On her blog, Kaufmann features do-it-yourself videos for a neat variety of eco-projects that let you reduce energy costs, recycle objects into useful items and add elements of clean, green living to your home.

The one that caught my eye in particular was a DIY WaterWall, which uses old water bottles or Mason jars to create a heat-absorbing, light-filtering inset to a problem window. Kaufmann walks you through the steps to create the WaterWall, then suggests cool modifications to beautify the project even more: adding sprigs of green or flowers in varying amounts to block even more light and add elements of nature to your window.

Kaufmann’s blog also features videos on how to make a unique and clever EcoBirdfeeder with used chopsticks, how to make plantable cards from waste paper, how to make a case for your iPod or iPhone from old denim jeans and lots more. She also sends out an e-newsletter, so you can learn when new projects are posted.

If you’re interested in learning more about Kaufmann and her work, you can find her at several coming events across the country, including the Gravity Free Design Innovation Conference in Chicago (May 13), the Dwell on Design Conference in Los Angeles (June 6) and Built Green Santa Barbara (June 13).

You Will Need:

• legs left over from your last denim craft project
• scissors
• sewing machine or turn of the century hand sewing skills
• thread of a fun contrasting color

 STEP #1: Choosing - I chose legs from two different stone washed jeans to make subtle contrasting stripes, but you can use any number scrap colors. You can also go for the mono color look, and let the thread be your main contrast.

STEP #2: Cutting - Now is the time to lay out those jean legs and cut them open. You will want to save the thick seams for the straps of the bag, so cut directly up the seams on both sides and remove them. Then cut 9 rectangles at 13inch X 5 inch  ( you can make them larger or smaller if you’d like to change the size of the bag, as long as every rectangle is the same exact size.)

STEP #3: Sewing- This is the fun part, that you can be experimental with! I took this as an opportunity to try out every bizarre stitch on my sewing machine, you know all those stitches that are zig zaggy, wavy and you don’t always know what they are for. I laid each jean strip right edge on top left edge, and then used a new (yet tight) stitch to sew each of the four front panels together. Repeat this step for the back four panels also. All eight stitch lines are totally different and unique, which makes the bag extra attractive. Now you have two pieces (each made of four panels), which you will turn inside out and prepare to sew the left and right sides, leaving the bottom and top completely open. (Kind of like making a pillow.) The one left over panel can now be sewn into the bottom. I put this in by centering the panel in the middle of the front piece and then simply sewing an inner seam by following along the edges (including the sharp turning edges).

STEP #4: Finishing Touches - The last of your finishing touches will be the straps and a snazzy decorative item. I turned the seam-line straps with the inside facing out, and placed them on the very inside corners of the bag (right and left) & used a very tight stitch over them. Make sure they are not twisted when you do this (cause that would stink). Now throw this BYOB baby in your wash & dry cycle with your next laundry load and let it make the 80’s fray. For the perfect finishing touch put an old and preferably gaudy broach from the thrift store on it and use as a clasp. Adorable!

Now go out and flaunt your eco craftin’ style at your local grocery & farmer’s market!

Before you get too excited, please note that the unit is probably too expensive for your next block party, unless you’ve got an extra $9,995 lying around somewhere. Fortunately, state and Federal tax credits can halve this, but that still keeps it out of the price range of the average American.

How could making ethanol be so expensive? As Thomas Quinn quipped, this is “third-grade science. You just mix together water, sugar and yeast, and in a few hours, you start getting ethanol.” That’s not the hard part; what’s difficult is purifying ethanol to the degree that it can be mixed successfully with gasoline.

Ethanol has been made from yeast-fermentation of grain, fruits, and vegetables for thousands of years. Distillation, which gets around the 15% alcohol concentration limit that kills yeast, followed shortly thereafter. Adding ethanol to motor fuel takes things one step further. To mix properly with gasoline, ethanol must be anhydrous (containing no water) at 100% pure, or 200-proof. Homemade ethanol stills can easily produce 95% pure, or 190-proof, ethanol. But getting that last 5% of water out of the ethanol can require just as much energy as it did to get out the first 95%.

It could be the ingenuity of putting several thousand years of knowledge into one box makes the MicroFueler so costly. It can fill its own 35-gallon tank with E100 (100% ethanol) in about a week by fermenting the sugar, water and yeast internally, then separating out the water through a membrane filter.

