Do One Thing: Go Open A Window
The EPA found that the air inside the typical American home is actually dirtier than the air outside, mainly because of chemicals in our household cleaners and furnishings. But opening your windows just 10 minutes a day can make a difference to your indoor air quality. Not all of us have a view like this—if […]
Do One Thing: Retreat from Receipts
Tis the shopping season—but you could be carrying some unwanted toxic chemicals home from the store. A recent study found BPA alternate bisphenol S, also known as BPS, on all cash register receipt paper in the United States. Both substances show estrogen-mimicking effects; BPA has been linked to hormonal disruption and cancer. Want to avoid […]
Do One Thing: Stay Away from Styrofoam
Besides the fact that so-called “disposable” Styrofoam and plastic tableware sit in the landfill forever, according to the EPA, carcinogenic polystyrene—which makes Styrofoam—is the fifth largest creator of hazardous waste. Want a side of cancer with that shake? Instead, bring your own cups and tableware, or look for compostable disposables made from veggies like potatoes—no, […]
A Thriving Green Wall in Madrid
When the autumn winds finally stripped the New York City trees of their more stubborn remaining leaves, I found myself thinking about my favorite green spot in Madrid, the last city I called home. Completed in 2008 by French botanist Patrick Blanc, together with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, this 78 foot high vertical garden […]
Do One Thing: Nix Plastic Straws
Getting ready for a big end-of-year bash? Consider nixing the plastic straws. Americans use about 500 million straws each day—about 1.6 per person—and these slippery little tubes of non-biodegradable plastic wreak havoc on the environment, slipping through the cracks of landfills and recycling processing plants to join the spiraling plastic garbage patches that choke our […]
MONKEY TRAILS
Lush landscaping provides a natural corridor for howler monkeys to travel from spot-to-spot, stopping for snacks along the way. Moving through the treetops, they avoid confrontations with dogs or traffic. Last month I visited the Harmony Hotel where we saw native animals almost every day. Howler monkeys, so named for their deep guttural calls that […]
Lighter Log
Willis Elkins’ work reminded me of the many beach cleanups I’ve participated in at the Harmony Hotel where we go out to collect debris from Playa Guiones in the late afternoons. The Brooklyn-based artist took an inflatable raft (and later kayak) to travel NYC waterways where the rising and falling tide can both create a […]
HALLOWEEN PARTY TO BENEFIT NYC SURFRIDER FOUNDATION
What’s the most frightening part of being a New York surfer in ‘off season’? Taking a chance on water that’s untested for harmful bacteria. During the summer months, when beaches are protected by the city, the waters are tested regularly and notices are posted on days when the ocean is deemed dangerous (luckily these posts […]
The Forest for the Trees
Check out this online gallery with beautiful images of trees, some of which will appear in a gallery show in London at the end of this month entitled, ‘Forest’. The project “to collect and curate woodland photography from around the world,” is a collaboration between submit photos with a forest theme to be considered for […]
Plantastic Hotel
Never thought too much about Singapore until I recently read about this beautiful hotel that has combined futuristic architectural design with organic details and yes, a four-story tall sky-garden with cascading vertical greenery. WOHA architectural firm executed the “hotel-in-a-garden” concept within a city that is striving to be “a city in a garden.” Who knew?
Carlos Motta
Brazilian architect Madeira de Redescobrimento [demolition and reused materials] was a natural progression and nowadays this is the main material used. Recently the atelier has begun using wood sourced from FSC [Forest Stewardship Council] certified companies. In the work of the atelier, the encounter with architecture was at the same time peculiar and immediate. From […]
Courtesy of Nature
Rather than commission an artist to design a piece for a given museum or gallery, architect Anouk Vogel and landscape artist Johan Selbing were commissioned by Jardins de Métis to design Courtesy of Nature, a contextual art installation surrounding living trees and ferns. The temporary gallery was featured as part of this year’s International Garden Festival, running through September 29. […]
Floating on the Bronx River
Throughout August you can find a gorgeous metal dome floating mysteriously on the Bronx River. Designed and made by husband and wife team Amanda Schachter and Alexander Levi of SLO Architecture, the structure was created entirely from recycled plastic bottles and discarded umbrellas collected from the streets of New York City. They describe their piece as “performance […]
TOM WEGENER’S PhD PURSUIT
Venerated shaper Tom Wegener (known mostly for his alaias) is pursuing a PHD in surf. Already a “huge fan of mixing surf and study” (according to one article), Wegner will spend the next three years looking at the impact of globalization on surfboard manufacturing, with a focus on sustainability and local markets. Read more here.
Surfing Madonna
Founded by Surfing Madonna creator Mark Patterson, agents of change (i.e. you can help reverse the serious degradation currently impacting the world’s oceans). Now the organization is challenging artists located near the world’s 10 deadliest waves—Banzai Pipeline, Ghost Trees, Mavericks, Teahupoo, Waimea, Shipstern Bluff, Dungeons, Cyclops, ours and New Smyrna—to create mosaics in their locations.
Architect for Birds
Nice story in the NYT today about an artist who describes himself as an “architect for the contemporary bird”. XAM is the name he uses to preserve his anonymity (he agreed to be interviewed only on the condition that we use it, too). He has been hanging street art for three years now in the […]
Poor Air Quality on Northeast Coast
According to Boston’s Business Journal, The EPA has predicted unhealthy air quality for many coastal beaches in the Northeast region this weekend. Children and adults with respiratory conditions are especially advised to avoid strenuous activities as elevated ozone levels can lead to breathing problems. Though it’s going to be this year’s first hot weekend since […]
Urban Air
Los Angeles artist Stephen Glassman has plans for the steel frames that hoist billboards above his concrete city. He wants to transform them into suspended bamboo gardens, transforming the scenery of thousands of commuters every day. His project, that we can often lose sight of. To create the garden billboards, Glassman and his crew alter […]
The Relocation of Newtok Residents
Yesterday the Guardian published its first installment of a report on Newtok, Alaska, where an entire village is in the long process of relocating as their home becomes uninhabitable due to the affects of climate change. A report by the US Army Corps of Engineers predicted the highest point in the village will be underwater by 2017. […]
Solar Plane Flies over San Francisco
On Wednesday afternoon the Solar Impulse, a plane that relies entirely on energy from the sun, made its third and final test flight above San Francisco Bay. Soon it will fly across the length of the United States, ending its trip in New York come the end of June or July. According to the Guardian, […]
Repurposed Payphones
Following up on our prior post on the New Museum’s innovative use of New York City’s pay phones for their 1993 exhibit, the city is now actually attempting to decide what to do with the relics, rather than send them to the landfills. The mayor’s office has been holding a sustainable design competition for prototypes […]
Seattle’s Bullitt Center
Just a year and a half since the Guardian announced the construction had begun, the Bullitt Center, Seattle’s carbon-neutral energy and net-zero water building has welcomed its first occupants for its grand opening on Earth Day, April 22nd. Located at the edge of Capitol Hill, the six-story building is estimated to function at 83 percent more […]
Rockaway SHORE Relief Restaurant
An excellent way to get involved with (or continue to work on) Sandy recovery efforts in Rockaway is to join this Kickstarter campaign for an environmentally sustainable, pay-as-you-can community kitchen providing access to healthy, local food. Check it out! Only 24 more days left to help!
Fracking and Earthquakes
Though the links between earthquakes and human activity have long been discussed, evidence is gathering that strongly correlates the use of fracking to obtain fuels from the earth to these natural disasters. Mother Jones recently published Michael Behar’s account of an unlikely 5.7 quake in Oklahoma in 2011, and the manmade circumstances that appear to […]
