recycled leather heart bag

How can you not love this pouch by Hoakon Helga?

upcycled cashmere elephant

I'm a sucker for cashmere, especially when it is an elephant stuffie!

via Kate Greiner

blankety blank blank: you guessed it, blankets

Recycled cashmere poncho, um....yes please. Find one at BBB.

haute felt: dress up

Curly Lulu creates the most wonderful crowns for a round of 'pretend' or maybe 100 of them.

upcycled vinyl record art

I love these record sculpture pieces from Jacksonville Florida found by Wooster Collective

too haute: designer watermelons

Not eco in any way--except maybe saving room in your refrigerator, its just that a $500 watermelon is so haute it deserves a look see/mention.
via Food Fashionista

molly mutt: doggy duvets

Molly Mutt diy dog bed kits keep textiles out of our landfills. Either cover your existing dog bed with the Molly Mutt dog duvet, or fill it with the old clothes and bedding you've got laying around. Molly Mutt's mesh “stuff sack” makes it easy to grab old soft stuff, then cover with dog duvet.

d.i.y.: recycled bottle torch

For directions to make this al fresco outdoor bottle torch, Gerardot and Co.

bandaderodadura: inner tube bags

Bandaderodadura's bike bags are awesome!

teenager creates electric car

Sorry about the lack of posts dear readers, I had to take a vacation. To start things off, here's and inspirational read about a high schooler who no longer wanted to pay for gas--so, naturally he turned his car electric! He makes it look so easy.

haute reclaimed frames: nauti & co

Nauti and Co.

recycled plastic bag art

Amazing recycled polar bear made from plastic bags at Eden Project Cornwall, England.

trash skull sculpture

More here.

abandoned manmade spaces

Very Mad Max, I am intrigued by these wonderful, empty spaces man has forgotten. Found at Artificial Owl.

amyris biofuels

Colorado-based Amyris Biotechnologies opened up a demonstration plant with a capacity of more than 10,000 gallons a year in Campinas, Brazil, to demonstrate large-scale production of hydrocarbons, from sugarcane processed using its engineered microbes. The sugarcane is converted into conventional diesel fuel. With the hope of using Brazil’s existing biofuel infrastructure, the company will make hydrocarbons to produce diesel and other chemicals to sell in the country and possibly in the United States and Europe in 2011.
Brazilian sugarcane is cheaper than US corn and its processing is less expensive and the leftover waste is useful in producing electricity. Burning this fuel produces no sulfur, less carbon monoxide, and fewer nitrogen oxides, particulates, and other emissions, compared with petroleum diesel. Just don't cut down any rainforest to plant the sugarcane.....

recycled architecture

This gorgeous home by Single Speed Design called the Big Dig House, was made from materials salvaged from the Big Dig Highway project in Boston.

The homes uses 600,000 lbs of recycled materials and took over 3 years of designing before the final form was unveiled. Constructed from materials from steel to rubber tubing, the final cost of the dwellings is around $150 per square foot.

13 new solar plants in the west

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Senator Harry Reid announce plans to fast-track commercial-scale solar power development on public lands.

Federal agencies will work with western leaders to designate tracts of U.S. public lands in the West as prime zones for utility-scale solar energy development.

Under the zoning portion of the initiative, 24 tracts of Bureau of Land Management land located in six western states, known as Solar Energy Study Areas, would be evaluated for their environmental and resource suitability for commercial-scale solar energy production. Those areas selected would be available for projects capable of producing 10 or more megawatts of electricity. The Solar Energy Study Areas (maps) located in Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah encompass about 670,000 acres.

The goal is to produce a total of 100,000 megawatts of solar electricity. The plan would streamline the entire development process; coordinate zoning and environmental studies, and; prioritize the processing of the projects. The new plan will tap resources made available in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law by President Obama.

via RGB

bokja: reupholstery dream

My eyes cry tears of joy when I see such a savvy reuse! These mid century modern gems, turn a striking new leaf with a little help from the reupholstery fairies. Fairies in the form of Lebanese designers Huda Baroudi and Maria Hibri of Bokja, who presented this new collection of found furniture pieces upholstered in vintage Middle Eastern fabrics. LOVE LOVE LOVE them.
via Dezeen

babycakes: healthier desserts

Baby Cakes, a cupcake shop in the East Village caters to the picky eater or allergen aware diet creating scrumptious cakes that are gluten-free, dairy free, egg and soy free. To top it off, they are sweetened with agave nectar. I need to get my hands on some ASAP.

sword & fern: repurposed jewelry

You'd never guess that these lovely earrings had a previous life as car parts. Created by the upcycled workings of brilliant Sword & Fern.

junk to funk fashion show

The annual, wildly popular Junk to Funk fashion show is seeking submissions.

david trautimas: digital art from vintage kitchen items

David Trautrimas is a brilliant digital artist, who buys antique and vintage kitchen utencils, electric mixers, slicers, etc...deconstructs them--only to photograph the pieces and then digitally reassemble them into futuristic, otherworldly architectural city scapes. The project called 'Habitat Machines' takes repurposing to a new virtual dimension.

via Berlin Photo Works

microbes will clean wastewater and generate electricty

A team of researchers from China and the US have modified a microbial fuel cell, which carries naturally occurring bacteria to convert wastewater into clean water, while generating electricity.

