Plastic Bottle Fish Sculptures in Rio

A fish sculpture constructed from discarded plastic bottles rises out of the sand at Botafogo beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as part of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development which runs there through June 22. 

Link

Yet another tip of the hat to Bruce.

Seed Bomb Bracelet and Biodegradable Dress for Earth Day

Brooklyn Industries' attractive seed bomb bracelet holds three “seed beads” on a length of twine. Scatter the seeds on an abandoned lot, barren sidewalk, or other concrete wasteland in need of a touch of green.

They are also launching a biodegradable seed dress made of organic cotton voile. Made without metal zippers or plastic buttons it leaves nothing behind when it is eventually discarded.

 Ecouterre

Biocouture

Biocouture is a research project harnessing nature to propose a radical future fashion vision. We are investigating the use of microbial-cellulose, grown in a laboratory, to produce clothing. Our ultimate goal is to literally grow a dress in a vat of liquid...

When you're done with it simply toss it in your compost bin.

via Book of Joe

Recycle That Bicycle

Here are some very stylish recycled bicycles.

Many more at 1-800-Recycling

Heat Your Home With Beautiful Glass Roof Tiles

The tiles are made from ordinary glass and have about the same weight as those made of clay. Secondly, the system doesn’t, like competitors’ versions, heat up water or vacuum pipes, but clean air. The tiles are installed on top of a black nylon canvas, under which air slots are mounted. The black colour absorbs heat from the sun and the air starts to circulate. The hot air is then used to heat up water, which is connected to the house’s heating system via an accumulator. The beauty of the system is that it cuts energy costs throughout the year, during dark winter days as well as night time, due to its capacity to store heat in the isolating layers of air under the canvas.

Link
Thanks Bruce!

For Earth Day: Recycle, Compost, or Trash? A Guide.

Welcome. As a citizen of a "Zero Waste" community, you must learn how to distinguish between items that may be recycled or composted, or those that must, regrettably, be placed in the trash.

Expired prescription drugs

To prevent drugs from entering the water supply or being used for illicit purposes, open the container and mix well with one cup of kitty litter and two tablespoons of coffee grounds. Then urinate on them, reseal, and dispose.

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Light bulbs

What color is your light bulb? What shape? What wattage? Halogen, Incandescent, or Compact Fluorescent? Is it broken or intact? If you are unable to answer all of these questions, you haven't earned the right to part with your light bulb.

See more at McSweeney's Internet Tendency

Plastic Bag

I know it's easy to scroll past but this is definitely worth a watch. Really, it is.

This short film by American director Ramin Bahrani (Goodbye Solo) traces the epic, existential journey of a plastic bag (voiced by Werner Herzog) searching for its lost maker, the woman who took it home from the store and eventually discarded it. Along the way, it encounters strange creatures, experiences love in the sky, grieves the loss of its beloved maker, and tries to grasp its purpose in the world.

"I wish you had created me so I could die." I want to cry for the plastic bag.

Are you still using plastic bags? Shame on you.

Via haha.nu

How to recycle your mobile phone

Ever wondered what to do with your old cell phone when you've moved on? You could throw it in a landfill (bad idea), donate it to charity (good idea) - or plant it. Researchers in England have come up with a way of burying mobile phones and watching them grow into flowers. See more at Been-Seen.com

Twenty-four years later

On Dec. 3, 1984, a tank inside the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal released 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas, killing at least 3000 people. More than 500,000 people were declared to be affected by the gas and awarded an average of $550 in compensation.

Hundreds of tons of waste still languish on the old grounds of the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, India, nearly a quarter-century after a poison gas leak killed thousands and turned this ancient city into a notorious symbol of industrial disaster.

See the Slide Show

Furoshiki Gift Wrapping

Use recyclable cloth wrapping. You know you want to.



Furoshiki Gift Wrapping
Via haha.nu

Temple of Million Bottles

Recycling is a good thing. I think I'll build a temple from my empty wine bottles.

Situated roughly 370 miles northeast of Bangkok is the Wat Pa Maha Chedio KaewSisaket temple, nicknamed Wat Kuan Lad, which literally translates to 'Temple of a Million Glass Bottles.' That's because everything in the temple--and we mean everything--incorporates glass bottles.

See more atBeen-Seen.com

World Toilet Day

19 November is World Toilet Day – a day to celebrate the humble, yet vitally important, toilet and to raise awareness of the global sanitation crisis.

Imagine life without a toilet. No toilets in your home or at work, no public toilets, no toilets anywhere. Imagine the mess. Imagine the disease.

It's hard to imagine life without something we take for granted, but this is the daily reality for 2.6 billion people – 40% of the world's population.

Something for nothing. Yay!

When I saw the crumpled paper bag on my front step I immediately suspected that it was filled with doggie doodoo or worse, if there is anything worse ( okay, a severed head would trump dog poo but the bag wasn't big enough to hold one of those). I approached it gingerly, held it at arm's length and opened it. Inside were 3 packages of biodegradable compost bags and composting tips courtesy of our regional government. I'm already a conscientious composter and buy the bags but it is always nice to get something for free, especially something that hasn't come out of the back end of a dog,

Come on up!

Canada best to escape climate change

The Climate Change Risk Report examined how well equipped countries are to deal with the threats posed by global warming, from increased droughts to rising sea levels.

Developed nations scored best in the ranking with Canada top, followed by Ireland, Norway and Denmark. Britain came 12th, just behind the United States.

Change the Margins, Save the World

Reducing our carbon footprint one page at a time:
Change the Margins , a campaign to save the environment by changing paper margins.
Via

Would you like paper or...paper?

The LCBO will announce today that it won't hand out plastic shopping bags once it exhausts existing supplies, the Star has learned. Some stores have already run out.
Customers are being encouraged to bring their own bags or buy a reusable bag. Stores will still provide paper bags or cardboard boxes.

This is a positive move but I must admit that the heavy plastic bags they used were useful for picking up the piles of recycled dog food that Max deposits around the yard.

Calgary Cleans Up

Calgary ranks #1 on Forbes list of The World's Cleanest Cities

The cleanest cities are largely located in countries noted for their democracy and their industrialization. The only Asian cities represented are in Japan. There are no top-25 clean cities in South or Central America, Africa and Australia. The U.S. has five of the top 25; Canada, a strong five, with the top spot its city of Calgary; Europe has 11 of the top 25; and Japan has three.

Which is dirtiest? Baku, Azerbaijan.
Via

Wanna be green? It'll cost you.

Anonymous Treehugger Buys Eco-House For $15 Million:

Orchid House is a home shaped like a bee orchid that should produce more energy than it consumes thanks to an underground pump and geothermal heating.

Via

Animaris Rhinoceros

Creatures of the wind:

Meet Animaris Rhinoceros, a new species created by Dutch scientist turned artist Theo Jansen. This amazing-looking being is a wind-powered walking sculpture. The Rhinoceros is a 2-ton transporter intended for crossing the tundra. Someone has to pull it to set it in motion, then it's up to the wind to carry it along. There's also room inside it to sleep.

Via Been-Seen