• Now why wasn’t this done 2 or 3 weeks ago? New Sensors Deployed to Gauge Oil Spill – cnn
• Does a giant international conglomerate have an ass to be kicked? Obama and BP Set for Oil-Spill Showdown – yahoo! news
• There are about 200 sci-fi flicks where an alien life form invades Earth this way…Hayabusa Asteroid-Sample Capsule Recovered in Outback – bbc
• Crap! Spill Relief Well Draws Scrutiny – msnbc
• BP Buys 32 of Costner’s Oil Filtration Machines for Gulf Cleanup – ecorazzi
• If the oil catastrophe has driven you to drink…Vodka Study Shows Brand Preference May in the Drink, Not in the Head – sciencedaily
• Boycott Big Oil?  Prepare to Give up Your Lifestyle – myway

From around the ecosphere, here’s our latest green stimulus package for your eyes, ears and mind.

• Anyone remember, Green Acres?  New Cable Show Alert – Out of the city and into the farmland – can these two urbanites adjust to rural life?  Meet farmers Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Dr. Brent Ridge, The Fabulous Beekman Boys (as in Beekman, NY)…Premieres Wed., 6/16 (my b-day) @ planetGreen.discovery.com
• Not only is BP destroying life in the Gulf and doing a pathetic job of cleaning up their mess – they’re preventing press coverage of the cleanup — from the spill itself, to saving wildlife. Anderson Cooper gets our award for relentlessly providing the best coverage anywhere. more @ rawstory.com
• For those who love interacting with Uncle Sam, the Coast Guard will assess any high tech ideas related to aiding the Deepwater Horizon disaster, via Federal Business Opportunities @ fbo.org
• Saturday, June 19 is National Solar Day – see what’s going on as we try to wean ourselves off of fossil fuel dependence and toward safer, cleaner solutions. learn more @ solarday.com

• You’re probably familiar with Doctors without Borders, but have you heard of Restaurants without Walls?   Five-course meals are prepared by top local chefs where the ingredients, all provided locally – are the main attraction.  This literal table-to-farm artistic installation makes its way around from venue to venue in a red vintage bus, (we hope someday, fueled via biodiesel). Visit outstandinginthefield.com for schedule of events and details.

From around the world, this week’s collection of eco conscious standouts.

(above) Romp and Roll…transport yourself from Manhattan to Montauk while ecologically resplendent in designer duds from From NYC-based, Doucette Duvall. Available at Barney’s, so get ready to splurge.

(above L to R) Just what one expects from L.A. Cool meets chic. Symbols Print skirt with adjustable, tie waist; recycled cotton ($58) @ BrigidCatiis.com. Sustainable cotton Cropped Tank with recycled leather and side pockets, $92. Sunkissed Skirt, recycled cotton, one size fits most, ($58).

(above) An easy piece for shifty summer days, from California-based, Branch Handmade, an eco tank dress in heather grey with chandelier detail, ($29) and moth-imprinted long-sleeved cover, pima cotton ($29).

(above) Grab your Vegan Superstar handbag in white, grey, black or red ($89) @ REVEALshop.com AND enjoy 10% for being Alternative Consumers. Use the code: REVEALFRIENDS at checkout.

(above) Couldn’t resist these awesomely alternative tights.  Get a leg up on fall.  No tattoos required.  Screen printed by hand @ Les-Queues-de-sardines.com by studio m + o.

So, that’s about it for me right now – time to hit the beach.  Remember  – buy only what you need and love what you have.  Here’s to a relaxing, low carbon footprint weekend.

Artist Jim Denevan creates temporary geometric drawings on sand, earth and other natural surfaces that are ultimately erased by Mother Nature’s natural processes.  His brushes range from found materials like a large stick to the occasional gasoline powered vehicle (to achieve massive scale).  Most, if not all, of his work is best viewed from above.

Relatively little, or no, raw materials are used in his creative – I’ll forgive him the gasoline for the truck and the fuel for the small plane used for photographing his work – as a small price to pay for the breathtaking impact of his work.

more pix after the jump: (more…)

If you’re looking for a cost-effective yet fully utilitarian gift for dad here’s a stylish men’s solar sports watch that never needs a battery or resetting.

This Casio Solar Atomic Resin Strap Watch features a digital interface, atomic timekeeping technology and a quartz movement.  When fully solar-charged it can accurately keep time up to eight months without any further exposure to light.  For those in the US, UK, Germany, or Japan, the watch receives time calibration radio signals (up to 6 times per day) that automatically set your time, so you can’t blame your watch when you’re late for a meeting.

