Still unemployed. Feeling a little depressed. Haven't done an environmental diary since last week, sorry....me bad. Anyway..enjoy the Environmental News to Use..focusing on "stuff"
It's a lot easier to conserve when you know how much you're already using; this is the idea behind the InSight, InMind personal water meter. Like a Home Joule or PowerCost home energy monitor for water, this killer concept by Adam Kereliuk tracks your daily water usage throughout your house; at the end of the month, it's easy to see how much you've conserved/wasted. - Treehugger
A real "shitty" company - TerraCycle.
At TerraCycle we manufacture affordable, potent, organic products that are not only made from waste, but are also packaged entirely in waste! TerraCycle Plant Food™ is made by feeding premium organic waste to millions of worms. The worm poop is then liquified into a powerful organic plant food and bottled directly in used soda bottles.
Rocky...the Rocking Sheep from Sam Murat
Rocky - Fun seating with a serious cause. Inspired by the Sheepskin Association, I set set out to design new products from this luxurious local resource, creating this mischeavous-looking rocking sheep on skis. Since the fall in popularity of sheepskin coats, farmers producing high quality skins have seen a steady decline in their use. Sheepskin is inherently fire retardent and provides excellent results when used in upholstery and provides a cost effective alternative to fabric. When used as upholstery, it gives a unique quality feel to furniture, while at the same time provides valuable income for local farmers. These tanned skins have traveled less than 40 miles from their source near Bridgewater.
Next time you pick up your dry cleaning and think about disposing of the hangers, think again- they may have a second life as a gorgeous light fixture. Lighting Designer Ali Siahvoshi has done exactly that with his blue Cascading Hanger Light. This light was featured at 100% Design London this year and, along with his hanging silverware chandeliers, is another stunning example of the Iranian designer’s approach to contemporary lighting design, exemplifying the beauty of recycling objects for new purposes. - Inhabitat
Splendor in the grass. Rice and Corn get arty.
Over the past several years, the rice farmers in the town of Inakadate have carefully planted different colors of rice to form images when viewed from above. This year, the grassy pictures are reproductions of Hokusai’s famous woodblock-print series "36 Views of Mount Fuji."
Back Stateside, it’s corn that’s the artistic medium of choice. On a farm in Massachusetts, the corn art changes every year; this year’s portrait showed Louis Armstrong playing his trumpet, while last year’s portrait in kernels was an elaborate depiction of Julia Child, wielding a mallet in her kitchen. Other previous corny subjects at the farm have included Einstein, King Tut, the Mona Lisa, and Babe Ruth. - Culinate
Tesla: Roadster's delay worth the wait.
Tesla Motors' announcement that it is delaying production of its electric Roadster sports car until early 2008 to deal with quality-control issues has generated a lot of news coverage. (The car had been set to go into production later this year.) Less attention was paid to the Silicon Valley car company's other news: EPA-approved testing shows that the Roadster will go 245 miles on a single charge in combined city/highway driving. (If you're just zooming around town the range is 255 miles while a road trip will take you 235 miles before you need to plug in.) Tesla originally promised the Roadster would have a 250-mile range and then downgraded that estimate earlier this year to around 200 miles. If the new numbers hold up in extended real-life driving, it's a significant milestone in the development of electric cars. - Green Wombat
Paint you might just be able to eat
There's just nothing quite like watching paint dry. But unless you're the type who likes to inhale fumes, for your next paint job, go for naturally vibrant paints that won't leave you woozy.
Wanna Try?
First, some label insight... Good = Green Seal, which means that it's certified to be safe. Bad = EPA, OSHA or DOT seals, which mean that the paint contains hazardous chems that have to be monitored by the government.
* Anna Sova - get good coat from a paint that's made from 99% food-grade ingredients and renewables (available Jan '07).
* American Clay - actually a plaster, it's going to be all over the walls at Chez Jen very soon ($14/50 lbs).
* Real Milk Paint - for that "adobe"-style look ($46/gallon).
