Powered Green is an environmental startup founded by two former students of the University of Wisconsin – Madison. The company was created to provide people with a unique opportunity to support renewable energy sources along with the ability to show their support for a greener future. Through the sale of  products they have raise funds for six different wind farms across the country.

Although they  have expanded to additional products to allow more people to support renewable energy, our main efforts revolve around the Energy SealTM. The Energy Seal is a recycled aluminum sticker, and its purchase represents that renewable energy sources have produced the amount of energy one laptop uses throughout its lifetime, making it carbon neutral.

Since launching in September 2008 Powered Green has empowered a thriving community of over 1,200 individuals dedicated to spreading awareness for renewable energy.  Grassroots efforts thus far have stopped over 1,000 tons of CO2 from reaching the atmosphere, which is equivalent to driving your car 863.6 times across the US or removing 235 acres of forest. All of this is simply from the support of the Powered Green Community.

“There were a lot of students like us on campus that were looking for a way to get involved and make an impact on the environment,” says Brandon Gador, Co-Founder of Powered Green.  “So we set out to create a symbol for renewable energy that the individual can rally behind and show their support for a greener future. Much like what Livestrong did for cancer research, we want to do that for renewable energy.”

Iqua BHS-603 Sun Solar Powered Bluetooth Headset solar panel that provides theoretically infinite standby time. An eco-friendly Bluetooth headset at a low price, that rarely needs charging is a useful gadget we all can use.

GAP Stores has a recycle your denim and receive a 30% off coupon event, March 5 through March 14, 2010. They will recycle the denim and turn it into the eco friendly housing insulation.

The city of San Francisco recently started GreenFinanceSF, a financing program that helps to pay for water savings, energy efficiency, and renewable energy projects that you might not have been able to afford.  The repayment obligation is attached to the property, rather than the individual, and is paid back through property taxes over the life of the financing.

Eligible projects include energy audits, upgrading heating systems, upgrading water heaters, installing solar hot water, installing solar electric panels, and conserving hot water. The program has an online application and application processing fee of $300.

We saw this cup at a museum store that looked like a standard coffee cup but was made with porcelain.  It is  called “I Am Not a Paper Cup” and is dishwashwer and microwave safe, $12 from Amazon. eco cup is another similar reusable coffee cup or beverage cup.

Many coffee shops will not allow you to use your own cup, claiming health code problems. Starbucks sells a $15 reusable Venti cup and applies a 10-cent discount on the price of the drink of your choice each time you bring your cup in and order. Apparently these sold out an are being scalped on eBay.

I wonder how many other coffee places will let you use this.  Most independent coffee shops have no problem with this. Just thinking about how many paper cups are tossed each day is mind boggling.  Few people wash their coffee cups and recycle the cup and plastic top.