Sometime how a house is situated and integrated into its surroundings makes it more profoundly green than if it made totally out of recycled materials.  Architect Craig Steely makes a structure’s siting and assimilation a major design priority.

Steely’s Gypsy House is built on a steep hillside acre in the Berkeley hills.  The house is divided into two distinct zones – one burrowed into the hillside – and the other, glass encased section, cantilevering toward the view.  A sod covered green roof further integrates the home’s hillside section into the surroundings.  Very nice indeed.

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Two things we like, home furnishings made from reclaimed or salvaged materials and Brooklyn.  This handsome mirror was created by RecycledBrooklyn with wood purloined from a selection of discarded shipping pallets – an abundant raw material that can be found scattered across the landscape in industrial Brooklyn.

The mirror’s edging is created from discarded pallet straps and fastened with found trim nails.  The mirror glass once adorned and Ikea dresser which was found curbside.  All this for 60 bucks…and if you live in NYC, it will get hand delivered to your door for free!

The terms “eco-friendly” and “sexy” are usually not used in close proximity (Al Gore anyone?).  Not so with Enamore.  We’re happy to report that this leading designer and purveyor of fabulously green, fun, retro…and above all sexy, underthings has a newly re-designed website.  The new site’s (www.enamore.co.uk)  design features a delicate palette of flamingo pinks and chocolate browns and an easy interface for checking out the Enamore collections.

U.K. based Enamore creates luxurious eco-friendly underwear, lingerie and accessories from the finest green fabrics including organic cotton, bamboo, soya, hemp and natural silk.  woo hoo!!

Make your kitchen a greener place.  Each of the kitchen utensils in the Green Street line is made from 2 to 3 recycled PET water bottles.  The four tools – two spatulas and two spoons – come in an appropriately vibrant green (nothing says green like…green), with two of the tools showcasing decorative slots in the shape of tree branches.  Heat resistant to 475 degrees, dishwasher safe, FDA approved and made in the USA using green energy by Robinson Home Products.

The Green Street products are available starting August 2010 at 300 Kitchen Collection and Le Gourmet Chef stores nationwide as well as at kitchencollection.com and legourmetchef.com for $3.99 each.

Contributing editor Jessica Blair was recently invited to tour Weleda’s biodynamic gardens in Germany where many of the ingredients for their organic skincare products are grown.  Here’s a little video she shot.

Eco-good-guy Harrison Ford and Hamilton, a maker of fine watches, have teamed up to create the Khaki Team Earth Collection of manly, high performance watches.  A portion of each Khaki’s sale proceeds benefits Team Earth’s and Conservation International’s efforts to save the planet and its creatures, through the creation of programs to do more…and use less.

This company makes some nice home accessory items from recycled and reclaimed materials – only bummer – they’re factory is located in Sri Lanka.  CeylonPaperPottery uses recycled paper and sand as primary materials in their Fairtrade production process.

Other items they reclaim, or re-use:  bottles and jars – which they sandblast and turn into t-lights, vases and candles and reclaimed wood off-cuts from local furniture manufacturers which they integrate into a variety of items.

via: materialicious

• Final ‘kill’ should begin this week…Rough Weather Washes Up More Oil – npr
• Is phytoplankton our friend, or enemy? Study Suggest Ocean Color Can Deflect Hurricanes – natgeo
• A carbon capture landfill? Obama Panel Boosts Bid to Put Greenhouse Gas Emissions Underground – cs monitor
• To go where no man has gone before – or at least for a long, long time….Robot to Expose Secrets Of Pyramid – msnbc
• It’s a start…U.S. Judge Bans Planting of Geneticaly Engineered Beets – reuters
• La. Shrimpers Worry About Prices for New Season – yahoo! news
• Sticking one’s nose where it doesn’t belong…‘Jarhead’ Bear Gets Out of Jam – bbc

Need a little more green in your environment?  Maybe a green wall would do the trick.  These modular wall gardening containers are flexible, breathable, and made from recycled plastic bottles that have been industrially felted.  These wall pockets can be used singly, or hung in multiples to create large, vertical “living walls”.

They come in two models, indoor and outdoor.  The indoor pockets are lined to protect walls (while still allowing the plant’s roots to breath) while the outdoor units are unlined so that water can drain without pooling.  Includes mounting hardware.  You can construct a vertical garden on just about any type of wall or fence – indoors or out.  Like building blocks, the Wally is designed to be totally modular – making larger green walls, or vertical gardens possible.

The 15h x 24″ containers come in several colors and cost $59 ea. for the indoor model and $49 ea. for the outdoor @ A+R Store