A Tree Huggers Vacation Home
03/30/2012
I’m not the richest person in the world, so if I want to take my family on a vacation it has to be in the states and we have to be able to drive there. I would prefer to find a destination off the beaten track and it would be great if it was a eco-friendly destination. So when I saw this treehouse vacation home and found it it was a sustainable destination, my inner tree hugger was jumping up and down for joy. Now i just need to figure out how to overcome my fear of heights 😦
Temple of the Blue Moon
This charming treetop cottage is just one of the many treehouse lodgings available at Pete Nelson’s Treehouse Point in Issaquah, Wash. Nelson, a world-renowned treehouse builder and author, created this sustainable destination as a beautiful, educational getaway that provides visitors with a unique way to connect with nature. The Temple of the Blue Moon sits partway up a 300-year-old, 160-foot-tall Sitka Spruce and boasts skylights, built-in cedar beds and handmade quilts.
I thought Ki Nassauer’s Vintage Suitcase Shelves was a great way to repurpose these vintage flea market find. I am not sure what you have to do to the back so they will hang but they look great.
Ki Nassauer, editor-in-chief of Fleamarket Style magazine and founder of JunkMarket, a monthly sale of vintage and repurposed finds, knows a diamond in the rough when she sees it. This has earned her the nickname “The Martha Stewart of Junk.”
We’re big fans of finding new uses for vintage suitcases, as shown here, here and here, but mounting them on the wall and using them as shelves is something I’ve never seen before. I love it! And the blue wall that they’re mounted on is such a nice compliment to the tones of the cases.
The Hot Seat
03/19/2012
Art school was a great time for me because I was able to explore all of those “stupid” ideas and wrap it in some Freudian explanation to make me look cool while wearing my turtle neck and Barrett. But every now and then you create something in those hazy college years that resonates with others and as I use to say “It isn’t complete crap!”
College student Andy has taken an object destined for the land fill and breathed a new soul into it by making it into a chair. I love the sense humor in this.
Anyone who has lived in a tiny city apartment can tell you that the oven is the perfect storage place for bulky comforters and other hard-to-store items. But design graduate Andy took that concept to crazy genius levels with his transforming oven lounge chair. Built as a student project while Andy was attending the University of Cincinnati, the lounge chair was made by taking apart and modifying an existing oven. Adding an internal seat and a removable ottoman, Andy created a truly unexpected new piece of transforming furniture.
Via Dornob
Conserve. Explore. Inspire
03/19/2012
It’s great to have the commitment and the courage to live out your convictions and Cece and Brenda have done just that by greening a Airstream, including cork flooring and spreading the message of sustainability one mile at a time.
They started their journey on 8/2011 and converted an old Airstream using American Clay walls and ceilings, solar panels, eco-friendly furniture and waterless composting toilet. The Airstream is towed by a diesel truck that has been converted to a lean mean veggie oil machine to prove to the people they meet that it is possible to live simply and off the grid.
Cece Reinhardt + Brenda Daugherty. Our goal is to green an Airstream, turn a used diesel truck into a veggie oil machine and hit the road in complete “off the grid” style. Our quest to live outside the lines and explore what it means to be sustainable, comfortable and bold has led us here. Exploration and educational outreach will be our primary objectives…. we seek to partner with businesses, schools and non-profits to promote On the Green Road – driving towards sustainability one mile at a time.
Via GreenRVLife.com
How Big Is Your Footprint?
03/16/2012
We talk about sustainability as objects that you can purchase to help the environment. Buy cork flooring, buy eco-friendly products, buy bamboo and the world will be a better place. But one of the biggest factors in living a sustainable lifestyle is purchasing only the items you need.
I feel that one of the areas that Americans need to scale back on is the size of the homes we live in. Yes it is great to have a lot of square footage to move around in but having a theater room, bonus room, finished basement really a necessity for a small family? Have you thought how much energy it takes to heat and light these rooms?
