could the argument be made that they were doing it for financial reasons. That’s all changing now.

With tax breaks and rising fuel costs, you can now add being fiscally responsible to the pro side of the hybrid purchase equation. This article from MarketWatch does a nice job of discussing the upcoming reduction of some tax breaks, as well as provides a handy chart of time needed to breakeven on a hybrid at different levels of annual mileage.

Complete story from MarketWatch.

Two professors from Iowa State University see little standing in the way of turning ethanol into food grade alcohol in the near future. With the race to open ethanol plants as an alternative fuel source to foreign oil, they are betting that there will be a time when excess capacity will be available to use for the production of alcohol.

Evidently, it’s just a couple of extra steps in the distillation process and they see knocking the extra cost down from the current 50 cents per gallon to under a penny. In addition to being used in cocktails, the alcohol can be used in mouthwash, personal care products, and more.

Complete story from the Associated Press.

Vacation is a summer ritual enjoyed by millions of Americans each summer. Oftentimes, lost in the euphoria of getting away from it all, is the fact that these getaways come with costs not measured in credit card expenditures racked up at the end of the week.

Whether you are traveling around the world, or piling into the family car for a road trip, here are three things you can do to help mitigate your impact on the environment.

• Carbon Offsetting is done by paying to offset the emissions created by your trip. Visit the Climate Care web site to calculate the tab and your money is then used for projects around the world that help in the reduction of carbon emissions.
• Choose green lodging whenever possible. There are a number of resources on the Internet and a simple Google or Yahoo search for your destination should set you on the right track.
• Spend some time learning about eco-tourism. This includes lodging, local restaurants, transportation, and recreation.

Have fun and relax, it is a vacation afterall.

Complete story from the Associated Press.

When trading stocks and currencies starts to get a little boring, you can head over to the Chicago Climate Exchange and try your hand at the smog trading game. Your company has to be a member and the idea of trading greenhouses gases seems a bit scary to us.

This article from Fortune is full of information about the process of such trading, but we’ll let you read that if you are so inclined. The real news is in the second paragraph of the article. Get this. A single set of smokestacks in West Virginia emit as much greenhouse gas as all of Canada and represents about ten percent of the nation’s stationary (no car) related pollution.

Complete story from Fortune.

This is by far the slickest home recycling set-up we’ve ever seen. Working with BMW Design, the team at ecopod has come up with a seemingly genius-in-its-simplicity solution to dealing with recycling.

Based on information from Springwise, the ecopod easily compacts cans and plastic bottles, and has appropriate spaces for paper and other items that don’t require crushing. With its stylish design and reduction in space required for recyclables (read less trips lugging recycling outside), it looks like ecopod may just have a hit on their hands.

More details from Springwise.

Over the past couple of years Ogilvy & Mather has done a masterful job of recreating the public perception of BP. The large oil company has been positioned in the public eye as that of a forward thinking energy company, not a stodgy old world oil company.

However, the author of this piece in Advertising Age, brings up an interesting point to ponder. Would everyone be better off if BP had been paying more attention to its core business than trying to pacify the public with enlightened marketing? As the author points out, BP is not your traditional oil company and, in fact, has quite a stake in alternative energy businesses which you can read about on the Environment and Society section of the BP web site.

Two months after a British newspaper published allegations of improper working conditions, Apple has released the results of its investigation into the conditions at its iPod City manufacturing facility in China. While Apple is ultimately responsible, it is important to note that the facility is not owned by Apple and it has acted quickly to investigate and remedy the situation.

You can read the complete story in Business Week and the results of the investigation on the Apple web site.