The Red, White, and Green

Photo: O'BON

I’ll admit, I’m a nerd. It’s been years since I set foot in a classroom, and I still get excited over a fresh pack of pencils or a crisp new notebook. (Though that probably reveals my age — do students even use real paper and writing utensils anymore?) So when I recently stumbled across the O’Bon website, which sells stylish, eco-friendly school and office supplies like vivid rainbow-hued pencils made from 100 percent recycled newspaper, I practically drooled.

A few of my faves:

Bird 1″ Binder (Pearl). Constructed from 100 percent recycled cardboard, this elegant binder features an exotic bird-feather design, printed using soy-based inks.

Rainbow 2B Pencil Pack. Each pack includes 10 brightly patterned graphite pencils, made from 100 percent recycled newspaper.

O’BONanza A6 Notebook (Apple). With a cover made from 100 percent recycled cardstock, this cheery notebook comes stocked with 80 pages of O’Bon’s own sugarcane-based paper.

Need a little extra incentive to spend $6 on a pack of pencils? O’Bon will match every purchase with a donation to the Arbor Day Foundation, to help fight deforestation.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: Save on your next O’Bon purchase by using the code FREAKOFRIENDLY.

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Photo: CowPots

It’s very rare to come across a perfect green product. In most cases, the inventions are an improvement on the original, but still have their own eco flaws: Compact fluorescent bulbs markedly reduce energy usage but contain mercury, a toxic chemical that pollutes the environment; canvas shopping totes cut down on paper and plastic usage but are often manufactured in China or India.

But once in a while, something comes around that is so sustainable, so ingenious, you have to wonder why no one thought of it before. I give you — CowPots.

You know those plastic pots that seedlings come in when you buy them at a nursery, that get thrown out (or sometimes recycled) right after you plant that seedling? Well, CowPots are made of composted cow manure, so you can just plant the whole thing — pot and all — right in the ground. Within four weeks, the pots biodegrade, nourishing the soil and the seedling at the same time.

Their brilliant design solves two environmental problems at once: What to do with all that waste on a farm that would otherwise pollute the water and land with excess nitrogen, and how to eliminate unnecessary fossil-fuel based plastic products that take thousands of years to break down in a landfill.

And no, CowPots don’t smell. The patent-pending manufacturing process eliminates all odors, as well as any harmful pathogens. They’re also super reasonable: A 12-pack of 3-inch pots will set you back about $6.99. Click here to buy.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: With spring right around the corner, now’s the perfect time to start off a summer of sustainable eating by planting a vegetable garden. Click here to find out what to plant in March.

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I’ve always been skeptical about the push for people to move to downtown Los Angeles. The sheer joy of living in LA is the California lifestyle — ocean breezes, long alfresco dinners at home with friends — why would anyone want to trade that in for a high rise in the smog? I guess if you’ve lived in California your whole life, then a truly urban existence might have some appeal, but as far as I’m concerned, I left that all behind when I moved out of Manhattan.

I formed all these notions, typical me, without actually ever having stepped foot inside a residential building in LA’s now-burgeoning downtown district. So when I was offered a sneak preview of the Evo Designer Showcase before it opens to the public this Saturday, I decided to put my preconceived notions aside. The showcase features five apartments custom-decorated by five amazing designers, including eco-designer Daniel Vandenbark, in LA’s only LEED Silver–certified high-rise. How could I in good green conscience say no?

Besides, I’d get a chance to see how five of LA’s hottest designers are incorporating environmentally friendly materials into their work. And I wasn’t disappointed: Sustainability is very much on the minds of all the designers involved in the showcase, even the ones who weren’t specifically tasked with creating a green dwelling (that was left to Daniel Vandenbark). Renown interior designer David Desmond and I chatted about the importance of investing in pieces that will last for generations; but he emphasized that those classics don’t have to cost a pretty penny. Check out the gorgeous coffee tables in his showcase (shh, they’re Ikea!):

Australian-born Mark Cutler, named one of the Robb Report’s top 40 designers in the US, talked about incorporating the “50-mile rule” (embracing local materials and craftsmen) into his work. And while his taste is undoubtedly sophisticated, Cutler told me that the raw materials don’t necessarily have to be, especially if they’re eco-friendly: He used old-fashioned burlap to construct elegant table skirts and window shades for his showcase’s muted, earthy bedroom.

Take your own sneak peek at more of the eco-conscious designer showcases:

From Room & Board:

From Daniel Vandenbark:

I’m still not convinced that living downtown is the ideal way to experience Los Angeles, though I will admit that the view from the 20th floor of the Evo was pretty glorious — unobstructed views of the city and snow capped mountains, and nary a streak of smog in sight. But more importantly, the showcases reminded me that green living isn’t only for people who are lucky enough to have beachfront property or trees in their backyard. A whopping 3 billion people — a majority of the world’s population — now live in cities, and we need to find ways to make those areas more sustainable as well.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: If you live in Los Angeles, check out the Evo Designer Showcase this weekend.

