Barbie has clout. She is No. 41 on the list of The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived. Now she’s going green with the new Bcause collection which “Reuses and Repurposes Excess Barbie(TM) Fabrics and Trimmings to Create Fashionable and Playful Handbags, Pillows.”

Smart Planet weighs in on the environmental impact of the Bcause collection.

The case against
Over one billion Barbies are reckoned to have been sold since their launch in 1959. According to auction house Christie’s, Mattel flogs three Barbie dolls every second, creating a nightmare plastic mountain that’ll probably take centuries to biodegrade and clog up our precious remaining landfill space. So who cares if Mattel sells a dozen bags and accessories that happen to have some reused materials? Shouldn’t Mattel be doing that anyway? And even worse than all that plastic (and Mattel’s recent toys recall), Barbie isn’t the UK’s own Sindy doll.

The defence
The new Bcause collection features bags, hats and pillows made from excess fabric and trimmings from other Barbie toys. Apparently those off-cuts would otherwise end up in the bin. The ten-strong accessory collection will spread the green word amongst young girls and may convince them to become climate heroes and eco campaigners when they’re older (our words, not Mattel’s).

Elle weighs in on the fashion impact.

No, thank goodness for future body dysmorphists everywhere, nothing about Barbie will change. But a new line of Barbie accessories for girls (handbags and totes) will include trim and detail made from factory seconds– those pieces of fabric left over from the huge bolts of cloth that are made into a thousand tiny Barbie swing coats or astronaut outfits. Instead of tossing these extras, they will be reused, a tactic many eco-fashion designers use to add fun details to their lines while still recycling.

Barbie is nothing if not versatile, from her 1959 origins….

To her many 2008 updates, of which this is just one….

Barbie Baby Phat Kimora Lee Simmons Doll

The lights are out, even in the virtual world. People are asking, “Why Is Google black?”

On the page is the one line: “We’ve turned out the lights. Now it’s your turn,” with a link to a description of “Earth Hour.”

Google users in the United States will notice today that we “turned the lights out” onthe Google.com homepage as a gesture to raise awareness of a worldwide energy conservation effort called Earth Hour. On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.

Find out more in the “Earth Hour Movie.”