Eco Design + Living

Check out Florida’s first Earthship under construction in Manatee County!
The Earthship which is a structure typically seen in the West is made of re-used tires, glass bottles, various other recycled/reused materials and earth based plasters. These structures are made to mimic the systems found in nature; rainwater catchment, greywater use, thermal mass for heating and cooling, [...]

Having just returned from Prescott College with a degree in Sustainable Community Development in hand, I have been reflecting on what all this means. By “all this” I mean my career path, my community, and the word, sustainability. For simplicities sake, when previously asked what I was getting my degree in, I would blurt out [...]

Another snippet - great little project happening in Detroit. Sustainable, affordable, hip, and cool housing.
Power House Project by Design 99

In this extreme, information overload age, it’s often difficult to separate the truths from the non-truths. This is prevalent in many aspects of everyday life and sustainable living is no exception. We are sometimes left with many unanswered and debatable questions like, paper or plastic? cloth diapers or disposable diapers? new Prius vs. old reliable [...]

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has recently formed a branch in our region. The official title is the Emerald Coast Branch of the Northern Gulf Coast Chapter of the USGBC. This branch includes the tri-county area of Okaloosa, Walton, and Bay. The USGBC is a 501(c)(3) non profit composed of leaders from every [...]

The Casa de Maraposa is a wonderful example of how we can live lightly at the beach. The design was inspired by the atomic ranch style of architecture popular in the 1950’s and was driven by the desire to use the buildable footprint to maximize living space, while emphasizing eco-friendly features.
The1,000 square foot home is [...]