Archive for November, 2009
November 30th, 2009
Image credit: Audubon NC
When I wrote about efforts to increase access for Off Road Vehicles to beaches at Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, it stirred up quite a debate. Some locals bemoaned protection of birds that “are not from this area. They show up for a few months and migrate on.” Others favored conservation, citing their own friends’ habits of “taking their huge trucks and four wheelers and doing stupid things on the beach” as reason enough. But what exactly is it that the conservationi… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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November 30th, 2009
When it comes to decorating for the holidays, green decor means more than hanging a pine wreath outside. This season, be inspired by all of the eco-friendly options available (including the DIY route!) and commit to creating a healthy home for your family and the planet. From lights to ornaments, to modern menorahs and sustainable stockings – we’ve got you covered!
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To Tree or Not to Tree, the Evergreen Question: Whether you prefer the fresh smell of pine or prefer the ease of a fake tree, each option has an eco angle. For the live route, research organic Christmas tree farms in your area. Check out GreenPromise.com or LocalHarvest.com – both feature farm directories by zip code. Buying a live tree that can be replanted in your backyard is the best choice, but if you choose a cut tree be sure to recycle it responsibly – check out earth911.com to find a recycling location near you. If you prefer the ease and reusability of a fake tree, try to purchase a vintage or used one locally, and reuse year after year. Or check out the new modern tannenboing tree made in the USA with recycled aluminum. |
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Go Ornamental: Adorn the tree with vintage mementos and baubles made from renewable resources like rubberwood and felt or recycled materials like misprinted cans. Check out eBay’s World of Good for tons of “eco-positive” ornaments made from fair trade workers around the world – we’re long time fans of One World Projects’ classic recycled glass balls, but our favorite new find for this season are these adorable felted acorn tree decorations made from real acorn caps! |
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Light it Up Efficiently: LED lights illuminate beautifully and mean you won’t have to change any bulbs for a very long time. You can order them on holidayleds.com in a variety of bulb shapes and sizes. If you are of the mind that nothing sparks the spirit like a fire, try ecosmart’s denatured alcohol indoor/outdoor flickering options (much healthier than wood for all). |
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Fir Sure: Making a wreath from foliage (especially if you have some in your garden) is a fantastic family project! You can even set it out to dry and then save it for next year. Or if you want the easy way out, order an organic herb wreath from Eco Express. The beautiful arrangement of rosemary, thyme and bay leaves accented with red chili peppers can be saved and enjoyed all through the coming year. |
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Modern Menorah: We love the eco-friendly modern menorah from Amenity. Made of FSC-certified walnut, the candle blocks can be used year round throughout the house and then joined together at Hanukah! To top it off the candles are made of hand-poured soy. |
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For Stockings that Truly Stack Up: Chances are you’ve been using the same stocking year after year. If this is the case, then give yourself a green pat on the back and just keep on keepin’ on. If you’re in the market for a new stocking, consider buying vintage or make sure to purchase one made from natural, renewable fibers – like wool, hemp, or organic cotton. Check out this modern take on the time old tradition, these classy handmade felt stockings found on etsy, and these hand-knit styles made from pure merino wool. Or get inspired to make your own! |
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Open Door Policy: Welcome guests with a holiday-themed door mat made of thickly woven, naturally durable, coir – a fiber that comes from the outer husk of coconut shells. Pottery Barn offers a few different seasonal designs. |
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Star Light, Star Bright: These delicate little treasures are made from reclaimed milk containers! From felt birds to cardboard wreaths, Branch Home has a great selection of modern picks for holiday decor that are as sustainable as they are stylish. |
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Deck the Halls: Whether you’re placing holly, mistletoe, or other floral arrangements of choice throughout your winter wonderland, make sure you’re choosing the organic variety and sourcing locally, where possible. Pairing any selection with these red hot and recycled Soho Vases from Bambeco will guarantee a smokin’ holiday soiree no matter how cold it is outside. |
*Top photo credit: Zem’s house, shot by Michele Lee Wilson
November 30th, 2009
Ann Arbor, Michigan architectural firm A3C has turned its building into a showcase for a number of green building components, and managed to produce a LEED-CI Gold renovation of the existing two-story building while they were at it. The firm wanted to have a showcase for a variety of green building options, as well as providing themselves with firsthand experience with a number of different systems.
Named the UrbEn Retreat, the third floor addition provides a conference and meeting room. The small space looks out over the roof at the rest of the building which has been turned into a walkable garden space with a number of green roofing systems that make it an extraordinary space in the middle of the downtown.
The roof of the renovation was recently featured in Environmental Design + Construction magazine. Instead of just adding insulation to improve thermal performance and using a single roofing system to cover it, the roof on A3C’s building is an experimental lab to study a variety of roofing options, including both flat roof membranes and vegetated roof systems.
Rather than weighing the options and then choosing and applying a single green roof system, there are several different configurations installed next to one another, including both tray and monolithic installations, and examples of both intensive (shallow growth media) and extensive (deeper growth media) systems included in the mix. Part of the decision was based on what would work structurally with the existing building roof, so the lightest weight vegetated systems were placed where the roof could only support the lighter weight, and deeper, heavier vegetated assemblies were then placed in other areas where there was additional support capacity. A rainwater catchment system is connected to the irrigation system for the vegetated roof, as well.
Further away from the conference room, the other part of the roof (seen upper right on the plan, above) is outfitted with a membrane roof, but here, too, it’s not so simple. Working with faculty from the University of Michigan, temperature sensors were installed under a series of different colored roof membranes, so that the effect of roof color could be measured and compared. Measurements of the temperature under each type of roof, as well as the ambient outdoor temperature are collected at 4 minute intervals throughout the day, to develop a profile of how the roof membranes perform relative to each other, as well as in comparison to the vegetated roof.
