Best of the Web: Green News & Lifestyle Blogs

Ad - 2010's Best Weight Loss Pills. Free Shipping & 100% Risk-Free!

GO BACK TO SCHOOL WITH AN AMAZING NEW SOLAR BAG!

If you want to put your best (and greenest) foot forward as you start the new school year, we’ve got something that will help – a lot. We’re giving away a fantastic Back to School Prize Package (worth over $500) packed with green school supplies to one lucky winner – and it could be you! This amazing bundle includes 7 awesome 100% recycled hardcover notebooks in assorted colors and styles by ecosystem, a 100% recycled binder, tabs and binder pouch from Naked Binder, and to top it all off, an amazing solar-powered bag by Sakku (worth $450) that keeps all your gadgets charged up using power from the sun!

ENTER HERE >

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: back to school, contest, eco bag, eco binder, eco notebook, eco school supplies, ecosystem, giveaway, green back to school, green bag, green binder, green notebook, green school supplies, naked binder, photovoltaic bag, sakku, sakku solar bag, sakky, solar bag, solar powered bag

Read the rest of Gorgeous Green Tree Home Takes Root in Bulgariahttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/ohttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=better_feedptions-general.php?page=better_feed

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Bignatov Studios, brownfeild redevelopment, Bulgaria green building, geo source, geothermal heating, Green Building, green house, ground source heat pump, Ignatov Architects, solar heating, solar thermal

Read the rest of Miami’s Only LEED Gold Tower Can Withstand 300mph Winds!http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/ohttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=better_feedptions-general.php?page=better_feed

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "leed", "sustainable architecture", 1450 Brickell, eco design, eco office, eco skyscraper, eco tower, green architecture, Green Building, hurricane resistant design, hurricane winds, LEED gold, Miami, Sustainable Building

Read the rest of Garden City K66 is a Pixelated Modular City Filled with Terraceshttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/ohttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=better_feedptions-general.php?page=better_feed

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "sustainable architecture", Eco Architecture, garden city k66, green architecture, green city, green space, Ljubljana, modular, modular housing pixelated city, ofis architects, pixelated, prefabricated, Slovenia

Ad - Breaking News: iPads are being auctioned at 95% off retail..

These gorgeous Fractal Gardens was created by Legge Lewis Legge for the International Garden Festival in Métis (Québec, Canada). Composed of a group of 21 low planters on wheels, the garden can be rolled and arranged into infinite patterns. The set consists of seven planters comprising three different shapes and plantings. Each “diamond” contains two angles that are multiples of 1/14th of 360°, allowing the pieces to fit together both symmetrically and asymmetrically.

READ MORE >

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: canada, fractal garden, Gardening, green design, International Garden Festival, Legge Lewis Legge, rolling planters, sustainable design

We’ve seen a lot of cool applications for Tyvek, but never one that drew its inspiration from the Rococo period – until now! Named after the palace of King Louis XIV, the Grand Trianon is a chandelier made from the lightweight, recycled material. Not only is the green light fixture super easy to transport (think about this in comparison to an actual full size crystal chandelier), but when it’s lit, it emits a soft twinkling glow.

+ Grand Trianon Tyvek Chandelier

Via Treehugger

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Artecnica, eco design, eco lighting, grand trianon, green design, green lamp, green lighting, Paula Arntzen, Recycled Materials, rococo, tyvek

Michael Eliason and Aaron Yankauskas, of Brute Force Collaborative, have a great case-study up on a recently completed 'Passivhaus' housing project in the Lodenareal complex in Innsbruck, Austria

Developed by Neue Heimat Tirol and designed by architekturwerkstatt din a4 with team k2 architekten, the new building will provide well designed and highly energy efficient homes for low-income residents:

Pushing for low-tech solutions, low operation and heating costs, and energy independence – Neue Heimat Tirol sounds like an incredible organization to work with. These strategies allow them to work with some stellar architects, producing quality buildings for those that might not otherwise be able to afford it. The Lodenareal complex is expected to save an astonishing 680 tons of CO2 per year. This is an area where Passivhaus really shines – nearly achieving 2030 Challenge now, at costs slightly more than code minimum buildings. We predict that larger housing estates meeting passivhaus will become the norm, as cities and developers realize significant cost savings can be achieved through these schemes.

