Flotsam & Jetsam
Pam Longobardi creates art with plastic objects collected on beaches. Her work reveals just how big our oceans’ plastic problem has become.
Origami Whales Project
Since 2004, the Origami Whales Project (OWP) founded by Peggy Oki, has worked to raise awareness concerning threats to cetaceans (dolphins and whales) through its “Curtain of 36,000 Origami Whales.” Created by thousands of concerned citizens across the globe and exhibited throughout the world, this large-scale public art project serves as a powerful visual statement [...]
21st-Century Cruising
Looking for an adventure? Consider a spot aboard a 72-foot steel-hulled sloop called the Sea Dragon for their cruise to an ocean garbage patch happening this May. Sponsored by Algalita Marine Research Foundation, 5 Gyres Institute and Pangaea Explorations, LLC, paying guests ($13,500 per person) can join scientists and educators to sail through the projected debris [...]
Tipping Barrels
Follow surfers Arran and Reid Jackson on a trip into the Great Bear Rainforest on the Pacific coast of Canada, one of few untouched forests of the world and an area threatened by the oil industry. Learn more at pacificwild.org
Latest Work by Jason deCaires Taylor
Time Bomb depicts a collection of bombs and mines designed to support marine life whilst symbolizing the critical future of our reef systems and the countdown of time we have to reverse the increasing worldwide decline. The works also portray the irony of weapons of destruction being used to support and nurture life. The various [...]
Great Pacific Garbage Patch
It’s pretty easy to disconnect from the impact our plastic habit has on the environment. But when you find yourself swimming in floating bits of garbage (as I did last summer in Far Rockaway), or you see an image like the one above, the impact is immediate and unavoidable. To learn more and bring awareness [...]
Bigert & Bergström, The Last Calendar
The perfect gift for your favorite prophet! From Cabinet: When the current cycle of the Maya Long Count calendar concludes on 21 December 2012, the world will end. Of course, this is hardly the first time the planet’s demise has been prophesied. And so Cabinet offers you, doomed reader, a guide to the brief time that remains. [...]
Free, Beautiful, Biodegradable Toys!
As part of my quest to incorporate more DIY, reused or found toys into my children’s lives, we’ve made it a point to show up at the beach without pails, shovels, etc and then see what we can find. My kids often find their own treasures, but sometimes (especially early on) I have found it’s [...]
Postcard from the Farm
Lemongrass is one of my favorite herbs, well grasses I should say. It grows prolifically wherever we seem to plant it (on the farm in Garza, Costa Rica). Two great culinary applications are pictured above and you can check out the growing process below.
VOWEL HOUSE
In 1955, the letter A was used as the form for a structure by the architect Andrew Geller for the Reese House, a beach residence in Long Island, New York. The New York Times published the house on May 5, 1957. Following the publication of the house, the form went viral across the globe. Today, [...]
New Windowfarms!
Creating your own Windowfarm is about to get a whole lot easier. Last week, the cool Brooklyn-based organization that creates vertical, hydroponic, modular, low-energy, high-yield edible indoor window gardens, succeeded in meeting their Kickstarter goal. Now they will be able to manufacture new Windowfarm systems that look great and are easier to use. The new [...]
Materials for the Arts
Materials for the Arts (MFTA) is an incredible collaboration between the Department of Cultural Affairs and the Department of Sanitation in NYC. It was founded in 1978 to gather materials from companies and individuals who no longer need them and makes them available for free to NYC’s arts and cultural organizations, public schools and community [...]
Urban Bee Keeping
Bees make the world go round! Now with this very well designed concept, you can have your very own bee hive at home. Honey bees are a very important part of our ecosystem, but for the past few years their colonies have been in a decline leading to drastically reduced bee population. Strangely, bees seem [...]
Biking Down Broadway!
Many of you visiting or living in NY may have noticed a huge increase in bike lanes throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. The move to make biking a viable alternative method of transport is going to get even better with the addition of a bicycle share program. The program, modeled after similar systems in Europe and other [...]
Earth Time Lapse
Here’s an incredible time lapse made from photographs taken by the crew onboard the International Space Station (ISS) from August to October 2011. Shot from an altitude of around 350 km the earth looks like one big living organism and really puts human civilization in perspective. The video was edited together by Michael König.
Work by Helmut Smits
Blown-up plant labels in nature reserve Het Bossche Broek emphasize the richness of flora and question what ‘nature’ in the Netherlands actually implies. Labels by Helmut Smits. Photos by Lotte Stekelenburg.
Building it Better
As a set designer in the film and photo industry I am concerned with the amount of waste generated in these industries. I applaud the efforts of the BIG!NYC, otherwise known as “Build It Green-NYC” a not-for-profit organization that salvages materials from a variety of buildings about to be demolished or remodeled in New York [...]
Antarctica in NYC
An invitation for an event in NYC tonight from Harmonizer DJ Spooky: Hey you all – as you may know, I have a new book out about Antarctica, The Book of Ice. You are invited to an exclusive pop-up event with pre-production Antarctica prints and 3D maps at a special price. Celebrate the 100-year anniversary [...]
Postcard from the Farm
Greetings from the farm in Garza, Costa Rica where it is hot and humid. We’ve officially returned to the Nicoya Peninsula for the winter season where we were blown away by these beautiful plants: fresh ginger (gingibra in Spanish) from the huerta (garden) in Garza! That ginger goes into making a vodka infusion (see below) [...]
Rerip
Wondering what to do with an old or broken surfboard? Rerip it! Rerip is an organization that strives to keep boards out of landfills. Founded by Meghan Dambacher and Lisa Carpenter—San Diego residents and avid surfers—and run by a team of volunteers, Rerip sets up drop off locations for people to leave unwanted boards, fins [...]
NYC Trash Talk
A few weeks ago there was an interesting article about the amount of trash we create in NYC and the ways in which our recycling program lags behind other cities. “Environmental advocates call recycling the weak link in the city’s green agenda, even after legislation was passed last year to overhaul the 1989 recycling law [...]
Nautilus News
“A horrendous slaughter is going on out here,” said Peter D. Ward, a biologist from the University of Washington, during a recent census of the marine creature in the Philippines. “They’re nearly wiped out. The culprit? Growing sales of jewelry and ornaments derived from the lustrous shell. To satisfy the worldwide demand, fishermen have been [...]
Trash Tycoon
Game maker Guerillapps has designed a Facebook game to encourage gamesters to get green. Created in collaboration with CarbonFund, TreeHugger, and Terracycle, Trash Tycoon encourages players to clean up trash, build worm farms and make her/his city a greener place.
