Blogs & Ecology

Halloween is coming up this Friday and if you’re looking to make this year’s monster bash a little more ethical, than we’re here to help! You don’t have to succumb to the holiday’s unhealthy consumption-driven tendencies. Check out these creative ideas on how to make your pumpkin a little greener this year and get ready to have the best Hallow’s Eve ever!

Some say that bananas are going extinct, in which case Anneke Jakobs' chandelier made from Chiquita cases might become quite a collectors item. She made it while she was in school (and is probably sick to death of bananas), but you can download the plans and make it yourself. ...

This year, Unilever-owned Ben & Jerry's sponsored a student/green entrepreneur from each of eight European countries in its three-year-old mentoring program called Climate Change College.

CO2 reductions plus behavior change
The sponsorship chose the eight students for their innovative business ideas on climate change reductions - the winning solutions had to not only reduce CO2 but also change behavior. For nine months, students received mentoring on their business plans (worth about $30,000), and in addition, a scientific field trip to the Arctic and approximately $10,000 to launch their selected idea. Ben & Jerry's considers its graduat...

How do you get rid of fruit flies?
Recently, I've been suffering from a fruit fly invasion of impressive magnitude. And despite a few attempts at ridding myself of these flies, I haven't been able to get things under control. I'll swat and kill as many flies as I can see, but still the next time I turn around there are even more flies gently fluttering about my kitchen, in what I can only assume is some sort of fruit fly taunting ritual. How...

These peel-and-stick metal tiles by Chemetal are available in brushed aluminum, satin aluminum or light stainless steel. The 4″ tiles come in packs of 54 for $79. They don’t need grout, and you can cut them with household tools. Not bad at all. Get ‘em at interior51

For all the tinkerers and DIYers out there with a bunch of 50 gallon drums to spare and a small warehouse nearby, I came across a series of videos that illustrate the method of making biodiesel on a small scale. Even though the video says it shows how to make a "large batch", we're not talking commercial production levels here. The first one is posted above; the rest are viewable on the

Jem Stansfield is not exactly the average tinkerer. He has a degree in aeronautics and is an inventor and special effects technician. But still, his DIY air-powered motorcycle, the first of its kind according to him, is quite cool.

How Does an Air-Powered Motorcycle Work?
Unlike the hilarious single-piston air-powered bicycle that he previously made, this air-powered bike can actually be used in real-world situations.

He took carbon-fiber air tanks that are usually used by firefighters as part of their breathing equipment and connected them to two rotar...

Our post about the DIY electric Kawasaki motorcycle was pretty popular, and the owner, Ben Nelson, even dropped by and left a few comments.

"I bought an 8hp Briggs & Stratton ETEK motor used through Craigslist," said Benjamin Nelson. "Then I mounted the motor to the frame using the existing engine mounting holes and a piece of scrap aluminum plate. I found a sprocket and chain in the tractor repair isle of the farm store."

And Mr. Nelson even admits that he doesn't own any power tools other than a drill, doesn't know how to weld and only took one metal shop class in high school. But he loves to learn new things... Now that's the DIY ethic!...

No doubt all the green living sites will have tips today about how to recycle your plastic easter eggs, instead of asking why you bought them in the first place. Only Instructables would suggest you use them to build an anemometer, which "goes together quickly if you have the parts laying around. This is basically a mini wind generator; the spinning motor produces a current that a multimeter reads." ::Instructables via ::Lifehacker...

The Australian branch of WWF (what use to to be known as the Worldwide Fund for Nature) last year entered the green lifestyle arena with a website of green tips. “Every day we shape our planet's future when we make small life decisions - what we buy, what we eat, how we travel. The future of the planet is in our hands; the future is man-made. And we are all ‘Futuremakers’."

The 1973-1974 oil crisis made a lot of people start to pay attention to fuel economy for the first time. In its March 1974 edition, the magazine Car and Driver had a look at some simple DIY modifications that could be made to one of the economy cars of the time, the Ford Pinto (ack).

Speaking of adding storage in unexpected places, Israeli designer Shay Alkalay (whose cheeky stain stickers we've mentioned before) has an artful, DIY-able solution. Called "Cut Attachez," the idea involves two careful cuts with a saw, a couple colorful runners and a drawer; a few minutes later, you have more storage (and a cooler table) than you used to.