* Yolo Colorhouse - limited range of colors, but exquisite in all other ways ($37/gallon).
* Bioshield - both matte and gloss finishes. Also check out their all-natural primer and thinner ($30-50/gallon).
* Benjamin Moore Eco Spec - used by some of the top eco-builders out there ($25/gallon).
* Olympic - low-odor, Green Seal-approved and widely available at Lowe's ($17/gallon).
* American Pride Paints - great for people with chemical sensitivities ($22/gallon).
* Ecos Organic Paints - for our UK Biters (£15/1 L).
* Paint Bucket Grid - save paint and eliminate the need for plastic trays with a paint grid that you hang over the lip of the bucket ($2).
* Earth911 - find out where to recycle or donate leftover paint, and check out their paint calculators so you can buy just the amount you need. - Ideal Bite
Ethicurean goes on a Farm Tour
The majority of articles about colony collapse disorder in European honeybee hives mention almonds as one of the crops most dependent on honeybees for pollination. Generally, almond growers rent beehives during the bloom. The price of rentals has almost quintupled in recent years for various reasons, colony collapse disorder being the latest. Lagier and other farmers are trying to encourage native bees to take up residence in the orchards, like the mason bee and blue orchard bee. Both of these bees are solitary. (An earlier post has a link to a video about bee research)
Lagier told us that raising almonds organically is even more of a challenge than other crops. For one, the trees are vulnerable to fungus in the early spring and none of the approved treatments are fully effective. The almond is a hungry species, with a need for a lot of nitrogen, a nutrient typically supplied by fertilizer from the petrochemical industry. There are alternatives approved for certified organic operations, like fish emulsion (ground-up fish), which Lagier uses as part of his fertilization strategy. That raises an interesting question: are organic almonds (or other crops) grown using fish emulsion not suitable for vegetarians? - More from Mental Masala at Ethicurean
Green Plus Size Fashion
In the fashion world, clothes for sizes 12 and up has been getting better and better in recent years, with more stylish, hip offerings in the category as designers realize that just because you’re not a skinny-minnie doesn’t mean you don’t care about looking cute. To the contrary! Many women who don’t fit into the arbitrary sizes 0-12 offered in most stores (who decided who was considered ‘plus-sized’ in the first place, anyway?) want to celebrate their womanly figures, not hide them behind tent-dresses and tacky prints.
Enter Diane Kennedy, who’s not only crafting gorgeous fashions in sizes 0X-3X (that’s 12-22), but is making them green too! - Eco Chick
Green...the New Yellow
Bill Clinton wore Russell Simmons’ Green Initiative Bracelet (to benefit African communities) at the VH1 Save the Music 10th Anniversary Gala because of Russell Simmons’s challenge. "I was dared to ‘put this bracelet on your wrist before you go onstage.’"
Simmons told Clinton. ‘$25,000 to your charity ‘if you do it President.’ The former President paused, smiled, and grabbed the Green Bracelet... - Ecorazzi
Katrina Cottages
It was the poorly designed FEMA trailer that inspired Cusato to create an alternative type of dignified, but affordable emergency housing. The result? The Katrina Cottage -- a 300 - 1,800 sq-foot cottage-style home (there are a range of sizes available) designed specifically for victims of hurricane Katrina.
The cottages are now available to the general public through Lowe's, and FEMA will be entering into a pilot program with Cusato that involves building hundreds of them in the Gulf region.
...The philosophy is nicely reflected in the cottages which cost approximately $55/sq.-foot, are built so that families can buy small units and easily add-on more space when they need/can afford it, and are bright, charming cottages that most would be happy to call home. - Building Green
FarFromBoring (lives up to it's name.)
Promotional products provide messages to your clients that you imprint, while eco-friendly promotional products provide an added message, "we care about the environment!" Eco-awareness is now very much a part of our day-to-day life at home. It is Farfromboring.com’s goal to help bring the awareness to the office. We can help your company "go green"! - FarFromBoring