Handcrafted, nicely designed and made of 100% GOTS certified organic cotton, this work of art caught my eye.  It measures 72″ x 54″ and features: vines/leaf design throughout, reversible with black and white leaf pattern on the back, and hand finished binding.

$250 @ marymcnultydesign on etsy

If your likes include a taste for green design and inclination to travel abroad (and whose don’t?), you’ll be eager to take a peek at Elevate Destination’s newest travel series, “Sustainable Travel for Green Designers,” which tackles green and global design issues in Panama and South Africa on two, 2010 experiential programs.

Created for the design-savvy adventurers among us, the tours meld eco design education and outdoor exploration to grant travelers an experience not found elsewhere.

In Panama (March 13-20, 2010; $5,500 per person), the company partners with Earth Train organization to unveil a newly established sustainable tourism plan and active architectural community. Of course, the intricacies of the Panama Canal are detailed and volunteer opportunities abound. Check out the full itinerary here.

In South Africa (date and price TBD), travelers will get a first-hand glimpse of the grassroots efforts that are addressing the balance of humans and wildlife in a sustainable manner. Cape Town, Sandton, and ecovillage Lynedoch make the docket of must-see architectural jewels—and volunteering at the Shaster Foundation’s Indlovu (an Architects without Borders project) is also part of the plan. For details, call 617.661.0203.

• Climate Rift Grows Between U.S. + Poor Nations – npr
• Going green the hard way…Japan May Meet CO2 Goals But Only Due to Recession – reuters
• Hopefully it misses New Orleans…Hurricane Ida Approaches U.S. Gulf Coast – enn
• Some good news…West African Giraffes Escape Extinction – msnbc
• A seven-foot wingspan…(video) First Film of Giant Stingray – bbc
• Anyone used a phone booth lately? Worldwide Smartphone Sales Surprisingly Strong – cs monitor
• Why Some People Get Sick From Harmless Smells – sciencedaily
• You talkin’ to me? Babies Already Have Accent at Birth – scientific american

Don’t miss this green event sponsored by Eco-Libris that we’ll be participating in tomorrow, Tuesday, 11/10 at 1p, Eastern Time.  Here’s the deal – over 100 bloggers have each received a complimentary green book — a book that has been published in an eco friendly manner — and invited to post their review simultaneously on Eco-Libris tomorrow at 1p Eastern Time.

According to Raz Godelnik, co-founder and CEO of Eco-Libris, “Very few books are currently printed responsibly and we hope this initiative will bring more exposure to green books. Through this campaign we want to encourage publishers to get greener and readers to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books.”

Over 35 publishers from the U.S., Canada and the U.K. are participating in this campaign, providing us bloggers with their latest books printed on recycled paper and FSC-certified paper for review. We are delighted to take part, and will be providing a review of Michael Byers’, Who Owns the Arctic?

About Eco-Libris
“Founded in 2007, Eco-Libris is a  a green company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books. To achieve this goal Eco-Libris is working with book readers, publishers, authors, bookstores and others in the book industry worldwide. Until now Eco-Libris balanced out over 110,000 books, which results in more than 120,000 new trees planted with its planting partners in developing countries.

For more information on Eco-Libris, please contact Raz 302-981-9843 or raz@ecolibris.net”  (via:  press release)

A bushel of food related insights into the future of sustainable farming, consumption and green kitchen appliances.

First off – I wish real labels had this: www.jwgreynolds.co.uk far-foods

If you’re looking for a super green kitchen addition, check out the flow kitchen (pictured below) by studio Gorm.

Products (water, food and waste) flow from right to left, ending in a composter and collection tray.  Honestly I just think it’s a really neat idea.

From the men that brought you King Corn, the musical that brings food to you!  I’m looking forward to Episode 3!

Herd Share is an Australian company looking to build a platform in which farmers and consumers can cut out the middle men, and we can become direct share holders in the herds we drink from.

Looking for something that your farmers market doesn’t have?  Find out who does, and be confident that you’re buying from a small producer at Foodzie.  Want to browse for sustainable options in your area?  Input your zip code at the Eat Well Guide and voila!   Another great resource for finding community supported agriculture in your area is LocalHarvest, specialists in local farms.

For a good look at a really successful and sustainable farm check out the men and women at Polyface Farms.  They’re so impressive even Michael Pollan has commended them as an example farm set up.