Those are some impressive stats! Click here to see the full case-study and learn more about the construction assemblies and heating systems, as well as find more images and links to further information on the project.

For another good case study by Michael Eliason and Aaron Yankauskas, see: "Freiburg: A Model of Sustainability"

Photos by Christoph Lackner; via Brute Force Collaborative

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by Amanda Reed in Green Building at 1:30 PM)

If you’re on a budget but still love the look of modern design, IKEA is a popular place to find that affordable furniture fix. But could you imagine yourself going “vintage modern” by purchasing second-hand IKEA products? Just a few days ago IKEA launched a new program in Sweden that offers used IKEA pieces online, and they intend to extend this idea to other foreign outlets. Peter Agnefäll, CEO of IKEA Sweden told the daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter, “It is about taking an environmental responsibility for how our products are used in the longer term and making it easier for our customers to do their part for their responsibility towards the environment.” We’re not too sure about the quality and life span of most IKEA furniture, but we do appreciate the gesture as the big-box company tries to reduce waste with a more sustainable business venture.

Via Time

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "green furniture", ikea, ikea furniture, second hand furniture

Typical of industrial construction, precious metals such as gold, platinum and palladium are sometimes lost given the difficulties of effectively extracting them. However, researchers from the School of Biosciences at the University of Birmingham have found a way to use microbes, similar to the common soil bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans, to recover palladium from useless industrial waste. Researchers hope that by using such forms of bacteria, high quantities of precious metals can be recaptured and recycled for use in industries. While the whole process to reclaim this little bit of metal seems overly tedious, the end result holds considerable value. Palladium itself is one of the most precious resource metals on Earth, boasting unique chemical properties. This metal can in fact be used as an active element in autocatalytic converters able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.


Read the rest of Bacteria Harvests Precious Metals to Produce Clean Energyhttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/ohttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=better_feedptions-general.php?page=better_feed

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: bacteria green catalyst, bioscience bacteria palladium, bioscience bacteria precious m etal, gold bacteria, palladium bacteria, palladium microbes, precious metals bacteria

Ad - Culver City :Mom spills secret on how she makes $6795/mo part time.

Get ready for super-charged solar cells! MIT researchers announced this week that they have developed self-assembling solar cells that can be broken down and rebuilt repeatedly, much like plant cells. The solar cells constantly renew themselves, which means the technology could ultimately lead to longer-lasting commercial cells.

Read the rest of MIT Develops Self-Assembling Solar Cellshttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/ohttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=better_feedptions-general.php?page=better_feed

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: chloroplast, green design, Gulf oil spill, MIT, plant cells, Solar cells

Grist has a new series of interviews up on people who are working to change America's food system in inspiring ways. Yesterday they posted an interview with Gene Fredericks that is worth a read; it introduces Fredericks's new venture: Big Green Boxes.

Big Green Boxes aims to bring a new, high-tech, and sustainable approach to feeding the city. The main idea is to re-use vacant warehouse spaces and fill them with fish ponds, waterfalls, and edible greens and herbs to provide year-round fresh and affordable produce in a closed-loop nutrient cycle. As Fredericks describes it:

It's a new business that will transform unused warehouse space into year-round indoor growing centers. We'll use hydroponics and aquaponics, along with advanced low-energy lighting techniques and vertical growing methods, to produce the very freshest leafy greens for local consumption regardless of climate.

Our goal is to be a sustainable and profitable business that provides tasty, preservative- and pesticide-free fresh food, grown in the community for the community; that creates new jobs; revives some neglected real estate; and offers some pretty interesting educational exposure to green technologies.

What makes Big Green Boxes different from many other urban agriculture projects is its high-tech business approach:

Well, I look at Big Green Boxes as a high-tech business. But it's a very different one from large-scale farming, which has turned into a high-tech business by growing produce in huge volumes far from the end consumer, and which uses technology to modify, preserve, package, transport, and store their produce. BGB could change that. By using a combination of very new and very old technologies, local communities can grow their own fresh produce year round.

