Image via Greener Gadgets The Greener Gadgets competition has begun. Gearing up for the Greener Gadgets conference in New York City on February 25, the Consumer Electronics Association has kicked off a competition to see what is the greenest gadget idea of the year. Will it be the Orange Solar Tent, which charges up your camp site? Or AUG, a barcode system that helps you find locally produced goods? Or will it be Corky, a computer mouse made of cork that is charged by the movement of your hand? You get to decide! Check out the 18 entrants and find out how to vote. ...Read the full story on TreeHugger

[b]Safety Training and Operations Education [/b] Staff members from Excellent Window Cleaning (EWC)attended the International Window Cleaning Association's 21st Annual Convention in Reno, Nevada. The event was held January 27th through January 30th. The convention has host to hundreds of window cleaners from all around the world including Australia, Japan and France. During the four day event the IWCA offered educational and safety programs to it's members. EWC's Commercial Account Manager, Chris Peace was in attendance and sat in on several seminars pertaining to customer service, OSHA Compliance and safety procedures. Peace also completed an extensive eight hour course on high rise window cleaning safety that covered everything from fall protection to rescue techniques. Jonathan Hood, President of EWC was also at the convention participating in the seminars as well. During the closing banquet of the convention Hood was appointed the officer position of Secretary of the IWCA. As Secretary of the IWCA Hood will continue to work to improve professionalism and safety in the window cleaning industry.

Photo via Niffty.. With the help of a scanning electron microscope, Chinese scientists have figured out the secret architecture to spiders' webs that make them incredibly effective at catching dew. Cracking into the mystery could mean that the same structures can be duplicated in fog catchers for developing nations, creating effective yet inexpensive methods for helping communities with scarce or polluted water sources. ...Read the full story on TreeHugger

photo: Alexander Torrenegra via flickr. Amazongate was a non-story from the outset, a question of sloppy citations rather than sloppy science. In fact a new piece in Tierraamérica which Mongabay is highlighting validates the original IPCC projection about how much of the Amazon rainforest could ...Read the full story on TreeHugger

The world's most popular clothing item could also be the most eco-friendly. That's right, blue-jeans are going green--or at least that the hope of one Brazilian manufacturer. The Rio based company, Tristar, recently revealed their new line of environmentally conscious jeans. Not only are the jeans made entirely of organic cotton, the way they're cleaned is also a friendly nod to nature. Instead of using a wasteful washing-machine to clean these jeans, all you have to do is toss them in the freezer....Read the full story on TreeHugger