The Cove took home the Best Documentary hardware at last year’s Oscar opus. Here’s a brief list of this year’s green Oscar nominees in the long and short doc categories.

Waste Land – Best Feature Documentary Nominee – Brazilian photographer Vik Muniz photographs the inspiring struggles of Rio de Janeiro’s “catadores” – enterprising pickers of recyclable materials found in Rio’s massively squalid garbage dumps and the art they create. Filmmakers: Lucy Walker and co-directors João Jardim and Karen Harley

Gasland – Best Feature Documentary Nominee – filmmaker Josh Fox explores the environmental and social impact of ‘fracking,” the controversial natural gas drilling technology developed by Halliburton. Are communities’ water supplies safe?

Sun Come Up – Nominated for Best Documentary (Short Subject) - The inhabitants of the Pacific islands of Carteret are quickly facing the prospect of becoming some of the world’s first “climate refugees”.
Filmmakers: Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger

The Warriors of Qiugang – Nominated for Best Documentary (Short Subject) – a small Chinese village fights back against industrial pollution. Producers: Yale Environment 360 and filmmakers Thomas Lennon and Ruby Yang

Singapore’s Guz Architects are known for creating thoughtfully executed architectural designs that fully embrace Singapore’s tropical climate, lush vegetation and lifestyle. The layered, four-story Meera House (pictured above + below) is located on an island with expansive views of the city of Singapore.

The residence is divided into four self-contained living spaces – all lushly encased by a curved green roofs and expansive roof gardens which place the house in perfect harmony with the surrounding landscape.

Hey, cheer up – spring’s just around the corner. Here’s today’s roundup of earth friendly fashion delights…

(above L to R) Catch a fleeting piece of Emma Watson’s third and final collection of casual eco-minded wear available at Fair Trade, Ethical Fashion online etailer, People Tree. Polka dots, stripes and solids make their way across a line of undies, tops, dresses, harem pants and blazers. stripe tee £28 and Emma Blazer £95. But never fear, Emma’s future eco designs will be through a new collaboration with Alberta Ferretti.

(above L to R) Two sweet designer frocks on sale at NYC eco boutique, Beklina, where there’s always free shipping: Virginia Johnson T Dress, $98 Julie Park dress, $90.

With an Out of Africa vibe, designer Vivienne Westwood is featuring a trio of eco totes available exclusively online@ yoox.com. Utilizing recycled tents and advertising billboards, the bags are handmade by women in Nairobi, and proceeds will assist them via the Ethical Fashion Africa Project. Pictured above is the Westwood Purple Gai Heart eco tote @ $135

(above) This woodsy necklace features circular and rectangular pieces of lovely white birch recovered from a wind-fallen dead tree and refinished into this unique eco fashion accessory by Utmost Ink.

The cross section of the branch was sealed to preserve its three deep cracks, a visual feature that gives it additional character and detail.

Democracy is sweeping the planet…the fashion planet that is. Earlier this week designer Derek Lam and eBay unveiled their new collaboration involving Lam’s 16 piece Spring Collection to be sold on eBay this fall. eBay users can vote on which pieces from the collection get produced and ultimately sold, on eBay.

Why waste resources and create clothing items that people really don’t want?

via: our very good friends @ shefinds

Save some money on electricity and shed some light on those hard to light outdoor areas like, driveways, patios and backyards with an off-grid, solar powered light like this Concept SL-100 solar powered security light.

The unit features 32 wide angle LEDs, a compact design, a 2W amorphous solar panel and a 4V 4.5AH lead acid battery. The light will illuminate a roughly 190 square foot area for up to 10 hours on full charge. A built-in motion detector with photocell light sensor allows auto-on/auto-off after you define your timer setting.

No wires, no electricity – just make sure the solar panel gets direct sunlight for a good portion of the day.

The Chef Republic provided us with a Pastry Tote and Eco Market Tote, each made of 100% organic cotton, for the purposes of this Tried and True Green Product Review. We put them to the test, and here’s what we think…

backstory – Written by foodies for foodies, ChefRepublic.com is a must-see for anyone passionate about food. Founders Arielle L and Dan V have cultivated a gourmet food lifestyle destination that’s earthy and fun to visit. Organic, vegetarian, going local, sustainable farming, and being relaxed yet stylish are the orders of the day. They’re especially sweet on chocolate and Italian fare.

Their blog features easy to follow recipes for delicious snacks, mains, desserts and drinks, as well as first-hand tours of vineyards and breweries — all accompanied by lush photos.

Their online shop features a fresh and original line of handmade tote bags, aprons and t-shirts with designs inspired by the creative process of: growing, cooking and eating food. All items are thoughtfully created utilizing 100% organic or recycled materials, grown or found in the USA. Prints are screen printed by hand using non-toxic water-based inks in the Chef Republic Studio in beautiful, Saratoga Springs, NY. Prices are reasonable, too.

(above) I love the Eco Market Tote – especially the short handles and clean graphic. I’ve been toting everything from wine bottles to fresh produce and it holds everything beautifully. It makes for a great gift for anyone, especially someone passionate about food, cooking or baking. The organic cotton is grown in Texas; the bag is made in New Hampshire and screen-printed by hand using non-toxic water-based inks in New York at the Chef Republic studio.
dimensions: 18″w x 17.5″h x 7″d ($25)

The Eco Messenger Bag is made of more lightweight materials and suitable for lightweight goods. It comes in 3 different designs: Rooster, United under Food and Bake 3x Daily ($18)

Taken by their graphics and quality materials, I found myself browsing their online shop. Their aprons looked very cute, but I captured a couple of personal faves from their t-shirt collection (below):

• cage free t-shirt $22
• organic farm boy (or girl) t-shirt $22

• Oh the irony…Japan Urges International Action Against Sea Shepherd – bbc
• Double eco whammy...Algae Cleans-up Wastewater and Converts to Biodiesel – sciencedaily
• Japan starts to ‘get’ clean energy…Japan Plans New Renewable Tariffs From 2012 – reuters
• Today’s favorite headline: NASA Satellite Helps Scientists Monitor Killer Mice…From Space – livescience
• “Cuz I love that dirty water”…thanks GE. Hudson River Fish Resist PCB’s Through Gene Variant (evolution) – yahoo! news
• Grounded Ship Leaks Oil in Norwegian National Park – msnbc
• You need to know this. 327-Pound Alligator Gar May be Biggest Ever Caught – aol news
• Exactly what demographic is this show reaching? Roseanne Barr Shows Off Her Green Side with Organic Farming Reality Show – ecorazzi

Designer Kieran Ball from Adelaide, Australia created the languid form of his Tannin Lounger by attaching recycled wine barrel staves to a steel frame.

Chic Moderne launched in 2006 and initially featured eco-luxurious leather goods handcrafted by European artisans whose raw materials were leather scraps discarded by designer leather workshops in Italy. Today’s range includes traditional items like business card holders and coin purses, as well as nifty iPad and iPhone cases ($25) — all made from new, unused, recycled genuine leather. And I especially like their curvy candles. Aside from their shape, Chic Modern’s unscented candles have a lot of neat qualities.

They’re made of natural Palm oil called Stearin, a renewable plant material with biodegradable by-products. Hand-poured, each curvy candle has its own unique grooves and characteristics. (more…)