Today on Planet Green

:: Ontario wineries are where it's all at—find out why. :: Treat your parched and tired hands with an easy at-home spa treatment. :: Commercial car wash versus driveway car wash: Which is more eco-friendly? :: Tell everyone you know how to triple the lifespan of their refrigerator by making this tip go viral. :: This old-fashioned wi...

The Ultimate Race: Peak Oil vs. Global Warming

Which will end the world first: peak oil or global warming? In the spirit of apocalyptic competition, the team at ESPN The Magazine recently put the question to the test. "We thought it might be fun to run the two doomsday scenarios head to head, based on a mostly random reading of current events. What can we say? We like competition." So, when it comes down to the Oilers (no, not those Oilers) versus the Hockey Stick in a bare...

The Go Green Initiative's School of the Week: Garrison Union Free School in NY!

Well it’s that time of the week again, and Garrison Union Free School in Garrison, NY takes the cake as this week’s School of the Week! How you ask? Well read on to hear all about their terrific "Just One Thing" initiative that’s making a difference for kids, their families, and the planet in Garrison. ...

The TH Interview: Fred Krupp & Miriam Horn, authors of Earth: The Sequel

We marvel daily at the blossoming of new renewable technologies. Their promise of a low-carbon economy gives us optimism, and their downright coolness makes our synapses jittery with excitement. Earth: The Sequel is a deep dive into the most groundbreaking and enticing new modes of harvesting energy. Thin-film solar and flying wind turbines are just the beginning. Authors Fred Krupp (president of Environmental Defense) and Miriam Horn gave TreeHugger an exclusive interview about this new book and its message of hope and prosperity. ::TreeHugger Radio Listen to the ...

Et Tu, Arnold?

Image courtesy of schumachergirl1956 via flickr The "Green Governor," as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has come to be nicknamed in the press, has at times demonstrated an almost comical disregard for the muscular environmental agenda he's trumpeted during his tenure. Whether it be his love for "green" Hummers or his administration's obfuscation in last year's CARB-gate, the Gov...

Making The Iraq War More Eco-Friendly

In The Know: How Can We Make The War In Iraq More Eco-Friendly? I. am. speechless. Source David Sassoon<...

Dubai Saves Architecture Profession

Designboom calls it "A rather small city that has a population of 1.6 million people and a 37 billion USD economy based largely on trade,manufacturing and financial services." Yet it is employing a quarter of the world's cranes and probably the same proportion of the world's architects. TreeHugger is fascinated by the scale and the pace of construction and consumption of material and resources over there when we sit and say "reduce and reuse" over here. Now DesignBoom picks up where ::Dubious Dubai left off to catalogue pages and pages of extraordinary development of I don't know what for I don't know who.

Fleurville Re-Run Collection Welcomes New Additions

Fleurville, the San Francisco-based purveyor of modern parenting accoutrements, is expanding its Re-Run line of diaper bags (above) and accessories made from recycled plastic bottles. The Mod Pod Changing Kit ($47.95), available this summer, is a PVC-free changing pad that converts to a carrier. Featuring an adjustable Velcro closure, the kit also sports a removable shoulder strap, see-through wipe case, and plenty of pockets for fresh diapers and wipes. Also making its debut this summer is Fleurvilles's yoga bag ($47.95) for the urban mom (or pop), which is accented in the company's PVC-free polyurethane laminate....

Big Steps in Building: Plant a Tree

Developers don't like saving trees; it forces them to adjust the lot grading and road patterns for tree preservation rather than efficiency. The installation of services and construction disrupts the water table and the trees sometimes die anyways. Purchasers complain that crap from the trees is sticking to their cars. It is just easier for everyone to flatten them and stick in some cheap twig. Now the State of Virginia is going to insist that developers preserve "some percentage" of their parcel's original trees. Environmentalists tell the Washington Post that "Losing a big tree mea...

Nicaragua to Develop Wind and Geothermal Energy

Not long ago, we wrote about blueEnergy, a non-profit organization that is building hybrid wind and solar systems to power homes, schools and rural clinics in rural Nicaragua where nearly 80 percent of the population lacks electricity. In the last two weeks, the country announced two new renewable energy projects, which the government hopes will help the nation out of the energy crisis it has endured for the last three years. First, a group of high-powered Nicaraguan businessmen committed to invest close to $92 million to generate 40 MW of wind energy this year. According to Prensa Latina, Nicar...

