Burbank, California is looking forward to becoming a zero-waste city, according to officials. 2040 is the year that officials have set as an official objective to achieve zero waste.

Public Works Director Bonnie Teaford and her team are getting ready to present their plan to be a zero waste community to the City Council, although she says, ““Zero waste is the goal, but whether or not human beings in an independent society can get to throw away zero trash is unknown.”

The plan would not impose mandatory reductions but will act as a guidebook for a city constantly looking for ways to reduce its carbon footprint, including calling for a reduction in household trash, yard clippings and paper, the elimination of certain kinds of plastics and an increase in recycling efforts from residents, businesses and city officials, according to Teaford.

The city is studying ways to eliminate polystyrene foam, a generic Styrofoam, and in October, the city asked employees to use tap water instead of bottled water during official meetings and City Hall proceedings to cut down on waste. The city will also conduct a study to see how much oil trash trucks generate each year and explore sustainable energy options as well.

Burbank instituted recycling bins throughout the city in 1982 and hopes to continue to increase participation as well as get residents and businesses on board. The city hopes to increase participation not only in their recycling program, but in their zero waste plans as well, although a mandatory recycling program could be instituted as a last resort.

“This is a plan and a program that will take several years to roll out,” Teaford said. “We can’t just go after one item and expect to hit zero waste. People can leave yard clippings on their lawn so it goes back into the Earth, people can consume less and, in terms of technology, ask themselves, ‘Do I really need to buy this item?’ We all love the newest gadgets, but do we have to have a new phone every six months? We’re left with an awful lot of electronic waste.”

WeEarth’s headquarters is located in Burbank and is proud to be based in a zero waste city. WeEarth looks forward to helping Burbank’s zero waste efforts.

The Walt Disney Company has launched Disneynature, a new film label, dedicated to producing wildlife and environmental documentaries for the big screen, starting with a 2009 release titled "Earth."

Disney executives said the new label follows a progression in the company's history that began in 1942 with the release of its animated wildlife classic "Bambi" and continued with its "True-Life Adventures" documentary series from 1948-1960.

Future Disneynature films slated so far are: "Chimpanzee" and "Big Cats," both set in Africa and co-directed by Fothergill; a look at flamingos titled "The Crimson Wing"; the undersea exploration "Oceans," from French co-directors Jacques Perrin ("The Winged Migration") and Jacques Cluzaud; and a time-lapse spectacle of flowering plants, "Naked Beauty: A Love that Feeds the Earth."

"Earth," adapted from the popular BBC television series "Planet Earth,” is the first project from the new venture, slated for release on Earth Day, April 22, 2009.

“Earth” was shot over 2,000 days in more than 200 locations spanning every continent, the film marks an unprecedented achievement in nature documentaries, said its British producer-director, Alastair Fothergill, whose credits include the acclaimed marine documentary series "The Blue Planet."

The film is narrated by actor James Earl Jones and will explore animal migration patterns around the globe, focusing on the journeys of polar bears, elephants and humpback whales during the course of a single year.

The new label will be run by Jean-Francois Camilleri, a veteran France-based Disney executive who co-produced the surprise 2005 hit "March of the Penguins," which won the Oscar for best documentary the year before "Inconvenient Truth" did.

Currently the biggest carbon output for travel is from the airplane you take to get to your destination and back home. But one company, Green Flight International, says that they changed that on October 2, 2007 by completing the first jet aircraft flight powered by biofuel. There have been a lot of promises by various airlines and air travel industries to cut down on the amount of fuel used by planes, but not until Green Flight International has a plane flown on biofuel alone. According to the website, the goals of Green Flight International read as followed:

This is a stepping stone to a brighter, cleaner future. We believe it is imperative that public, and private sectors take the initiative to explore sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels and energy dependence. Green house gasses, diminishing oil supplies and political costs will continue to increase exponentially. There is an overwhelming consensus in the scientific community that Global Warming, our most serious environmental threat, is the direct result of fossil fuels and their harmful CO2 emissions. Green Flight International is the much needed catalyst to promote Potential Solutions.

Green Flight International was conceived by Douglas Rodante in April 2006 to serve as a platform for future development in the use of environmentally-friendly fuels in aviation and elsewhere. “It is imperative that the global community take immediate steps to reduce our carbon footprint, because we can no longer afford to wait while our environment continues to degrade,” said Rodante. “By implementing even a small amount of bio-degradable fuel in our transportation system we can significantly reduce the CO2 (greenhouse gasses) and NOx (the precursor to smog) that contribute to global warming.” Although biofueled planes seem like a great way to cut down on carbon emission on the surface, Treehugger.com reminds, “Of course, we shouldn’t forget that even if biofuels prove a viable alternative to jet fuel in the near future, they are already the subject of significant concern about sustainable sourcing of feedstocks, overall energy balance, and land use issues. This flight may be a huge step in the right direction for greener flying, but we are not out of the woods yet.”