I wrote of the launch of Canada's GreenStar Network over two years ago. The announcement of an Asian node late last year in this "zero-carbon" network is a measure of the project's progress since then.

Electronic media are important components of global ICT as movies, television, music, and books all go digital. This post offers a global sampling of sustainability in e-media; see much more by clicking on the "Green media" tag, above.

NBC/Universal reports that The Tonight Show with Jay Leno "Reduced the show’s paper usage by 16 reams a week (or 1 tree a week, adding up to 50 trees every year) by utilizing digital distributions for paper-related materials." The production also "Transitioned to rechargeable batteries, which is currently saving 120 batteries a week or 5,400 a year."

A number of sustainability rankings in the US and Europe let us take a look at how telecom providers perform compared to each other and to broader tech sectors. Vodafone is the top global performer; Sprint-Nextel is tops in the United States.

Updates from the Americas (ex-US). Click here for regional Green ICT updates from around the globe. Click on 'Americas' tag above for all news about the region.

The Quest for Canada's Smartest IT contest includes a "Greenest IT Award". Award applicants need to make a compelling case in three areas: "Maturity, Green IT & Business, and the WOW! factor." 2010 winners: "Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization that won the Greenest IT award. They used virtualization in their carbon neutral Earth Rangers Centre, a living demonstration site for green products and services. Professional Engineers Ontario won second prize for Greenest IT, for the sustainability initiatives within their association. The PEO governs over 80,000 licensed engineers in Ontario." The Smartest IT site offers webcasts about these organizations' winning initiatives, but the webcasts appear to work only with Windows. We'll let Vertatique readers decide if the site's media implementation is really the "smartest IT" as Internet access quickly moves to mobile operating systems.

CME Group Index Services publishes the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. Which ICT companies perform best on the 2011 Indexes?

We're updating our 2010 look at Green ICT Earth Day activities with 2011 news.

Kansas City (MO, USA) carrier hotel 1102 GRAND announced that it had "recently implemented Kansas City Power & Light’s (KCP&L’s) Custom Rebate Retrofit Program and projects a Wattage reduction of 53 percent just in time for Earth Day 2011." 1102 Grand principal Darren Bonawitz emailed these lessons learned. "In our experience, it is always easier to cost justify implementing large scale infrastructure replacements with more eco-friendly options when expanding or replacing equipment at the end of its life cycle. Those projects do not happen every month or year even. In between, commercial companies can take advantage of programs to complete smaller projects that still provide incremental energy savings. A series of smaller projects are often easier to implement and the sum of their energy reduction can be just as significant as a single large scale retrofit."

This isn't really ICT-related, but we could not resist. The CIA's Earth Day press release leads with, "The Central Intelligence Agency’s practice of shredding and burning classified papers...is one of several ways the CIA conserves energy, reduces its impact on the environment, and lowers costs through its sustainability efforts. Exhaust from the Agency’s on-site incinerator generates steam to heat water at CIA Headquarters. In addition to saving fuel, that process reduces the amount of waste—which would otherwise be destined for landfills—by nearly 1,000 tons per year." Burn before showering.

The Green Electronics Council launched an international EPEAT purchasing registry which "enables the world’s leading electronics manufacturers to list ‘green’ computers and monitors in over 41 countries across the globe." The registry is revealing about the distribution of EPEAT product availability.

Lithium batteries are showing up in everything from personal e-gear to communications backup systems to next-gen electric cars. Will they become the next e-waste? And do you know the important distinction between recycling Li and Li-ion technology?

Green ICT becoming increasingly important to sustainability initiatives at educational institutions. Here is an update on resources for that sector.

Location is becoming increasingly important to the Green Data Center marketplace. I've previously noted the popularity of the Columbia River Valley for mega data centers due to its inexpensive and low-carbon hydroelectricity, its climate for cooling, and its fiber optic infrastructure. An Icelandic data center puts location front and center in its promotion.