Nature Kids, Hot Water Woes, and Pellet Stoves
I want my child to connect with nature, but how can a suburban park be designed to both protect visitors from Lyme disease–carrying ticks and restore the natural ecosystem? —Lena Crandall, Scarsdale, NY The funny thing about wildlife (even the kind that finds its way into parks and playgrounds in…
Living Modestly Is Not Uncomfortable
I hate that living modestly is starting to be equated with disregarding the comforts that we’ve been given… instead of a noble and earth saving way of life. I have a group of friends who all live together. In a maximum 6 person house (4 “real” bedrooms) there are 13…
Macbook Air: Green Equals Sexy!
Steve Jobs just finished giving they keynote speech at the MacWorld 2008 conference, where he unveiled the super-sexy new Macbook Air (check Gizmodo for more techie coverage). So, besides the fact that this computer looks totally gorgeous, it is also a serious GREEN MACHINE. The ecofriendly stats, from Jobs’ speech:…
Fix It, Don't Toss It!
After arriving at warm home town Barranquilla, Colombia, I was in the process of putting away my winter clothes, when inside my jacket’s pocket I found an unfamiliar object. I reached inside and out came a pair of earrings. “Nice”, I thought. And tried to remember where I had gotten…
Smartest Car; Still Worse Than The Dumbest Bike
The process of buying and making new cars isn’t the solution to this enormous fossil fuel problem we’re having. Hackneyed as it might seem, we need to develop long term sustainable community transportation, AND to rethink the way that we structure our lives around cars. Buying a smart car is…
Recycle Your Toxic Electronics!
Did you get a new PDA, mobile phone, laptop, iPod, or other fun gadget for Christmas? If you did, make sure to recycle your old unit. There’s toxic heavy metals and other stuff that can end up in our air and water if it’s just tossed in the garbage. Making…
Haygarth's Recycled Art
A couple days back I was checking out EcoStreet, where Tracy Stokes had written up a great post about Stuart Haygarth’s amazing recycled plastic bottle chandelier. Haygarth took the bottles from the Stanstead (UK) airport where they were among those confiscated by people who forgot to get rid of them…
Champagne Cork Contest at DWR!
Do you have designing hands? Get some creativity in your holiday (this would be fun to make into a competition among family or friends too!) by creating a chair for Design Within Reach’s annual Champagne Chair Contest! No, not full-size ones….miniatures made from what would normally be thrown away from…
The Kids Are Not Going to Be Alright: They're Going to Be Pissed
Several of my friends have had babies in the last few years, and some are on their second round already. Though it seems to me that there are far too many people on the planet already, it’s difficult to begrudge anyone the basic human drive to reproduce, and my friends’…
Green Gifts for All the Lovable Weirdoes in Your Life
You know those lists of gifts everyone has now? They’re killing me. So I had to make my own because my friends and family are a motley bunch, and the usual stuff (even the usual green stuff) isn’t going to cut it. Plus, they have high expectations because I am…
