TUAW is participating in this year's Blog Action Day on 10/15, an annual event in which bloggers around the world aim to spark discussion and awareness of serious and important issues. This year's topic is climate change, and fortunately, just like last year, we in the Apple community are in a pretty good place -- the company makes it a point to stay as green as possible, they have Al Gore on their board, and they make it safe and easy to dispose of their products in an environmentally friendly way. But there's always more we can do, from person to person -- making the earth a better place to live is going to take all of us working together.

And so, here's five iPhone and iPod touch apps you can use to find out what you can do to take action on climate change. Some are paid, some are free, but all of them will give you fun and useful ways to help find approaches to dealing with climate change in your own behavior and life.

Just 3 years ago, Apple was targeted by Greenpeace as being less environmentally friendly than they could be. Greenpeace even created a mock Apple website in an effort to goad them into action.

Several months later, Apple earned a silver in environmental evaluation (that rating has since turned to gold) from an EPEAT survey (EPEAT is a government operation created to approve computers before they can be purchased by other governmental institutions). Today, they tout "the world's greenest line of notebooks."

This week came the news that Apple has quit the US Chamber of Commerce over what they called the organization's "frustrating" position on global climate change. Specifically, the chamber has opposed a proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency to use the Clean Air Act to set limits on greenhouse gases; a proposal that would most likely take effect only if Congress failed to pass climate legislation.

Apple isn't the only prominent member to leave the chamber for this reason, just the one we happen to write about.

[Via Think Progress]

Macworld has spotted a new page over on Apple's website highlighting their dedication to making their products as environmentally healthy as possible. We've seen this pitch from Apple within the past few years -- they've recently slimmed down their packaging and started using recyclable materials in making their computers. It's pretty interesting to see them making such a push on this issue, but then again it not only helps them sell computers (assuming they don't have to raise prices too high due to the new policies), but of course helps the culture and the Earth at large in terms of making sure our environmental footprints are as small as possible.

The new site includes information about the impact of Apple's products both during manufacture and during usage, as well as reports on product performance, as well as a blog on what they're doing lately. They also have a link to their recycling program so that when you're done with whatever Apple products you're using, you can make sure that those recyclable products are actually recycled.

Pretty good deal all around, and good for Apple to make it clear how committed they are to this issue and acting on it.

In a display of environmental posturing on both sides, Dell lodged a complaint with the advertising industry's self-governing oversight board: The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus (NAD). The claim? When Apple says it has the "world's greenest family of notebooks," family could be taken to mean all models of MacBook past and present -- including models that weren't built with the environment in mind.

"Common industry usage of 'family' refers to a particular model or group of models, and not the entire notebook line," argued Dell, according to a post on the New York Times' "Green Inc." blog. Dell also complained about Apple's use of gold EPEAT ratings -- an award that many of Apple's competitors have also earned.

Standing behind their claim, Apple effectively said, "that's right, deal with it": Family, in the context of the ad "refers to its whole line of notebooks, taken in toto, [and] not a particular model or group."

The NAD said there was no problem with Apple communicating its EPEAT ratings to consumers, and commended the company for its commitment to creating an entire line of notebooks that meet the highest EPEAT ratings, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Even so, the NAD suggested that consumers could believe that "family" means a line of products (and not all the products) that a company makes. They recommended that Apple use direct comparisons between MacBooks and competitor notebooks to clarify their claims of environmental friendliness. They also recommended that Apple avoid the use of world's greenest "given the potential for overstatement." Apple? Overstatement? That's unpossible.

Apple was happy with the conclusion, with PR spokesman Steve Dowling telling the New York Times that the NAD had confirmed that MacBooks are indeed the world's greenest notebooks when compared to other manufacturers' entire product lines. It appears that Apple has taken to using the word "lineup" instead of "family" on its website.

Dell issued a statement, saying they "commend the NAD for their part in helping ensure companies represent their products' environmental attributes accurately." Dell has previously lodged advertising complaints against Lenovo, and last year the company had to stop using the slogan "the world's most secure notebooks."

It's a bit hot today in Arizona so I stayed in for Earth Day -- I cut the air conditioning and ran the ceiling fans -- and spent part of this day looking at GreenSpot, [App Store link] an iPhone/ iPod touch app that keeps you up to date on all things environmental. It includes tips, podcasts, and articles about everything from food and agriculture to green architecture and buildings. There are also 'issue' areas, with details on climate and energy, the two green hot buttons of late.

The $1.99US app puts all the information in one handy place, and makes it easy to access by topic just about any information you may want.

Podcasts include Sierra Club Radio, and many radio stations that do green programming, as well as some independent audio productions.

It was pretty easy to update myself on the latest green news, but I have these nits to pick. I couldn't find many articles newer than a week old. I don't know if the app is feed based, or people are manually posting material, but the world changes pretty fast, don't ya know, and this app should be more up to date.

Some of the articles links are dead, so that's not such a good thing either. The podcasts I tried all played well, but not from within Greenspot. They launched the QuickTime player, so you then manually have to re-start Greenspot.

