Recently in Green business Category

I just read a brief in the November issue of Consumer Reports about groups and organizations that have "green" sounding names, but in fact aren't very green.

With the explosion of the environmental movement, it's always important to keep in mind that some groups may just be trying to ride the coattails of a successful movement.

For example the Heartland Institute, one of the examples used in the brief, claims it has expertise on climate issues, but has advocated for smokers' rights and accepts money from ExxonMobil and Philip Morris.

You can check out more at www.frontgroups.org.

So I just said about an hour ago on the blog gas prices have fallen a lot, down to $2.75. Well, I just saw $2.59 while running out to walk my dog.

So where do you think the bottom is? Will it actually get "cheap" again? And what exactly would a "cheap" price be?

A colleague of mine says gas isn't "cheap" until it falls below $2 per gallon for regular. And apparently a lot of you out there agree.

A couple-year-old local service that tries to hook up commuters with possible carpool partners send me a press release today, saying that it added 1,000 new participants since early September.

Commuter Services of South Central Pennsylvania, as it is known, now has 11,000 members. The growth is despite gas prices falling since early September to around $2.75 per gallon for regular.

So my question is this: Is this because people have the foresight on the interest in saving the environment to start carpooling? Or are people so scared about the economy that they are pinching the pennies they were willing to spend just a few months ago?

If something seems like an easy fix, it's probably causing a bigger problem. This financial meltdown we're in right now is probably the best big-picture example.

But here's another: Those reusable bags many businesses are touting can be worse for the environment than cheap, reusable plastic. How can that be?

1. Many come from China, and that country's record of environmental health can be as bad as its human health record, including the fact milk from that country is killing babies as we speak.

2. Many of the processes used to make non-plastic bags are water-and energy-intensive.

3. If people take or buy a bunch of those bags but then stop using them, or grab cheap plastics in a pinch when they forget the reusables at home, their overall environmental impact gets bigger than if they just stuck to cheap plastics.

The list goes on from there. And gets even more complicated. Which means I trust it more. Not like I want to hear that a successful initiative getting people to think green can be a bit of a crock.

To check out how your personal favorite retailer stands, check out this link.

I love bowhunting, but I still don't love this statistic I came across this morning while looking up some gas prices facts:

"The number of bowhunters equals the number of Americans using public transportation to commute to work. (USCensus, NSGA)." (Courtesy of Huntersurvey.com.)

I'm happy for my favorite fall sport. But really? That's all the public transportation-takers in America?

Happy Friday afternoon, York! Here's the news that you may have missed this week.

Sellers react to E-bay rule changes.

Restaurant goes smoke free early.

Businesses take steps to reduce energy costs.

Russia, Georgia situation still tense.

And of course you don't want to miss this week's edition of Money Talk. Check it out below.

This is the kind of story that rules the "most viewed" portion of the Daily Record site for weeks when it happens around here, so I figured I'd share it.

Apparently drug dealers are charging more for their weed.

So one Texas man allegedly decided to start growing his own, just like a lot of York County is apparently growing its own tomatoes and string beans and whatnot because they've gone up in price.

And since the entire country now knows about it, you can guess how the alleged farming operation ended.