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  • pink flowers

    80 Awesome Earth Day Tips

    Earth day is just around the corner, and what better way to celebrate than choosing to make some positive changes in your everyday life! Whether you want to reduce your carbon footprint, teach your kids about the importance of protecting the environment, or support a company that makes donations to earth-conscious charities, we’ve found 80 […] More

  • bees working

    5 DIY Beeswax Projects

    I love beeswax. It’s all-natural, versatile, and smells amazing. I used to use soy wax for everything I did, but after switching to beeswax, I have no idea why I ever used soy! I’m big into DIY projects, anything that can help me be a little more self-reliant while also saving money … I’m all […] More

  • rainwater barrel and plant

    Rainwater Harvesting: The Basics And Why You Should Start Today

    Lead contamination. Chlorine and fluoride. E.coli. Fracking pollutants. Toxins and pharmaceuticals. There are so many things that might be mixed in the water that flows from the faucet, that turning on the tap may feel more like playing a chemical form of Russian roulette than getting a drink. But what if I told you that […] More

  • diatomaceous earth

    Diatomaceous Earth: 14 Surprising Everyday Uses

    Diatomaceous earth (DE), also known as diatomite, is a soft sedimentary rock made up of the fossils of algae-like organisms called diatoms. It’s 80-90% silica and usually comes in the form of a fine, white powder, commonly used in things like water filtering, food manufacturing, skin products, and farming practices. You can buy two kinds […] More

  • soap made with hops

    Making Homemade Soap

    I started making my own soap out of necessity, but eventually it became one of our farm products. Around 2000, I started having severe rashes. I had combination allergies, which made me allergic to soaps, shampoos, laundry detergent and even toothpaste! I started out making my soaps with melt-and-pour glycerin, but that proved to be […] More

  • school buses

    10 Amazing School Bus Conversions

    Converting a school bus into a permanent residence is a bit like a coming-of-age story. You take a school bus, probably one very similar to the one you rode in elementary school, gut it entirely, and build a tiny home out of it. To me, the whole process just feels very charming, sustainable, and appealing. […] More

  • quonset hut at night

    Quonset Huts

    The Quonset hut, designed for military use, is finding its way into contemporary living— with some important upgrades. The original huts, developed on Quonset Island, Rhode Island, were cheap, temporary housing for troops on the move. They were easy to put up, easy to take down and pack, and made of inexpensive materials—corrugated steel and […] More

  • the geodesic dome house

    Geodesic Domes

    Geodesic domes are enjoying a resurgence as more people seek out eco-friendly building options . Architect Buckminster Fuller invented the geodesic dome. The American Institute of Architects calls it “the strongest, lightest and most efficient means of enclosing space known to man.” No doubt you’ve seen geodesic domes before. Some as public structures, some as […] More

  • findhorn community nature sanctuary

    Wofati

    There’s a charm to underground homes and so-called ‘hobbit homes’, but many former owners of such buildings have moved out due to problems with moisture and related conditions. But, earth might be the best insulator available, and it’s definitely the cheapest. Permaculturalist Paul Wheaton, owner of the forums at permies.com as well as richsoil.com, set […] More

  • organizations to which you can donate prom dresses

    5 Places To Donate Prom Dresses For Reuse

    Wearing a dress for one night isn’t a particularly efficient use of resources. You can donate prom dresses to one of these organizations for reuse by a student who may not be able to afford a new dress. More

  • Your Computer Overlords are Almost Here

    Jeremy Howard isn’t a doctor, but he can play one–scratch that; he can be one–by teaching a computer how to teach itself to do valuable diagnostic testing. Because the computers that Howard programs? Those computers know how to learn. What’s the difference between a computer that can obey and a computer that can learn? The […] More

  • iFixit and the Right to Repair

    You deserve the right to repair your own car. You deserve the right to jailbreak your own phone. You deserve the right to fix your own stuff. This is the manifesto of the iFixit revolution, which seeks to create a user-sourced repair manual and troubleshooting guide for… everything. Think of that thing that you own that, […] More

  • Generation Gap: Wind Power Opens Big Lead over Nuclear in China

    By J. Matthew Roney In China, wind power is leaving nuclear behind. Electricity output from China’s wind farms exceeded that from its nuclear plants for the first time in 2012, by a narrow margin. Then in 2013, wind pulled away—outdoing nuclear by 22 percent. The 135 terawatt-hours of Chinese wind-generated electricity in 2013 would be […] More

  • U.S. Nuclear Power in Decline

    Nuclear power generation in the United States is falling. After increasing rapidly since the 1970s, electricity generation at U.S. nuclear plants began to grow more slowly in the early 2000s. It then plateaued between 2007 and 2010—before falling more than 4 percent over the last two years. Projections for 2013 show a further 1 percent drop. With reactors retiring early and proposed projects being abandoned, U.S. nuclear power’s days are numbered. More