Compared to homebrewing biodiesel, which can be done with less than $100 worth of equipment, making ethanol for motor fuel seems complicated and expensive. While sugar appears to be a cheap, ubiquitous resource, according to one expert it takes 10 to 14 pounds of sugar to make a gallon of ethanol. Right now, raw sugar sells in the United States for about 20 cents a pound.

Although the cost of each gallon of ethanol produced in the MicroFueler depends on the price of sugar, electricity, and water, Thomas Quinn maintains that it can be made for somewhere around $1 per gallon. The company is trying to make inedible sugar available from Mexico, which can be bought for as little as 2.5 cents per pound.

I like the idea, but this probably isn’t something that will go mainstream unless the price comes down. If you want more information about homebrewing ethanol, or plans to make your own still (which would be substantially cheaper), see these resources:

• RunningOnAlcohol Library
• JourneyToForever Ethanol Resources

Posts Related to Ethanol and Biodiesel:

• Study: Your Car Can Run On 20% Ethanol
• 6 Ways To Find And Use Biodiesel Anywhere
• Biodiesel Mythbuster 2.0: Twenty-Two Biodiesel Myths Dispelled
• Cellulosic Ethanol Sugar Diverted to Algae Biodiesel Production

Via: NYT
Photo Credit: Popular Mechanics

The 2008 Bay Area Maker Faire will put a special emphasis on “Green” living. There will be a huge exhibit featuring Farm Aid’s Homegrown Village, a local farmer’s market, Swap-O-Rama-Rama’s giant used clothing swap, DIY workshops and fashion show, Bazaar Bizarre’s crafts fair, a live Prius plug-in car conversion from Bay Area’s Calcars.org, and much, much more.

The Swap-O-Rama-Rama is a huge clothing swap and series of do-it-yourself workshops. Bring a bag of your unwanted clothes to swap with other participants and then learn to make modifications or totally transform your new finds. Recycling reused clothing has never been more fun.

The Bazaar Bizarre will showcase over 70 indie crafters and DIYers. Shoppers will find the crème de la crème of handmade goods: handbags, knitting supplies, pottery, stationary, journals, silk-screened t-shirts, baby clothes and more. Bazaar Bizarre at Maker Faire will offer attendees an opportunity to purchase distinctive handmade gifts, attend DIY workshops and participate in a community of creativity!

Be on the lookout for CAGW’s very own Autumn Wiggins who will be spreading the green craft love. Other workshops not to be missed are:

• Things I Learned from Knitting. The Yarn Harlot.
• Cooking with the Sun with Gladwyn d’Souza
• Sew Subversive and Subversive Seamster with Hope Meng, Melissa Alvarado, Melissa Rannels
• Authentic Innovation with Mister Jalopy
• Crafty Chica: Squeezing a Dollar from a Dime: How to Make the Most of What You Have with Kathy Cano-Murillo
• How to Make Your Own Shoes…the Easy Way! with Thomas Maiorana
• Finger Puppets Who Wish To Not Die with Stacey Gordon
• The DIY Bride: Quick & Easy Wedding Projects for Any Budget with Khris Cochran
• Guerilla Pattern Drafting with Autumn Wiggins and Leslie Beard

Maker Faire is this Saturday, May 3 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday, May 4 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. located at the San Mateo County Event Center and Fairgrounds. Admission is $25/$20 in advance for Adults; $15/$10 in advance for students; $10/$5 in advance for youth and children under 4 are free.

Unfortunately, well-loved jeans don’t age gracefully. The culprit: holes in the knees, pockets, or back. If your favorite jeans start to look “holier than thou,” don’t despair.

With a needle, some thread, and a little love, you can turn dying jeans into designer jeans. (DIY difficulty level: Easy)

I suspect that if you’re reading this site, you already have easy access to a needle and thread. But if thimbles and thread-rippers are Greek to you, then you’ll be happy to know that learning to sew by hand is very easy.

Step 1: Take your holy jeans, a sewing needle, and some thread. When choosing the color of thread, consult your inner fashion designer. (We all have one somewhere.)

• If you want the thread to show when you’re finished sewing, then choose a color of thread that would look great with the rest of the stitches on the jeans.
• If you don’t want the thread to show, then choose a color similar to the fabric of the jeans.

Step 2: You’ll also need a scrap of denim or two. My favorite jeans were hand-me-down Italian Energie jeans that I’d never bothered to hem, so I hemmed them before this project and used the extra fabric as my scrap fabric. If you don’t have some denim lying around, you can get some at your local crafts store. Or you could sacrifice a less-than-favorite pair of jeans. If your inner fashion designer is really an artistic wizard, you might also try patching your jeans with non-denim materials.

