th comments
veggirl said: "Adam that is one of the most compassionate acts I have ever seen! It touched my heart deeply! I wish there were more people out there like you:)</p..." [read]

Dwall said: "This is from the same guy who is buying up water rights from farmers in order to sell it back to big cities by way of long pipelines built on land ..." [read]

Alex M. Pruteanu said: "I saw this on the heels of reading about Nissan introducing an all electric car to the States by 2010-2012. As noted in a comment above me, I vivi..." [read]

ben said: ""teach your cat some discipline!" Bahahaha! Have you ever even met a cat?..." [read]

Paul Eckerson said: " Having a degree in chemistry and working in the feild my entire career, I know that the laws of thermodynamics tell me using electricit..." [read]

Bobbiker said: "If there were no bike boxes or bike lanes or separate bike paths, and cyclists simply shared the roads with cars as I have done for 35 years with c..." [read]

African Seed Bank Deposits Arrive In Norway

by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 02. 4.08
Design & Architecture

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TreeHugger April updated us on construction of an international seed bank (shown here in front view) in her post called Chilling Down Svalbard's Seed Saver. This followed Tim's post on the early planning stages called Norway Seed Bank: A Hedge Against Food Loss. The shelves are up, and the first load of seeds, from Africa, are enroute for long term storage in Norway.

blockquote%20copy.gifTwenty-one boxes filled with 7,000 unique seed samples from more than 36 African nations were shipped to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a facility being built on a remote island in the Arctic Circle as a repository of last resort for humanity’s agricultural heritage...

Read more: African Seed Bank Deposits Arrive In Norway

It Slices, It Dices: Smith Storage & Stool by Jonathan Olivares

by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 01.14.08
Design & Architecture

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Just as "Smith" the surname has many uses (as the most-employed in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand) as a family name, "Smith" the storage and stool has many uses around the house. Designed to have seven different functions, the utilitarian piece offers bookshelf-like interior storage space, a surface for sitting or use as a tabletop and casters for easy moving between various home and workspace-related uses.

With so many possibilities, it's ultimately up to the user to define what Smith fits best; we think it'd work pretty well for a handful of different things, and can probably be the less to your current more. Available at Nova68 via ::Better Living Through Design

Zweifach Shelf: Flat-Pack, Break It Down Storage

by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 10.26.07
Design & Architecture

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Put the words "flat" and "pack" together, and TreeHugger usually needs a towel to contain the drooling; there are few things we like more than the ability to change dimensions, create structure from wafer-thin materials and make efficient use of materials in manufacturing and space when shipping. With that in mind, we submit for your consideration: the Zweifach Shelf.

Designed by Simon Schappi and oddly reminiscent of Kindergarten, each double cubbie starts as three separate, flat pieces; spend a few minutes folding and fitting, and a modular shelf is born. This is one of our favorite things about this design: you can build only as much storage as you need; the modular, stackable system lets you expand and contract your storage as the volume of your stuff fluctuates. Empty a box or two out? No need to waste space with empty storage; just break down one of the boxes. Perfect for a small apartment dweller, frequent mover or anyone who doesn't want to kill extra space with storage you don't need. ::The Formsons via ::swissmiss

Earthpack - Greening Your Shopping Experience

by Kristin Underwood, San Diego, CA on 10. 7.07
Design & Architecture

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The holiday season is almost upon us and that means its time for men and women to test their strength carrying 5, 10, dare we say 20 shopping bags at a time as they rush from store to store to car and back again. Ever wonder, where do all of those bags come from, and more importantly, is there anything environmental about them? Well, I had a chance to sit down with Dave Bock, owner of Earth Pack, the maker of many of the shopping bags you see today. Treehugger mentioned them previously in this packaging QandA. What follows is a fascinating look at the pros and cons of retail packaging and the finding that there are no easy solutions when it comes to retail bags.

