Many surfers are actively involved in the environmental movement, and if you've ever caught a wave, it's easy to understand why. In this short film, surfer/artist Scott MacDonough promotes his SAVE THE SEA message by chronicling the construction of a board made from recycled cardboard. Beginning on a NYC rooftop, the story takes us across the country to the (semi-successful) launch of the board......read more
Made from sustainable wood and salvaged steel, this movable log cabin—created by Dutch green design maestro Piet Hein Eek—is as clever as it gets. Designed as a musician's rehearsal space—and built on wheels to avoid taxes and building regulations—the structure's facade is composed of small cross-sections of tree trunk. When the building is unoccupied and the......read more
Earth is increasingly being touted as the building material of the future, leading to a hot new architectural trend: grass houses. Designed by GRID Architects, the Amalia House in Styria, Austria joins the trend...sort of. The family holiday home is completely covered with artificial turf, highlighting the interchange between indoors and out. We may be taking the idea of "green" design......read more
Made from 100% recycled materials, the CompoSpin is a tumbler composter that cleverly avoids the one major pitfall of composting—having to mix up the rotting stuff inside. With the ball-shaped Ecomposter, all you need to do to mix up the contents is roll it around your garden, creating nutrient rich compost in as little as a month. Easy!...read more
With its newly unveiled Light Touch product, UK company Light Blue Optics envisions a total revolution in the way people interact with personal media. By freeing multimedia content from the confines of the small screen, it has the potential to do just that. Using holographic laser technology, Light Touch is said to transform any flat surface into a touchscreen, making the applications almost......read more
In London, the "seriously water stressed" UK capital confronts summer water shortages with a creative — and very British — solution: A new bio-diesel desalination plant that will run partly on used vegetable oil from fish-and-chip shops. Also in London, the newly erected Speedo Swimsuit Pavilion is made from obsolete swim suits. True story. Upgrade the grid: The US......read more
The talk of the town at Design September 2010 in Brussels is an exhibition of Kwangho Lee's work at next-gen retailer/gallery Hunting and Collecting. The show, which is to runs from September 10-30, presents an overview of the talented Korean artist-designer's work and an animated projection of his creative process. Born in Seoul in 1981, Kwango Lee grew up in the remote countryside......read more
If you needed any more evidence that "greening" has gone mainstream, here it is. This year's Emmy Award show, which takes place in L.A. this Sunday, will be a sustainable event, with eco-focused features that include a set built from recyclable materials, energy efficient lighting, rechargeable batteries, and alternative fuel/hybrid transportation. The show's crew will be......read more
Top notch architecture site BLDGBLOG points us to this inspired bit of material reuse from German architect Matthias Loebermann. The Palettenpavillon is made entirely from shipping pallets, ground anchors, and tie rods. Intended as a temporary meeting space, the structure is designed for simple dismantling and reassembly, and can be recycled in entirety. With dramatic textures and a curvilinear......read more
How do you break the world record for largest sculpture made of recycled materials? Get a bunch of kids to do the work for you! Inhabitat reports on 5,000 Spanish elementary kids collecting 50,000 containers to make a record-breaking castle of milk cartons. You've seen Simon Christen's stunningly epic time-lapse portrait of San Francisco. Now check out a similarly amazing video that......read more