The ‘Star Wheel’ was created by Paul Cesewski and weighs 2000 pounds and stands 22 feet in the air. It took Mr. Cesewski 6 months and $7000 to put this together and unlike it’s carival counterpart, it requires no diesel engines to make it go!

So, how does this crazy thing work then? Well, there are three seats inside the middle of the wheel and each rider/driver peddles — the peddlers drive themself around the inside of the wheel causing the outside of the wheel to move forwards!

I read about this and immediately thought I would love to try this thing out… until I saw this video. Not so stable at all, huh? Maybe after a trip back to the drawing board this could be viable!

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I’ve decided that I really enjoy reading about innovative, affordable, sustainable housing designs. I have a friend doing a Masters of Design program at Carleton University right now who’s all over these kinds of projects. The real push for this sort of design-for-sustainability seems relatively new, too — even Carleton University has only just started up this MA program this year. Hopefully it will become popular as it’s got so many benefits!

Take this one, for example — it’s made from recycled matierals, fits in a small space, yet is large enough to fit 3 people, a kitchen, a reading room, a living room, bathroom, and hydroponia area! And it kinda looks like the Deathstar. I mean, maybe that’s not a sell for you, but I’m certainly all ears.

These prefab pod homes can be built quite fast and adding an affordable price tag to that, it makes it an option for any socio-economic level and a viable solution for emergency housing, too.

This particular pod was designed by Broisson Architects of Naucalpan, Mexico.

“The shelter could become another option for developing low cost housing with very short building time and could improve the quality of the life for people without access to decent housing,” say the architects.

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Today while in Chelsea, Quebec on a top secret mission, I’m scheduled to visit the nice folks at Le Nordik Nature Spa and sit down and chat about their promise to act responsibly towards the environment through ‘eco-friendly actions’.

Here are some of their eco commitments:

• Recuperation of all recyclable material for reuse
• Recycling of paper, plastic and other materials
• Recycling of waste water to be reused in flushing systems
• Energy and electricity management with timers and software systems
• Recuperation of rain water to be used for watering the plants
• Printing on recycled paper for certain documents
• Use of renewable energy

And soon they’ve promised that they will be composting of plant and natural based waste and using geothermy throughout each of their buildings.

I’m hoping to talk to them about what motivated them to make this commitment to the environment and sustainable development as well as, of course, checking out what their facilities look like! I’ve never been there and I’m glad that’s about to change. And maybe we’ll become great friends! I could really use some good friends with a spa, heh. I’m looking forward to meeting you and chatting about your top notch eco-friendly spa, Le Nordik!

I’ll be trying out mobile blogging on location again so stay tuned for pictures and tidbits from my sit down with Le Nordik!

Remember way back in April when I wrote about the city of Ottawa’s TREE Program? Well, my delivery day is fast approaching!

I received a letter today explaining to me that my tree would be delivered to me sometime between September 22nd and October 2nd and will include everything I need to plant this tree right away: a sapling, some soil, a pot, some soil nutrients and compost.

I wonder what kind of tree it will be? They make no promises that you’ll get a tree of your choosing (you choose 3 options on your application) but they do say that they try their very best to get you one of your choices. I chose, in order:

1. Japanese lilac
2. Hackberry
3. Crabapple

I’ll be taking the tree up to my parent’s house to plant on their farm. My mom is very excited to see what we get and has a place picked out for it already. What a better way to show my commitment to going green than to plant a tree! I’ll be sure to post some pictures/video when the tree comes. I’m so excited!

What are you waiting for, Ottawa residents? The next tree delivery season is May/June so be sure to fill out your application now! Don’t have anywhere to put a tree? You can also fill in a form recommending a spot for the city to plant a tree for you.

Going green is a fun process, actually. I’m learning a lot about things that I didn’t even know existed before I started! And, as with this story, sometimes it’s the little things that really blow my mind — like Muichic jewelry! I know I’m new at all this but… they can make ivory out of nuts? Why on earth would we kill animals (elephants, hippos, narwhals, walrus, etc.) for it then?

