videos
Building with straw bale, recycled bottles & urbanite
Straw + clay + water = cob, an old construction technique that can be used for walls, benches and entire homes. The folks at the Solar Living Institute in Hopland, California are mixing it with their hands and feet and using it to rebuild their intern center- a project taking shape from recycled ...
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1 year ago by: kirstendirksen staff comments
High Point: a development with pocket parks and native plant
When Seattle developer Tom Phillips was given the task of redeveloping the 130 acres on one of the highest points in Seattle, he decided to do it sustainably, but at High Point, green building looks less like photovoltaics and more like good insulation good insulation (R28 and R34), a walkable ...
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1 year, 1 month ago by: kirstendirksen staff comments
Tips from a Greywater Guerrilla: the bathroom
While there's a growing trend to re-use our home's water (except for what we send down the toilet), there are ways to cut water use before replumbing for greywater. In this video, Laura Allen of California's Greywater Guerrillas shows us her dual flush toilet (thanks to a ...
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1 year, 1 month ago by: kirstendirksen staff comments
How one winery creates fertility organically
"A lot of the early farmers, as a lot of the farmers still do today, viewed nature as something to wrestle into submission and control," explains winemaker Steven Canter who has spent most of his career working with nature to grow grapes without synthetic inputs to create organic wines.Today ...
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1 year, 2 months ago by: kirstendirksen staff comments
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A BBQ with friendlier meat: heritage breed, grassfed & local
Brooklyn, New York, resident Sarah Dickinson tries not to eat a lot of meat (due to its heavy environmental toll), but when she wanted to throw a barbeque for friends and family, she decided instead of going meat-free to opt for some more environmentally friendly cuts.It just so happens ...
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1 year, 2 months ago by: kirstendirksen staff comments
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Permaculture: ecodesign and a return of the bees
Permaculture is "about creating sustainable human habitats by following nature's patterns." For homeowners Mark Feichtmeir and Karen Boness, the permaculture philosophy guided nearly every design decision in their home and garden in Kenwood, California.In this video, Mark shows us how the concept helped dictate everything from where on ...
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1 year, 3 months ago by: kirstendirksen staff comments
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Permaculture: a home that supplies water
Permaculture is about working with nature toward more individual self-sufficiency, whether it's food, energy or water. Rainwater harvesting involves capturing water during storms for use later in the year. While he's not yet "off the water grid", Mark Feichtmeir of Kenwood Permaculture captures enough rain for nearly half ...
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1 year, 3 months ago by: kirstendirksen staff comments
SMART: resurrecting abandoned rail north of San Francisco
With the rising cost of gas, car commuters are returning to the rails. Amtrak and light rail are experiencing record numbers of riders and are looking to expand service wherever possible. In the counties north of San Francisco, communities are trying to get trains running again on abandoned tracks that ...
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1 year, 3 months ago by: kirstendirksen staff comments
Zap Zebra: a 3-wheeled electric truck
It is possible to haul things without an SUV or a gas-guzzling truck. With just three wheels, the Zap Zebra truck may rely on electricity for fuel, but it can hold 4 passengers and a full load of cargo. In this video, Alex Sevilla of ThunderStruck Motors showed faircompanies tech ...
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1 year, 3 months ago by: kirstendirksen staff comments
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Global warming fashion and plantable packaging
"More companies are realizing that they can make their clothes and still be kind to the environment," explains Nyssa from San Francisco's Azalea Boutique. Beyond the requisite organic cotton (and they have plenty of it), in this video Nyssa showed us global warming fashion from Threads for Thought and ...
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1 year, 3 months ago by: kirstendirksen staff comments