Like many small business ideas, this was a fictitious school project that was also an unfulfilled market. Bock grew up as a surfer and was always interested in design, and in the 80’s he noticed that there was a shortage of retail bags at surf shops due to the petroleum shortage. The idea for Earth Pack was then formed and Bock began to design and develop a bag and then rode around via bike power to different surf shops in San Diego offering his bags.

Read more: Earthpack - Greening Your Shopping Experience

Make Your Own Minimalist Laptop Case

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09. 6.07
Design & Architecture

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When I get my shiny new laptop I am going to put it in one of these- a homemade laptop sleeve from the greatest invention of the twentieth century, duct tape. I mean, computers and airplanes are important but if you can't hold them together, what good are they? Over at instructibles, zoundspandang shows us how, saying "I got tired of looking at the scratches and dents my MacBook suffered every time i tried to take it somewhere without throwing it in my rather large backpack. I needed something slim yet good looking. Something rugged yet inexpensive. I turned to my two best friends cardboard and duct tape! In this instructable I'll show you exactly how to make one of your own." He finished it with smart racing stripes. A neat project that even I can probably do without cutting myself. ::Instructables via ::Lifehacker

Take Out: Stay at Home Furniture with Portable Storage

by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 08.27.07
Design & Architecture

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Take Out is a storage solution/furniture whose name reveals its function: each of the drawers is a portable briefcase that you can just pull out and take with you. It'd be especially useful for things that you can use all over the place, like toys and tools. The idea makes a lot of sense; you don't need a chest of drawers when you're out and about, and you don't need portable briefcases when you're home. We aren't crazy about the materials -- the outer shell is made from MDF and the briefcases are plastic -- but the idea is solid and green on its own, and materials would be easy to modify. Below the fold: a picture of the piece in action. ::Klaus Aalto via ::Freshome

Read more: Take Out: Stay at Home Furniture with Portable Storage

TreeHugger Picks: Bicycle Storage Options

by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 08.23.07
Design & Architecture

TreeHugger loves to ride our bicycles, but doesn't like to let them get in the way when not in use. Inspired by The Leonardo that we saw earlier today, here are some of our picks for ways to keep your bike handy but get it out of the way.

th-picks-cycloc.jpg 1) The cute and curious Cycloc is essentially a plastic bucket that has two opposing "lips" that use your bicycle’s own weight to hold it in place. The void in the middle of the Cycloc keeps your gloves, pants clips, etc, close to hand, while holes in the cylinder allow you to fix a cable lock as well.
th-picks-cyclepods.jpg 2) Got lots of bikes? Something like the Cyclepod might be what you need. It provides eight secure spaces for parking your bikes, storing the bikes upright, and the front wheel and frame can both be locked in place. More good news: Cyclepod is made from 95% recycled aluminum.
th-picks-NYT-bike-storage.jpg 3) The New York Times helped us out with a conglomeration of handy bike storage options, along with an accompanying slideshow, to show how easy it is to get your bike off the ground. No more “I get sweaty” or “the roads are too dangerous, have you seen what drivers do out there?” excuses for not riding! Two more picks, below the fold...
Read more: TreeHugger Picks: Bicycle Storage Options

Driving Me Up The Wall: Bicycle Storage

by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 08. 9.07
Design & Architecture

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There are many reasons, rationales, justifications, excuses, etc, why many of us don’t ride bikes—leaping instead into our cars when mobility is required. They range from “I get sweaty”, through to “the roads are too dangerous, have you seen what drivers do out there?” But the other day the New York Times helped strip away one of the other pretexts for avoiding pedal power: “but I’ve no where to store a bike.” NYT’s Personal Shopper went and ferreted out some funky storage options that will get a bike out from under your feet. See their lil slideshow for some cool tips. Via ::New York Times

We'll be working on better category archives soon. In the meantime, take a look at the weekly archive if you really want to dig around, or use the search box at the top of the page.

TreeHugger breaks it down for you in a series of in depth how-to articles that will help you green your life. No time like the present!

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