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In a symbolic gesture, German energy authorities are looking to repurpose old coal mines into wind power storage facilities. The concept involves placing hydroelectric pumps inside decommissioned mines, which would access wind power captured by turbines outside, giving new life to old mining communities and creating a sustainable storage system for the new wave of renewable energy. During......read more
Israeli industrial design studio Tenenbaum Hazan has found a surprising use for the plastic window blinds that have been replaced by lighter, stronger alternatives made of aluminum. The flowing, curvaceous TRIS chair features old plastic roller blinds held together by a closed wooden contour that keeps the form in place. The side where you sit is flexible while the other side......read more
The coastline of North America is one of the most expansive on Earth, extending from the North Pole to the southern tropics. Like other shorelines around the world, it could be completely transformed by climate change. For By Sea, Canadian photographer Scott Conarroe trained his camera on the continent's perimeter, capturing an idyllic coast in advance of cataclysmic climatic upheaval. Connaroe's......read more
Natural, fast-growing rattan is enjoying a sort of renaissance in the design world. Unfortunately, conventional rattan harvesting practices tends to harm tropical forests where it grows. Enter WWF's Sustainable Rattan Project, an EU-funded program for sustainable production and processing of rattan in the Mekong region of Southeast Asia. "Forests with such a wide variety of flora and......read more
We are in the midst of a food revolution. Urban farms are popping up all over the place. Wal-Mart is buying local, sustainable produce. Even the White House growing its own vegetables. Organic is the new conventional. This week, our friends at NRDC announced the winners of their 2011 Growing Green Awards, recognizing the incredible work being done to transform the future of our food system. The......read more
When Jeremiah Ariaz embarked on his photo project Reconsidering Landscape, he turned his camera on city murals of nature scenes, contrasting the imaginary landscapes with rocks, bushes, and trees in the foreground. The images underscore an obvious irony, in that the murals depict the natural habitats the walls have previously displaced. They illustrate, Ariaz says,......read more
In the middle of winter, Isabella, Minnesota may as well be the Arctic. The town sits at the north end of Lake Superior, twenty miles from the Canadian border, in one of the coldest regions in the continental United States. But inside the Isabella Eco House, there are no cold drafts, no freezing tile floors, and no hum of the furnace. In fact there is no furnace at all. This is the home of Dr.......read more
If we were asked to name the top two strongholds of eco-consciousness in America, we'd probably say Brooklyn on the east coast and Berkeley on the west. Hell, we even gave Brooklyn it's own web series. But not everyone in these liberal bastions is down for the greater environmental good. When it comes to green development, self interest runs rampant. In Park Slope, Brooklyn, a new bike lane......read more
Folded Roads: Google Earth images become surrealist artworks in Clement Valla's series Postcards from Google Earth, which depicts bridges and roads that appear warped when you zoom in just the right way. T-Shirt Upholstery: Swedish eco designer (and mega babe) Maria Westerberg won first prize at the 2011 Green Furniture Awards for the T-shirt Chair, made of recycled textiles and bent wire fence.......read more
Old wood is the goods. Reclaimed timber has a rugged beauty that new wood products can't replicate. That's our humble opinion, anyway, and Jamison Sellers' too. The Rhode Island designer/craftsman salvages wooden pallets and boards to craft chairs, tables, and shelves that are as simple as they are striking. Alternating diffierent colors of scrap wood in thin strips, Sellers makes furniture with......read more
