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Home Depot announces LED lightbulb that costs under $20 -- and lasts for 30 years. Seiko Kato's collages are, how you say, AMAZING. Sea Change: Photographers respond to the BP oil spill -- with optimistic pics of sustainable farming, beekeeping, and urban homesteading. No more Mr. Nice Guy: "End of Nature" author Bill McKibben says it's time to get pissed off about climate......read more
Homesteading is broadly defined as a lifestyle of simple, agrarian self-sufficiency. The sustainable, back-to-the-land movement is gaining popularity in urban areas, where applicable rural homesteading elements are being applied to city living. In theory, most people are into the idea of producing everything needed for survival on one's own land. While this isn't realistic for most of......read more
Known to web foodies as The Tipsy Baker, Jennifer Reese brings a fresh and funny perspective to cooking with Make the Bed, Buy the Butter, a chronicle of her food odyssey to figuring out which foods are worth the effort of making yourself, and which you should buy from the grocery. Marshmallows are one of the foods we'd never consider making ourselves, but Reese told NPR's All Things......read more
Lowe's, the second largest home improvement retailer in the U.S., has purchased minority a stake in Sungevity and will offer the solar leasing company's services in its stores. The deal, announced Monday, will give Lowe's customers in-store access to Sungevity's web-based iQuote system, which uses satellite imagery to provide rooftop solar installation estimates. The program is set......read more
As I write this I think back on the past few days’ efforts to make small daily changes to my eating habits. Believe me, I’m not one to deny myself the things I enjoy; I’m more likely to find something that both satisfies my cravings and that I can feel good about eating. Applying it has actually been much easier than I expected. If I stick to satisfying the senses, I find myself wanting to......read more
Cars have miles-per-gallon ratings, neighborhoods have walkability rankings, and people have carbon footprint calculators. What's up with homes then? Why isn't there be a comparable, affordable way to size up your home's energy performance? Well, now there is. The Department of Energy just released a program called the Home Energy Score that shows the energy efficency of a home on......read more
French designer Mathieu Lehanneur has set a new design standard for home energy monitoring systems. Created for Schneider Electric, Efficient Home debuted at the St-Etienne Design Biennale last week. The quirky collection is conceived as a series of symbols that act like an energy alphabet, complementing each other in various combinations. The objects, which include a temperature sensor,......read more
We can't predict the future, but this much is certain: energy costs will keep rising. So it's increasingly important that we find ways to bring those costs -- and home energy emissions -- down. Here is the slickest device we've seen for measuring electricity use from home appliances. Plugged between any appliance and an AC outlet, MeterPlug uses your handset's GPS to find local electricity rates,......read more
The most advanced practitioners of frugal living understand that the pursuit requires patience, commitment and, most of all, a willingness to resurrect other people's trash. Jennifer Wurst and partner Michael Fleming, who live in a 200-year old home on 20 remote acres near Phippsburg, Maine, have honed their thrift skills to a finely tuned artform. Their home's rustic decor owes a debt of......read more
If Gumby had gone on a mystical journey through space and time – starting perhaps in an ancient Congolese village, making a left turn in King Louis XV’s court, rolling through an Andy Goldsworthy installation and ending up at an all night Mardi Gras bash – he might end up looking like one of Nick Cave’s freakishly beautiful “Soundsuits.” On display at the Fowler Museum in L.A. until......read more