Step 3: Patching the jeans.

1. Place the scrap of material that you’ll use for the patch on the inside of the jeans. Make sure that the scrap more than covers the hole. Denim frays, so you’ll want to leave room for the material to fray by making your scrap about an inch larger (on all sides) than the hole you’re patching.
2. Thread the needle with your choice of thread and tie off the ends. Then push the needle and thread through the scrap and into your jeans. Be sure to start sewing from the inside! The tied-off ends of the thread should be on the inside of your jeans so they’re not visible.
3. Before you begin sewing, you have a decision to make: to make the thread visible or not. If you don’t want the thread to be visible, then every time you insert the needle into the outside of the jeans, insert it as close as possible to where the thread is coming out of the jeans.
4. As you sew, keep the needle and thread about 1/2 inch from the edge of both the scrap and jeans fabric. This will allow some room for fraying as the material ages.

Step 4: Finishing up

Sew all the way around the hole. When you’re done, you’ll have your favorite old jeans feeling like new. Plus, you can wear them proudly, knowing that your creative smarts went into making them look sharp.

The final product! (Note: Like my flower pillow? Yes, all Korean beds that I could find here really are this feminine.)

Related articles:

What Can You Do With Jeans

Top 5 Must Have DIY Sewing Tomes 

Photo credit: djloche (above); Me (left).

Reducing the amount of water you use is good for the environment, and good for your wallet. Better yet, you don’t have to sacrifice water pressure to do it. Check out the best water faucet aerators of 2008.

Source: MetaEfficient.com

Video Courtesy of Google Videos

“I try to reflect both the human and natural environment in my work by using symbols and materials that have meaning to me and represent where I come from. From street signs to native trees, my jewelery has always been a pretty literal representation of my surroundings,” he says.

Along with the natural theme of his creations, Ashley uses small scale mined metals from his home base in New Zealand. “I found that most of the gold from my suppliers in New Zealand is mined or recycled here and in Australia. Both these countries have a relatively good track record with regards to mining practices but the idea of using a local resource and streamlining the path of the metal from the ground to the customer really appealed to me,” he says.

It was my pleasure to chat with Ashley recently about his education of the art of make jewelry, sustainable metal mining, creative inspirations and more. Read on for our full conversation and all its “hand made” details.

What first got you interested in making jewelry? When did you decide to turn it into a career?

I was at a loose end really. I’d spent a few years traveling and working overseas as a chef and knew that that lifestyle wasn’t for me anymore. I did a weekend jewelery course and loved it, It just made perfect sense to me so I bought some tools and started experimenting. Originally I never thought it would be a career. It was never really a conscious decision, it just grew and grew until in about 3 years It was all I did.

Have you even gotten flack for being a straight guy in the jewelry biz?

No, but I’m always careful to answer the phone with an extra deep voice. Actually, due to my name and I guess occupation, I’ve been mistaken for a girl a few times. What appeared to be innocuous e-mails from a male customer seemed quite flirtatious when I re-read them as a woman.

Did you first start your collection with sustainability in mind or has that developed over time?

I didn’t. Although I considered myself quite environmentally aware It wasn’t something I translated into my work. I guess I really avoided finding out about the real cost and history of the materials I used because I didn’t think there would be anything I could do about it. Once I actually confronted the issues really good alternatives appeared.

You work with a number of beautiful materials including silver, gold, titanium and polyester resin. Is there one in particular that you enjoy more than the others?

I think silver will always be my first love. There’s something honest and no nonsense about it.

Why do you believe that sustainable creation and operation should be so important to small businesses and crafty folks?

I think everyone should try to be honest about the real cost of what they do. In particular to business though, I think people are taking greater and greater interest in the ethics of what they buy and consume and this is only going to get more important to them. Small business and crafty folk have the agility to be at the front of this trend and give people options that big business can’t.

Other than in your Etsy webstore, your goods are only available in your native New Zealand. What has the reception been like from customers and retailers?

It’s been good. In the beginning it was tough approaching retailers about selling my work, there are a lot of great jewelers in New Zealand so galleries can be pretty full up. If you have something original people usually give you a chance and then it’s just a matter of whether your designs sell. Luckily for me some of my designs struck a real chord with people and have done well.

Your process of mining black sand gold is quite unique - how did you come across this process? Are you involved in the mining of your materials personally?