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Photo: Orion Energy Systems

There’s been a lot of debate as to what the real technological breakthrough is when it comes to eco-friendly lighting. Compact fluorescent bulbs are massive energy savers, but are pretty darn ugly, no matter what color temperature I’ve managed to test out. They also have the nasty problem of containing mercury, which can pose a serious health hazard if the bulb accidentally breaks or isn’t disposed of properly once it’s toast. With LED lighting, there remains the issue of prohibitive price; it’s also been speculated that widespread use of LEDs could worsen light pollution, harming wildlife.

Without risk of sounding like an infomercial, what if there was a solution that actually looked great, didn’t use a drop of electricity, and was free of harmful contaminants like mercury and lead? There is: It’s called a solar light pipe.

It’s basically the same concept as a skylight: A hole is placed in the roof of a building to allow natural sunlight to light a room, but the solar light pipe, or light tube as it’s also called, uses light refraction technology to focus that light to a specific area. When installed in large numbers, the effect is a lot like recessed can lighting (see photo, above).

Why I, wonder, aren’t more greenies talking about this incredibly efficient type of solar lighting? Maybe I haven’t heard a lot about it because many of the big-time green lighting developers, like Orion Energy Systems — who yesterday received a utility patent for its Apollo light pipe system — are focusing on commercial use. (Disclosure: I have a family member employed by Orion; he in no way promised to give me his Prius in exchange for writing this post.)

It seems kind of redundant to put solar panels on a building to help pay the electricity bill for your fluorescent bulbs, when in a lot of sunnier climates you could just skip that step and harness the sun directly.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: Are you one of the few not-broke Americans who’s in the process of renovating her home or building a new one? Check out these solar tubes for residential use.

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Photo via Flickr: Leandro's World Tour

The world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa (formerly called the Burj Dubai), opens its doors to the public today. Stretching 2,716.5 feet into the sky — that’s half a mile — and boasting 900 private residential apartments, an Armani Hotel, and a fountain extravaganza that makes the one at Vegas’ Bellagio Hotel look like a squirt gun, the architectural marvel is a symbol of the capitalistic superfluity Dubai has represented for over a decade.

But the world has changed drastically in the past couple years, both from an economic standpoint and an ecological one. With Dubai facing a debt crisis and a severe recession, and resources like water and oil growing ever more precious, you have to wonder how the electric bill is going to get paid for the monstrous Burj. Dubai has year-round hot, sunny weather; why wasn’t the darn thing completely blanketed in solar panels?

A look at the Burj Khalifa’s massive environmental footprint:

• Water: Around 250,000 gallons of water a day
• Electricity: At peak times, roughly 40,000 kilowatts — the equivalent of 500,000 100-watt light bulbs burning at the same time
• Raw materials: Nearly 40,000 tons of steel — enough to stretch a quarter of the way around the earth if laid end to end
• Wasted space: The upper 30+ floors are so tiny, they can only be used for storage

Still, the building does manage to have one green feature: Condensation produced by the structure during Dubai’s hot and humid summer months will be collected and used to water the tower’s plants and landscaping.

–Jennifer Grayson

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Image via Paperless Post; www.paperlesspost.com

Last week, I received a truly beautiful online invitation to a holiday party. In fact, so stylish was this evite — complete with a shimmery virtual envelope that “opened” when I clicked on it — that it made me rethink whether you could send a wedding invitation via email.

The company is called Paperless Post, and even though the site is still in beta, it’s already received a boatload of press, including write-ups in Vogue, The New York Times, W, and Lucky. And no wonder; as I discovered while hunting down a suitably elegant evite for my brother’s bachelor party (I’m the best “man,” and he requested a nice dinner in lieu of the traditional debauchery), it’s slim pickings out there when it comes to online invites with any real aesthetics.

So if you’re a procrastinator and haven’t yet sent out that invite for your holiday party — or are scoping invitations for your next dinner party or whatnot — save some trees and design a custom evite with Paperless Post. It’s free to join, and you only pay for the invitations you send. The prices are incredibly reasonable, too: You get 25 free “stamps” when you sign up (each stamp is good for one invite), and 100 stamps thereafter will set you back a whopping 8 bucks.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: While you’re at it, do you really need to mail holiday greeting cards this year, just so people can take one look at your signature and then toss the card in the trash? Send an online holiday card via Paperless Post instead, and help save 2.5 million trees a year.

