Toby Smith's photos of wind farms in the Scottish Highlands capture nature's grandiosity and marvels of human engineering in equal measure. The flicks are part of the London photographer's "Scottish Renewables" series, which also included hydro projects and their associated landscapes. "With its raging seas, wind-swept hills and high rainfall, Britain has more potential kinetic......read more
I am sure the title alone is enough to make people cringe. I can remember listening to my cousin tell stories of eating roadkill in Colorado simply because he didn't have a lot of money for food at the time, and there was plenty of good meat laying around the road. Despite his logic, I was disgusted. Looking back, however, I can see that my cousin was engaging in a very sustainable......read more
In east Africa, where access to reliable electricity is a rare luxury, small-scale renewable power is playing a transformative role in people's lives. In the New York Times, Elizabeth Rosenthal reveals the story of a rural Kenyan family whose whose small rooftop solar panel delivers enough power to charge their new cell phone and run four bright lights. The solar panel cost the family $80. ......read more
As executive chef of beswarmed NYC hotspots The Spotted Pig and The Breslin, April Bloomfield has earned a reputation for creating simple, unpretentious dishes with meat playing the starring role. But, as we learned from Nowness, the celebrated chef is big into veggies too. “I love my veggies,†says the chef. “Sometimes I could just do without the meat.†Brazilian......read more
The Los Angeles Board of Public Works has announced sustainable new rules for residential parkways. LA Times Greenspace reports that Los Angeles-area homeowners will now be allowed to plant drought-tolerant, turf substitute ground-cover plants in residential parkways without a permit. Previously, homeowners were only allowed to plant street trees and grass without a permit. Residential parkways......read more
Belgians love their beer (hey, we love their beer too) so you know there's no shortage of plastic beer crates in the country. What to do with them all? If you're Brussels architecture firm SHSH, you design a massive pavilion using 33,000 of them. Built to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1958 Universal World Exhibition in Brussels, the Bonheur Provisoire was dedicated to public......read more
What can the world's poorest 'hoods teach us about city planning? Lots, according to architects and urban designers Pavlina Ilieva and Kuo Pao Lian. Grist discusses sustainable urban design lessons from the slums. It's a Tree Life: The first offline project from The Cool Hunter will feature tree homes designed by top architects from around the globe. The exhibition is slated to......read more
If, like us, you're into eating sustainably and supporting local agriculture, but you're not as into driving across town to the closest farmers' market, then get stoked for the latest trend in food distribution: Mobile Farm Trucks. Like a CSA on wheels, Mobile Farm Trucks (or Mobile Farmers' Markets) deliver farm fresh produce to urban and rural communities. As Judi Gerber of......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
"Permaculture" is quickly becoming something of a buzzword. But what exactly does it mean? Wikipedia defines permaculture as "an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that mimic the relationships found in natural ecologies." It is a very broad topic, but essentially refers to living sustainably with our environment in every way imaginable. The......read more