Even special events planners are taking into account the amount of devastation they can do to the planet. Anytime large groups of people get together, waste can be a problem. This year the folks in charge of organizing Pittsburgh’s “Great Race” are considering what they can do to ensure the event is more “eco-friendly.”

In fact, it was people who run in the race that demanded changes, because they realized that the thousands of plastic bottles consumed during the event end up in the trash.

“Our runners are very up front about the race, what they like and what they don’t,” race director Mike Radley said. “There were some mentions that we should be considering some more eco-friendly standards.”

Recycling will be key to the efforts this year, said Citiparks program coordinator Alex Shamraevsky.

“We’re really looking to reduce our impact this year,” Shamraevsky said, adding that the bottles of water, cardboard used for packaging and racing bibs will be recycled.

This definitely looks like a step in the right direction for the “Great Race.”

Intel has launched a the first halogen-free Xeon processors, which the company says are a lot more environmentally friendly than past models. The halogen has been replaced in the cpus by a hafnium-based high-k metal gate formula.

The latest processors include three quad-core products: X5492, X5470, and L5430. The fastest of the chips has a clock speed of 3.4 GHz, while the low-voltage version uses 50 watts of power per core. The fourth new processor is the X5270, which runs as low as 80 watts with frequencies as high as 3.5 GHz.

The chips are aimed at manufacturers of workstations, blade servers, and mainstream servers, and are drop-in compatible with existing Intel dual-processor platforms that have been in the market since 2006. “Customers using these new Xeon processors will not only benefit from greater performance and energy efficiency within existing platforms, but they will be the very first to use Intel’s halogen-free technology,” Kirk Skaugen, VP and general manager of Intel’s server platforms group, said in a statement.

Chips in the 5400 series are available for purchase by OEMs right now.

Ebay has announced a new marketplace which should appeal to shoppers who are interested in fair trade practices and eco-friendly products. The marketplace is called WorldofGood.com.

Whether consumers are looking to purchase products made from recycled or natural materials, buy organic or support artisan women in developing nations, WorldofGood.com brings a new level of confidence and transparency to the socially responsible shopping experience. WorldofGood.com is a one-stop-shop where the products, producers and sellers are verified by various third parties called Trust Providers — like TransFair USA (Fair Trade Certified), Co-op America and Aid to Artisans — to meet a core set of ethical and environmental standards.

“WorldofGood.com by eBay gives shoppers who care about making a difference access to great products that help people and the planet,” said Lorrie Norrington, president of eBay Marketplaces. “Socially responsible shopping just got bigger and better.”

The idea is that behind Ebay’s clout, people will be able to purchase products that have been proven to be beneficial.

This should come as no surprise: kids are willing to be eco-friendly too. Kids these days are exposed to more environmentally friendly messages than past generations were, and it seems to be sinking in.

“This generation of kids seems to be hard-wired for environmental awareness,” said Leah Schmalz, the group’s legislative and legal affairs director.

Nearly 1.2 million people up to 21 have registered with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the activism group known for its provocative ways of advocating vegetarian lifestyles. Among those are 30,000 kids aged 6 to 12. The organization has also recruited another 200,000 youths this summer while tagging along with the music and sports festival Warped Tour, said Lara Sanders, the group’s head of youth marketing.

“Kids have been making the connection between the environment and a vegetarian diet and knowing that going vegetarian is the best thing that you can do for the environment,” she said.

Basically these children are learning by example. If parents tend to hold values that are eco-friendly, they will likely be passed down to their children. If the kids are very young when they see these messages being re-inforced, they’re very likely to continue being “green” later in life.

It’s great to think our youngest generation could also be our “greenest.”

Pamela Anderson is not content to be known for making sex tapes with Tommy Lee. No, Pamela also wants the world to be a better place. In order to help her with this goal, she’s planning on building an eco-friendly hotel in Abu Dhabi.

“I’m building a hotel there. It is environmentally friendly. I went there with the Make a Wish Foundation and met some great people. The royal family were really friendly.”

