Smash lighting fixtures by
Nendo for the
Tokyo Fiber ‘09 "Senseware" exhibition, are a beautiful, effervescent mushroom-like example of experimental LED lighting. Tapping Japanese synthetic fiber technology, each lamp is unique due to the heat-activated production technique, and made of virtually rip-proof, super light-weight (and therefore
carbon footprint reducing) thermoplastic, according to
DesignBoom. Strips of bamboo are wrapped around a wood frame, then finished with Japanese Mulberry paper and low-heat LED bulbs.
Photo: via Nendo
Continue reading "16 Revolutionary Green Ideas From the Milan Furniture Fair" »
I blame the Victorians. I mean who decided that beautiful gardens had to be solely ornamental, and who says that edible gardens can't be beautiful? Luckily, with folks getting ever more interested in local, organic food - and with budgets being tight - people are rethinking the false distinctions between beauty and utility. Take these asparagus ferns for example, shot at sunset in a field in Germany. These could beat any ornamental fern in a stately home garden.
Continue reading "18 Beautiful Edible Landscaping Plants" »
Bottles can easily become art, shelter, decorations...They don't lose their potential just because they're empty of liquid. Innovators, artists, and just plain thrifty folk have proven this. The
musical owl shown here is a perfect example. An art piece exhibited last year at San Francisco's
Fifty24, it is human-height, made of chicken wire, bottles (drunk and saved by the artists during their residency), and other materials. Complete with speaker-cone parts for eyes, it played music when plugged in. Seriously, how cool.
Continue reading "Weird and Cool Stuff Made from Bottles" »
Wangari Maathai
Our first choice for our eleven environmental heroines is
Wangari Maathai, who is a woman of many firsts: not only is she the first African woman and first environmentalist to bring home a
Nobel Peace Prize, she was also the first Eastern African woman to receive a Ph.D. in 1971 and the first woman to hold a professorship at one of the universities in Nairobi, Kenya. Her inspiring story is one of incredible tenacity and purpose. Her work ranges from women’s rights, to
combating poverty, to the struggle for democracy in Kenya. Maathai is also famous for being the frontwoman of the
United Nations Billion Tree Campaign.
Continue reading "Women We Love: 11 Environmental Heroines" »
Gift the eco-minded technology buffs in your life with gadgets, gear, and gizmos that help them harness solar power, stop vampire power leaks, and outfit offices with energy-efficient computers--so they can pursue their passions without wasting resources.
Continue reading "Green Gift Guide: Techie Types" »
The gifts on these pages--from papercraft models to downloadable furniture--impress with their attention to detail and flawless design. And since you're making it yourself, you can be sure of that other all-important gift quality: no one else will give the same thing.
Continue reading "Green Gift Guide: Free, Downloadable, + DIY Designs" »
Buying green gear for outdoor athletes is a no-brainer. They want to treat nature right anyway, and you can help: choose cleaners and tools to help their current equipment last, and environmentally-friendly clothes to keep them green from head to (literally) toe.
Continue reading "Green Gift Guide: Outdoor Athletes" »
Buying for the cook in your life is always fun--especially since it often means he'll be sharing the fruits of his labor with you. Fill the life of your favorite foodie with the cookbooks, ingredients, and equipment on these pages, and then let him fill your life with the delicious results.
Continue reading "Green Gift Guide: Green Gourmets" »
Whether you're buying for a friend who's dedicated to composting, an aunt that loves sitting on her porch at dusk, or a relative who spends every afternoon in the garden, the gifts in this guide make it a little bit easier to turn a house into a home.
Continue reading "Green Gift Guide: Home + Garden Decor" »
Help your favorite bookworm and tv-addict stock the media cabinet with these environmentally-minded volumes and DVD sets. Bonus: ask to borrow them for in-depth looks at everything from remodeling your home to changing your diet.
Continue reading "Green Gift Guide: Media Junkies" »
Whether the person on your list travels for business or for pleasure, make life a little easier with packable gear, eco-friendly luggage, indispensable gadgets, and in-depth travel guides that any green jetsetter should never leave home without.
Continue reading "Green Gift Guide: Globetrotters" »
You can tell a lot about a person by the clothes he or she wears. Help your giftee make the right impression with eco-friendly shirts, shoes, jewelry, and bags for green-minded girls and guys.