The conference room itself showcases a number of features, too. Something that is found in many straw bale construction projects is a “truth window,” a framed opening in the interior wall finish that lets visitors look behind the plaster to see the “truth” that the building is, in fact, built of straw. A3C took a similar approach and has a strip along the south wall of the space showing different kinds of batt insulation installed in the cavities between adjacent studs. Each of these is also outfitted with a small digital thermometer to display the temperature on the wall just to the inside, so that different insulation types can be compared.
Gathering data from actual buildings will help architects and engineers better understand how choices of building systems affect the building, and the benefits and drawbacks to different systems. And, by allowing the community to use the UrbEn Retreat on evenings and weekends, the space becomes an amenity, as well as a demonstration of the possibilities of green building.
Links:
A3C Sustainability, ED+C.
Images via: A3C,
ED+C, Dave Lewinski.
November 30th, 2009
- Living above the store.
- A green home in the middle of oil country.
- The rooftop garden climbs down a wall.
- Internet intercedes to make solar cheaper.
- Two advantages of closed-loop geothermal systems.
- New report: charting the demands on our water future.
- Seal levels rise could cost port cities $28 trillion.
- Bainbridge Island becomes nation’s first city to provide incentives for living building challenge projects.
Also, follow @jetsongreen on Twitter for more news, links, and commentary.
November 29th, 2009
Developer Roger Wittenburg and the hotel he wants to tear down. Photo credit: Randy Pench/The Sacramento Bee
The city of Crystal Bay, Nevada, a quaint town on Lake Tahoe’s northern shore, has become the ideological battleground for local environmentalists: Can they really support the development of a behemoth new 16 acre, 300 room casino resort just because it’s ‘eco-friendly’? Despite the proposed resort’s claims that it would reduce the region’s carbon footprint and help lower sediment flow into the lake, opponents of the project site an increase in pollutio… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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November 29th, 2009
As you can see by glancing over USEPA’s list (short excerpt shown above), of 618 registered, brand-name mosquito and tick repellent products sold in the USA, “DEET” is the sole active ingredient in 553 (89%) of the products, ranging in weight percent from five (5%) to ninety eight (98.3%). There is no apparent correlation between “protection time” in hours and the DEET content, per EPA listing data. As for the other 65 registered products which use non-DEET active ingredients…read on…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
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November 28th, 2009
Fun holiday ornament created from recycled vintage zippers (1950’s – 1980’s) on a porcelain base.
$26.00 at AmaliaVersaci’s Etsy Shop
Recycled burnt out light bulb painted and upcycled for your tree. Merry Christmas is painted on the back.
$15.00 at Evesjulia12’s Etsy Shop
Made from 100% recycled materials….. rusted roofing tin. Can be hung outside or in. (Love the hooks!)
$15.00 at MerrittHyde’s Etsy Shop
Eco friendly retro christmas ornaments created out of ecospun felt (from recycled soda bottles)
$6.00 each at RikRak’s Etsy Shop
Recycled wine corks are repackaged with cream and gold ribbon, a few beads and a gold color bell on the bottom. Use for stocking stuffers or decoration on a present or hang a bunch on the tree.
$20.00 for a set of ten at Moonshine Bluebirds’s Etsy Shop
Handcut paper ornaments recycled from previously loved comic books.
$26.99 for a set of six at Bookity’s Etsy Shop
November 27th, 2009
The Sahara is advancing southward by five square kilometers a year, burying productive land under sand dunes. Photo by Celso Flores via Flickr.
At first it sounds like any other reality show: “Candidates will be put through a series of tough physical and mental endurance exercises, extreme driving tests, and group tasks measuring their ability to bond with their team-mates in pressurized situations.” But this group of “Desert Warriors” won’t just be squabbling, scheming, and showing off — they’ll be… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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November 27th, 2009
As we all wake up pleasantly stuffed from yesterday’s thankful feast, it’s interesting how quickly the focus shifts from organic turkeys and mashed potatoes to holiday shopping. With Black Friday marking the biggest shopping day of the year (and Cyber Monday just around the corner!) we thought we’d share our favorite sites for holiday shopping so you can sit back and take care of all your gift giving from the comfort of your home – ensuring that you’re never too far from delicious leftovers!
1. eBay: Check out The Green Team’s Holiday Gift Guide for cool picks for everyone on your list.
2. Organica Deluxe: One of our favorite spots for eco-luxury gift giving (p.s. We LOVE the ginger cookies!).
3. Branch Home: Smart, modern design with a firm commitment to sustainability.
4. Organic Style: Send flowers, candles or a delicious fruit & nut basket.
5. Eco Express: We’re huge fans of the herb wreath, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.
6. Earth Tech Products: A one stop shop for all the techies in your life.
7. VivaTerra: Give the gift of eco living, with style.
8. Nimli: For the fashionista in your life, this eco boutique is up to date on all the current trends.
November 26th, 2009
Photo Credit: www.kewlwallpapers.com
Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, was published on 24 November 1859, almost exactly150 years ago. This seminal book is widely considered to be a scientific landmark, in the way it changed humankind’s anthropocentric belief that we were of divine creation and all plants and animals were put here simply for us to rule over.
Darwin was able to demonstrate a more likely proposition. That man was indeed interrelated to all other animals, having also evolved by the law of Natural Selection. This being where those of a species that e… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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