Much more efficient than a conventional microbial fuel cell, it uses 200 milliliters of artificial wastewater to desalinate about 3 milliliters of salty water and the team is confident that they’ve hit upon a system which can have enormous potential if more research is done. source

here we grow movie: a restoration of food

I am so jazzed for the premiere of the Here We Grow Movie!
The film, was inspired by Craig King's desire to break the limitations of the retail food world and to help change the way people think about food and wellness. King, a natural food chef and entrepreneur, was the brains behind the documentary, which intends to explore the state of our food supply and help educate people to live healthier, more wholesome lives through socially responsible food choices. The film is intended to raise awareness nationwide through inspirational interviews and stories that will capture the passion and drive of a diverse group of individuals.

Here we grow is dedicated to active solutions to create wellness going forward. Profits from the film will go directly towards community projects to demonstrate the actions necessary to restore America's health. One of the upcoming projects is to install vegetable gardens at orphanage and to healthy school lunch programs. Click here to out where it is playing near you, to watch the trailer for the movie, or simply purchase the documentary at the check out stands of Whole Foods beginning in September. Bon appetit!

varian designs

Varian Designs is an environmentally conscious business with five core designs, 'The Timber Collection', made with recycled or responsibly harvested red and white oak, white pine, Douglas fir, and steel.

solar powered gym boulder: movement climbing & fitness

Movement Climbing & Fitness here in Boulder Colorado is the world's first renewable energy powered gym.

Lighthouse Solar has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the inventors of the gym. The energy required to power the gym will be harnessed by a 100KW photovoltaic array and water is heated in a 90-sq-ft evacuated tube solar thermal system.

The solar systems are owned by Lighthouse Solar and the building owners purchase the energy the photovoltaic and solar thermal systems produce. Since the system is installed on the building, the gym owners pay a fixed power cost, which is 10% below the current grid electrical rate.

Designed by Jim Logan Architects, the facilities in the climbing gym are state-of-the-art. The building incorporates smart and energy-efficient lighting systems. A heat exchanger is integrated to utilize outside air to cool or warm the interior. The electrical consumption of the building is displayed on a monitor at the entrance of the building.

sarah applebaum: knit art

Sarah Applebaum's art installations are a luscious otherworldly combination between rainbow brite and crafty grandma. Knit art and crochet are very approachable, I just want to lounge in them.

foldable bicycle

I would love to have this bike, say on a road or camping trip in an old VW camper van--it would give you convenience while saving SO much space!

via Ecofriend

dna barcode identified in plants

A 'barcode' gene that can be used to distinguish between the majority of plant species on Earth has been identified. This gene, which can be used to identify plants using a small sample, could lead to new ways of easily cataloguing different types of plants in species-rich areas like rainforests. It could also lead to accurate methods for identifying plant ingredients in powdered substances, such as in traditional Chinese medicines, and could help to monitor and prevent the illegal transportation of endangered plant species.

Science Daily

i love nature!

This gigantic mushroom was harvested near Chiapas Mexico, more here.

led candle substitute

Industrial designer Jasper Hou has created this self-powered LED light that converts mechanical energy into electricity.

'Time Your Light', comes with a timer base that is to be rotated by the user to wind up the crank mechanism on the inside. Once wound, the system starts to unwind, slowly converting the mechanical energy into electricity. The amount of winding depends on the time the light glows.

via Yanko

samsung bio plastic phpne: plant-based alternative

Samsung is making headway with its new Reclaim, a phone made from over 80% recycled materials.

The slider phone is made from bio-plastics which is produced from corn and is PVC-free. The phone features a 2MP camera, stereo Bluetooth and can support a speculated microSD card up to 32GB. The packaging of the device will be green as well, as it’s made from 70% recycled materials and printed with soy-based ink. The phone was launched by Sprint, who will offer it in “Earth Green” and “Ocean Blue” colors for $50 with a two-year contract.

Its great that Samsung has adopted bio plastics, but I would like to make a plea to all other designers out there to embrace this plant based alternative as well. Here is some history:

Face the facts: plastic is choking the planet. The molecular bonds that make the material extremely durable also make it ex-cruciatingly slow to degrade, so it hangs around for a long, long time. Americans currently recycle only 12 percent of plastic containers and packaging—most of it ends up in landfills or, worse, in the natural environment. There, it breaks down into smaller bits, picks up oily pollutants, and gets ingested by birds and fish. (The so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch—a stew of plastic junk northeast of Hawaii that is estimated to be twice the size of Texas—is one of the more egregious examples of this phenomenon.)