Continue reading "Green Gift Guide: Style Icons" »
Help the newlyweds in your life get their marriage off to a Earth-friendly start with green alternatives to traditional wedding presents--like recycled champagne glasses, reclaimed wood frames, and recycled notecards.
Continue reading "Green Gift Guide: Newlyweds" »
Grow 'em green by starting your WeeHugger off on the right foot, planetary-wise. These nontoxic, sustainably produced products will school your tiny eco-warrior in the basics of environmental stewardship, without sacrificing style or substance.
Continue reading "Green Gift Guide: WeeHugger" »
If you've ever wandered aimlessly around your son or daughter's favorite store with no clue where to even start shopping, then fear not: our list of high school-approved green goods, from hip backpacks to trendy tees, will please even the pickiest teen.
Continue reading "Green Gift Guide: Green Teens" »
What do you give to the person who has everything? Something to do instead of something to have. Whether it's a spa weekend, a bike tour, cooking classes, or show tickets, experiential gifts create the memories that last a lifetime.
Continue reading "Green Gift Guide: Experiential Gifts" »
It's still a common question: can
vegetarians perform as well as their carnivorous counterparts in physical competition? Take a look at each of the top level athletes in this slideshow, and you should have your answer. These 10 vegetarian athletes rose to the top of the
sports world--without any help from meat.
Continue reading "10 Superstar Athletes Who Don't Eat Meat" »
Pigs Confined in Metal and Concrete Pens
Confined in metal and concrete pens with slatted floors, these pigs will live in these conditions until they reach slaughter weight of 250 pounds.
All photos in this slideshow were provided by Farm Sanctuary. At the end of this presentation you can find out more about the work they do on issues of animal welfare and factory farming.
photo: Farm Sanctuary
Continue reading "So What Does the Inside of a Factory Farm Look Like Anyway?" »
I am heading to ICFF, North America's biggest design fest and the focus of New York's Design Week. But often, when we write about design, commenters ask "Why is this on TreeHugger?"
Not everything we show on TreeHugger is deep green, but everything has some kernel of an idea that is interesting, original or challenging, even if it is an overpriced Louis Vuitton solar powered desk.
This slideshow is a sort of checklist of what we will be looking for at ICFF, and what we look for in design.
More: Louis Vuitton Designs Office in a Box
Credit: The Register
Continue reading "What is Green Design? 13 Questions We'll Be Asking at ICFF " »
Bottega Montana
OK, we recently came up with 13 criteria for looking at design. So how did we do last year? We will warm up for the show by looking at some of our favorites.
How Italian designer brothers Francesco and Marco Gillia ended up in Lima, Montana, is probably a story in itself, but there they are, opening Bottega Montana. This refers to the Renaissance concept of the Florentine Botega, where artists worked in close association with their students and trainees. They have invented a unique (and patent-pending) fastener system so that their furniture can be easily assembled and dissasembled with only a mallet.
Collin took such a good picture that Francesco's mom asked for a copy, but what about the furniture? Which of our buttons does it hit?
Sustainable (sustainably harvested timber)
Downloadable (which we loosely apply to flatpacks)
Local (using local woods and trades)
Durable (is is certainly solid)
More: Table Goes Together Without Fasteners
Credit: Collin Dunn
Continue reading "Favorites from ICFFs Past" »
Walk, cycle, take public transit, carpool, telecommute. There are many ways to get where you're going that pollute less than sitting alone in a car. But if you still need a car, you should get the most fuel-efficient model that meets your needs... And that's what's interesting about the Toyota iQ. It can meet the needs of a group of people who didn't have that many options before: Kid-less urbanites.
Photo: Toyota
Continue reading "Toyota iQ: The Smallest Four-Passenger Car in the World" »
Despite a rash of closures due to shrinking demand and the global credit crisis, China's factories remain plentiful and packed full of people paid minimal wages to assemble everything from jackets to iPhones to cars by hand. To many, factory life can be an empowering alternative to village life, as Leslie Chang reminds us in
Factory Girls. But the conditions can be
grueling. The factory pictured here, which produces coffee makers and irons, relied on 21,000 resident employees when photographer Ed Burtynsky visited in 2005.
