Two Brothers, Two Buckets, and World Hunger
Teenagers Grant and Max Buster are proposing a solution to world hunger that anyone can do. All you need are 2 buckets, a few square meters of ground or rooftop, sunlight, and a some water. Distraught by the hunger in the world, the Buster brothers spent their summer vacation designing this simple garden in a bucket. They placed two five gallon (20 liter) buckets set inside one another, to which t... posted on Sep 05 2010, 3,347 reads

8 Ways to Keep Cool in Summer
The torrid summer of 2010 will cap off the hottest decade ever recorded on our planet. In efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, people across the globe are stepping up and cooling down, AC-free. "The key is to focus on people-cooling, not building-cooling," states author Steven Cox. "Your body is constantly converting chemical energy from food into heat... But filling a home with chilled, stil... posted on Aug 24 2010, 3,864 reads

What Does the Rainforest Sound Like?
So many things. Katydids telling each other where to look for food, frogs bellowing for a mate and piranhas leaping out of the muddy brown Amazon. And this is how it sounds to a deaf person. Hear the World organization has partnered with Global Explorers to bring 50 mixed hearing students to the Amazon Rainforest to experience sound and empower the deaf. For a group of young adults, the expedition... posted on Jul 14 2010, 2,573 reads

A Village of Our Future
Tucked away in the small village of Kamikatsu, Japan is a phenomenon that is saving the future of our planet. This township of just over 2,000 residents separates household waste into 34 categories, recycling everything under the kitchen sink: food, phones and even sake bottles! Most likely the first to achieve Japan's mission of a zero waste environment by the year 2020, Kamikatsu emulates hope ... posted on Jul 08 2010, 4,680 reads

Celebrating Earth Day in Tough Times
What does Earth Day during the recession mean for Corbyn Hightower's family of five? Fixing, not tossing. Pedaling, not driving. Growing, not buying. Corbyn reflects, "Our needs are modest, our overhead has been lowered, and life has become about simple, sustainable pleasures." Even the four-year-old is turning the soil!... posted on Apr 23 2010, 3,261 reads

Where has all the meat gone?
What do Paul McCartney, the Baltimore Unified School District, and the city of San Francisco all have in common? They have all stopped eating meat on Mondays. In efforts to curb climate change, cities around the world are promoting citizens to eat less meat, since livestock is a large source of greenhouse emissions. From meatless Monday school lunches in Baltimore to "Veg Days" in San Francisco a... posted on Apr 12 2010, 4,158 reads

When Potholes Bloom
As the water seeps into the cracks in the road and freezes, potholes on the road get worse. This is a big problem in Oxford, England. According to cycling organization CTC, potholes went from 750 in December 2009 to 3500 in January 2010 -- and this is after the government filled almost a million of them last year. Roger Geffen, at CTC, estimates that only 30-40% of the reported potholes are han... posted on Mar 20 2010, 3,910 reads

Lifebox -- Thinking Outside the Box!
Not everything we will buy will always be local. So Paul Stamets has come up with an amazing solution to the troubling international issue of shipping waste -- Lifeboxes! They're shipping containers integrating seeds in their compostable wrapping that can give birth to a whole new garden. You tear it up, plant it, and water it -- the seeds and spores do the rest. That's thinking outside the box.... posted on Mar 18 2010, 5,161 reads

Project H, Designing For Humanity
"People were starting to talk more about sustainability, but I felt it lacked a human factor. Can we really call $5,000 bamboo coffee tables sustainable?" Since founding the humanitarian design network Project H Design in January 2008, Emily Pilloton has been involved with dozens of projects tackling social and environmental problems. They range from developing water transportation devices for use... posted on Feb 27 2010, 3,017 reads

A Gym Powered By Sweat
A US gym has installed specially-adapted exercise bikes that recycle energy generated by people as they work out. The Green Microgym in Portland, Oregon, aims to be a carbon neutral exercise facility through the use of solar power and human-generated energy from clients as they pedal and run. Thus far, it helps power things like the DVD player and air conditioning, but owners are soon expecting t... posted on Feb 17 2010, 4,279 reads