According to Anderson, her new hotel won’t use any fossil fuel.

“It’s going to be built with no fossil fuel at all in Abu Dhabi where they have all that oil.”

Anderson is not the only star linked to an eco-friendly project in Abu Dhabi. Brad Pitt was listed as a design consultant for a project announced in June by Zabeel Properties.

A new report says that Americans would pay up to 15% more to purchase eco-friendly products. Even during the current downtime, people will ante up for extra cash for a green product, but with some stipulations, according to the new survey conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media and the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

“Many American consumers, even in the face of economic uncertainty, express a willingness to pay more for environmentally friendly products,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of Yale Project on Climate Change. “Toyota can’t make the Prius fast enough to meet consumer demand, to cite just one example, and many see ‘green’ products as the wave of the future.”

Although the majority of people who responded said they’d pay up to 15% more, they want better labeling to ensure they’re getting what they bargained for.

In what can be described as good news for the current eco-labelers, 75% of all survey respondents said they trust the current labeling programs.

“These results suggest that manufacturers who offer high-quality and credibly labeled eco-friendly products will have opportunities to gain a competitive edge,” said Graeme Auld, a doctoral candidate at Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

Millenia Wall Solutions has just debuted their eco-friendly retaining wall at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) National Green Building Conference, now taking place at the Sheraton New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Millenia Wall units are made out of 100% recycled materials and reduce the overall environmental impact of retaining walls by 55 percent.

Paul Forsberg, president, Millenia Wall Solutions said:
“We use 100 percent recycled, pre-consumer polymeric resin materials in all our Millenia wall products. These materials are inert and do not interact with the soil, and our products themselves are recyclable. In addition, because they are lightweight, it takes far less energy to transport Millenia wall units.”

Currently, many retaining walls are made of concrete. Concrete is made up of cement which is very labor intensive and creates large amounts of carbon dioxide which is a culprit in global warming. It’s expected that alternative methods for creating retaining walls will become more popular, especially in developing countries.

Millenia is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. To find out more about their products and services, please visit Millenia Walls

States are getting on the green act. For years, homeowners have faced restrictions from their local governments that prevent them from making their homes more eco-friendly. Since the year 2005, eight states have changed laws to remove barriers to building eco-friendly homes.

Some new laws say homeowners groups can’t ban such technology. Others say local governments can’t enforce rules that significantly raise the cost of installing eco-friendly energy systems.

“If you’re going to have local governments and condo associations saying, ‘Solar panels are ugly,’ that’s a real stumbling block,” says state Democratic Rep. Karen May, a sponsor of a “solar rights bill” pending in Illinois.

No one is keeping official stats, but reports indicate that more people are trying to install eco-friendly improvements, and are running into snags from the usual places.

Now states are hustling to change the rules, because they are under federally imposed guidelines to upgrade a percentage of residences to greener setups.

Natalie Portman has been named the world’s most eco-friendly star. Green website Grist.org compiled a list of who they consider to be the celebrities who are most environmentally friendly.

Natalie Portman has saved gorillas in Rwanda, she is a spokesperson for a low-energy lightbulb company, and she launched a new Vegan shoe line. These accomplishments were enough to put her far out in front of the other celebs mentioned.

Way to go, Natalie Portman! You’re the greenest, baby.

Everyone loves “Monopoly”, the board game where you can learn the ruthless nature of business, overcome the odds, and go on to become filthy rich. So how can such a classic game be improved upon? Well, for folks in Canada, the answer is a much more eco-friendly version of the game.

The 73-year-old game is clearing the board of Water Works and Electric Company and replacing them with the more eco-friendly Wind Energy and Solar Energy in its forthcoming Monopoly Here & Now: World Edition.

“We just felt they were a little dated,” Hasbro Canada spokeswoman Marisa Pedatella said.

There’s no need to fret if you’re a purist of the game. Hasbro continues to sell their flagship version, unchanged, for those who aren’t interested in modernization.

At last, you can become a ruthless Monopolist, and stay green at the same time.