Other features: three daily alarms, an LED light with afterglow technology, a world clock with 29 time zones, four daily alarms , a 1/100 second stopwatch, a calendar (pre-programmed until 2099) and water resistance to 100 meters.

marked-down from $79.95 to a tasty $29 @ amazon

Saw a fine collection of annotated images capturing the anger, humor and general frustration of the anti-BP movement over at BuzzFeed.  Here are just a couple…

It’s shaped like an ice cream cone, but it doesn’t taste like one. Or have the calories of one, either.

I’ve seen ice cream cone-shaped dishes and bowls before, but these porcelain cones are unique — each one is handmade.  They’re “slip cast in an eco-friendly workspace: all excess clay is reclaimed and reused and firings are energy efficient.”

They’re made using a non-toxic, lead-free glaze, and measure approximately 2.75 inches by 2.25 inches.  Microwavable and dishwasher safe.

Just add organic ice cream. Make mine peppermint, hold the sprinkles…scoop up @ grasshopper510.com

Our friends at Inhabitat just announced the winners of their 2010 Spring Greening Contest and we’d like to share the exciting news.  Inhabitat’s readers as well as their esteemed panel of judges, picked their design faves.  Entries were exclusively fashioned from found materials, and they all were pretty impressive feats. As they say, without further ado, here are the results of the competition.

• GRAND PRIZE - (above) With recycled plastic soda bottles, Sarah Turner created this dazzling lamp. (Also our personal fave.)

• EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARD – (above) using two worn furniture legs as frame support, SystemDesignStudio stretched tired bicycle tires across the space to construct a quirky ElasticShelf.

• READER’S CHOICE 2nd Place – (above) Ah, the good old days of sprockets and light-boxes.  This tower of power, the Film Roll Lamp was created by Nidhi Gupta.

• READER’S CHOICE 3rd Place – (above)  Clearly, a moment of brilliance.  Annisa Fardan Nabila and Aulia Amanda Santoso recycled light bulbs to form a modern Spice Rack.

• EDITOR’S CHOICE 2nd Place – (above)  Joseph Palmer converted recycled chopsticks into stylish Chop Flops.

• EDITOR’S CHOICE 3rd Place – (above another of our personal faves) Mauricio Affonso illuminates by upcycling the mundane – transforming recycled soda can tabs into a magical Pop Pendant Light.

What did Jill Fehrenbacher, Publisher of Inhabitat.com have to say to us about this 2nd Annual Event?

“I’m amazed at the creativity and ingenuity of the spring greening designs this year.  You have to really think ‘outside of the box’ to achieve that spark of inspiration to recognize that a lightbulb might make a good vase, or that chopsticks could be turned into a shoe.

The 2010 Spring Greening designers really took it to a whole new level this year.  We had over 400 submissions from 25 different countries, from readers around the globe, and although it was extremely hard to narrow it down to the 2 winners, we feel these designers represent the best of the best of design reuse and ‘good green design’, the motto that we live by here at Inhabitat.”

Find more cool designs and further info @ inhabitat.com

Scoping out a new Chevy Volt, Smart ForTwo electric or Ford Focus Electric?

If you’re one of the first 4,600 to nab the EVs, you’ll be privy to a free 220-volt charging station, thanks to electric charging port maker Coulomb Technologies Inc. The ChargePoint America program, partly funded by a $15 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant, runs till October of next year and is up for grabs to people living within 70 miles of Austin, Detroit, L.A., New York, Orlando, Sacramento, San Jose/San Francisco, Redmond, Wash., or Washington D.C.

And a pretty penny you’ll save. Home-based charging stations run around $2,000 for a 220-volt, although costs move upwards of that for quick charging units. The charging stations are similar to those pictured above, which I pulled up to when visiting DTE Energy’s offices not too long ago.

Signs displayed in front of the empty spaces read: Electric Vehicle Parking Only. My gut is telling me that one day soon those spots will be filled up on a daily basis. Gotta love that.

And it gets better, too. The stations are built and installed with American labor, equaling the employment of three Americans for a full day every time a station is shipped. Want to sign up for your own? Visit your local EV dealership or chargepointamerica.com/sign-up-request.

More:  previously on altCon
EV-related posts