> How Did A Small Illinois Town End Up With 300 Plug-In Cars?: "Don't let the name fool you; Normal, Illinois, is actually unique. Dubbed EV Town, the [electric-car] initiative includes electric-car purchase incentives, and an aggressive effort by the local government and businesses to develop charging infrastructure."

> Nike Unveils Water-Free Dyeing Process: "The eco-friendly method called 'ColorDry' eliminates the use of water and harmful chemicals, reducing energy consumption."

> The Greenest Things to Do With Your Body After You Die: "Every year cemeteries across the U.S. bury over 100,000 tons of steel and 1,500,000 tons of concrete from coffins and re-enforced vaults. Green burials are all about reconnecting death and nature, reducing exorbitant costs, and sparking an environmental paradigm shift. "

> How Green is Your Campus? The 10 greenest college campuses in the U.S.

> Downtown Denver Launches Denver 2030 District: "The Denver 2030 District is a unique public/private partnership that brings property owners and managers together with local governments, businesses, and other community stakeholders to provide a business model for urban sustainability through collaboration, leveraged financing, and shared resources. The District's goals include an aggregated reduction in energy and water use, and an increase in alternative methods of transportation among the District member buildings by the year 2030."

> Solar Energy Is Heading to Mainstream in the United States: "Shayle Kann, Vice President of Research at GTM, wanted to assess whether solar is becoming mainstream. He decided to use a checklist, since the U.S. solar market is so complex... So Kann devised a checklist to help answer the question, At what point does solar become mainstream in US? And how close are we?"

> Paseo Verde in Philly First to Achieve LEED-ND Platinum: "Maximizing mixed use and transportation connections helped this Philadelphia project score the most points since LEED for Neighborhood Development’s creation."

> Haiti switches on to solar power as sustainable electricity solution: 'Solar energy is clean, green and can help to solve Haiti's power crisis. Now the world's largest solar hospital is lighting the way"

> Wind Power Rivals Coal With $1 Billion Order From Warren Buffett: "The decision by Warren Buffett’s utility company to order about $1 billion of wind turbines for projects in Iowa shows how a drop in equipment costs is making renewable energy more competitive with power from fossil fuels."

> SISCA asks students to innovate sustainable solutions: "Grad students from 17 universities around the world submit project proposals to the Sustainability Innovation Student Challenge Award (SISCA) competition, hoping to win the $10,000 grand prize or a $2,500 runner up prize."

> Algae to crude oil: Million-year natural process takes minutes in the lab: "Engineers have created a continuous chemical process that produces useful crude oil minutes after they pour in harvested algae — a verdant green paste with the consistency of pea soup."

>Great things often come in small packages, and when it comes to cleaning up the Bronx River, environmentalists are turning their attention to oysters—nature’s answer to improved water quality. A crew aboard a 100-foot barge dumped 120 tons of oyster shells into the river on Monday across from Soundview Park in hopes of spurring an oyster renaissance that will bring aquatic life back to the harbor. The shells will act as a base for 125,000 baby oysters that the group is planning to place on top of the shells in the future.

>Reflections on What Makes a Social Entrepreneur : Meet Curt Bowen, a social entrepreneur. Bowen observed that Guatemala has the 4th highest rate of malnutrition in the world, 79 percent of rural residents live under the poverty line, and 72 percent of the soils are severely degraded. He helped come up with a solution to this problem: pigeonpea. Pigeonpea helps rebuild soils and is a powerful tool against malnutrition.

Bowen adds, "Just like an entrepreneur may spend years in financial crisis and obscurity before they make it big, social entrepreneurs need to be focused, dedicated, and work hard for a long time with little pay off. We have to be visionary and yet extremely practical. And success doesn't come from the big crazy ideas--a lot of people my age have those. Success comes from the wisdom to pick the right goal and then the tenacity to keep at it, year after year, as you try to find that combine."

>When you live in a state that's defined by both brutal winter weather and delicious dairy products, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise when officials start to treat ice-slicked streets with salty mozzarella juice.

>Since declaring a break from acting to relax and "do good for the environment" back in January, Leonardo DiCaprio has more than delivered. The 39-year-old, who will next be seen in Martin Scorsese's "Wolf of Wall Street," has raised tens of millions forconservation projects through auctions and parties, invested in sustainable building projects, and now seeks to boost electric car sales.

The actor has partnered with electric vehicle manufacturer Venturi Automobiles to create a racing team capable of competing in the new FIA Formula E Championship, the world’s first fully-electric race series that begins in September 2014.

>Restaurants across the country soon will be able to let customers know how nutritious and sustainably sourced their food is thanks to the United States Healthful Food Council (USHFC).

Launched as a pilot in Washington, D.C., the Responsible Epicurean and Agricultural Leadership (REAL) program uses third-party audits to certify the nutrition and sustainability of foods served at restaurants, as well as from caterers and food-service operations.

The goal is to develop a nationally recognized mark of excellence for the food industry -- increasing the sustainability of foods served while addressing the causes of obesity, diabetes and other diet-related diseases. According to the USHFC, REAL signifies authentic, wholesome, nutritious and sustainable food.

>What Separates A Healthy And Unhealthy Diet? Just $1.50 Per Day?

>Obama’s Pollution-Control Agenda Goes to Court. Efforts to regulate pollutants that cause smog and soot, as well as mercury from coal plants, have moved in fits and starts for more than a decade. If both rules go forward it would cause powerproducers such as American Electric Power Co. (AEP) andSouthern Co. (SO) to shutter old plants or invest billions of dollars in pollution-control technology.

Photographer: AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images.

>What are ski areas actually doing to preserve the environment and the climate? TheNational Ski Areas Association (NSAA) has several programs in place to measure, encourage and acknowledge ski areas' efforts to protect the environment and operate in an environmentally sustainable manner. Sustainable Slopes is the primary program that NSAA uses to track the ski resort industry's progress towards greater environmental sustainability. The program monitors individual ski area efforts at reducing fuel consumption, investing in higher efficiency equipment, increasing recycling efforts, promoting clean water, and many other factors.

>The world has been fixated on going green, and now the attention is shifting beyond recycling and eco-chic living to a growing concern for the planet’s water, according to Ford’s 2014 Trends Report.

Ford identifies this trend as “Sustainability Blues” and says forward-looking brands are already investing time and money into better water management practices.

News: Water-free dyeing a reality; 10 greenest college campuses; Solar, wind energy continue to make headway; Oil from algae

News: Treating ice-slicked streets with cheese; Leonardo Dicaprio's electric race car team; What it takes to be a social entrepreneur

Association for Sustainability