OAKLAND, CA — Looking for a little light reading this Earth Day? Why not peruse some of the environmental reports that numerous companies flung out today?

If you're already too busy planting trees, here are some tidbits from a few of the reports, along with our last edition for the year of Earth Day news bits.

Renew It

Duke Energy announced it increased its wind energy capacity to 986 megawatts with the completion of two projects in 2010, and has about 5,000 MW in wind projects in development. It also owns 16 MW in commercial solar capacity though three projects finished last year. 

To put that in perspective to Duke's other energy generation, the utility runs about 27,000 MW worth of coal, nuclear, natural gas and hydro power through its U.S. Franchised Electric and Gas segment. Duke is aiming to have 3,000 MW of solar, wind and biomass energy generation by 2020.

Another way Duke is pursuing renewable power is through a distributed solar program in North Carolina that lets factories, businesses and schools rent their roofs to Duke for solar installations. In 2010, the utility said, it had more applicants than it could handle.

Healthy Buildings

Blue Shield of California received LEED-New Construction certification for its Lodi, Calif., facility in 2010, and two other locations — Redding and El Dorado Hills — qualified to carry the Energy Star logo. 

Blue Shield also nearly halved the amount of paper it uses for printed communications with a 45 percent drop last year over 2009. Blue Shield uses software that turns faxes into emails instead of print-outs, and sets printers to automatically print double-sided.

Bottled Up Dress Code

Uniform maker Cintas recycled nearly 3 million plastic bottles so far in fiscal year 2011 through its EcoGeneration line, which consists of suits, pants, polo shirts, hospital scrubs and other items that are made with post-consumer plastic bottles.

In greening its offerings, Cintas previously launched the Full-Circle Eco Polo, which can be sent back to Cintas for recycling when it can't be worn anymore, and the first machine-washable tuxedo, which are also made with about six plastic bottles each.

Bringing Home Savings

KB Home became the first company to build homes that meet the EPA's WaterSense criteria last year, and it also made WaterSense-labeled faucets, showerheads and toilets standard in new homes.

In addition, 90 percent of new homes by KB in 2010 qualified for the Energy Star seal, bringing KB's total number of Energy Star homes to more than 60,000. As with WaterSense products, KB only offers refrigerators, dishwashers and washing machines that meet Energy Star criteria.

LEEDing the Way

CB Richard Ellis Group, a commercial real estate firm, has met its goal to have 100 of its buildings earn the LEED-Existing Buildings certification.

The goal, set in 2007, makes CB Richard Ellis Group the first commercial property manager to have that many locations with the LEED-EB designation.

_{Image - Cintas EcoGeneration clothing}