reusability

With kids across America suffering from a severe case of nature deficit disorder as technology creeps in and takes over their room for creative play it may come as a surprise that a group of kids putting together their very own field of dreams on which to play Wiffle ball have stirred up quite a ruckus in Greenwich, Connecticut.

It seems they’ve put a ton of time and energy into their recreation of Fenway, complete with a miniature Green Monster constructed out of reused pallets and painted green. But almost as soon as they began to play ball there were angry neighbors with a legal team, the police, the town nuisance officer and tree warden and other officials in...

Interface sells carpet to the tune of $1,100,000,000 each year. That is just one reason why the business world listens up when Ray Anderson speaks. Ray describes his ecological awakening as “a spear in the chest,” a wound he has used to both his company’s advantage, and the planet’s. Giving rebirth to 133 million pounds of carpet is just the beginning. Anderson and his design teams are hard at work studying nature’s delicate technologies—like the sticky feet of geckos—to make products better, cleaner, and more beautiful. Here, the founder of Interface share his insights on biomimicry, right-brain thinking, cradle-to-cradle design, and our innate “biophilia.” :...

photo by greenhem via flickr

We recently reported how China's scheme to ban free plastic bags in stores eems to be working in reducing their consumption, with people apparently turning to the most eco-friendly option: reusable cloth bags. And we also recently presented the low-down on the life-cycle analysis of paper versus plastic bags. Well, Kazuko Nakano, professor of recycling science at Kobe Yamate University in Japan, has...

Paper or plastic bags: which is better?
It's an age old question, when it comes time to check out when grocery shopping: paper bag or plastic bag? It seems like it should be an easy choice, but there's an incredible number of details and inputs hidden in each bag. From durability and reusability to life cycle costs, there's a lot more to each bag than meet the eye. Let's take a look behind the bags.

Where do brown paper bags come from?
Paper comes from trees -- lots and lots of trees. The logging industry, influenced by companies like

Ray Anderson started his company, Interface, back in the 1970s to make carpet. Like any business man, he wanted to shake up the market and make a healthy profit, which he’s done, and Interface now has 17 manufacturing locations on four continents. But this is not business as usual. Not anymore. Since having a sustainability epiphany, as he calls it, Ray has starting steering Interface toward one hell of a goal: zero negative effects on the planetary ecosystem by the year 2020, a goal he admits no corporation has yet reached. TreeHugger has long found inspiration in Interface’s elegant design solutions—products li...

You can find a few second hand markets in Barcelona, such as Antiguos Encantes, but finding cool stuff at a decent price is not easy, especially when you are not a local. On the other hand however, we all (Barcelonians are no exception) have a few too many objects sitting at home that we grew tired of, while constantly looking for new gift ideas or a special something for ourselves. So while the idea of second hand is attractive to many (cheap, more pers...

Being fans of the charming and witty Eco-Worrier Blog at The Times Online we naturally wanted to take a peak at the new book by the Eco-Worrier herself Anna Shepard. Recently published by Eden Project Books 'How Green Are My Wellies' sees Shepard translating her eco-agony aunt style blog, in which she doles out sensible and practical advice to the pon...

Photo courtesy tanakawho via flickr

Ironic that the Japanese originally started making those flimsy, break-apart disposable wooden chopsticks as a good way to deal with wood scraps. Now the nation goes through 24 billion pairs per year - 63 million pairs discarded per day. If you're really thrifty you can glue them together into a chopstick canoe.

Otherwise there's a growing trend in Tokyo and other cities to B.Y.O.C - bring your own pair of personal "hashi" or chopsticks. Now the Marche restaurant group is offering a reward system for people who bring their own - one point for each ...

Seat belts save lives and recycling saves the planet: Now the two create the perfect union with the Seatbelt lounge chair by designer Nuttapong Charoenkitivarakorn and manufactured by Boonchucharoenkit. Thai villagers take seat belt scraps -- made of a crash-dummy tested cotton-nylon -- and weave them in a criss-cross pattern around the plywood frame. The result is high design, available through the Future Perfect in Brooklyn, New York. via ::Interior Design ::

We love it when architects and designers get green building right. So what projects are rising to the top this year? Today, the American Institute of Architects announced the 2008 COTE Top Ten Green Projects. Judges were keen on sustainable principals and low energy consumption -- not to mention slick design.

Above is the Cesar Chavez Library in Tucson, Arizona by Line and Space which uses its hat-shaped roof for rainwater collection. More winning projects......

Best Green-Ass Ads, Number 1

The Green Movement needs to compete for consumer attention. Funny, eye-catching ads open the door for change. As an inspiration, we bring you the five best ads featuring buttocks, mostly naked buttocks, to sell the environmental cause. Top ranked: Greenpeace's You Are My Sunshine Ad for energy efficient lightbulbs. File under: "Only the British..."...

Brazilian artist Carla Tennenbaum has found a way to turn tons of EVA foam leftovers into colorful pieces of art and accessories. Tennenbaum explains that her aim is to, "explore the frontiers between graphic arts, artisan work and objects design through the development of de-construction and reconstruction techniques to apply with industrial waste."

She began working with EVA foam in 2000, when she found this material was not recycled and, therefore, used to end in landfills. Her two main lines are called Party and Kinetics. The first is a set of puffs in which the transparent plastic covering shows the hundreds of small pieces of EVA foam ins...

Bikie Introduces a Web Platform for New and Used Bicycles and Accessories in Germany

Well, this ad certainly gives a twist to bike rack scarcity, or finding the right new or used bike when you need one. The tag line at the end of the video translates roughly to "The right bike for every bum." ...