Edward Burtynsky. "Manufacturing #18, Cankun Factory, Zhangzhou, Fujian Province," 2005
Continue reading "People Power in China" »
This year’s 18th Annual Artists for Africa Benefit Gala held at Donna Karan's
Urban Zen Center in New York City on May 20, 2009, brought eco-activists and celebrities alike out in support of the
African Rainforest Conservancy (ARC), a non-profit working to promote the conservation and restoration of African rainforests by empowering local men, women, and children, to preserve their natural heritage for present and future generations. Past and present honorees, Gloria Flora, Director of
Sustainable Obtainable Solutions,
Carbon Conservation CEO Dorjee Sun, join actor and advisory board member
Matt Dillon and ARC President Carter Coleman for press photos in front of the night’s sponsors which included
360 Vodka and Carbon Conservation.
Continue reading "Artists & Activists Unite at ARC's Annual Artists for Africa Benefit in NYC" »
Award-winning artist
Lou McCurdy, known for her installation art project "More Plastic than Plankton" has partnered up with graphic designer Chloe Hanks, founder of
Plastic Bag Free Brighton. The duo has created some very interesting artwork to underscore the problems of
polluted beaches.
Continue reading "Dirty Beaches Inspire Graffiti and Found Art" »
Made locally in Sydney, Australia,
Emobi’s Halter Tankini is designed to lift, support and create cleavage while providing comfort and coverage. We loved this funky, bright, and fresh print made from environmentally friendly water based dye, but Emobi’s suits are available in a variety of solids and color combinations as well as separates. Oh and did we mention it has sun protection? Yup, this suit is made with UPF 50+ fabric.
Continue reading "10 Sexy & Sustainable Swimsuits for Summer " »
Kerala's female population is often considered to be better off than most women in India, with female literacy at 87 per cent – compared with the 29 per cent in India as a whole -- an average of two children as opposed to four, and a higher propensity for higher education. They also hold 30 percent of government jobs. The matrilineal customs of the Nair caste (which pass property down to women) may be responsible, but so too are government policies that have pushed for female education.
Photo by Alex Pasternack
Continue reading "Kerala, India: Western Standards on Fraction of Income" »
Oh hay! Saddle up with
Two Trick Pony, a Boston-based stationer that keeps its environmental hoofprint petite by hand-printing all its paper goods (social correspondence, wedding invites, prints) on 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper using water-based inks. Plus, single cards are packaged in biodegradable clear sleeves made from
PLA film, making this equine-inclined paper purveyor a clear winner (or would that be "whinny"?) in the green department.
Two Trick Pony
Continue reading "16 Dazzling Eco Paper Products at the 2009 National Stationery Show (Plus, Pretty Eye Candy!) " »
So little time, so much to see..
New York Design Week is a great scene, and as green design becomes a part of all design, there is more and more to present on TreeHugger. But one person cannot be everywhere and see everything, and sometimes something wonderful can be right in front of your face and you don't get the impact. But other writers from sites like MocoLoco, Inhabitat, PSFK and Metropolis were there, and they caught things that I missed, or just did a better job than I did.
We look at some of those posts that they caught and I missed.
Continue reading "Things I missed at ICFF" »
What Happened To Modern Prefab?
TreeHugger used to cover modern green prefab like a roll of Tyvek, but they have fallen off our radar as of late. Perhaps my own disenchantment came last year when I wrote Modern Prefab Lives Fast, Dies Young, Leaves Good Looking Corpse
that in these times it is not exactly what we need:
This housing downturn is going to be long and painful, and when we come out of it what we build will have to be smaller, greener and denser. We are going to need to rebuild what we have to reduce our buildings' carbon footprints rather than build more new stuff. We are probably going to need jobs for skilled hands more than we need digital fabrication.
Nonetheless, there is still a lot of creativity in the field, a lot of young, talented architects coming up with great stuff. Furthermore the introduction of the Clayton I-house has rekindled an interest on the part of a lot of people. So with the help of Justin Anthony at Materialicious, who has followed developments closely, I look at what we have missed.
More: Home Delivery: Modern Prefab Lives Fast, Dies Young, Leaves Good Looking Corpse
Continue reading "What's New In Modern Prefab" »
Arnold Schwarzenegger matches his muscle in one of his many hummers. Fortunately, the California Governor transformed his former gas-guzzler into a carbon-neutral, french-fry smelling hummer that runs on
vegetable oil.
Continue reading "7 Celebrities in Gargantuan Gas-Guzzling Cars " »
The
Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch offers a list of fish you can enjoy and those you can't. Many on the list you may or may not enjoy depending on where and how they're caught. However, there are some you just don't want to touch. Check out 10 of these tasty fish that you want to let swim in peace.
Continue reading "10 Tasty Fish You Don't Want to Eat" »