There is a bit of a community here of people who prospect for gold using small scale, home built machinery. Some use metal detectors. Some use one and two person suction dredges in rivers as well as on beaches. My father happened to know someone who did this for a living and worked on the beach with him for a season. I’ve never worked there myself but I go there to buy gold. The tides and seasons really affect whether they can work on the beach so it’s always a bit hit and miss. I imagine there are people doing this in other parts of the world, it’s just a matter of finding them. As the price of gold has gone up ridiculously in the past few years it’s making this kind of mining more viable. It’s pretty cool to be able to cut out all the middle people and get gold from the person who mined it to the person who wears it with just me in between..

Most recently, you have been working on a line of fruit rings that is noticeably different from your other etched creations. What led you in this new direction?

With my jewelery I’m not really too worried about always coming up with new ideas. I find my designs do evolve over time but for me jewelery is as much about the lifestyle of working from home and keeping my own time as it is about expressing my creativity. That said, every few months I go through a bit of a manic ideas period where I try out lots of new designs. The fruity rings came about when I was looking at rings in “the Carrot Box” that had been cut out of flat sheet metal and thinking about what I could do using the same process… I also wanted to explore the idea of jewelery that is a little bit impractical and not necessarily for everyday wearing.

What one tip would you give to crafters who are trying to creative their own projects more sustainably?

I would say really look at what you do, where your materials come from, how you use them and what the impacts are. It can be a bit depressing but unless you recognize the negatives you can’t do anything about them. I found solutions right in front of me that I had never thought of.

I think it’s really important to be pragmatic too, I know there’s still lots of things about what I do that aren’t sustainable but I don’t think the answer is to stop making jewelery. You’ve just got to be honest about it and start finding alternatives.

Etsy has lots of vinyl cuffs for sale, but the gold cuff pictured above by Tresijas really caught my eye. The color is amazing and the shape is wonderfully curved just so. Colored vinyl is often hard to come by, making this find even that much more special.

To make your own vinyl wrist cuff you only need a record, an oven and an xacto knife. Simply follow these instructions from the DIY Network to make your own rockin’ wrist cuff:

1. Heat the entire record in an oven on a cookie sheet at 200 degrees until you see the record start to bubble.
2. Remove the record from the oven.
3. Cut your record into strips while hot with a paper cutter or scissors. When you cut the vinyl, if it is wavy, it will straighten out when you place it back in the oven again.
4. Heat strips in the oven until flaccid–approximately two minutes on a cookie sheet.
5. When hot, take out of the oven and quickly wrap around a bottle or mold. The record cools immediately and stays the shape of the bracelet.

Make sure you to use oven mits and work in a well ventilated area as the fumes from this process are not good for you. If you need other ideas for what to do with vinyl records, don’t forget the chip bowls that Juliet told us about.

Image source: motoringfile

Engine Repower is a new (as far as I can tell) service that gives car owners the option of replacing their old, worn out engine with a rebuilt engine of the same vintage instead of simply buying a new car or repairing specific problems. When a first saw this page, I was very interested, as I am a proponent of keeping your car as long as possible to reduce wasteful manufacturing processes, even in the face of promises of lower emissions made by newer cars.

For more on repowering, follow the jump!

Here’s what Engine Repower has to say about their service:

Technology and auto manufacturing have advanced dramatically in the past two decades. Cars and trucks last longer. Paint is better. Bodies are more corrosion resistant. Interior materials are more durable, and even suspension and other components last longer. So when an engine “dies,” it does not have to be the end of your vehicle. When a car or truck suffers major engine damage, the first response and reaction of many consumers is to buy a new or used vehicle. Sometimes disposing of your current vehicle might make sense, but often it’s simply not necessary.

Obviously, being an advertisement, they are very high on themselves, but they do make some good points. When cars die, it seems it is most often due to accidents or blown engines. Very rarely do cars rust so badly or generally devolve to a point of undrivability before the engine begins to have trouble. Also, one of the biggest issues with emissions from old vehicles is that those vehicles have fallen out of spec and are no longer getting the best fuel economy or releasing the least emissions.

The Engine Repowering Council seems to focus on domestic vehicles, but using their find-a-shop feature, it’s likely that you can find someone to rebuild an engine of almost any make. These engines almost always come with warranties and, in my opinion (as someone who has worked at a shop in the past), will be rebuilt as carefully as anything else coming from that shop. So, if you’re considering this, pick a shop you know and trust, and that offers a good warranty.

