Cooking kills. That’s such a tough statement for those of us in the developed world to wrap our heads around, but, as the video above points out, billions of people in developing countries are still cooking food on inefficient indoor wood or charcoal stoves. The regular breathing of cooking smoke kills millions women and children regularly; the use of wood and charcoal fuel also leads to deforestation and the many environmental & economic problems associated with it.

We can’t ask people to stop cooking, of course; a number of non-profits organizations and social enterprises, though, are exploring ways to do it better. These organizations are developing new, appropriate technologies that address the multiple challenges presented by so many having to cook with rudimentary tools. They’re creating these technologies with the people affected, ensuring that they work for them. And they’re putting together economic opportunities by creating the infrastructure to manufacture, distribute, and sell these products. Here are a handful of the groups doing this important work around the world.

1. CleanStar Mozambique

One of the newest ventures on this front, this two-year old social venture in Maputo, Mozambique, not only sells ethanol burning cookstoves to locals (with whom they’ve proven immensely popular), but also has created a direct sales model for local entrepreneurs, and is building an ethanol plant (which will make the fuel from locally-grown cassava). Take a look at the video below for more insight into their work; for deeper detail, check out Jen Boynton’s on-the-ground analysis at Triplepundit.

2. The Wonderbag

We’ve discussed this low-tech slow-cooking technology before: it’s essentially a heat retention bag in which a pot can be placed after food’s been brought to boiling. Our friends over at Ecopreneurist have shown how the company selling the Wonderbag has leveraged a number of business opportunities in order to make this fuel saver widely available and very attractive to consumers in both the developed and developing world. They’ve introduced a TOMS shoes-like “buy one, give one” model, for instance, and also sought (and received) carbon credit certification as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project.

3. Trees, Water & People

Like CleanStar, Trees, Water & People focuses on a range of clean development projects in various parts of the developing world.  As such, they understand that cooking isn’t a one-size-fits-all endeavor, and so one kind of clean cook stove can’t meet the needs of everyone. They’ve developed a number of stove models that make use of locally available materials, draw on local skills for manufacturing, and serve the local culture’s culinary traditions. Take a look at the stove they developed for use in Haiti:

4. The Paradigm Project

The Paradigm Project, a for-profit effort aiming to put clean wood burning rocket stoves in the hands of millions of families around the world, definitely has the media savvy thing down. I first discovered their work after they launched their Stoveman web video series; since then, they’ve also produced a short film about their work, and even held their own small film festival (alongside the Sundance Film Festival). All of this media does a very nice job of showing the challenges of cooking in the developed world: check out the first episode of Stoveman to see what’s involved in gathering cooking wood in Northern Kenya.

5. Biolite

Ever charged your phone while cooking dinner? Of course you have: in the developing world, though, lack of access to electricity likely means that these two activities rarely occur in tandem. Biolite’s Homestove (another one we’ve covered before) not only addresses the health and environmental issues surrounding cooking, but also coverts what little waste heat the stove produces into electricity. The folks at Fast Company tried it out:

Know of other organizations, either for- or non-profit, doing amazing work on the clean cooking front? Let us know about them…

UPDATE: Can’t get enough? Head over to Ecopreneurist, where they’ve done more on this topic than I realized: a post from last Fall on the International Lifeline Fund’s stove program in Haiti (which also makes use of waste paper), and another on the Paradigm Project’s innovative use of carbon offsets.

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Barton Springs Pool has been a popular attraction in Austin, Texas since the mid-nineteenth century. In 1918, the property containing the pool was ceded over to the city of Austin. In the 1920s, the city enlarged the swimming hole by damming the springs and surrounding it with concrete barriers. Since then the pool has been a sort of retreat for Austin residents who can swim in the cool water and read or sunbathe on the grassy banks. On any given Summer weekend, the pool is packed with families, couples and kids.

But all of this almost came to an end in 1997 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared that a special kind of salamander found only in Barton Springs was an endangered species. According to the Wildlife Service, the Barton Springs Salamander (above) was dying out due to the destruction of aquatic plant life in the pool and the use of high-pressured hoses, hot water, and chemicals in the pool’s maintenance. Additionally, urban runoff into the springs and increased development along the Barton Springs watershed were also threatening the clean water supply of the springs—the clean water that the salamanders depended on for survival.

Barton Springs is fed by the Edwards Aquifer. The aquifer stretches across huge swaths of central and west Texas and supplies water to hundreds of towns and thousands of individuals across the state. The fresh groundwater from the aquifer that surfaces at Barton Springs retains a constant temperature around 69°F. The Barton Springs Pool, therefore, warms very little in the summer and cools off only slightly in the winter. Bathers that enjoy a cool swim in the summer months can jump into the water to escape the winter chill during December or January.

Learning to Love the Barton Springs Salamander

Gathering public support for the Barton Springs Salamander, which measures only about 2 ½ inches long, was difficult initially. After all, the salamander was threatening to close one of the city’s most beloved spots—the very place that many Austinites learned to swim or took their first date.