Luckily, there is a viable alternative: plastics made from plants—bioplastics—have several key advantages over their synthetic cousins. They aren’t derived from petroleum, a dwindling, nonrenewable resource, they won’t stick around forever; and in the right conditions, they can degrade in a matter of months. And the carbon dioxide released when they do degrade is offset by the carbon sequestered by the next crop of plastic-making plants. The bad news: bioplastics currently make up just a tiny portion of global plastic production, and they face significant hurdles to more widespread adoption.

Bioplastics are not new. In the 1850s, a British chemist created plastics from cellulose, a derivative of wood pulp. Later, in the early 20th century, Henry Ford experimented with soy-based plastics in his automobiles, even going so far as to unveil a complete prototype plastic car in 1941. But by that time petroleum had emerged as a source for synthetic polymers, which possessed more favorable properties than plant-based versions. World War II cemented the dominance of synthetic plastics, and in the 70 years since we’ve not looked back.

Only in the last decade, in response to the rising cost and shrinking supply of oil, have bioplastics reemerged in consumer applications. In 2003, NatureWorks—a joint venture of Cargill, the largest agricultural business in the United States, and Dow Che ical, the country’s biggest chemical company—began producing Ingeo bioplastics, which can be extruded into containers for food packaging and into fibers for apparel, furnishings, and disposable products such as baby wipes. Ingeo is a PLA, or polylactic acid, derived from corn—the most common and fully developed of the current crop of bioplastics. But alternatives are also being made from castor beans, sugarcane, algae, and even chicken feathers. In theory, you could make plastic out of thin air by extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Cell-phone casings are one such example. Last year, the Japanese company NEC unveiled a phone with a corn-based-plastic body before Samsung. Other companies have added strengthening fibers to PLA—creating what’s called a biocomposite—but that tends to tarnish the material’s appearance and make it less desirable for industrial-design applications.

There are still some obstacles to sort out, even though bioplastics have a net-zero carbon footprint as a material, their production still creates CO². Plus, bioplastics pose a recycling problem. While they could be recycled in theory, the infrastructure to do so is not in place.

More here.

wetland machines of ayala israel

Israel is in the midst of a water crisis. Climate change, a rapidly growing population, extensive agriculture and a very developed industry are all putting pressure on the few and extremely contested sources of freshwater.

Desalination creates more problems than it solves, because the process is energy intensive, expensive, and besides freshwater, ironically produces highly toxic byproducts as well. Wastewater treatment plants function under a similar ecological imbalance. More efficient and creative ways to offset water demand are therefore needed. This is where Ayala Water and Ecology comes in.

The Israel-based company specializes in designing and building artificial wetlands to treat contaminated water from agriculture, industries and urban areas so that it could be reused. The recycled water may not be potable but at least the effluent doesn't immediately get dumped and then pollute already dwindling supplies to the extent that untreated runoff would degrade them.

With the help of microorganisms, such as microbes, bacteria and fungi and water plants, they can take in toxins, heavy metals, greasy substances and pathogen agents extracting them from soil and water. They can even phytoaccumulate and phytoremediate, to use the technical terms, substances that more technologically advanced systems cannot.

Of course, no single species can neutralize all contaminants. There isn't even a master matrix of plants and microorganism that works in every scenario. The trick is in finding the right combination that, in a sustainable manner, most efficiently removes the target pollutant and yields the purity level one is aiming for.

Ayala has been doing just that for nearly two decades and has deployed their wetlands machines all over Israel and in other places further afield. You can find them in domestic settings treating household sewage so that the reclaimed water can be used for irrigating the garden. Higher up on the urban scale, they can be found treating municipal wastewater and also the stronger stuff, the poisonous waste, from industrial sites. The company has also been involved in projects to treat landfill leachates and to rehabilitate degraded rivers.

Of course, Ayala isn't the only company applying ecological solutions to wastewater treatment. There's John Todd Ecological Design, possibly the most popular of them all, or at least the one with the most media coverage; Natural Systems International, who co-designed Sidwell's educational wetland; and Worrell Water Technologies, who holds, to our surprise when we first learned of it, the registered trademark for Living Machine®.
via Pruned

functional garden sculpture

Fantastic sculptural hammock at Pruned.

trash fish: tokyo

Tokyo Wonder Site is investigating the possibilities of rejected materials and drift rubbish as an avenue for creative exploration through a series of artwork by artistic environmentalists.
Participants include some renowned names such as Fuji Hiroshi, Ohmaki Shinji, and Yodogawa Technique. The artwork being displayed at the Global Environment Information Center (GEIC) in an exhibition called “Is it Waste?” includes masterpieces that are made of pigments, felt, nonflammable cloth, fluorescent lights, acrylic cases etc. The trash fish is simply magnificent!

via EcoFriend