While the service is certainly not ideal (you can’t just put a newer, cleaner engine in an old car), the ability to put life and reliability back into an old car is about as close as you can get to recycling and reusing in the automotive world.

Related Posts:
376.59 MPG Car Found In Museum (It Was Built In 1959)
Car and Driver Increase Pinto Fuel Economy with $11 of Ecomods
Biodiesel Guide: 7 Steps to Buying a Diesel
Sick of Gas?: Convert Your Car To Run On Electricity
6 Ways To Find And Use Biodiesel Anywhere
How Biodiesel Fuel-Cells Could Power The Future (And Your Car)

Recently Darin at EcoModder dug up a Car and Driver article from the middle of the US gas crisis in 1974. It may be a little dated, but considering recent gas price increases these kinds of DIY hacks are becoming relevant once again.

The material prices may be a little different, the cars may be a lot different, but surprisingly little has changed in terms of fuel economy and gas prices. The Car and Driver article is interesting because not only is it old, but it’s still relevant today.

As someone who has been around ecomodding for a while, I can vouch for the efficacy of many of these modifications, and have done some of them myself. So, if you’re really interested, I encourage you to get out there and do some yourself. None of them are engine modifications, or particularly difficult, so don’t feel intimidated by them. Some of the biggest fuel economy gains can come through aerodynamics and rolling resistance modifications.

Read about the modifications after the break.

Car and Driver made a total of six modifications to their Ford Pinto, increasing highway cruising fuel economy a whopping 25%. Here is a quick run down on the mods and the theory behind them:

1. Front air dam: You can see this hanging down from the bumper in the first picture. The purpose of an air dam is to divert air from going under the car, which is generally very unaerodynamic. This modification reduces drag and is very commonly employed by people whose cars have “dirty” undercarriages.
2. Grill block: The radiator creates a surprising amount of aerodynamic drag, and covering it up is usually okay as long as you monitor your engine temperature so that the car doesn’t overheat. Most people can do either a full or a partial block without running into trouble.
3. Rear spoiler: Spoilers come in all shapes and sizes. Usually they exist for show or to increase traction, but in certain circumstances they can be used to improve airflow behind the vehicle, which accounts for a surprising amount of aerodynamic drag. It will take a bit of knowledge and engineering, but in this case the spoiler improved fuel economy 7%.
4. Smoother front end: As you might guess, the front of the car, being the first part to come in contact with the air that’s being pushing out of the way, is very important to good aerodynamics. Usually cars are designed with style in mind and not aerodynamics, so changing your car’s nose to a more aerodynamic shape will help it cut through the air more easily.
5. Reduce engine load: Back in the day everything was belt driven, meaning the engine had to do quite a bit of extra work to power things like the radiator fan. Nowadays, with things like electric radiator fans, power steering, and A/C, this isn’t such a problem. However, it is important to keep in mind that the A/C will kill your fuel economy if you use it too much come summertime.
6. Lower rolling resistance tires: This can actually get to be pretty expensive, but it is one of the things that vehicles like the Honda Insight employ to help deliver fantastic fuel economy. Manufacturers and legislators are even trying to make LRRs standard in order to affect an across the board increase in fuel economy in one place most people wouldn’t look.

All these modifications came together to give increases that looked something like this:

Pretty impressive for not too much work, eh? There are a lot more simple things you can do to increase fuel economy, but this article was certainly one blast from the past that is still applicable today.

Related Posts:
Get 120 MPG Out of Your Prius (Plug It In)
Sick of Gas?: Convert Your Car To Run On Electricity
376.59 MPG Car Found In Museum (It Was Built In 1959)

Electric-car company ZAP announced it will offer $24,000 plug-in conversions for the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape Hybrids, making them plug-in electric hybrid vehicles (PHEVs).

It’s sort of like doubling your fuel efficiency for the cost of a new car…

Source: Gas 2.0

Find used solar panels. Maybe you can get them for free.

If you’ve ever passed highway construction or remote weather sensors, perhaps you can see where I’m going. Solar panels are ideal for electric equipment without access the power grid. Being in “the field” can be rough on rigid silicon wafers. Any time a solar panel gets chipped or cracked it becomes “unsafe” and must be replaced. Fortunately for us, “unsafe” is relative to rough road-side or wilderness conditions, not a cozy rooftop. Those panels have to go somewhere and they can be expensive to dispose of. Some companies would rather give them away to greenies. Sound too good to be true? Well consider that some of that damage, cracks or chips, also degrade the efficiency of the panels - anywhere from 10%-60%. It’s not going to generate as much energy as a swanky new panel. But if you buy it for a song, or even convince them to give it to you for free, who’s complaining? Subtract 10% off a 22-watt panel and you still get 19 watts. That panel will still reduce your electricity bill.

