In an interesting eco-twist with the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) stated yesterday that it will eliminate all laundry detergents from its shelves that are not packaged and sold in 'concentrated' form. In an effort to reduce waste and conserve natural resources, the company said that all U.S. Wal-Mart stores and Sam's Clubs would only sell concentrated detergent going forward, although a drop-dead date was not reported with the announcement.

After having strolled through Wal-Mart in the last 24 hours, I can say that much of the laundry detergent already sold by the retailer comes in concentrated form -- but then, there are many brands that are not. Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) stated that they will start distributing smaller detergent containers for concentrated liquid detergent this year. P&G's larger brands are Tide and Downy, among many others.

The move is not really a surprise by Wal-Mart, which has been on a green warpath this year. This summer, the retailer announced that it would only accept smaller packaging from many of its vendors, and created a complete set of guidelines to help those vendors get packaging to where there would be minimal waste after purchase.

In addition to selling and promoting a huge assortment of energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), the company is taking steps to cut back (or even eliminate) high gas usage by its trucking fleet. All of these measures are part of the company's "Sustainability 360" plan. The plan includes these initiatives: saving more than 400 million gallons of water, 95 million pounds of plastic and 125 million pounds of cardboard over the course of every year. Now, those are some large numbers.

Tata Motors Ltd. (NYSE:TTM), the Indian motor vehicle giant, is bringing to market a new car that could find a warm fuzzy home in the hearts of green drivers. The Air Car uses compressed air to drive its pistons. Refills are as simple as a stop at the compressor station, and cost a reported $2 for 340 liters of air at a pressure of 4,350 psi. The car also has a built-in compressor to recharge its tank from any electrical outlet in four hours.

Tata claims the car can reach speeds of 68 mph and travel up to 125 miles between charges. It was designed by MDI of Luxembourg, who hopes to license the design worldwide.

Tata's CityCAT model is expected to list for $12,700. The company hopes to have 6,000 cars on the streets by next year. Unfortunately, the design is too fragile to meet U.S. requirements, so don't expect to see one soon.

I have been feeling guilty about not posting in a while but I have been traveling and just came upon something worthy and a terminal that is convenient at the same time. Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) has made big news recently having purchasing an Israeli metal working company named Iscar, his first outside the United States. My day has been spent with Jonathan Medved of Israel Seed Capital, that most notably just sold Shopping.com (another Israeli Company) to eBay, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY)...so what now?

It turns out that a company called GNRY Green Energy has started generating substantial amounts of power utilizing steam generators for industrial use primarily associated with food processing plants. GNRY has taken equipment readily available in the United States and waste product from trees in Israel, and instead of disposing of them in landfills is using them as fuel. By utilizing existing technology, looking backwards -- wood is an ancient fuel -- and extending its usefulness in a way not previously used in these types of factories, they are moving forward by salvaging waste to reduce energy consumption at the plants and conserve precious land.