However, as more research was conducted on the salamander, it became evident that humans and salamanders could coexist if humans were willing to adapt a little bit. So the city of Austin and other Texas wildlife agencies came together with a plan to accommodate both species. To begin with, they reintroduced aquatic plant life into the pool and around the springs. They also began practicing eco-friendly pool maintenance, washing the pool walls safely and limiting the number of chemicals used on the pool.

The City of Austin has also been watching water pollution levels more closely and working to purchase areas that it identifies as Barton Springs contributing and recharge zones. By limiting human development in these zones the city is making the pool a cleaner spot for both humans and salamanders. In the wake of the salamander scare, Austin also developed a number of environmental watchdog groups such as the Save Our Springs Alliance. Today those groups not only work to protect Barton Springs but advocate for environmentally sustainable practices all across the city.

The Barton Springs Pool

If you were to head to Barton Springs Pool now, you’d find the same scene you might’ve found fifty years ago: girls lying out in the sun, boys doing flips off the diving board and parents in the shallow end teaching their kids how to hold their breath. It wouldn’t have been this way without compromise. Barton Springs is a success story. It is a story of a community coming together to preserve and protect their world. It is a story of people who cared, who found a solution and who, in saving this seemingly insignificant species, made our world just a tad bit more interesting.

Most importantly, the story of the Barton Springs Salamander is a story that can be replicated. If enough people care, we can choose to make environmentally responsible decisions and act in environmentally responsible ways. If enough people care, we can make our homes compatible with the homes of the species that were here before us, species as small, fascinating and utterly bizarre as the Barton Springs Salamander.

Brian writes for the McMinn Law Firm. The Austin lawyers at McMinn practice personal injury law in Austin as well as surrounding communities. 

Image credits: US Fish and Wildlife Service; US Geological Survey

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Ever bitten into a piece of fruit or a vegetable and found that it wasn’t nearly as fresh and tasty as it looked? Sure, we’ve all had that happen… and, as we’ve discussed before, this is a major source of resource waste in our food supply. There’s really not a whole lot you can do about it right now other than check your produce as closely as possible when you buy it… and, even then, you’re bound to face some disappointment.

Scientist at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute are working on technology that can eliminate even more of that food waste by making every consumer a quality tester. They’re developing a miniature spectrometer which could attach to your smart phone and tell you at the point of sale how ripe that fruit or vegetable is (or, for that matter, how good a piece meat is). No more tapping an apple or tomato: just scan it with your phone to “assess starch, protein, water, and fat content…”

It’s not out yet (that’s still a few years off), but such technology could help reduce “disappointment shrink” significantly I would think (though things will still go bad if you don’t eat them fast enough).  And I’m sure this would have ramifications up the supply chain – grocers would have to be more careful about what they put out in their produce bins.

Got thoughts about what this would mean for the fruit and vegetable supply? Tell us…

via @adamwerbach

Image credit: Roozbeh Rokni via photo pin cc

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The truth is that I just love the things too much. Even as a grown up, I look at them with the same wide eyed excitement I did when I got my first set at six-years-old. And why shouldn’t I? They are fun, creative and require rational thought and problem solving. Plus, you can make a spaceship!

But that doesn’t help you when you just have too many sitting around. Which is a problem many of us have, with hundreds or even thousands of the things in bins, boxes and sets.

If you are a recovering LEGO junkie and want some ideas of how to upcycle them into cool ideas for the home, here you are. Ten ways that you can make adult items out of those old blocks.

1. Greenhouse

One of the more fascinating projects I have seen, Sebastian Bergne used 100,000 LEGO bricks to create a fully functional greenhouse for the London Design Festival last year. While it would be quite an undertaking to make your own, a smaller version is perfectly possible for the growing of individual plants.

2. Furniture

You could always make an entire house full of furniture using LEGO. I really like the look of this table, and I am considering creating one for my children. It would go well in their room, and they would have a fun time helping me to make it. Of course, other items not shown here could be made. For example, toy chests, chairs, foot stools…who knows what you could come up with?

3. Lamp

This is an actual kit you buy, which is beside the point if you are trying to upcycle LEGO bricks. But it can give you some good inspiration. If you have an old lap that has no shade or you just don’t like, you can repurpose it as the base of a Lego version. Or you can use any electrical light source for the center. At the very least, this should offer some ideas.

4. Notebooks

These are so cool, and I never would have even considered the idea before finding the link. Large, square bricks have become the waterproof covers of little, spiral bound notebooks. It wouldn’t be that hard to do with yourself, a small blowtorch easily burning the holes. Unless you have the right kind of plastic punch tool, which you may have on hand for those who are more serious crafters. What I love is that these can be reused, filled with more paper as needed.

5. LEGO Photo Frame

I am always up for a way to spice up the usual photo frame designs. This is a cute and really simple idea. With some help, it could be a fun project for kids. Just a glue gun and a few bricks would be enough. You could either paste them a premade frame, or just some cardboard if you want to make your own entirely. These ones seem to have a basic plastic backing that allows the photo to be slid into the slit.