So where do you find used solar panels?

Step 1: Collect Contact Info.

Next time you spot a panel in “the field”, there should be a sign on or near it with a contractor’s name and contact information. These are the people who provide solar panels for “in field” use. Just be careful: it is dangerous and sometimes illegal to stop on the side of a highway just to jot down a name and number. Instead look for weather sensors or portable electric signs on local roads. If that fails, try scouring your local phone book for contractors who provide equipment for road construction. Make a list of these names, phone numbers and their addresses.

Step 2: Go see them.

Convincing someone to sell/ give you an expensive piece of hardware is less likely to happen over the phone. You’ll want to talk to the mechanics or the maintenance department: gentlemen who are probably very busy. Be friendly and always offer to pay for the damaged panels - they’ll appreciate the offer even if they don’t intend to charge you. If they do want cash, bargain. Keep in mind that they are doing you a favor by selling/giving something to you. Forging a good relationship will help in the long run. They wear out panels regularly; if they give to you once, they’re more likely to do it again. Remember to call back every few weeks to check if they’ve “received” (i.e. broken) any more panels.

Once you’ve secured a source, it’s time to figure out if they’re worth your time and money. Buy or borrow a multimeter that can measure amps and watts. This will tell you if the solar panel can produce electricity in the sun, or if it’s beyond repair. It should have (+) and (-) contact points, like a big battery, on the sides. Set it in the sun and hook up the multimeter to see if it makes a charge. Even the oldest, brownest, most poorly solar panels can still generate energy. No one knows how long solar panels last and they have no moving parts. That means they’re also relatively easy to repair, if you’re the DIY type.

If you’re not up for that much time and effort, just take the most-intact solar panels and pat yourself on the back for finding a great deal. Even if you paid for them, you’ve just saved hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Well done!

So now what? You can lean them against your house if you want, but you might want to put them on the roof. You can to hire someone else to do it, but just in case here’s a few DIY links:

http://www.energyefficienthomearticles.com/Article/Considering-To-Install-a-Do-It-Yourself-Solar-Power-System—Saving-Resources–Saving-Money/5770

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/he_diagnostics/article/0,,DIY_13893_2277457,00.html

http://www.solarexpert.com/instroof5.html

http://www.yourgreendream.com/diy_panel_position.php

Used Solar Resources:

http://www.drillingfab.com/solarpanels

http://www.wiselivingjournal.com/energy-project-solar-panels-for-free/

http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_solar_used.html

(Image courtesy of WiseLivingJournal.com)

According to this CNN report, the record holder among an underground group called “Mileage Maniacs” (Japanese language only) has managed to travel 1500 miles on a single tank of gas. That’s about 116mpg; I’m green with envy! Fortunately there is a similar push in the USA and Canada to feed the demand for more efficient cars. Numerous easter eggs , and hacks are available so an enterprising Prius owner can get more mileage. There’s even a solar company and those who will modify your car into an hybrid plug-in. Some plug-ins are already on the road. Voided warranty aside, extensive green modifications require a lot of green from the owner, ranging from a $40 kit to thousands of dollars.

Could Toyota capitalize on the R&D of its loyal customers? What’s their opinion on these modifications? Daniel Terdiman from CNet asked that exact question to Bill Kwong, a Toyota spokesman. Mr. Kwong replied, “The tech is out there for technicians. But we don’t encourage consumers to do that.” Perhaps it’s understandable if Toyota prefers to control innovations to its products. Legal issues come to mind, and not the type you might think. In Europe and Asia, Priuses can come with a button that allows drivers to ride exclusively on the battery. By temporarily disabling the engine, they can increase mileage. Mr. Kwong told CNet, “Toyota doesn’t offer the switch to electric mode because of U.S. laws mandating that it offer a minimum eight-year warranty for the car’s power system. Thus,” he said, “by disabling the switch, the company is able to ensure a longer battery life.”

