Burleigh Heads, -- Australian surfwear maker Billabong has gone to market with a wetsuit fashioned from 90 percent recycled polyester that takes 80 percent less energy to manufacture.

Later this year Timberland will release its Earthkeepers 2.0 boot, the company's first product to be designed with end-of-life in mind. The company has crafted the boot to be disassembled and recycled, a concept that is spreading throughout various industries as companies realize the benefits of taking back and reusing their own, and other companies', trashed items.

OTTAWA, Ontario, CANADA -- Health Canada is looking to expand a ban on a set of chemicals that are used to make plastic soft and flexible. The ban on phthalates would extend to children's products that kids are likely to chew on.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- National Gypsum Company, the second largest producer of gypsum wallboard in the U.S., went live this week with a "Green Site" that provides information on its plants, product content and certifications.

MENLO PARK, Calif. -- HID Laboratories has officially launched its SmartPod Luminaires, a lighting solution that mates IT with high-tech design and energy efficient performance, the firm says.

If we're going to effectively look to nature as a “model, measure and mentor,” then we might want to have a framework for that search. This framework ought to be complete, useful, instructive and provocative. My solution is the Bio Design Cube, meant to provide a “search frame” for designers to organize their bio-design inquiry.

HANFORD, Conn. -- Thresher Industries, a manufacturer of recycled aluminum and metal matrix composite parts, is taking in old, worn out planter wheels from one of its customers and recycling them into brand new products.

CHICAGO, Ill. -- At the NeoCon 2009 trade show, Herman Miller and Steelcase unveiled some of their newest, and improved, products that are made with recycled material, are recyclable, use less energy, take up less shipping space or help cut down on energy use.

HOUSTON, Texas -- The company, whose business has expanded beyond simple trash hauling to include recycling and materials management, will distribute BigBelly solar-powered trash compactors to reduce the amount of waste collection in public places.

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. -- New clothing company Playback uses only recycled material in its clothing, mixing recycled cotton, plastic bottles and polyester to make T-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies. Beyond simply using recycled materials, the company conducted a life cycle analysis of its products to show their benefits.

Bad engineering design is simply wasteful, but a Rocky Mountain Institute initiative aims to create a set of teaching tools to help engineers designs things like buildings or vehicles that use radically less energy and resources.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Cheese graters, handbags, fencing and recliners are just some of the thousands of consumer products that have been manufactured with radioactive metals, according to a Scripps Howard News Service investigation that also looks at the numerous flaws in the U.S.'s current radiation-checking system.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The RIAA has put out a report listing a number of recommendations for reducing the environmental impacts of CD packaging. The report also includes a thorough look at the pros and cons of different types of plastic and paper packaging, and advises where changes can be made to have the biggest impacts.