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Eco Design and Lifestyle

by FigTree

Birdsandbats
Animal Wall for Birds and Bats
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I have been super surfing and trying to see as many eco-design projects, and eco-lifestyle blogs and articles out there, as they are such an inspiration of the way things can be done.

Is it possible that we will ll have green roofs in the future?  Solar panaled siding on our houses that hook up our electric cars that we charge overnight?  SO much is out there, so much information and what does it all mean?  Is this "greening" of the world just going to be the next boom and bust, or are we going to be able to take all of this and translate it to the next generation?

I hope that we can all band together and make all of these sustainable developments a part of our every day lives instead of just being the next big thing.  All of these articles and blogs  I found while doing my ultimate surfing are just little snippets of what art, eco-design, and eco-living can do:

1.)  Commissioned by the developers of Century Wharf area, this project is coming just in time to help reinhabit the Cariff Bay, UK area for birds and bats.  Birds and bats have been increasingly absent in this area and artist and designer Gitta Gschwendtner designed this "50-meter wall, which includes 1000 houses for birds and bats, and also acts as a textural and geometric sculptural divider between a residential development and a river front."  Read more here:  inhabitat.com

 

2.) Glossery of terms; No cool pictures in this one, but for anyone trying to keep track of all the terminology for sustainable living, here is a glossery of terms from John Barrie  a principal architect with John Barrie Associates Architects in Ann Arbor, MI. and the Executive Director of the Appropriate Technology Collaborative.  He writes the blog, sustainable design update, which is devoted to new articles on all things sustainble.

 

3.) EcoSherpa.com- Bently and Steve of this blog are maniacs when it comes to sustainable living and have it all from gardening to design.  The most interesting series of posts from a gardening perspective it the "Terracycle Challenge".  They took 7 pots and grew the same plant in each, using different methods of growing for their own fun scientific experiement.  Read all about it and their other sustainable living experiences.

 

4.) No Impact Man.  This is a documentary that is being shown at small theaters all over the country- it is about a family of three, who live in NYC and decide to have no carbon footprint for the entire year.  This means no electricity, no packaged materials, no buying of anything except food from local farmer's markets, no t.v, no laundry, no transportation other than walking or biking.  Amazing!  See the trailer here: No impact Man.  This movie scares me, as I can completely see my husband trying to make me do this!

 

5.) Heidi Swanson: This blog is an amazing force of food, photography and eco-living, as all recipes are vegetarian and made with fresh local ingredients.  Heidi's photography is beautiful and inspiring- makes you want to be a vegetarian just to make all these dishes.

 

I will keep updatig this post with more and more eco-discoveries!  Please check back.

 

Tags

sustainable, green, eco-design, organic

comments

Hey this is awesome- good to see more stuff about sustainability on here- love it.
Sprite
Seedling commented on 10/20/09
Thanks for posting these links - very interesting! I looked at the trailer for No Impact Man and am curious. Can't imagine doing that even for week though.... I loved the recipes from Heidi Swanson - the photography is great and look forward to trying some!
Sprite
gardengirl commented on 10/20/09
Fig Tree, this is an amazing resource of eco info!!! Thanks so much for surfing and sharing! I'm looking forward to watching the "No Impact Man" documentary, and learning more about the Terracycle Challenge. My son is interested in the Terracycle Challenge for his own science project!
Sprite
Lily commented on 10/20/09

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