Is micro-living the next big thing? Is a smaller footprint home the green building wave of the future? Will people be able to handle living in a complete home that is smaller than most people’s family room?
The folks at Canada’s 12-cubed certainly think so. They’ve envision these teensy dwellings to be used as a guest house, rental unit or studio. Though these little houses can stand alone – they’re intended to be constructed adjacent to an existing home – so they can utilize the power, water and sewage systems of the larger structure. They offer two models consisting of the 10×10 Pure (1,200 cubic feet) and the 12×12 Cappuccino (1,400 cubic feet) – both constructed of FSC Certified lumber and designed to be mounted on a block foundation.
The layouts feature a shower, toilet, bedroom, kitchen and living area – best thing, the little houses clock in at an average price of $24,500 CDN.
more info @ twelve3.ca
Handcrafted in Tucson, Arizona, Sweet P’s organic skincare products sounded quite intriguing, so when they offered complimentary samples of their Organic Brown Sugar Scrub and Nature’s Insect Repellent & Organic Sunblock for the purposes of this review, how could we refuse? We put them to the test, and here’s what we think…
By the way, I’ve had the good fortune of staying in Sarasota, Florida for the past month — we’ve been hitting the beach after 5pm almost every day to walk along the shore and splash around in the surf. So I’ve had plenty of opportunities to give Sweet P’s body-friendly products a try.
After using the organic body scrub daily for a just few consecutive days, the results were pretty impressive. My feet look beautiful and they feel soft and smooth. Lately, when I jump in the shower, it’s the first product I reach for. You can feel the jojoba oil continue to penetrate even after rinsing off. This Brown Sugar Scrub is chock full of goodness: organic honey, organic brown sugar, organic jojoba oil, organic Shea butter and potassium sorbate.
Sweet P’s Nature’s Insect Repellent & Organic Sunblock SPF 30 with Lemon and Eucalyptus is a powerful and safe, dual-action lotion. Although I love sand and surf, with fair skin and blue eyes, I need to be extremely careful in the sun and take extra precautions. This stuff is really good. You can smell the wonderful essential oils as you slather it on and it works its magic without any nasties, like DEET or parabens. Sweet P’s a signer of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. They also recycle containers, and provide refills.
We give these products from Sweet P’s our green thumbs up.
We like them so much, we now offer them on our OpenSky shop.
Take some recycled sterling silver, a designer with an eye for the eclectic and people’s general fascination with the macabre – think old-school Vincent Price macabre, not Twilight trendy macabre – and we have the basic materials and motivation for the creation of the Little Skull Ring designed and made by Species by the Thousands.
This is for the tech savvy nerd in all of us. How funky, yet practical, are these bags?
Here (above) we have the Voltaic Solar Backpack; it has 4.5 watts of solar power, a battery pack to store power until you need it, 10 different adapters to charge nearly all your electronic gadgets, and wire channels throughout the backpack for headphones, plugs and cords. The solar panels are made of a high efficiency monocrystalline cell that is waterproof, UV resistant, and scratch resistant. It is able to charge cell phones, PDAs, GPSs, iPods, cameras and other hand-held devices in about 4-6 hours of direct sunlight. This backpack will run you $249 at Voltaic Systems or Amazon.com.
.
Or you can check out the Solar Messenger Bag (above), which is also designed to charge cell phones, iPods cameras, GPSs and other hand-held devices in 4-6 hours of direct sunlight. Available for about $199 at amazon
The Eclipse Fusion Solar Messenger Bag (above) has nice look and plenty of good storage. Great for charging your cellphone or PDA while you wait for the bus or reading the newspaper. We found it for 49.95
Say you want to charge something larger like your laptop? Bring out the big boy. Voltaic Generator (above) is the first solar bag powerful enough to charge a standard-sized laptop in a comfy and securely padded laptop bag. Its solar panels generate up to 15 watts in about 5 hours. This one will run you about $489.
Not only do these packs charge your electronics with the sun, the bags themselves are made out of 600D fabric which is recycled PET (soda bottles). They’re water resistant, light weight and durable. Grab one, and never run out of batteries on your travels.
Related: previously on altCon, (1.20/10)
Voltaic Solar Backpack – a Tried and True Green Product Review
RSS
