By Terri Bly •
September 24, 2009
The need to green up industry has never been more urgent. From rapid global warming to a disconcerting rise in a whole bevvy of nasty diseases, progress in technology and industry is trashing our little planet. In other words: it’s time to make some serious lifestyle changes, stat. In case you didn’t know (and I’ll admit - I had no idea until very recently), the textile industry is one of the most dangerous, most destructive, and most toxic industries in the world. The greater the demand for cheap, disposable fashion, the worse the situation becomes.
But don’t get glum, chum! Cleaning up your wardrobe doesn’t have to mean replacing your funky tops or flirty skirts with half a dozen beige t-shirts and drab, shapeless dresses. The proof - if you need it - can be found at Ecouterre, the new online magazine from Inhabitat founder Jill Farhrenbacher.
By Lucille Chi •
July 27, 2009
Inhabitat has Noon Solar Bags on sale in their online shop this summer. Bring one along to that picnic out in nature and share your solar energy with anyone at the party that needs their gadget charged as this solar bag has an integrated solar panel to harness the sun’s energy.
Aside from the thin solar panels Noon Solar bags are additionally made from biodegradable materials such as naturally tanned and vegetable dyed leathers are then lined with sustainably harvested and naturally dyed hemp and cotton. All these extra materials and fabrics that go into the bag production ethically sourced as well as environmentally friendly.
By Lucille Chi •
May 3, 2009
Inhabitat shares a great set of stories on Alive Structures: a Brooklyn based green roofing collective. Together, with the most creative native gardeners in the city, Alive Structures will be giving tours of their rooftop gardens at NYC wildflower week. All those in the greater New York area make sure to stop by to explore this exciting dimension of the greening of cities.
City roof gardens create a nice natural habitat for pollinators and migrating species, and additionally “they provide open green spaces for property owners and the public to enjoy.” Green roofs are known to improve air and water quality, lessen storm-water runoff, lower building energy consumption, and reduce urban heat island affect.
Green roofs are constructed as a series of layers including:
- a waterproof membrane
- a root barrier
- drainage mat
- an erosion control fabric
- lightweight engineered soil, and vegetation.
By Lucille Chi •
May 2, 2009
Last year we shared our admiration for Brazilian shoe maker Melissa and the evolution of their footwear designs and this year their recycled plastic shoes never looked so good!
“The environmentally sensitive sandal is ethically made in Brazil in a closed loop system so there is no waste. The Gladiator is made from recycled MEFLEX plastic and provides amazing comfort for your battle weary feet.”
By Ariel Schwartz •
February 2, 2009
Coffee grounds are beginning to seem like quite the multi-purpose substance. First we heard about the possibility of grounds being used as biodiesel, and now we’ve received word that the world’s first printer to use coffee grounds for ink is a contestant in Core 77 and Inhabitat’s Greener Gadgets Design Competition.
By Lucille Chi •
October 28, 2008
Buckypaper is a material composed of carbon nanotubes. It is 10 times lighter and over 500 times stronger than steel and the “buckytubes” that make it up are 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. It is predicted by futurists that this material will storm the auto and aviation industries.
One of the best ways to make transportation vehicles more energy efficient is to reduce their weight, so the commercialization of buckypaper promises lighter, super efficient and much stronger vehicles.
By Lucille Chi •
September 10, 2008
Very recently we shared the green kick off for NY Fashion Week with the opening event hosted by BeEcoChic, that in my view has BeEcoMe a fabulous place to read up on resources. For more fashion week updates, see stunning eco-collective EKO LAB (collection snapshots shown below)
which Inhabitat predicted would become the hottest in eco chic this fall together with collaborative ekovaruhuset. The beautiful lines emerged on the runways this week.