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Photo via Flickr: Don Hankins

I recently rediscovered running (OK, more like light jogging) over my Thanksgiving vacation in Chicago. The weather was too crisp and glorious to pass up, and let’s just say I had more than my share of pumpkin pie fueling my exercise. What wasn’t so fabulous were the worn-out, five-year-old athletic shoes I brought with me. Time to pick up a new pair!

What to do with the old ones, though? I suppose having to toss an old pair in the trash every couple years (sooner, if you log substantial mileage) could be considered a justifiable evil, considering that throwing on a pair of shoes and heading outside for a run or walk is just about the most eco-friendly exercise there is — certainly when you compare it to the electricity-guzzling treadmills and elliptical machines at your local gym, not to mention the fossil fuel necessary to drive there.

But luckily, I don’t have to calculate the GHG emissions for the shoes-rotting-in-a-landfill scenario, because there’s a great, free recycling program available: Nike Reuse-a-Shoe. Drop off your old athletic shoes — of any brand — at a Nike store or one of 300 drop-off locations worldwide, and every part of the shoe will be broken down into raw materials for athletic surfaces like running tracks and basketball courts. Click here to watch how.

More than 24 million pairs of shoes have been collected through the program worldwide since 1990. But considering that by my rough estimate, over 300 million pairs of athletic shoes are purchased each year in the US alone, clearly the word needs to get out there about Reuse-a-Shoe and other recycling programs.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: Inspired to spread the word to your fellow harriers? Organize a shoe drive through the Nike program.

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As I learned with Sommerhaus Piu, sometimes the best-intentioned environmental designs can have unexpected and detrimental consequences. For instance, wind turbines, one of the most important components of our clean energy future (it’s been estimated that the US could supply 16 times the current demand for electricity from wind in the Midwest prairie states alone), can sometimes turn into death blenders for birds.

Now, I would argue that fossil fuels are much more harmful to birds and other wildlife (to wit: extinction related to global warming, mercury pollution, and accidents like the Exxon Valdez), but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive for better green design.

That’s why I’m intrigued by the Natura Levo wind turbine, which recently won an International Design Excellence Award and is about to begin prototype testing. The tiny (4-foot) turbine was created by industrial designer Laura Sink, and could conceivably be mounted on chimneys, telephone poles, or the roofs of commercial buildings. There are even plans to incorporate the turbine in electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

The press release says only that Natura Levo will “peacefully [coexist] with its surroundings.” From the picture shown, it’s clear that this is true from an aesthetic standpoint. But what does that mean, specifically, re interference with birds and other wildlife?

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: There are already residential-scale wind turbines available that can take a big chunk out of your energy bill, and substantial federal tax credits are available to help subsidize the cost. To read more about installing a home wind turbine, click here.

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Alright, so I’m just a tad bit bummed that Team California didn’t take home the grand prize in the 2009 Solar Decathlon, though they did have an impressive third-place finish — even winning the architecture and communications contests — but you can’t really argue with Team Germany’s incredible energy-saving design. The cube-shaped two-story house, which is completely covered in solar panels, produces an incredible 200 percent of the energy needed by its inhabitants.

surPLUShome, Team Germany's winning design. The students' philosophy was to "push the envelope with as many new technologies as possible." The team also finished first in the 2007 Solar Decathlon.

Here’s a look at the other top finishers:

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Gable House, which was awarded second place, stood out for its artful blending of innovative technology and native Midwestern architecture. Photo credit: Jim Tetro, US Dept. of Energy Solar Decathlon

Third-place finisher Team California, the only undergraduate-led team in the competition, emphasized West Coast living and comfort with Refract House's natural light–filled, cutting-edge design. Photo credit: Jim Tetro, US Dept. of Energy Solar Decathlon

Congratulations to all of the incredibly talented and motivated students in the competition — the world’s future green architects, designers, and engineers among them. We’ll be looking to you in the coming years to make homes like these a reality for all of us!

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: If you’re a teacher, get your students — our future decathletes — excited about science and solar energy. For ideas on how to get started, click here.

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Since we had the pleasure this past summer of meeting the brilliant and devoted Santa Clara University students working on Team California’s entry to the US Department of Energy’s 2009 Solar Decathlon, we’ve been excitedly awaiting the completion of their house and the launch of the competition. (As have they; their solar-powered house of the future, Refract House, has been two years in the making.) But at long last, their design and 19 others from the world’s best and brightest will be on display starting today on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Don’t live in the area? Here’s a sneak-preview of some of our favorites:

As of today, Team California is in first-place standing, but with six more days of judging in categories like architecture, market viability, lighting design, and home entertainment, it’s anyone’s game.

Solar Decathlon houses will be open for public tours through Oct. 18. Click here for the schedule.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: It may be a few years yet till these solar houses of the future come to a neighborhood near you, but you can start saving energy and lower your electricity bills in your own home today. For tips, check out one of our favorite resources, the DOE’s Energy Savers website.

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