None of these problems put me off the application. We've seen how important these issues are, and having this info in your pocket is just another reason why we are so happy the iPhone exists.

There are far worse ways to spend Earth Day than by getting up to date on the latest green news. Most of us will choose those worse ways today, thereby making the point on why it is important to be environmentally conscious.

Screen shots below:

Thinking green? Voltaic Systems' Generator laptop bag (US$499) might be just the thing to buy for Earth Day on April 22nd.
I had a chance to road test one of these incredibly cool bags for a month and was very impressed. What makes it so special? Well, it could be the big photovoltaic panel on one side of the Generator that provides 15 watts of power to feed your electronic devices. Voltaic points out that the Generator is the "first solar bag powerful enough to recharge a laptop." That panel charges an internal 58Wh Lithium Ion battery pack that can run most laptops.

The solar panel isn't the only thing that's green about this bag. The materials that make up the majority of the bag are made from recycled PET soda bottles. In fact, the shell, webbing, mesh and lining of the case are made of 100% recycled materials.

As promised, we're launching a new series called Road Tested where we try out various products for a month or more, see how they hold up to extended "real world" use, and report back our findings. To kick things off we're looking at the EcoRunner from Marware [thanks to our friends at Dr. Bott for the review unit].

The EcoRunner is a "green" product in that the primary material is not neoprene, but "a revolutionary environmentally friendly material." I'm not sure what that is, but I can say I like it better than neoprene -- it feels just as soft, but the cells are smaller and thus the material is more supple. The EcoRunner can be worn on the wrist or arm (using an extender strap, included) and is designed for the 4th-gen iPod nano. There's the requisite vinyl window for controlling playback and viewing the screen, plus the case can be used with the Nike+ Sport kit attached (there's a strap to keep everything in).

Does it work? Well, there's one caveat to our test: we used a 1st-gen nano, the white model that was infamous for being easily scratched. It's increasingly tough to find cases for this model, but we found the EcoRunner is stretchy enough to accommodate the slightly thicker model. The side effect of this, possibly due to thickness or the more squarish design: the vinyl window busted (see gallery), leaving the unit exposed and capable of falling out. Call it a "stress test." It's definitely a design challenge to secure the vinyl in a way that won't get too stressed, especially in cases where everything else is so stretchy.

The softness of the case can't be understated. It is really smooth and lightweight and stretchy. I'm partial to wrist straps, because I tend to skip around my playlists depending on my workout. If you find yourself monkeying with your nano during a workout, this is a terrific wrist strap. The extension strap to use it on your arm adds virtually no weight, and holds up well, but bulging biceps might strain that window. The Velcro used is very high quality, but the stitching on the end can sometimes be a little tricky to thread through the grommet -- so I recommend not removing it entirely. Just pull it off your wrist. One upside is that you can charge the nano in the case, so the entire unit becomes home to your nano. If you only use your nano for working out, you'll never have to remove it from the case.

After a month (OK, nearly 2 months) of solid use -- we're talking about near-daily use on the treadmill and at the gym -- the EcoRunner holds up well. As I said, using a 1st-gen nano isn't recommended by us or the manufacturer, so I don't know if the thinner nanos would bust the window after prolonged use. Other than that, there's very little visible wear-and-tear, and I'd recommend this especially if you a) prefer your nano on your wrist, and b) need a case that'll hold the Nike+ Sport kit. Your choices are pretty limited when it comes to both of those criteria, but the EcoRunner is a good bet either way. If you've had experience with this particular model, let us know in the comments.

UPDATE: Great questions in the comments! As far as sweat retention, since my wrist doesn't sweat too much, I'd have to say no problems there. You might have an issue with a very sweaty bicep, but I feel the material's tighter cells (as opposed the larger, more open cells found in neoprene) would guard pretty well against this. There's no signs of staining, either.

The extender strap adds a little over 6 inches to the overall strap length. Total that's 11.5 inches (see added gallery image). My puny biceps fit fine, but if you have some massive guns then yeah, you might have a problem.

Dell executive Bob Pearson decided to comment on Apple's "green" ad campaign. It was hard to understand. We were confused. Fortunately, Robert was nice enough to translate. The original post, on Dell's site, is here.

"Several Dell folks were surprised and perplexed to see Apple's new 'green' MacBook ad since its release last month and we've been watching the discussions in the blogosphere. After chatting with our environmental teams about the topic, we realized that instead of ignoring it, we should have a conversation about the real meaning of being green from the viewpoint of a Fortune 500 company."

In a desperate attempt to dredge up this environment issue from October, I bought lunch for a few of my subordinates, ordered them to be in the "Sunset Plains" conference room at noon, and told them we would be discussing this.

"Our view is that companies who choose to lead have an obligation to be open and transparent. We have a responsibility to engage in dialogue about the environment, whether we agree or disagree with an individual person or group. It all contributes to the greater good."

