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Images by Tim Mitchell

The Ministry of Trying to Do Something About It sounds like a fantastical invention that's just flown straight out of a Harry Potter novel, but in fact it's a collaboration between the excellent New Economics Foundation and inspiring artist Clare Patey. This newly formed Ministry revealed itself at The Bigger Picture, a recent event organised by NEF which took place on the International Day of Climate Action just up the river from where Londoners gathered to create the number 5 of 350.org.

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Photo: courtesy City of Sydney, Live Green house.

The sustainability demonstration showcase house was erected in a single day, when it first appeared as part of Sydney's Art & About Festival last month. Now it's on the move again, this time as an exhibit for the City of Sydney's participation in Australian National Recycling Week and other green community engagement events.

Designed by Terry Bail and Martin Urakawa from Archology, the Live Green House uses a modular, interchangeable arrangement of low embodied energy plywood sheets. The house is prefabricated off-site allowing it to be assembled and disassembled by hand with just screws. The architects reckon their working prototype would perform real world service as a small home, shed, or artist retreat.

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Energy vampire. Image credit:PeopleJam

I'm not one to dress up for Halloween, but I like to find creative ways to get on board with the spooky spirit of the holiday. If you're an energy activist like me, I think you'll enjoy these ideas:

Energy Vampires
When you sleep, when you eat, while you're hard at work, vampires lurk in the depths of your home. From morning to night they are sucking you dry. It is called vampire power and to you it is wasted money. Energy vampires are the devices that use electricity even when they are turned off - like your home entertainment system, which can cost you up to $75 per year in vampire energy. Together energy vampires can account for up to 20 percent of your electric bill.

Give your neighbors a treat this Halloween and let them know they can improve their home's energy savings by identifying and unplugging energy vampires. Just download this PDF, print copies, and include them with the treats you hand out, or place them strategically (in the bathroom, maybe?) at any Halloween parties you choose to haunt.

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Photo via Smashing Magazine.

Each year Americans spend billions of dollars on Halloween candy, costumes and other Halloween related décor-type items (over $3 billion was spent in 2006 alone). They're shelling out $20-50 a piece on costumes and $10 and up on bags of candy.

But, this year more-so than in years past, people have enhanced awareness of health issues like cancer, obesity, and diabetes rates, of environmental health, and this year less people have the luxury of spending their hard earned dollars on store-bought costumes so they're being forced to look elsewhere for their ghost and goblin attire.

All of that brings us to my five tips for throwing a greener Halloween...in ways you may not have thought of.

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U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman makes a home more energy efficient. Image credit:U.S. Department of Energy Digital Photo Archive.

You might think next week's major holiday is Halloween, but 'round the Sierra Club offices we're a bit nerdier. You see, we're excited about Friday, October 30th: National Weatherization Day.

On National Weatherization Day, created by the U.S. Department of Energy, cities will be hosting events to highlight services and organizations that help people to make their homes more energy efficient. Across the country, federal recovery funds are helping people weatherize their homes for winter, creating jobs, and reducing energy waste.

It all relates to Halloween on a number of levels, really. Think about how many energy "vampires" there are in your home or office (devices that still suck energy even when not on), or think about how much less scary your energy bills can be if you weatherize your home. Did you know that the average family can save $350 a year on their utility bills after a retrofit? So it makes sense to us to tie the two holidays together.

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"14 inch Brown that took a size 26 spinner with antron wings," Spring Creek near State College, Pennsylvania. Image credit:John Gremmer, via Central Wisconsin Trout Unlimited

Remember that debate over whether 'little things' with lifestyle changes, versus sweeping government policy actions, are more requisite? Rhetoric offers no answer. Political debate over the intrusiveness of government: same problem. See that little fly hooked into the lower corner of the fish's mouth? Rising to the smallest bait makes a difference, metaphorically speaking.

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Here is a site that champions mankind’s ingenuity. Not in creating bright, shiny new gadgets and gizmos, but in making do with what already exists. It is remarkable just what can be accomplished with a little lateral thinking and a roll (or two) or duct tape.

Although very few of the examples shown on ‘There, I Fixed it’ would win awards for their aesthetics, they do indicate just how creative people can be in when confronted with an otherwise seemingly intractable problem. Albeit with little regard to occupational health and safety standards. (More photos after the fold.)

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Live Local is the digital equivalent of hanging over the fence and chin wagging with your neighbour, sharing stories about what’s worked for you and what hasn’t.

Just a couple of months old, the Live Local website acts as a storehouse of these stories, or experiments, about how to improve your local economy, save energy and make air and water cleaner. A way to “celebrate the unexpected, random activities that make communities vibrant and fun.” It is certainly a whole heap more neighbourhood focused and positive action-oriented than most of the vacuous ‘look-at-me’ that passes for social networking.