If ever there was a trend we welcomed with open arms, it’s eco-friendliness and boy, is it taking the world and companies by storm.

And not even 3M is left out in the cold with the announcement of a new product, Scotch Magic Eco-Friendly Tape.  Made from more than 75% renewable or recycled materials, this new tape is just what you’ve been wanting to switch to.

The boxed refill roll, including packaging, is made from more than 65 percent renewable or recycled materials. Because of its great adhesive strength, photo-safe formulation and performance, Scotch Magic Tape has been a fixture in homes, schools and offices for 50 years. Scotch Magic Eco-Friendly Tape offers these same great properties, now in an even more environmentally-friendly version.

Wow, it looks like Mr. Peanut is packing a brand new bag!  Planter’s Mr. Peanut is now riding in eco-friendly style with an all new green machine.

The nutty company plans to unveil the new Nutmobile in LA tonight at the 8th Annual Global Green Pre Oscar Party.   Mr. Peanut’s new ride features biodiesel technology alongside solar panels, LED interior lighting, recycled parts, reclaimed wood flooring and a wind turbine based on a 2011 Isuzu NPR box truck.

After being “seen” in LA, Mr. Peanut will take his new wheels to New Orleans as his second stop on the “Naturally Remarkable” tour. In New Orleans, Planter’s will be building peanut-shaped recreational spaces on abandoned urban lots.

“I’m a peanut, naturally, so sustainability is important to me. When you live in the soil for extended periods of time, you realize that it’s important to make sure where you come from – the earth – stays clean and green.” – Mr. Peanut, Planter’s Spokesperson

For some of us in the States, the weather this week has been a godsend, sunshiny days with temps finally rising above freezing.  So, what better way to celebrate this welcome weather than with an impromptu cookout?

If you’d rather not spend the evening washing plates, be sure to check out Solo’s Bare Bamboo Plates at your local grocers.  These 10-inch plates are made from annually renewable bamboo and are as eco-friendly as can be.  You can even add them to the compost bin without harm.

Cost per 12 pack, around $3-4.

A basic home printer, the D2660 is a perfect green option that is quick to setup and easy to use.  With a ENERGY STAR qualification and made with 50% recycled plastic, this new printer is perfect for small home printing jobs.  And at just $50 you can afford to green up your paper routine.

You can either recycle paper from last year or get some good old fashioned brown shipping paper and deck it out with stamps, paint or even glue on embellishments!

Barnes & Noble, the world’s largest bookseller, has just introduced a new line of journals and planners to be sold at their stores and at their online store Barnes&Noble.com.

The Ecosystem collection features planners, journals and calendars that are made using 100% post-consumer recycled paper and manufactured in the U.S.

Way to go, B&N!  Now if we can just get the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, on the green living line-up.

Funky and whimsical designs mark Milo Paper as singular in their eco-friendly paper market.  Choose from a variety of reasonable options and surprise your wedding guests with a high-quality green invite!

Xerox has taken yet another advancing green step towards reducing the output of greenhouse gases in their products.

Earlier in the week, the company announced new printers that not only have advanced color accuracy features but also reduced greenhouse gases.  One of these days, we’re going to be writing about no greenhouse gases, but we have to start somewhere, don’t we?

One of the newly-announced printers, the Xerox WorkCentre 7400, features the ability to use smaller toner particles to create sharper images and uses less than 2 watts of power in sleep mode.  The 7400 also has been incorporated with biomass plastic which will decreases the carbon dioxide emissions during manufacturing by a helpful 16%.

The Xerox WorkCentre 7400 is Energy Star-qualified as well as a  part of Xerox’s Green World Alliance.  The workstation starts at $11,995.

It’s now 2009, and 13 years have given Botanical PaperWorks the know-how to make beautiful and earth-friendly wedding invitations and stationary.

Botanical PaperWorks chooses to use plantable paper in their work which is completely tree-free paper and is cotton-based and 100% post-consumer waste.  Not too shabby, huh?

When planning your wedding or party, give Botanical PaperWorks some thought.