Eco Design + Living

Ok, so I have a confession about this blog. I believe I have unintentionally mislead searchers and my readers into believing this blog was going to provide ideas for designing a green home or the answers to what green products to purchase to ease one’s guilty eco-conscience. If you landed here looking for tidbits about what car to drive, household cleaners to [...]

As industrial agriculture is under attack from Michael Pollan and his followers, the debate over how we transition to sustainable agriculture AND feed the world’s population rages on. One ‘agri-intellectual’ addresses the criticisms and misleading arguments of one farmer, who defends the combined use of GM seed and herbicides as a solution to reducing soil erosion. Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma is at [...]

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, [...]

Looks like Coloradans will legally be able to harvest rain water. Good for them. They are one state that knows the true value of access to water.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/us/29rain.html?_r=1&hp

Following up on my post, What is Sustainability?, I couldn’t help but share this line from a recent talk by Dmitry Orlov. “Industrial products that help the environment are a bit of an oxymoron. It’s a bit like trying to bail out the Titanic using plastic teaspoons.”
Gotta love him.
Read the full text here.

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

1. Plant something: transplanted Old Virginia tomatoes, basil, and peppers, French Marigolds, Scarlet Salvia. Started sunflowers & sprouts. Oh, and planted a Malabar spinach plant that a friend started from seed.
2. Harvest something: My dear friend Kat took me for a walk in the woods behind her home and we picked the very first blackberries of [...]

Recently, on Eco Design + Living and SoWal, I asked readers to share some of the things they are doing to decrease their ecological footprint. Read about it here. Some of you may be wondering what an ecological footprint is and how it’s calculated. For those who already know, I encourage you to take the test [...]

1. Plant something: transplanted Old Virginia tomatoes, French Marigolds, Scarlet Salvia, Sunflowers for shoots, and mini red peppers
2. Harvest something: sprouts, basil, chard
3. Preserve something: Nothing here
4. Reduce waste: composted cardboard boxes and food scraps from the Hibiscus Coffee and Guesthouse. This happens every week. The compost is filled with worms and looking righteous!
5. Preparation & [...]