Inhabitat.

In Martinez’s Energy Orb, the light pulses red when energy costs are high and glows green when they’re lower. Not only did Mark pioneer this brilliant idea, but he went one step further, and purchased 120 Ambient Orb globes to hand out to his customers…. The result was an impressive 40% reduction in energy use for those customers with the energy orb!

(via eco street) As the video points out hair is incredibly strong, "its been designed over millions of years by nature."  Thats why this clever man is turning it into a replacement for fiber glass.

Lighter Footstep.

Herein lies the problem. While retailers such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot have exhibited environmental leadership by bringing CFLs to market, they've been far less forthcoming in taking them back. CFLs can last three to five years under normal use, which means the vast majority of bulbs ever sold are still in service. By 2010, however, The U.S. could be looking at 80 to 100 million improperly disposed CFLs annually if people don't know any better and convenient recycling isn't available. That would represent an intolerable toxic burden to our current methods of waste disposal.

Ever watch those home improvement shows and think--I wish Ty would would fix up a home with healthier, money saving, eco-friendly home products?   The wait is over----this season of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will feature a green element on every episode, with eco-friendly, low energy and recyclable sources being incorporated into builds across the country.   

Season starts September 30th

Ever tried to catch a fly with a pair of chopsticks?  Not know what to do with all those leftover chopsticks when your done?  Well, Steve Levenstein writes at inventorspot.com,

Japan's Agriculture Ministry is proposing to make biofuel out of the estimated 90,000 tons of wood wasted each year when disposable chopsticks are discarded. (via Yahoo! News)

If you don't live in Japan and can't get in on this fuel source of the future, you might try turning your used chopsticks into an art work or handy-craft.

Last night there was a power outage on my neighborhood.  It lasted three hours!  Some friends and I had planned to watch a movie and were annoyed.  But as the darkness settled in a realization hit us: for a fleeting moment we were off the grid!  We turned up a battery powered radio (with rechargeable batteries of coarse), played cards by candle light and reveled in the fact that we didn't need to consume energy to have fun.

While it was a good reminder that we can keep the lights off more often, next time I want to have a wind-up radio to maximize the energy independence of our off-grid hootenanny!

This film (via TreeHugger) documents the healing powers of raw food. The only time I have eaten raw I felt heavenly: energized, elated, ecstatic. It is tough to eat raw, but it is definitely better for you and the planet. Unfortunately it looks like the participants weren't fed the best raw food. There are great raw books and chefs. It would have been even better if the reaction to the food was "it tastes better!" rather than "I can't eat this". It can be done.