I wear a lot of jewelry, myself, but I’ll tell you — I don’t wear ivory. Not before this going green experiment and I certainly won’t now after reading about this botanical alternative:

The jewelry, made in Colombia by hand, is made from tagua nuts — specifically the seeds of the tagua palm trees. Doesn’t it look just like real ivory? It’s a great reason to conserve the tropical rainforests of South America for those interested making money as it’s just as sustainable as clear cutting to make room for grazing cattle. And why wouldn’t you take this over real ivory? It’s almost impossible to tell the difference — not to mention a much more reasonable way to acheive the ivory ‘look’ without causing so much destruction and death.

Check out their website right here for more details.

Alright, this might be the coolest news story I’ve read all week: A report released by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers is claiming that a building covered in algae are awesome for the environment. Now that’s a green building!

“…sealed containers of algae photobioreactors could be integrated into the sides of buildings to produce biofuels and sequester carbon…” (Inhabitat)

And what’s more?

• using algae for biofuels means that it can use waste water and ocean water making spills or leaks relatively harmless
• algae grows much faster than corn or soy
• photobioreactors are expensive, but could very easily be integrated into our existing structures

It’s really good to see the wheels turning — to see engineers really starting to think about these kinds of things. Very encouraging!

How would you feel about your apartment building being covered in algae? I think done well it could look pretty cool, personally. And with all those benefits, I hope to see this in the near future!

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Mattel — once known for Barbie and Hot Wheels and all of my favourite childhood toys — is now, sadly, synonymous with lead-filled choking hazards, to put it bluntly: Barbie’s packin’ lead.

The Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSIA) has recently granted Mattel’s request to use its own labs for testing. What? You read that right. Though I’d love to believe that Mattel could be accountable for itself, testing for lead and phthalates is very pricey. And with no one really watching…

Did you know that Mattel spent over $1 million dollars last year in lobbying costs? Hrmm.

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How fun would it have been to design these?

These cool apartments are called “The Interlace” and they’re built taking into account the surrounding micro-climate, wind and solar resources, and – of course – privacy for its residents. And what’s better? Rooftop gardens and balconies with flower beds. Built efficiently with plenty of green space. Kudos!

And hey, when trying to give directions to your place, you can proudly explain that you live in the Jenga building!

If Singapore sounds good to you, I suggest you hurry — I bet these will go fast.

What a great idea! I hope it’s as structurally sound as it looks. Well, as long as no one pulls out the wrong apartment block, I suppose…

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My house is actually full of candles in beautiful glass jars. I’ve always loved candlelight. But after reading about how toxic some candles can be (here and here and here), I’ve decided to switch to soy, non-toxic, clean burning candles.

There are a variety of candles that fit the bill out there, but the ones I’ve ordered are called Pure Malie Candles. Out of all the reviews online, these candles seemed to have the most positive feedback. And they come in delightful scents, too: Pikake, Plumeria, Coconut Vanilla, Koke’e, Organic Mango Nectar.

The candles are made from clean-burning waxes and are petroleum-free with 100% cotton wicks.

I’m anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new Coconut Vanilla candle and will definitely let you know how it works out!

I wish you could smell things through the internet. Their website is quite pretty though and I can almost taste/smell the fruit in the banner!

Alright, here’s something I feel silly for having known nothing about until now…

Did you know that deep in the Arctic Circle there’s a secure vault which holds copies of every seed in the world?

Whoa!

It’s, of course, called the Seed Vault and its head – Cary Fowler – spoke in depth about it at TED. I watch TED all the time on my Zune and am forever in awe of the things that I learn from that vodcast.

Amazing!

Well, I’m glad someone’s keeping track of the seeds. With the way the seasons and weather are changing, it’s good to know someone’s got that front under control, anyway.

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