But if companies like EDrive, the aforementioned Hymotion or CalCars.org are jumping the gun, it’s a wonder Toyota hasn’t teamed up with them to study the performance of plug-ins already on the road. What if they could hurry the release of the Plug-in Prius with a little collaboration? These fuel-saving modifications, and a cool reception from corporations, show consumers that car companies have more than MPG on their mind. Mass-producing a car internationally is no small feat, and the caution required can keep improved technology off the market for years. Vehicle hackers are not so much discovering new possibilities; they’re simply putting them to use sooner. Assuming that these hacks are safe and actually improve mileage, they hold the potential to capitalize on niche markets. Consumers who want to pay less at the pump don’t have to wait for corporations.

Since few of us will be able to afford trading in an old Prius for a new plug-in, perhaps hacks are a better alternative. Depending on the hack, your driving habits, and the cost of fuel, dropping a few thousand dollars to upgrade your car could be better than buying a whole new one. You’re breathing new life in a product rather than discarding it, and you support local companies who innovate existing technologies. Auto hacks are not exclusive to Toyota; the Prius just happens to be the most popular choice for green auto geeks.

BoingBoing and Treehugger both note that shifting the energy burden from oil to coal (plug-in hybrids would no doubt draw energy from coal power plants on the grid) would also reduce net CO2 emissions.

(Special Thanks to CNet for interview quotes from Bill Kwang)

(Images courtesy of http://www.solarelectricalvehicles.com/ and http://www.coastaletech.com/04prius.htm)

(For a more in depth look at plug-in hybrids, see this article)

1. Glee Gum has three DIY kits featuring edible projects: chewing gum, chocolate, and gummies. The kits come with all the ingredients necessary to create these treats, along with information on how those items are produced. For example, how do chicleros gather chicle in the rainforest? Actually, it’s quite sustainable. But you can find all that information on the origins of our favorite sweets in these kits. $13 each.

2. Have your child build this eco-friendly (100% recycled) birdhouse kit from Bird and Home. Not only can you use it as an example of how trash can be recycled into usable goods, but then as a way of identifying and observing birds that feed from it. The kit even comes with a little stuffed bird! $20.

3. You child can create any number of stepping stones for your yard or garden using the variety of kits available at OutdoorDecor. From mosaics to handprints to text, your child can create his or her own artwork that can be displayed outside. To be honest, after seeing a kit, you could probably create a kit of your own from common home-improvement items, but if you want the ease of a ready-made kit, you have a wide range of options on this site. From $10-$20.

4. If you haven’t made the switch from disposable to reusable lunch bags, assemble a create-your-own canvas lunch tote. You can purchase a plain canvas lunch bag and fabric markers from Dharma Trading Co. Rest assured, your child’s lunch will never get mixed up with another’s.

5. British company Sparrow Kids has an insanely large variety of cloth-based crafting kits. These kits produce mostly felt purses, accessories, and household knick-knacks that kids “sew” with embroidery thread and pre-punched fabric. The kits seem like great beginning “sewing” projects, but you may not want to ship from the UK, nor pay pound-based prices with the weakness of the U.S. dollar. Prices vary.

Makena Brown, grade 8, has a plan to help keep the planet healthy and make money, too. Makena collects all of her family's recyclables and stores them in the back yard. About once a month, she and her family load up the car with the many bags of bottles and cans and take them to the local recycling center. Because it's her project, Makena gets to keep the money paid by the recycling center for the aluminum, plastic and glass. "Makena is the chief of our recycling plant," says Mr. Brown proudly. "She's the recycling queen."

"The money is the number one thing that’s in my mind," says Makena. "I'm like, that's great! And in the back of my mind I know that this is helping the environment, [reducing] pollution, and helping the earth to get better step by step." With her recycling money, Makena is helping to pay her mom back for her new computer.

Ask a little more about Makena's interest in protecting the environment, and you'll find that she's a fountain of knowledge. For example, she explains that more water is used to make plastic water bottles than can be contained by the bottles after they’re made. She's also especially interested in renewable energy. Her eyes light up when she talks about San Francisco's proposal to get electricity from tidal power generators.

It's been about a year now that the Brown family has been saving their recyclables for Makena's recycling project. Makena's grandparents have also started to save their recyclables to contribute to the Brown family's recycling program. "We end up with a big pile of bottles and cans on the side of the house," everyone chuckles. "We can't walk past until we clean it up."