  • Charge Your Cell Phone with Fire! (w/ video)

    Introducing the FlameStower, a portable charger for small electronics that converts heat energy to electrical energy to keep your high-tech gadgets alive off the grid. Way off, if it comes to that. Why would you ever need to charge up your cell phone or iPad that far off the grid? I’m glad you asked! Consider […] More

  • Cyborg Insects May be Post-apocalyptic First-responders

    Imagine a terrible disaster that leaves the air toxic and the soil contaminated with radiation. A disaster like that, one like Fukushima or Chernobyl or London towards the end of 28 Days Later, that humans might need to – but might not be able to – safely explore. In almost any scenario you come up […] More

  • The Great Transition, Part I: From Fossil Fuels to Renewable Energy

    The great energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy is under way. As fossil fuel prices rise, as oil insecurity deepens, and as concerns about pollution and climate instability cast a shadow over the future of coal, a new world energy economy is emerging. The old energy economy, fueled by oil, coal, and natural gas, is being replaced with an economy powered by wind, solar, and geothermal energy. More

  • Offshore Wind Energy Development Picking Up Pace

    Wind power is the world’s leading source of renewable electricity, excluding hydropower, with 238,000 megawatts of capacity installed at the start of 2012. Thus far, almost all of this wind power has been tapped on land; worldwide just 4,600 megawatts of offshore wind farms were operating as of mid-2012. Offshore wind capacity is growing quickly, however, expanding nearly six-fold since 2006. Twelve countries now have wind turbines spinning offshore, and more will be joining them to take advantage of the powerful winds blowing over the oceans. More

  • The Real Costs of Bottled Water

    Bottled water is sold to us as a fresh, healthy, and pure product. Yet in reality, when you buy a bottle of water you’re may just be buying back your local tap water at a mark-up of up to 1000 times the actual cost. Not only is bottled water no better for you than plain old tap water, but the environmental cost of the packaging used to beautify it is a serious issue. More

  • 5 Ideas for Recycled, DIY Christmas Wreaths

    If you are looking for some fun DIY projects, why not try to create your own wreaths? There are a ton of great ideas floating around the Internet from people who have recycled items by turning them into interesting-looking decorations for their homes. These are five of the best recycled wreaths I could find. More

  • The Urban Lumberjack – The Accidental Eco-Warrior of the City

    Urban lumberjacking is a new term that has been coined to describe a growing core of people who seek lumber in urban situations. Typically the urban lumberjack’s activities include diving into skips (dumpsters) and rubbish bins in an attempt to find the precious wood stored within. The great thing about the army of urban lumberjacks […] More

  • family home and wind turbine

    Propane: The “Dirty Little Secret” of Living Off the Grid

    Living off the grid sounds romantic…no more bills from dirty energy companies, self-sufficiency, green power, etc.; however, there is one “dirty little secret” found in most alternative energy homes.  Without it, some off-gridders couldn’t cook, refrigerate, heat water, or dry clothes.  That dirty little secret is propane. Propane is a “by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining,”.  Due to […] More

  • Why Does Organic Seem Larger Than It Is?

    For a long time we have been hearing that “Organic is the fastest growing segment of the food industry.”  Organic advocates make the claim that Organic could “feed the world” or that it could be “the solution to global warming.”  There is definitely enough buzz about Organic to make all of this seem plausible.  The […] More

  • 5 Successful Reforestation Projects

    Between the Arab Spring, the weird weather, and, well, the Casey Anthony trial, you may have missed the fact that 2011 was proclaimed “The International Year of Forests” by the UN General Assembly. This celebration is long overdue: forests not only provide habitat to animals and plants, but also purify air and water, prevent soil […] More

  • glass half full

    10 Existential Threats To Global Agriculture

    I tend to be a “glass half full” sort of person, particularly about the prospects of successfully feeding the 9-10 billion people we expect by 2050.  My optimism is based on daily contact with the innovative public and private entities who develop technology for agriculture.  It is also based on the track record of small […] More

  • Organic Farming Would Be Better In Terms of Climate Change Impact. Right?

    [social_buttons] I’m probably going to irritate some people with this post.  I apologize in advance because that is not at all my intention.  For those readers that don’t think climate change is a real problem, I respect the fact that there is uncertainty in that science, but if the majority position of climate scientists is true, the […] More

  • Personal Happiness and the Economy: A Sustainability Link

    In my previous post, I brought up the sustainability prism and the link between personal happiness or peace and the other three, traditional components of sustainability theory — economy, equity, and ecology. In this article, I explore the link between personal happiness and the economy in greater depth. Of course, this is just a taste […] More

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