Additionally, BGB will take advantage of innovations in lighting, daylighting, alternative energy generation, water collection, and composting to make their growing spaces more energy efficient than greenhouses....with even more efficiencies expected to develop over time:

Ten years ago, Big Green Boxes was not economically or technologically feasible. Now it is. And, as the price of the equipment goes down, the price of oil and water go up it becomes more and more desirable. I know we are creating a somewhat artificial growing environment, and I don't ever expect that we'll replace outdoor seasonal growing, that's not our intention. But in the dead of winter and height of summer we can offer an alternative to sending fresh produce on a 1,500-mile pilgrimage from the fields to the table. Which has to be a good thing!

Read the full interview for more on BGB, including a description of their 'aquaponics' growing system.

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by Amanda Reed in Food and Farming at 12:00 PM)

We love seating arrangements that inspire people to play, but these stools designed by Marina68 are especially awesome thanks to their quirky nature. Set side-by-side or stacked on top of one another, these charming little stools look like a swarm of cute critters ready to run around the room. Each Tupa Stool is compact, easily movable — and best of all — made from recyclable cork, which makes them a stylish and sustainable way to add a bit of fun to your living room.

+ Marina68 Studio

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: cork furniture, cork seating, cork stool, green seating green furniture, marina68 studio, recyclable stool, tupa stool

In a bid to one-up their competition, Hyundai has announced that they will sell hydrogen fuel cell cars starting in 2012 – three years before Toyota, Honda and the rest of the competition. Seeing that renewable energy is becoming decidedly cheaper and that hydrogen fuel cell cars are more commercially viable than they were a year ago, Hyundai has said that will deliver the world’s first series production fuel cell vehicle in 2012, with 500 hydrogen vehicles rolling off the line that year and more afterwards.

Read the rest of Hyundai To Sell Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars In 2012http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/ohttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=better_feedptions-general.php?page=better_feed

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: honda hydrogen, hydrogen fuel cell cars, hyundai 2012 hydrogen cars, hyundai hydrogen fuel cell, hyundai hydrogen vehicle, hyundai ix35, toyota hydrogen

Electrolux will be announcing the winner of its 2010 Design Lab Compact Living competition later this month.  Here’s a look at the eight futuristic finalists: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0cxYgoja48 You can pop over to the Design Lab site to vote for your favorite.  I could probably do without the virtual reality cooking gizmo.

If it’s true that the number seven is lucky, then this might be the luckiest show yet!

Each week on Live a Damn Radio I spotlight the many do-gooders around the world who are raising the bar on social consciousness and taking meaningful action to create change.

On today’s show I chat with Dress for Success founder and Do Something CEO Nancy Lublin. Nancy’s new book (an absolute must-read) Zilch is available now. Up next, I give our Live a Damn Citizen Rockstar award to documentary filmmaker Marisa Miller Wolfson whose film Vegucated will be out next year. And finally, from the green music organization Reverb, manager of partnerships Elliot May joins me. FYI: Reverb is responsible for Green Music Group and works with tons of famous artists to help make their tours more environmentally friendly.

All of this plus the Live a Damn Celebrity Countdown brought to you, of course, by Ecorazzi. Check it out after the jump or visit LiveADamn.com.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and “like” us on Facebook.

Ad - Sounds Impossible? That's what we thought until we heard her story...

Earlier this summer, Ecorazzi reported that Prince Charles is planning to host an eco-friendly fashion show at his home to launch Emma Watson’s new Spring/Summer 2011 collection for People Tree. But the lean, green royal isn’t just walking the walk, he’s also talking the talk.

Charles recently sat down with UK Vogue magazine to share his ideas about earth-friendly fashion.

“Vintage clothes and upcycling are just the start because they save scarce resources and avoid waste,” he says. “Fashion clearly makes people feel good, but now it has to do the world good, too.”

The prince goes on to share items from his own wardrobe, including his favorite winter coat, tailored by Saville Row 23 years ago, and a pair of “totally indestructible” shoes made from 18th century leather.

Ultimately, Charles hopes that people will start to reuse or upcycle their clothes and, if buying new clothes is necessary, purchase items made from natural materials.

Are you a green fashionista? Chime in and share your eco fashion tips!