Electronic waste is a big environmental issue, and we've covered numerous ways that both electronics companies and consumers can reduce the amount of e-waste headed for landfills. While most recent efforts focus on reuse and/or recycling (which are both important), Israeli site FixYa harnesses "crowd power" (ie, social media) to help people fix their electronics rather than disposing of them. The main motivation behind FixYa was the increasing lack of technical support provided for consumer electronics, but Yaniv Ben Saadon told us that there's a green element to the site's mission:

By allowing more and more consumers to successfully operate and mend their products, FixYa decreases the number of products that are discarded and eventually pollute our environment. Although globalization and competition drive the average consumption of consumer products to increase over time, the usability of these products decreases as they become more technologically advanced and challenging to operate. Moreover, since manufacturers are under growing pressure to release their products to their markets, often these products are mass produced before they are properly designed. The result is that the products we buy are cheaper than they were before, yet more challenging to operate.

From gaming systems to washing machines, FixYa's user have already provided a wide range of "fix-it" advice. Ben Saadon shared with us some of the most popular problems, and the highest-ranked solutions, addressed on the site.

We like to think of this website as a virtual sewing circle, an open-source hub of ideas, expertise, and amazing patterns you can download and sew at home. We want you to learn something new every time you visit BurdaStyle. We want this website to inspire you. And most importantly, we want you to get involved: We're offering our ideas, expertise and download-able patterns to the BurdaStyle community, and we hope that you'll contribute, too.

Though the website has online been online since late January 2007, it has gained popularity in the crafty community quickly.

With users uploading images of their creations, and sharing tips and tricks via the wiki-style Sewpedia and How-To sections, inspiration is only a mouse click away. Though the images in this entry feature skinny, youthful models, nearly all patterns feature a wide range of sizes. As of late, the website's official blog has featured a number of user's pattern customizations for pregnancy.

Currently, there are 35 patterns available, with new ones being uploaded at least once a week. Everything from pants and dresses to accessories and lingerie are online in PDF format, easily printable from any home printer. As with any good pattern, difficulty ratings and details on amount of fabric needed are provided for each project, as well as direct feedback from other users who have completed them.

Out of all 7 projects, my personal favorite it the design from U-handblog, a TypePad-featured blog all about (you guessed it) making handbags. This bag (featured in the accompanying image) has a curved seam and reinforced straps, so no matter how much to put into this sucker, it will still feel comfortable on your shoulders. Don't let the curved seam scare you off: Lisa does a fantastic job of providing step-by-step instruction and pictures on how to get the job done easily. She also provides directions on how to make a cute little storage pocket, so you can carry your new bag with you all the time (you know, in case that urge to buy some tasty organic peaches comes along). Curious just how much this little bag can carry? A whole heck of a lot: Lisa graciously posted a few images on her blog of the haul she fit into this homemade gem.

Making beer is not very different than making bread - except bread goggles can get you in a lot less trouble! You’ll need a little yeast and a lot of patience, as well as the proper cooking gadgets. You can find ingredients, gadgets, and recipes for your favorite beers online or at your neighborhood brew shop.

Now here’s where your environmental prowess comes into play. Instead of recycling or (don’t even think about it) tossing away your bottle after you finish your beer, save the bottle in a cupboard or under your sink. When you have about 70 (12-ounce/135-mL) bottles stashed away, you can begin the beer-making process. Once you begin making your own beer, you will never have to buy another new bottle or can again. Instead of beer bottles, you can also use wine bottles, but you'll want to let beer in these bottles ferment a little bit longer.

Now it should also be mentioned that there are a number of fantastic and high-minded breweries out there. So, you might like to consider buying these 70 bottles (about 12 six-packs) and the beer they contain from companies like Anderson Valley Brewing Company, a large-scale solar powered brewery, or the New Belgium Brewing Company, which has wonderful sustainability and philanthropy programs, and also just introduced its Mothership Organic Wit beer. You probably have other favorite local and organic beers as well.

Even after a stint in the pen, Martha Stewart is still as popular as ever. Thankfully, she has been promoting reduce, reuse, and recycle to millions of Americans. For the crafty and DIY among us, Martha's website features a nice offering of denim transformation ideas, all of which are affordable and easy to complete. In the current issue of Blueprint magazine, a spread on denim fashion is featured, along with a couple of fantastic fashion options. First up is their Denim Coverall Dress (shown in the accompanying picture), which can be easily adjusted depending on how long you would like the dress. To complete this project, all you need is a pair of work coveralls (which you could buy brand new, but you can easily find them for cheap at a vintage store), scissors, a sewing needle, and thread. In just an hour, you can have a long-lasting dress for those breezy trips to the beach or cooler days as we venture into Fall.