This micro home is to the extreme but do we really need a McMansion for a family of 3? Of course we love the cork flooring they are using in this micro home.
One big key to small-spacing living is vertical space – with nine feet in each horizontal direction, the only way to go is up. At the same time, this particular design manages to look like it evolved somehow organically, with elements not simply occupying every spare spot. Read More
Via Dornob
Cork Flooring Is A Modern Choice
03/12/2012
Bob Borson wrote a nice article about cork and one of his clients. Mentions APC Cork as a reference. The best quote from him is “I spent a lot of time looking for reasons to use or not use cork. I’ve skimmed millions of pro/con lists … and I have come to the conclusion that everybody has different opinions and experiences. People equally love it or hate it, there doesn’t seem to be any consistency and it’s driving me crazy!!!!”
Spring is in the air and with the time change that means you can come home after work and start working on your gardens. Yeah! For all of you renters who only have a small balcony, Apartment Therapy has some great tips on how you can grow fresh veggies of your own. So put on the overalls and get your hands dirty.
– John
It is amazing how we take water for granted here in the U.S. but in many countries water is a commodity worth more then gold. To show how important water rights are, did you know that the two highest paid fields for lawyers are oil and gas and water right litigation? If the lawyers are involved that means ownership and how you define ownership is going to be huge issue in the future.
In the mean time here are 5 simple tips on you can do at home to conserve water.
Here are some simple tips on water conservation but click through to the article so you can see specifics on each item.
Listed below are five ways you can conserve water at little or no cost to you.
1. Wash and Rinse Reduction
2. Save on the Shave (or Brush)
3. Toilet Training
4. Lawn Lushes
5. Watch What You Eat
Straw Bale Home Off The Grid In Taos
03/02/2012
I first discovered straw bale homes about 7 years ago when we were moving to Oregon and looked at a development in Ashland Oregon. The homes we saw were amazing with walls that were approximately 24 inches thick and covered with a earth/clay mixture. We ended up not living in Ashland but I do think back on those homes and wonder why this old-new way of building a home ended up having such a niche presence in the building industry.
Which leads me to this great straw bale home that Eco Friend has done a write up on. This home is in Taos, New Mexico and is completely off the grid, using solar power (battery storage with inverter) to power the home and rainwater roof catchment and many more green technologies.
Living in the wild desert, where temperatures vary between extremes is a challenging task, and to uniquely suit the circumstances, Edge Architects from Taos, New Mexico, has designed a high desert home that will make living in the desert not only more convenient, but also greener. This house supposedly runs off grid and is completely self sufficient.
The outer walls of the house, including the north, west and eastern walls; all are clocked in straw bales and have a thickness of 24 inches. This unusual thickness of the walls prevents them from heating quickly, thereby, keeping the inside temperatures at bay, while the outside temperatures keep fluctuating. For quickly exhausting the trapped hot air inside, the skylight at the top of the stairway can be opened when required. During winters, the suns heat is allowed to penetrate deep inside the house and is absorbed by the floor and interior walls that will retain it and keep the house warm during evenings.
Via Eco Friend
Sustainability Starts With Our Kids
03/02/2012
I have given a lot of thought on the issue of sustainability and it seems as if a people gravitate towards these ideals later in life. Maybe it has to do with experiencing the world and seeing the problems we face from an adult perspective. But what would happen if sustainability was taught at a very early age?
The Green School in Bali (http://www.greenschool.org ) is the ideal model of what could be done if we choose to educate our children from day one. But even on a local level and working within our current school systems, change can be made as well.
The Green School in Denver (http://www.denvergreenschool.org) is a great example of like minded people coming together to educate our children on sustainability and that each of our actions do make a difference.
Can you imagine how different our world would be if these ideals were part of our education 50 years ago? – John
Check out this video of the founder of the Green School in Bali talking at TED
www.APCCork.com 