Photo from fOTOGLIF

The photo above shows birds flying over a wildlife protected area, south of Venice, Louisiana. The United States scrambled on Friday to ward off an ecological disaster that could cost billions of dollars as a huge, spreading oil spill reached coastal Louisiana, imperiling wildlife and seafood areas.

Rescue crews are already rescuing the first bird coated with oil from the spill. Meanwhile, government officials have been criticizing BP, while the Obama administration said that any future drilling plans will be delayed pending an investigation of this disaster.

This is a very encouraging story. Serious early-stage investors are taking a close look at what many are calling Agriculture 2.0. Trends like urban farming have tremendous potential, and innovative trends like that can accelerate with the backing of Silicon Valley.

“Sustainable agriculture is a space that looks as big or bigger than clean tech,” said Paul Matteucci, a venture capitalist with U.S. Venture Partners in Menlo Park, Calif. “Historically, we have not seen a ton of entrepreneurial activity in agriculture, but we are beginning to see it now, and the opportunities are huge.”

A catch-all phrase for environmentally beneficial farming, sustainable agriculture has long been the province of organic enthusiasts. But venture capitalists say a growing awareness of conventional agriculture’s contribution to climate change and concerns over its consumption of water and energy are creating markets for technological innovation to minimize those effects.

The Johnny Appleseed of what is being called Agriculture 2.0 is a 33-year-old former Wall Street investment banker named Janine Yorio. Her New York firm, NewSeed Advisors, brings together sustainable agriculture entrepreneurs and investors.

At the Four Seasons hotel in East Palo Alto, Calif., last month, NewSeed Advisors attracted a crowd of well-dressed investors from some of Silicon Valley’s top venture capital firms. They packed a ballroom to hear entrepreneurs pitch start-ups developing everything from nontoxic pesticides and analytical tools for soil analysis to indoor urban farming systems.

I think the urban farming trend in particular has huge potential, particularly in Rust Belt cities like Detroit and Cleveland.

Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, which is celebrated April 22 every year. We’ve come very far in 40 years in terms of individuals making a positive impact on the environment, particularly on cleaner air and water, but in many ways the challenges today are even greater.

Adam Rose has a great posted on Wired.com about the significance of the original Earth Day.

Larry Carroll offers up Earth Day lessons to be learned from the movie “Avatar.”

BusinessWeek explains how “air like split-pee soup” in LA helped spur the first Earth Day.

USA Today asks if at 40 Earth Day has gone too corporate.

There are tons of great articles out there, and frankly this is an exciting time as new technologies and a new commitment from government is spurring a real effort to accelerate the changes made over the past 40 years.

One of the great developments in the green energy revolution is the notion of mobile energy sources. In our new mobile world, running out of power for our devices is to be avoided at all costs. Now, we have plenty of new options for mobile power such as battery packs, but new devices that rely upon kinetic energy maybe the coolest developments yet. Here’s a recent review of such a gadget:

Set to release later this year, the nPower PEG keeps your gadgets charge while you roam Gotham’s rooftops. The PEG harnesses the kinetic energy of your movement to keep any device that can be charged via USB at full. The thing that sets the PEG apart from other kinetic chargers is its shape and size. It fits perfectly into a backpack or satchel. If you’re in a pinch you could always just stuff this bad boy in the front of your superhero garb. Is that a PEG in your pants?

This will definitely be one of the coolest green products of the year.

As consumers begin to understand the effect of their carbon footprint, online printing companies are introducing more eco-friendly options. From soy-based inks to recycled paper, printers have green choices designed to fit your needs and ideas. New technology has decreased the cost of eco-friendly printing, allowing more businesses to consider it. In some cases, green printing is no more expensive than any other type of printing.

Soy-based inks took eco-friendly online printing to a new level. Made from a renewable or sustainable source, the soy-based inks also have an added benefit: the ink releases less volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as it dries than its predecessor, petroleum-based ink. Plus, many online printers believe that soy-based inks offer more vibrant colors than other ones.

With print on demand (POD) options, online printing companies can offer lower prices for smaller print runs. This means businesses no longer have to order over 1,000 copies of one product to get the price break. One benefit this has for the environment is it creates less waste in landfills. In the past, businesses would order more than they needed to reduce the overall cost for marketing. At the end of the promotion, they’d toss the leftover products.

Online printing companies have the added advantage of using the Internet and computer software to reduce their costs. With design software, a graphic designer can create custom marketing pieces without having to use paper. For proofs, online printers often send e-mails.

As part of their environmentally friendly efforts, online printing firms use recycling in a couple of ways. Customers who like to use printers online often appreciate the selection of recycled papers available for business cards, postcards, brochures, and other marketing material. Some recycled papers offer top-of-the-line quality, such as a 13-point matte finish. Printing companies often recycle press cuts, further reducing their carbon footprints.

No matter which side of the political aisle you’re on, we can all agree that the government spends way too much. The difference between what they spend and what they take in is the infamous budget gap. On a much smaller scale, many folks are faced with their own mini budget caps. That’s where payday loans can help bridge those unfortunate gaps. You’re not going to be solving all your financial woes with payday loans, but you could ease a few small concerns.

Payday loans work best when you need quick access to funds for all of life’s little emergencies. You could have your weekly expenses planned down to the penny, but unless you have a “buffer zone,” you could be caught with over extending your checking account, which in turn is going to lead to overdraft fees. Once you’ve hit the overdraft zone, those fees can create a domino effect of penalties that can bury your budget. Quick payday loans can be directly deposited into your account to stop those fees from mounting up.

To get a payday loan, you’ll need to have proof of a steady paycheck and should be making at least $1000 a month. You’ll also need a checking or savings account for the deposits. Every payday loan will come with a fee depending on the amount of the loan. Yes, there is no such thing as money for nothing! Typically, your payday loan funds can be made available into your bank account the very next day. This can help you coordinate with any of your outstanding creditors, utility companies or anyone else you might have a payment pledged to.

A smart approach for managing your finances is pay as you go. But when the unexpected happens, consider payday loans as you go. Peace of mind is priceless.

You’re a friend of the planet and a defender of the environment. Great. Is your pet one, too? Too many of us forget that animals have a role in any eco-system and pets, since they are more a part of our household than of nature’s, can have the same adverse effect on the environment in which they live as we can. While it is true that Fluffy the cat doesn’t drive a car, and Leo the labra-doodle doesn’t chain smoke, both cats and dogs, along with fish, hamsters and other domestic pets, emit wastes and use products that can, potentially, contaminate their habitat.

As a pet owner, you can help your pet go green by ensuring that you are doing all in your power to provide them with safe, environmentally friendly products to eat, to bathe in and to protect them from pests. Once a month flea and tick treatments that prevent these pests from getting on the animal are great. Products like Frontline Plus®, Advantix® and others also generate less waste than flea and tick remedies that are used after your pet is infested.

Another sort of waste that all pets emit is… well…bodily waste. Yes. I mean poop. So when you walk your dog, pick it up and dispose of it properly. Make sure your cat’s litter box uses earth friendly products and you dispose of her wastes properly, too. Water from fresh water fish aquariums plus the poop from herbivores, like hamsters, can be great on your plants as fertilizers.

Your pets can go green, and you can feel good about the part you play in making that happen. They are, after all, a part of your family. So, it is your job to help them save the planet for their future as well as your own.