Kudos to the Green Thing!

I love this idea! How often do you see a glove or mitten left out somewhere, lost and forelorn? Pretty often, right? Well, thanks to a brilliant idea from the people at Green Thing, the problem of lost gloves and mittens has been solved in a very creative way. Watch the video: The Making Of Glove Love The "new" re-styled gloves are sold for just £5. How cool is that? The Glove Love Shop

Brits panic buy as traditional lightbulbs are banned

Britons panic buying last stocks of conventional lightbulbs Britons are panic buying the last remaining stocks of traditional lightbulbs after the Government agreed to plans to phase them out completely. Britain has signed up to an European Union decision to replace conventional 100-watt bulbs with supposedly greener, low-energy alternatives. It means that the staple household item is vanishing from the high street after 120 years. (link via telegraph.co.uk) I understand the benefits to the environment for low-energy fluorescent bulbs but there are also some serious drawbacks. Have you noticed they take a while to warm up? I feel like I have candle-light when I first flip the switch to turn them on! And the new bulbs contain mercury so how are we supposed to dispose of them safely? Plus, there are potential health problems because the new light bulbs may trigger migraines and epilepsy attacks in some people. What are your thoughts about the new ruling? Will you miss the tradtional lightbulbs?

TheWhoFarm: The White House Organic Farm Project

I think this is a very cool idea: Edible playgrounds and political vegetables From school playgrounds to digging up the lawns of the White House and Downing St, there are many wasted spaces where we could be inspiring people to grow their own food (link via guardian.co.uk) TheWhoFarm A day-in-the-life of The White House Organic (WHO) Farm Project's cross-country tour:

UK: World’s Biggest Producer of Offshore Wind Power

UK overtakes Denmark as world's biggest offshore wind generator Completion of a 194MW windfarm off the coast of Lincolnshire sees the UK become the world leader in generating electricity from offshore wind (link via guardian.co.uk)

Connect2Earth & change the world!

Connect2Earth is about caring for our environment and saving the planet. It all comes back to you!

Rock Port, Missouri:the first town in the USA to be completely powered by wind

Rock Port, Missouri is the first town in the United States to be completely powered by wind. The town's four turbines generate more electricity than Rock Port's 1,300 residents use — making the town truly energy-independent. (link via npr.org) I think it's quite an accomplishment for their community and well done to them! Personally, I have mixed feeling about wind farms though. I can see the need for ways to become self-sufficient and using renewable energy sources but I prefer solar energy to wind farms because the huge turbines pose a risk to birds and their habitats. Also, the wind farms are such a blight on the landscape. What are your thoughts about wind farms? And would you consider installing a wind turbine on your property or do any of your neighbours have one installed on theirs? I'd like to know if they are very noisy as has been reported.

Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef: a reef made of wool to look like natural coral

The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef is an exhibition showing at the Southbank Centre in London from 11 June 2008 - 17 August 2008. I just read about it in an article in The Times, with the intriguing title, Can knitting save the Great Barrier Reef? It turns out the title isn't quite correct since the craft involved is crochet not knitting but it did get my attention so after reading the article I googled the subject and found out more about the Institute For Figuring which is summed up thus: The Institute For Figuring is an educational organization dedicated to enhancing the public understanding of figures and figuring techniques. From the physics of snowflakes and the hyperbolic geometry of sea slugs, to the mathematics of paper folding and graphical models of the human mind, the Institute takes as its purview a complex ecology of figuring. Then I read more and found out that 2008 is the INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE REEF This designation, by the International Coral Reef Initiative, has been made in the hope of raising awareness about the plight of reefs around the world. According to a recent scientific meta-study, coral reefs are now disappearing at a rate five times faster than rainforests. If current trends continue there will be no reefs left by the end of this century. About the Crochet Coral Reef The Institute For Figuring is crocheting a coral reef: a woolly celebration of the intersection of higher geometry and feminine handicraft, and a testimony to the disappearing wonders of the marine world. A Gallery of the Crocheted Hyperbolic Reef I can knit but I don't know how to crochet (I wish I did) and I must say that I'm in awe of these beautiful creations! If you want to get involved, they invite crocheters everywhere to contribute models to the reef. I really admire the two women, IFF co-directors Margaret and Christine Wertheim - who grew up in Queensland - who have started this project to crochet a woolen reef. What a fantastic idea and such an inspired way to raise awareness of the threat to coral reefs around the world! International Year of the Reef 2008

Compost clothing

The BBC reports : Fashion students in the Scottish Borders have designed a range of clothes to be worn in the garden and then thrown on a compost heap. I love it! Bio-degradable and recycled gardening clothes. How cool is that?!

Zero Carbon House - one of the world's greenest houses

Zero Carbon House was the fourth most popular site worldwide on Google last year. I can't believe I never heard of it until today when I read an article about the house, The island house that powers itself - with a little help from 100mph gales, in The Guardian. I also never heard of the island of Unst which I now know is Britain’s most northerly island. The house that Michael and Dorothy Rea have built is certainly very impressive and a wonderful example of self-sufficiency.