1. Diapers: …and not just the cloth ones. Did you know that, on average, a baby will go through about six thousand diapers before they’re potty trained? Well, a company called ‘Knowaste’ makes disposable diapers that can be recycled.
2. Soap: That’s right — soap! A non profit organization called ‘Clean the World’ collects leftover soap and shampoo from hotels and donates it to those in need.
3. Caskets: This one nearly blew my mind yesterday and, you know, I don’t know why cause you’d think this was a no-brainer: Why not be buried in something that will easily biodegrade or is made from recycled materials? Seems silly not too, but I suppose that’s just my opinion. And besides being eco-friendly, it’s also much less expensive, too!
4. Running shoes: I am a big gym-goer so I own several pairs of running shoes, cross trainers, ones with shock absorbtion, etc. When you’re done with running shoes that are still in relatively good shape, they can be donated to the less fortunate. But the thing is, for me anyway, they’re so incredibly pricey that you can be sure that I use them until they can no longer be worn. The good news is, they can still be made into building materials. Check out RecycledRunners.com to find out where you can bring your old runners.

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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As I’m sure plenty of you reading know by now, SIGG bottles manufactured before August 2008 have recently been found to contain Bisphenol-A (BPA) in their liners. I know it’s bad, but… what exactly is BPA?

Turns out that BPA is a chemical used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins and is part of a group of molecules known as ‘endocrine disruptors’.

Endocrine disruptors are defined by the National Institute of Health as

“…naturally occurring compounds or man-made chemicals that may interfere with the production or activity of hormones of the endocrine system leading to adverse health effects. Many of these chemicals have been linked with developmental, reproductive, neural, immune, and other problems in wildlife and laboratory animals. Some scientists think these chemicals also are adversely affecting human health in similar ways resulting in declined fertility and increased incidences or progression of some diseases including endometriosis and cancers.”

Eeep! Way to let us all down, SIGG! And I was so proud of you recently, too. Look into your reusable bottles before you buy them, folks!

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Hello readers! I’m posting, once again, from my cell phone.

I’m in beautiful Montreal today to take in a concert with some friends.

Just now, while walking down rue Sainte-Catherine finishing off a delicious bottle of sparkling lemonade, I noticed something quite odd about Montreal (well, at least this section of it) — there’s no where to recycle along the streets! I saw plenty of garbage cans but no recycling bins of any sort.

Ottawa has big metal disposals for garbage, paper, cans, and glass on nearly every corner but I couldn’t find a single on in downtown Montreal. It almost broke my heart to have to throw my glass bottle in the garbage. To be completely honest, I did carry it around for about an hour looking for somewhere to recycle it but to no avail.

Are you from Montreal? Do you really not have public recycling bins? If so, why couldn’t I find any downtown?

I did, however, notice that Montreal has rent-a-bike stations and just as I was thinking to myself “yeah, but who uses them?” I saw about 15 of them go by in a row — looked to be a group of tourists. Great way to see the city!

So Montreal: You win some green points but you lose some too. I haven’t made up my mind yet if you’ve broken even though. I’ll get back to you, I suppose.

This fish and snake are both recycled and upcycled pieces of art on the streets of Jacksonville, Florida.

I wish Ottawa had neat things like this — maybe that’s a sign that I should start building things like this myself, right?

Maybe I will! Any ideas? I’m thinking of a giant robot made out of cans with vinyl records for eyes… I think that could be a city attraction as well as a neat way to use recyclables.

“Come too Ottawa to skate on the canal, stay in Ottawa for the giant, angry, can robot!”

I can see the billboard now.

Thanks to nanoparticle “inks” you’ll soon be able to print off solar panels just like you would newspaper. And if that’s not futuristic enough for you, why not paint your roof in nanoparticle paint?

These products will apparently work as well as any other kind of solar cell to absorb electricity-producing sunlight and will cost only a tenth of what current solar panels cost.

Shown recently in an issue of Journal of the American Chemical Society, the inks must be printed on plastic substrate or stainless steel.

“You’d have to paint the light-absorbing material and a few other layers as well,” Korgel said. “This is one step in the direction towards paintable solar cells.”

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The green socioverse has recently coined a new term — ‘precycling’ — but what does it really mean? Pre-recycling, right? Like… using a product? Before… cycling? The sci-fi mind in me goes into questions involving recycling, time and space, and DeLoreans.

But I’m crazy.

The real meaning behind precycling is much more forward thinking — towards waste reduction and making packaging that’s easier to recycle when the time comes. Precycling!

How can we precycle? Purchase products in bulk to reduce packaging, re-filling water bottles, re-using coffee containers to store things, etc.), canvas shopping bags, online flyers and catalogues instead of paper ones — say no to junk mail!

And now you we know!

This is definitely something I would have up in my home. In fact, I’m considering the possibility right now while staring distainfully at my current crappy-plastic/glass and wood 1970’s era chandelier.

What a genius idea for recycling old wine bottles! And believe it or not, this one right here is from Pottery Barn.

I think that personally I’d prefer one solid colour — ie. all green bottles — but I bet you could find some really cool coloured bottles out there. Though, you’d have to drink all the wine before you could hang up the bottles. But that’s nothing that a big wine and cheese party at your house couldn’t solve, right?

And what’s better for that wine and cheese party than cheese platers made out of flattened wine bottles? Brilliant.

I was really surprised to find out that they really are all the rage.

When I think of Miami, I think of 5-star resorts, yachts, beaches with scantily clad men and women, and fake tans. I definitely don’t think of Miami as a hugely environmentally concious place, but maybe that’s me believing in stereotypes.

Apparently zen lifestyles are all the rage – and that includes being kind to each other, 100% natural products, organic foods and materials, and cruelty-free products. Spas like Uhma Spa, Emena, or Mandarin Oriental Miami are all eco-chic urban santuaries.

Mandarin Oriental Miami’s spa plant a tree in the nearby Everglades National Park for every single time that they perform an “Herbal Thai Compress Ritual” on a client. What a great idea!

Now that’s a fad I can get behind.

Okay, now that I’ve got your attention, I promise not to disappoint. Unless, of course, you were hoping for real monsters. Sorry about that.

This, of course, is an art project. The artist? Joshua Allen Harris. He’s done something incredibly inventive with the air generated by New York city subway vent exhaust — you guessed it — plastic bag monsters!

Want more footage? Click right here!