San Francisco: It's hard to work up the discipline to bring your own bag to the grocery, but for small trips, anyone can agree it's emminently sensible. Even if... [read on...]

Posted at 04:59 PM | Please feel free to comment (1)

Milwaukee: Imagine a light bulb appearing, cartoon style, above someone's head. Ding! That's basically what Wisconsin did when they slapped a utilities surcharge to pay for subsidised compact flourescents, then... [read on...]

Posted at 02:48 AM | Please feel free to comment (0)

To come: Have you ever been frustrated by misleading labeling stating that a product is recycled, when it really isn't? Or have you ever wondered why labels like "Free trade... [read on...]

Posted at 09:43 PM | Please feel free to comment (2)

Washington: What to do with old roadsigns? Why not turn them into a funky recycling bin! This one is at the National Building Museum. The only problem is it's not... [read on...]

Posted at 09:35 PM | Please feel free to comment (1)

Santa Monica: Polluted stormwater runoff is a far bigger problem than people realize. The Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility is the first project of its kind designed to treat... [read on...]

Posted at 03:30 PM | Please feel free to comment (0)

Phoenix: At Solfest this weekend, I ran into a guy talking on a regular Nokia cell phone with what looked like solar panels on it. Astonished, I asked him about... [read on...]

Posted at 04:42 AM | Please feel free to comment (10)

Berkeley: In an article straight from the annals of Natural Capitalism, Berkeley's Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory has issued a report tying job growth directly to the universal adoption of... [read on...]

Posted at 11:58 PM | Please feel free to comment (2)

Tucson: The aerial photo above illustrates something both fascinating and incredibly simple. Sometime during the great depression, a works project went out into the desert near Tucson and built a... [read on...]

Posted at 06:21 AM | Please feel free to comment (5)

Tucson:If you can't have a permeable parking lot, then the next best thing is to get rid of curbs and put your water runoff into a useful place. The Sonora... [read on...]

Posted at 02:00 AM | Please feel free to comment (1)

Scottsdale, AZ: The design of Foothills Academy Prep School, also notable for being one of the largest straw-bale buildings ever constructed, includes a preserved desert wash in front of the... [read on...]

Posted at 04:25 PM | Please feel free to comment (0)

Phoenix: Looking for ways to optimize water usage without setting up a costly greywater system? This fabulous toilet attachment not only flushes a super-low 1.5 gallon volume of water,... [read on...]

Posted at 03:53 AM | Please feel free to comment (15)

Your Watershed: I've seen these stencils all over southern California and Florida, the idea being to discourage people from dumping polutants down the drain, but they can obviously be used... [read on...]

Posted at 05:42 PM | Please feel free to comment (1)

Your Neighborhood: One of the most important, and often overlooked, things to consider when "buying green" is the distance your food traveled to get to you. You can buy fabulous... [read on...]

Posted at 11:07 PM | Please feel free to comment (0)

Fresno, CA: In what is supposed to cut the city's utility bills by 60 grand a year, Fresno is unveiling a massive solar panels on the roofs of several major... [read on...]

Posted at 06:10 PM | Please feel free to comment (0)

Santa Monica: Not exactly sure how you rank buildings for their "greenness", but the new headquarters for the NRDC (National Resources Defense Council) achieved the following: "uses 60 to 75... [read on...]

Posted at 08:24 PM | Please feel free to comment (1)

Erie, PA: Facing requirements to reduce storm water run-off, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Erie chose a permeable-surface for their parking lot, allowing rainwater to soak through the lot instead... [read on...]

Posted at 06:21 PM | Please feel free to comment (4)

Crandon, WI: Legalized gambling really isn't that bad. At least in the hands of thoughtful management. Using some of their massive gaming revenue, two Wisconsin Indian tribes have purchased the... [read on...]

Posted at 08:21 PM | Please feel free to comment (1)

Milwaukee: As described in this article in the Journal Sentinel, the sewerage district in Milwaukee is implementing a large scale green roof on its main property "mainly designed to demonstrate... [read on...]

Posted at 10:55 AM | Please feel free to comment (0)

Boston: The state of Massachusetts has proposed cutting its fleet of SUVs in favor of more environmentally responsible (and cheaper) vehicles. They also propose scrapping some vehicles altogether in favor... [read on...]

Posted at 04:13 PM | Please feel free to comment (0)

San Francisco: The Moscone Center has just unveiled plans to install a massive photovoltaic array on the roof. Despite the fog (though SOMA is one of the sunnier parts of... [read on...]

Posted at 07:47 PM | Please feel free to comment (0)

Milwaukee: The Alterra coffee house on Milwaukee's lakefront has created a tiny artificial wetland to filter runoff from the shop's parking lot. Water from the lot flows through a variety... [read on...]

Posted at 04:10 PM | Please feel free to comment (0)

San Francisco: Building REsources is a non-profit firm in San Francisco who collect, via donation, used materials and architectural remnants from building and demolition sites. They organize it all, and... [read on...]

Posted at 06:13 PM | Please feel free to comment (0)

The City: Continuing the discussion on Green Roofs, here is an interesting article from Metropolis mentioning two more interesting benefits that go beyond the building itself: Reduced ambient summer temperature,... [read on...]

Posted at 02:18 PM | Please feel free to comment (1)

The Motorway: This is the famous "Smart Car". A miniscule 2 seater that supposedly gets up to 100mpg. I tried one out on Saturday and it's every bit as... [read on...]

Posted at 12:41 PM | Please feel free to comment (9)

Europe: This is the Opel Station wagon, don't remember the model, Diesel powered and a completely basic, but quite adequate automobile. I drove around in it for a week in... [read on...]

Posted at 06:54 PM | Please feel free to comment (1)

Munich: Well, this particular building is not the most attractive grass-roofed structure I've ever seen, but I thought it was a nifty because of how it imbeds itself in... [read on...]

Posted at 11:13 AM | Please feel free to comment (8)

EARTH: I just discovered a really remarkable set of maps produced by the Wildlife Conservation Society and Columbia University. They are entitled "The Human Footprint" and basically map out the... [read on...]

Posted at 12:39 PM | Please feel free to comment (2)