By Lucille Chi •
February 6, 2009
Shown here is a winning green building design for Bird Island, a private and gated residential park in the center of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which peacefully shares the environment with many local and migratory birds. The Bird Island Green Homes Competition had a challenge for eight of the world’s top architects to try and create eco-friendly living spaces. Global firm Graft Lab submitted plans for Bird Island rendered above. Inhabitat mentions that Bird Island will also be constructed with a fabulous “grey water recycling system that channels water from sinks and showers back to the plumbing”. This eco-resort design is admirably aiming for zero-waste.
By Lucille Chi •
October 27, 2008
Lettüs Organic Cafe in San Francisco is an organization committed to furthering sustainable practices and healthy living. Winner of several awards, and on the top of the foodie review lists, this cafe is truly the best of the bay area, in my humble opinion. The cafe features delicious freshly squeezed juices, smoothies, salads, yummy bowls, sandwiches and their famous mouth watering garden burgers, that even carnivores yearn for. In their own words:
“In many cases, food has been growing only a day or two before it is served to our customers. When it is not available locally, we search the globe in our quest for the best organic, natural or artisan quality ingredients as reflected in our coffees, teas, and spirits.”
While the organic ingredients for Lettüs’s dishes are practically all locally sourced, that is not so with the unique materials used for the interior…For example,
By Wenona Napolitano •
October 22, 2008
GM announced in September that the company is committed to making half of their global manufacturing plants landfill-free by 2010. Two plants in Flint, MI have already achieved this status: Flint Engine South and Flint Tool and Die.
So what does being landfill-free mean? It means that all of the plant’s production waste and garbage is recycled or reused.
By Lucille Chi •
September 15, 2008
Event posters ordered above:
- Treasure Island MUSIC Festival this weekend September 20 and 21st in the SF Bay Area. With the event running on biodiesel generators, zero-emission buses, recycling and composting goals, recyclable napkins, compostable cups, and more, it is clear they have some zero waste goals. There is even a carbon offset option for ticket buyers. With sexy musical acts like Goldfrapp, the acoustic guitars of Fleet Foxes, indie rockers like Tegan and Sara, and electronic Amon Tobin and Justice, this event
By Ariel Schwartz •
July 29, 2008
General Electric and Mubadala Development have just announced a multi-billion dollar partnership that will give a huge financial boost to a plan to develop a clean-energy walled city in the United Arab Emirates. Masdar City, scheduled for completion in 2015, will get all of its energy from sustainable sources, and will create zero net greenhouse gas emissions. It will also be completely car-free.
As part of its partnership with Mubadala, GE will fund a giant research center in the heart of the city that will house a think tank of technologists working to develop sustainable energy and water technologies. The company will also commit up to $50 million to Masdar’s cleantech investment fund.
By Eva Pratesi •
May 20, 2008
I’ve just seen Gomorra, the movie recently came out in Italy and based on the bestselling book Gomorrah: Italy’s Other Mafia, by Roberto Saviano.
Never before south of Italy has been so popular on media and newspapers like in this period and not for good news! Naples, a city long defined by both its loveliness and its squalor, is collapsing for a garbage emergency linked to the local mafia, the Camorra.
Where is the connection between rubbish and Naples’s crime system?
By Alex Goldschmidt •
March 14, 2008
Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott attended the ECO:nomics conference in California this week. Wal-Mart has been heralded as a forerunner of corporate environmentalism: in 2005, the company announced big plans to “green up” its act. But when Scott was asked when Wal-Mart expects to achieve the environmental goals it set forth in 2005, Scott answered bluntly: “I have no idea when that will be.”
It’s the first time anyone from Wal-Mart has admitted so candidly that the company [...]
By Cassie Walker •
August 23, 2007
Los Angeles has always been a place for those with big dreams. Need proof? I have two words for you: Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now, the city is tackling something that would be a dream come true: becoming a "zero waste" city.
Zero waste is a concept that has been growing in popularity lately, though it has been practiced by nature since the beginning of time. In nature, there is no
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William McDonough and Michael Braungart: Cradle to Cradle designers teach us that waste is a design flaw.
When we follow nature's rules, growth is good. The question before us is not growth versus no growth, It is: what would good growth look like? And this is a question of intent, of design. What if we grow health instead of sickness, home ownership
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Art by Chris Jordan depicting the 2 million single use bottles used in the U.S. every five minutes. Though it's unusual for someone living in the US, as a general rule, I don't buy foods that come packaged. That includes drinks packaged in recyclable bottles. Even though bottles can be recycled, the thought of
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