CORN GENOME MAP COULD LEAD TO HIGHER YIELDS

AUSTRALIA TO SPEND $50 MILLION FOR MURRAY-DARLING WATER

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES GET HELP TO COPE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE

ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE AMERISCAN

Forest Service Drops Plan to Pull Employees Out of Forests

Big City Water Agencies Form New National Climate Alliance

Pennsylvania Looks to Its Own Water Infrastructure Funding

Groups Seek Emergency Endangered Listing for Red Knot

Canada Lynx May Win Back Critical Habitat

Harnessing the Bacteria That Make Rain

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Jamaica: Monday, Feb 25

Day 1...Tackling the rock. The limestone hill was formidable, but we are prevailing. The tire are being set in on level and firm pads carved into the limestone rock. The focus today was to get as many first-course tires established as possible. The more tires we pounded, the more places we could pound. Eventually both sides of the circular hut had tires going. After a few hours we created some momentum and had dirt being supplied to the tire pounding areas, cement being mixed for blocks and more tires and cardboard brought up the hill to the site.

Jamaica: Sunday, Feb 24

Day zero... the first full day we are here in Jamaica. On this day, we always visit the site, put in the first few tires, layout the building and refine the systems relative to the land. This is a great point because Earthship Biotecture is a concept first, a building second - it adapts to each local climate, providing a fully independent structure with systems in ANY climate.

kitchen cupboards and watching the mud dry

I have been using our SOLAR ENERGY to run my power tools - so cool. Today I started one of our kitchen cupboards. This is the one where the sink goes - looking out ono the garden - and the washing machine gets shoved in the gap to the right, under the countertop. I am discovering that NOTHING in this house is square level or plumb.
read more at oscarlisabuild.blogspot.com

Earthship Jamaica: Get Ready

Get Ready! Earthship Biotecture is preparing to travel to Jamaica for a three week Earthship Workshop... Watch here for the Jamaica Blog, latest images from the field and more...
Earthship Jamaica: Main Page

I just saw Garbage Warrior at the MOMA here in NYC

I just saw Garbage Warrior at the MOMA here in NYC last night and I came away greatly impressed with your building techniques and structures.

Thank you for your time and great film...

Garbage Warrior: Documentaire

Date de Sortie: vendredi 15 février 2008
Genre: Documentaire
Réalisateur: Oliver Hodge
Producteur: Rachel Wexler
Scénario: Craig Mazin
Studio: Mongrel Media
Durée: 86 min.

Sante fe

Today Mike,Bunzy and myself went down to Sante Fe to get approval for the new euro ship to be built here in our community and we got it. Bunzy and I also looked at a new retrofit project putting a conventional house on a catchwater system and adding a solar gain scene that mike is designing. all and all a great day.

Earthship Volume I - Introduction: Noah was told by God to build an ark.

Noah was told by God to build an ark.Just exactly how God told Noah is left up to the imagination. The fact remains that the clouds on the horizon were revealed to Noah and even though he lived nowhere near water, he was inspired to build a ship. He must have experienced much ridicule for wasting time, energy, and materials on this ship. Inspiration, however, is more powerful than ridicule. Noah saw the clouds on thehorizon and the coming flood, so he built a ship to float on the seas, for there was a time coming when there would be no land.
 
 
 

New Earthship Movie Trailer

New trailer for the Earthship Movie:
"Garbage Warrior"
soon to be released on DVD in April, 2008
 
 

Earthship Movie: 2008 Screenings, awards and reviews...

"Garbage Warrior, Oliver Hodge’s portrait of this environmental rebrand makes you want to drop everything and start building Reynolds-style “Earthships”."
When you dig through your recycling bin, you probably don’t see what Michael Reynolds sees. Reynolds is a rebel New Mexico architect, and he sees bricks and mortar in that bin. His dream homes are literally built with beer cans, tires and bottles. In a race against global warming, he has been experimenting passionately with radically sustainable architecture for over 35 years and believes that a house is a self-sustaining natural machine that can be one with the earth.