You can’t help but fall in love with Nova Scotia once you’ve walked its streets, eaten its meals and chatted up the locals.  Ever since my first visit, with a particularly memorable wine tour of the Annapolis Valley, I’ve been dying to go back.  And now I see that there’s good reason to make the jaunt.

Located in a protected wilderness area, Trout Point Lodge is a deeply green getaway that encourages guests to leave no trace as they visit, stay or dine at the rustic, but luxe, lodge.  Through solar-powered lighting, grey water recycling (more…)

Designer Loran Scruggs creates these great looking toys from the recycled remains of tin can and bottle caps.  These little gems are probably more a collectible than a toy destined for aggressive daily play, since nails and glue are involved.  Intended for non-destructive kids 3 and up.

They can be purchased individually, or you can pick up a set of 3 of these handmade, one-of-a-kind toys for $75 @ loran’s online store

• Whales should not be hunted…period. After Boat Collision, Activists Up Whale War – msnbc
• Hey, isn’t it all au naturel…Nudists Steamed Over Sea Lion Carcass on Beach – myway
• I’ve been noticing a lot more cold weather stories on the Drudge…I guess cold weather means no global warming…Midwest Braces for Heavy Snow and -50 Windchill – yahoo! news
• Water usually means life…Sun Glints Seen From Space Signal Oceans and Lakes – sciencedaily
• Sort of an outer space burrito…Super-Earth ‘Began as Gas Giant’ - bbc
• Greener policies or bad economy? German CO2 Emission in 2009 Lowest Since 1990 – rueters

I remember when Sony stood high atop the consumer electronics’ mountain, peering down on other mere mortal brands…times have changed, but I digress.

Today’s news — Sony has introduced a “greener notebook.”  With the new VAIO W Series 212AX Eco Edition, Sony has begun to dip its toe into greener waters…or at least gotten the word “eco” into a product name to help its marketing people.  The new eco notebook is professed to have the following features:

• 20% of the PC/ABS resin used in the cover, palm rest and incidental parts is comprised of reprocessed plastic from DVD and CD waste
• electronic user-manual in place of the standard 76-page printed manual, to save paper
• packaged in a reusable carrying case that utilizes 100% recycled PET material (material from plastic bottles)
• a 10″ display and a weight of less than 3 lbs

This one small step for man will be available soon at Sony Style retail stores.

source: sony.com

If you’re in Chicago right now you should go visit the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.  Your visit might just help improve your city!

The Canadian Centre for Architecture has put together an exhibit called “Actions: What You Can Do With the City,” showcasing 99 projects from walking, playing, recycling to goats as lawnmowers and more.  What these projects all have in common is that they help make your city better.  The exhibit features ideas and actions that anyone and everyone can do, and it also shows everyday people making a difference in their community.

Can’t make it to Chicago?  Their website has an amazing database of (more…)

Could this innovative material be a big player in the future of green building?  Though a house made of straw may initially sound sketchy, U.K. based ModCell is creating straw bale cladding panels designed to make large-scale, carbon-negative building a commercial reality.

The ModCell system incorporates the excellent thermal insulation qualities of straw bale and hemp construction to form locally made, prefabricated panels.  The resulting structures are built utilizing renewable, locally sourced, carbon sequestering materials creating super-insulated, high-performance, low energy ‘passive’ buildings.  ModCell’s green building products are designed for use in:  offices, schools, residential housing and commercial buildings.

The prefab wall and roof cladding system is designed to be quickly installed and with little waste, creating airtight buildings with thermal performance up to three times higher than current building regulations require.  As a result, in certain climates ModCell buildings can have zero heat requirements — saving money, energy and CO2 emissions.  (more…)

Oregon Scientific, traditionally known for its innovative weather gadgets, has started a new Energy Monitoring and Conservation line, which provides consumers with tools to monitor energy usage trends and save energy in the home.  The company sites U.S. Department of Energy data which estimates that monitoring electricity can help consumers reduce usage by up to 15 percent translating to lower utility bills and a smaller carbon footprint.

One of the company’s new products for 2010 – intro’d at this week’s CES – is the Advanced Wireless Appliance Manager: an innovative appliance manager that monitors power consumption, carbon emissions, and the real-time costs of up to eight appliances. The device can also provide long-term energy use trend info.

The eco gadget features an alarm that alerts the user when they inevitably exceed their energy  consumption goal.  MSRP: $99

source: prnewswire

It’s things like this that make me feel like we’re really in “the future” we were promised.  A Welsh company named Lomox has developed wallpaper that emits light using half the energy of a CFL and 1/9th the energy of a traditional lightbulb.  The technology is called OLED lighting (Organic Light Emitting Diodes), and they are essentially just materials that emit light when current is passed through them.  They are free from mercury (found in CFL’s), flexible, thin, and endlessly useful for both design and efficiency.

The uses for OLED up until now have been largly experimental and design oriented.  PolyPhotonix made a dress out of the stuff, designers make sculptural lamps, and now Lomox makes wallpaper.  The fruits of this experimentation however have larger implications.  The OLED technology can be used in televisions, windows, and large-scale lighting projects.

A few days ago The Carbon-Trust, a government funded nonprofit in the UK awarded Lomox $720,000 to develop OLED lighting like the wallpaper you see here.  The products should be on the market by 2012.  Many think that OLED technology is the future of lighting.  While light-emitting wallpaper is no match for windows in your house, it’s a neat way to save energy and have cool wall art.  Both beautiful and green!

Happy New Year!  We’re kicking off 2010 with a Tried and True, Green Products Review of Samtosa Clothing.  Many thanks to Samtosa for graciously provided us with a yoga outfit, (Bija Tank and Shakti pants), which we’ve diligently put to the test.

I’m not always as mindful as I should be.  But when I’m doing yoga, it’s about as mindful as I’ll ever be.  So it’s an extra good karmic charge to be stretching and sweating in downward dog, knowing that my threads were created in as ecofriendly manner as possible.  Mindful of supporting a sustainable society, founders David Eber and Wayne Malen have ensured that this Made in the USA line has serious eco cred.

Samtosa, (contentment, in Sanskrit), is comprised of 62% bamboo, 27% organic cotton and 11% Spandex, so the fabric is soft, yet durable, and the stretchiness allows for optimum performance.  I fell for these comfy duds the minute I put them on.

The Bija Tank with triple spaghetti-strap cross back emits a hip vibe. When I learned Goldie Hawn recently picked up a couple of these at Exhale Spa, I thought, no wonder.  Thankfully, there’s a built-in bra, which as you know, is a must — but sadly missing on tops from so many other brands today.  As far as the bottom half is concerned, it’s also a home run.  The Shakti pant is long and has a fold-over waist; it just feels right all day, everyday.

I also love that there are no annoying tags scraping the back of my neck or lower spine — just the comfy fabric that should be there.  And in terms of size, this line runs true; if you’re a medium, simply order that size, no worries.

Socially responsible, Samtosa donates a portion of profits each year to IOFA (International Organization for Adolescents), a US-based non profit committed to combating child exploitation, especially child trafficking and slavery.

So get moving with samtosaclothing.com.  May a feeling of contentment permeate your being.