We like to sit around and shoot the breeze about stuff. When there isn't enough breeze-shooting, we shoot it ourselves, con-sarn it.

"What is not good is to skip steps, avoid dialogue and pray that people aren't smart enough to figure it out. That doesn't help any of us and it certainly doesn't further the environmental cause for those of us who care deeply about it."

Honestly, talking is the only thing we do well.

If you are environmentally conscious and only want to buy products that are safe and "Green," then look no further than your iPhone. That's because Good Guide [iTunes link] for iPhone allows you to search for these eco-friendly products. As a matter of fact, GoodGuide indexes over 65,000 products in several different categories.

When you search through a category and find a specific product that you would like to learn more about, GoodGuide gives you details that can better help you make your purchase. You can find things like: Overall rating, health rating, environmental rating, and social rating.

You can also create a shopping list with the products that you like; however, this feature requires you to create an account with GoodGuide. The application is available for free from the iTunes App Store.

Apple aired a new television ad here in the US earlier tonight. It touts the MacBook's low power consumption, recyclable enclosure and lack of some of the toxins present in other computers.

Activist group Greenpeace has been pressuring Apple to adopt more environmentally-friendly production methods and materials over the last couple of years, and last month responded favorably to Apple's efforts to go green.

Additionally, Apple has posted a page to their website describing not only their efforts toward environmental responsibility with the MacBook, but their overall efforts as a company. At the risk of sounding like a tree-hugging hippie, let me say, well done Apple!

Greenpeace is reacting favorably to Apple's new, environmentally friendlier product line, but chides the company for not reducing the amount of some toxic chemicals more quickly.

According to a blog post on Greenpeace's website, Apple's new MacBooks are not entirely free of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a kind of plastic. Apple says that internal cables now contain no PVC, but Greenpeace wants to see the entire computer free of PVC.

Greenpeace also examines Apple's update to Apple's Greener Apple policies, some of which we highlighted on Tuesday. Apple has promised in this update to have its product line complete PVC free by the end of this year.

The environmental activist organization releases a quarterly Guide to Greener Electronics, where Apple scored a 4.1 (out of 10) last month. Greenpeace's blog post hints that these new changes to its product line will increase its score. Nokia has the highest score of any company, 7 out of 10.

Thanks, Tom!

Apple made a concerted effort today to highlight the reduced impact its new products have on the environment.

This effort all started with Steve Jobs' open letter in 2007, A Greener Apple, announcing a long-term plan to "protect the environment and make our business more sustainable." The letter was released partly in response to a Greenpeace campaign, encouraging Apple to reduce the amount of toxic chemicals in its products and improve its recycling programs.

Today, the star of the show was Apple's new "unibody," a single, complex chassis for new MacBook and MacBook Pro units fabricated from a single brick of aluminum. In a video posted on its website, Apple noted that as a result of the new fabrication process, fewer parts in the laptop means a reduction in weight, size, and the amount of other material necessary to hold the device together.

Parallels started offering a bundle of applications for sale last night (yes, that Parallels -- the one that makes VM software). The Parallels "Green Computing Bundle" is a collection of 9 applications for $49.99 including:

• Parallels Desktop for Mac
  
• MacScan
• PasswordWallet
  
• Macintosh Explorer
  
• Macaroni
  
• Drive-in
• PageSender
• Default Folder X
• docXConverter
  

The biggest application (and therefore the biggest deal) is by far the inclusion of the Parallels Desktop. You can purchase the bundle by visiting Parallel's Green Computing Bundle website.

An Apple Premium reseller in the UK sent us these photos of an Apple recycling information mailer they received: but the mailer itself was sent in a decidedly non-green way.

From photos the reseller sent, it appears the mailer consisted of two sheets of standard A4-sized paper. Those sheets of paper were placed inside a large, yellow clasp envelope. That envelope was then placed inside a corrugated cardboard box. The box was then mailed to the UK from Switzerland.

While all of these materials are recyclable, it seems like a little bit of a waste to send what could have fit in an everyday DL-sized envelope (that's about the size of a number 10 envelope for us Americans) in ridiculously oversized packaging. Plus, it probably would have saved them a bundle on postage.

Apple has been making a concerted effort to reduce its environmental footprint: not only with the program mentioned in this mailer, but for everything from iPhone packaging to how it makes its displays. Surely this isolated incident isn't representative of the company as a whole, but still. Sheesh.

The new iPhone 3G will ship in a paper tray made that has a carbon footprint a tenth the size of a plastic tray, according to its manufacturer.

The paper tray, manufactured by Dutch firm PaperFoam, is made from potato or tapioca starch.

According to Dutch blog Bright, PaperFoam CEO Hans Arentsen said that Apple ordered "millions of PaperFoam packages" for the new iPhone. PaperFoam also makes carton components for Motorola.

The PaperFoam tray will be inside a coated cardboard box, both of which are fully recyclable. Apple committed to reducing its environmental impact in an open letter from Steve Jobs released in May 2007.

[Via The Register.]