This is all great, but this vertical farm approach (pictured above) might be the future of urban farming.   Dickson Despommier spoke at TED 2009, and his talk should be posted soon.  (Another cool, but entirely unrelated TED Talk is from William McDonough on cradle to cradle design)

Modern green home design doesn’t always have to be flashy and exotic.  Maryann Thompson Architects designed this simple, yet refined, contemporary residence to meet a client’s desire to create an environmentally sensitive and sustainable home that could be built within a limited budget.  The home’s design is deliberately straightforward – a simple box structure adorned with an asymmetrical roof line – a direct response to the client’s request that the house express the attitude of “benign neglect.”  The North Easton, MA residence, which is nestled in a typical suburban development of neo-colonial homes, received LEED Silver certification under the USGBC’s new pilot program for housing.  The house sits at the end of a 900′ driveway on a heavily wooded lot which abuts conservation lands and belies the suburban setting.  The 3000 SF home was designed to be aesthetically sympathetic and integrated into its 5.5-acre site and incorporates low maintenance and naturally occurring materials – reflecting the homeowner’s relaxed and informal lifestyle.

Many common-sense sustainable features were incorporated in the home’s design.  Expansive windows on the front façade take full advantage of the house’s south-facing orientation.

During the winter months, when the sun is lower in the sky, abundant natural light enters the public spaces and upstairs bedrooms, opening the house to solar gain and thereby reducing mechanical heating demands. The house’s remaining heat requirements are resolved via two pellet stoves and an efficient radiant heating system powered by solar panels.  The asymmetrical roof shields the upstairs rooms against the intense summer sun.

Cross-ventilation eliminate the need for for central air-conditioning without compromising comfort.  The residence also features recycled and energy efficient materials, including a recycled-tire rubber roofing system, reclaimed hardwood cabinetry, casework and flooring materials, recycled glass tiles and thermal efficient windows.  Running electrical lines to the house assures the residents access to an emergency power source and enables them to sell unutilized energy back to their local utility.  Very green indeed.

Her bio reads like a Who Who of Green — a veritable powerhouse of living an ecofriendly, sustainable lifestyle.  Over the course of the next year, Rebekah Green (pictured below) is poised to kickoff food, clothing and shelter merchandising — all in the name of green.

I’m currently wearing a pair of shiny studs, compliments of this rising star.  They’re pretty, lightweight and well-made.  Although they glisten like diamonds, these faux rocks are part of Rebekah’s new earring collection, created from recycled gold and fair trade gemstones.  Working in partnership with designer and master craftsman, Eduardo Correa, her “ECOnomical” and “ECOluxe” lines feature elegant studs, drops, dangles, hoops, chandeliers and adorable styles for kids.

Each piece is hand-crafted, hand-set, hand-polished, and made in L.A.  Five percent of the net profits from each sale will benefit Global Green USA, Charity: Water and Heifer International.  Prices range from a very reasonable $20, (kids styles) to $35 and up, (ladies).  If you’d like a custom design, she’ll happily put her design team on it.  Purchase 3 or more pairs at once or at least one pair per month (club membership), receive 10 percent discount and free shipping on all orders.  

highlights of Rebekah Green…
Story goes, beginning in 1998, at the ripe young age of 21, Rebekeah Green “hand built three homes using 100 percent natural construction methods.”  A year later, she became a founding contributor in development of guidelines and materials used in today’s U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED green building certification program.  At 25, she “singlehandedly founded a multi-million dollar full service real estate development design and build firm.”  Letting no stone go unturned, at age 32, she officially formed the brand, Rebekah Green, Inc.  As it appears, everything Rebekah Green touches turns to gold, we look forward to more eco reveals.
find @ rebekahgreen.com

The LModern 2 coffee table is the tasteful merging of a recycled door (I’m still looking for it), handsome, upcycled Brazilian Walnut parquet flooring and an L-shaped piece of wall shelving.  49″l x 30″w

$750 @ jalexstudios etsy shop

Here’s a another great alternative to buying bottled water.   This Restore Clean Water System consists of an 8-cup pitcher and an ultraviolet adapter.  Restore has a unique dual-filter process for eliminating solid particulate material as well as bacteria and viruses from your tap water.  The pitcher has both a carbon filter and an ultraviolet germ-killing system.  Unlike pitcher filters from Pur, Brita, and Zero Water, the Restore pitcher has a two-step water purification process.  In step one – a carbon filter reduces any heavy metals, chlorine and industrial pollutants in your water – in step two, the unit’s UV purification system removes 99.99% of viruses, bacteria and microbial cysts.

As our latest Tried and True Green Products Review, HoMedics was kind enough to provide us a free unit for testing.  We found that it took 4 pitchers of water to get the subtle carbon flavor of the particulate filter out of the water, but after that, the filtered water tasted fine.  The two-step process takes a couple of minutes, (the UV process takes 1 minute), and involves plugging the pitcher into the UV adapter, which has a retractable cord.  The unit has a smallish carbon filter (for filtering solid materials) that’s estimated to last 2 to 4 months, under typical home use. (more…)