Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images for NASCAR

NEWTON, IA - MAY 20: Darrell Wallace Jr., driver of the #20 Dollar General Toyota, races during the Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 at Iowa Speedway on May 20, 2012 in Newton, Iowa. (Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images for NASCAR)

When thoughts turn to the high-octane excitement of NASCAR racing, there isn’t much space left for anything remotely eco-friendly. Given than the cars burn through 450,000 gallons of gas a year and get on average a mere five miles to the gallon, car racing is about as far from green as a sport can be.

Still, as reported by Triple Pundit, NASCAR and the Environmental Protection Agency are coming together in an attempt to spread a more environmentally friendly message to the masses of Americans who are dedicated fans of the sport.

The five-page “Memorandum of Understanding” between the unlikely partners spells out the myriad of ways they can “facilitate transfer of useful environmental information to a large fan base via the well-developed communications network managed by NASCAR.”

“Because NASCAR is followed by millions of passionate fans and many businesses, it can be a powerful platform to raise environmental awareness, drive the adoption of safer products by more Americans, and support the growing green economy,” said Jim Jones, EPA’s acting assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention in the Washington Examiner.

Triple Pundit also points out that the agreement is in support of President Obama’s National Biochemical Blueprint, which is “designed to uncouple economic growth from dependency on fossil fuels, petrochemicals and other hazardous substances.”

Considering that NASCAR fans are traditionally (and somewhat stereotypically) painted as overwhelmingly conservative, the move has already generated controversy. Fox News coined the partnership an “infiltration” of the sport, while Brand Channel highlights a tsunami of harsh criticism found on NASCAR’s official site from the same fans being targeted.

“No way NASCAR, its drivers and owners will put up with this nonsense,” says one such commenter on the Fox News post. “This too shall pass, quickly, once Obama is defeated in November.”

AP Photo/Harry Cabluck

The Whole Foods main store in Austin, Texas.

Think you know what lurks inside your basic household cleaning products? There’s a good chance you really don’t. According to a 2011 Harris Interactive poll taken exclusively for Whole Foods, 73 percent of consumers believe the U.S. government requires cleaning suppliers to list all ingredients on packaging. And they’re wrong.

The reason Whole Foods was compelled to take such a survey was to herald the success of the chain’s Eco-Scale rating system for cleaning products, which does require a full disclosure of all ingredients. A year after launching, the program has resulted in more than 90 percent of the cleaning products sold in their stores passing the company's "green cleaning test."

"We launched Eco-Scale to help shoppers make smarter, greener choices for their families and the planet and provide a way to know exactly what ingredients are in their household cleaning products," said Jim Speirs, global vice president of procurement for Whole Foods Market in a press release.

All of the products are rigorously evaluated by an independent third-party before receiving one of four ratings: green (plant and mineral derived, non-petroleum ingredients), yellow (100 percent natural fragrances and minimal safety concerns), orange (no phosphates, chlorine or fake colors) or red (unacceptable), with green being the highest possible rating. Products in the red aren’t allowed on Whole Foods shelves.

"No one else in the industry has attempted to launch a set of standards as strict as Eco-Scale, so we knew we were asking our suppliers to enter uncharted territory," Speirs added. "We're so inspired by the commitment our vendors have made in eagerly taking on the challenge of getting certified. Together, we're changing the meaning of green cleaning for the whole industry."

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Earlier this month, Greenpeace released their 2012 Carting Away the Oceans report (AKA CATO). It found that grocery chains Safeway and Whole Foods are the first retailers to earn a “green” rating for the sustainability of the seafood sold in their stores.

“Safeway and Whole Foods have transformed themselves into true industry leaders,” said Greenpeace’s Senior Markets Campaigner Casson Trenor in a press release. “There is certainly still more work to be done, but we celebrate the achievements of these companies and eagerly await similar actions from other retailers posed to embrace sustainability to a greater degree.”

Both stores earned a rating of 7.1 out of 10, with 7 being the lowest score that qualifies as “green” in the annual report, launched in 2008. Greenpeace was especially enamored with Whole Foods’ recent Earth Day-related pledge to stop selling “red-listed” seafood species, a move we reported on last month. To be red-listed, a species is determined to be from depleted waters or collected through destructive means.

Safeway, while applauded for their strides, gets called out for a canned tuna section the report says, “Still awards most of its valuable real estate to brands that plunder the planet in search of short-term profit.” 

The study also chided the Kroger grocery store chain for continuing to sell an “appalling” 17 red-listed seafood species.

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As the world becomes a sustainable place, beverage maker Honest Tea has created a cheeky new app that promotes greener living through recycling old Facebook posts. 

Created in conjunction with ad agency Amalgamated, the application allows users to scroll through past Facebook status updates for ones that garnered the most likes and commentary. As reported by Triple Pundit, whenever an approved post is “recycled,” it will re-post with a message promoting sustainability. Recyclebank users can also collect points redeemable for rewards.

It’s part of Honest Tea’s Great Recycle campaign, which has the goal of the company recycling every bottle they produce by the year 2020. The campaign was launched on Earth Day in New York City with a 30-foot bin in Times Square with the goal of collecting over 45,000 bottles.

Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images

Due in large part to skyrocketing petroleum prices, Ford Motor Co. has made finding sustainable materials to replace plastic a priority. As we reported earlier this year, Ford (in partnership with REPREVE) collected bottles at both the 2012 North American Auto Show in Detroit and the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to convert them into car interiors for the new Focus Electric vehicles.

This year also saw Ford turn up their sustainable and recycling efforts with other unorthodox materials, such as denim and soy-based products, being reconstituted into various car parts. Now, according to Inhabitat, Ford is looking to convert piles of old, shredded cash money bills into components for new cars.

“Ford has a long history of developing green technologies because it’s the right thing to do from an environmental perspective,” said John Viera, Ford’s global director of Sustainability and Vehicle Environmental Matters to inhabitat. “The potential to reuse some of the country’s paper currency once it has been taken out of circulation is a great example of the kind of research we are doing,”

Given that 10,000 pounds of paper money are being shredded daily, Ford should have plenty of source material to use in product development.