The Internet's largest auction site has become more sustainable with its new arm, World of Good. Powered by Ebay, WorldOfGood.com is an auction site for certifiably sustainable products and fair or free trade goods. Each listing is accompanied by its own “Goodprint”, detailing all the positive aspects of the product and/or its maker.

On the site you can find products that are good for the planet, people doing the right thing in sustainable commerce, animal-friendly products, and sellers who donate some of their profits to good causes. Consider World of Good next time you shop online. 

Batteries run a lot of the gadgets we love, but once they've died, they can become an environmental hazard, plus, they utilize many natural resources to make. Battery recycling leader, Call2Recycle, has reported an increase in battery recycling in 2011, a trend they hope continues.

Call2Recycle announced a 13.1 percent increase in 2011 battery collections (over 2010), collecting more than 7.6 million pounds (3.45 million kilograms) of rechargeable batteries (the equivalent to the weight of 278 school buses) through a network of over 30,000 retail, business and municipal locations throughout the United States and Canada.

While Thanksgiving is our chance to give thanks for all that we have, it also ends up being a time of excess. We overcook, overeat and travel more than any time of year. Here are a few tips on making your Thanksgiving celebration a little greener, which might just save you some green as well.

Buy Ingredients Locally - Portland is lucky to have one of the finest network of farmers markets, and some run well into fall, meaning you can buy your ingredients from local farmers and growers, including free-range turkeys, succulent root vegetables and even Northwest cranberries. We also have local markets that deal in locally grown and organic products, so even your beverages, like beer, wine, mead, cider and liquor, can be sourced locally.

Decorate with Natural Items - You don't have to spend tons at the craft store on items that will just get thrown in the landfill later. Go outside and collect items that can be recycled or composted, like mini pumpkins, corn stalks, decorative looking twigs and leaves, plants and pinecones to give a more organic feel to your celebration.

 If you live in Portland, you've probably received your new brown kitchen pail for recycling food scraps. Starting October 31, there will important changes to your garbage and recycling services, and these changes apply to all Portland single family households and residents living in buildings with four or fewer units. Green Portland Composts! roll cart will be collected weekly and will include all food scraps along with yard debris. Garbage will be collected every other week. There will be no changes to your blue Portland Recycles! roll cart or glass bin.

 The Go Green '11 Conference Tuesday at the Gerding Theater proved to be an information powerhouse, an eye-opener for "green" business, and a great place to do some B-to-B networking.

The conference, which featured speakers, panels, breakout sessions in both theaters, and information booths from area environmentally-friendly companies, kicked off with introductions by emcee Craig Wessel of the Portland Business Journal, Justin Yuen of FMYI and Margie Harris from Energy Trust of Oregon. But the star of the morning was Hannah Jones, Vice President of Sustainable Business & Innovation from Nike.

 As the weather cools down and you crank up your furnace, it's time to gauge your energy use and find out if your home is as energy efficient as possible.  Do you have leaky windows and doors? Is your insulation doing its job? How much power are you using? 

The Energy Trust of Oregon wants to know how efficient your home is so it can help you make it work for you and lower your energy bills. Go to the Energy Trust website and go to the "How Efficient is Your Home?" link. Click on it and take a short quiz.