6. Raspberry Pi Case

This is a case made for a specific piece of hardware, for an educational program called Raspberry Pi. But the idea for the case is really cool, and would work for any electronic depending the size you create. For example, you could make one to hold your tablet and music player, offering some protection for them. Or your phone, or even just cards or anything else you could think of. It s definitely a multi-use case.

7. iPhone Stand

I have seen a lot of LEGO iPhone cases over the years and I am usually not that impressed. But this one is much cooler than the others I have seen. There is a higher level of detail and use, and it seems simple enough to make. It officially get my personal seal of approval for taking a boring concept and making it way more exciting and functional.

8. Clock

You could make this clock easily using any standard clock DIY kit. The block idea is really cute, and I loved the colored bricks in place of numbers. Of course, you could always go more details and complex if you chose, as well as bigger.

9. Kitchen Crafts

I am always looking for further ways to organize my kitchen. Usually, I buy little items from the local second hand shops and swap meets. But this is a great idea I will definitely be utilizing myself. The fruit bowl is my favorite, and I can also see creating little containers for odds and ends currently sitting in a drawer. I even have an idea for a wall mount case.

10. Melted Lamp

This is an amazing lamp. It was made my melting the bricks down into a cone-like shape and fixing it to the top of a lamp in place of the usual shade. Of course, the person who owns the blog this is featured on is less than pleased with the fact that anyone would melt down the blocks. But this crafter thinks it is pretty cool.

Conclusion

You don’t have to get rid of those massive amounts of LEGO blocks, and they don’t have to be forced into storage, either. You can have a great time turning them into useful items for around the house.

These are just some of the ideas, what are yours? Let us know in the comments.

Annie is the green blogger for Smart Destinations, the free resource of hand-picked Legoland discount tickets online.

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Bicycle commuting is on the rise in many American cities. Both Chicago and Long Beach, California have declared that they will become the most bike-friendly communities in the country. New York City is in the process of building a bike-share network designed specifically for bike commuters. Everyone’s getting excited. And why shouldn’t they? After all, biking to work has so many benefits. Cyclists save money on gas and get to enjoy the outdoors every day. They burn calories, decrease traffic congestion and lower air pollution levels. Cycling also helps build a sense of community. Instead of sitting in cars for an hour each morning, bike commuters can see and talk with one another.

The first step to any successful bike commuting plan is the bike itself. Below are a few tips that could help you turn your old cruiser in the garage into an efficient commuting bicycle.

Bike Maintenance

In most cases, there’s no need to go out and buy a new bike specifically for commuting. First and foremost, new bikes are expensive. Secondly, new bikes quickly become old bikes. Rather it’s probably more worth your time to invest in bike maintenance. Bikes, like cars and relationships, require regular care.

You should lubricate your bike chain every month or so. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is with a lubricant spray can. Turn the bike upside down so that the wheels are sticking into the air and the handle bars are on the ground. Turn the pedal with your hand and apply the lubricant to the chain as it slides by. You might also spray lubricant on the wires connecting the handbrakes to the tires. This prevents these wires from rusting and becoming ineffective. One of the scariest feelings for any cyclist is to squeeze a handbrake only to have nothing happen.

In addition to lubrication, you should also take your bike in for a tune-up every six months. If you’re riding on a consistent basis it’s inevitable that parts will come loose and slide out of place. Getting a regular tune-up will ensure that you’re operating a safe and efficient vehicle.

Baskets and Boxes

Attaching some sort of basket to your bike is crucial for any commuter. Backpacks are fine for some cyclists. But when you’re trying to carry dress clothes, shoes or other bulky objects (such as a briefcase), a backpack may not be room enough. That’s where a basket comes in handy. Baskets come in two basic varieties. The first type is the classic bicycle basket attached to the handlebars. A good front basket will also be supported by rods that attach to the front wheel axel. Front baskets are easy to put on and typically only require a screwdriver and maybe an Allen wrench. Don’t have an Allen wrench? Ask a neighbor. Make friends. Be social. That’s part of what biking is all about.

The other type of bicycle basket rests over the back wheel behind the seat. It sits on an attachment called a rear bike rack. This rack is typically just a flat platform which stands on the back axle. There are a number of bike racks for sale along with various carrying cases which hook onto them. If you’re looking to go cheap, however, you can skip the carrying cases and just bungee or bolt a plastic milk crate onto the rack.

Lights, Mirrors and Bells

Particularly in the winter months when the day ends early, having a light on your bicycle can be a necessity. Without a light, bicyclists are invisible to cars and each other. Lights can be purchased at a bike store for as little as $10 and should be attached to the front handle bars to act like a car headlamp. In addition, every bicyclist should have a back reflector and a front reflector. Some bikes already come with reflectors included, but just in case, all bicycle shops carry them as well.

Mirrors can be a useful tool for cyclists who deal with lots of car traffic. Shops carry mirrors that attach to the handle bars and act just like side mirrors on cars. Instead of worrying if a vehicle is behind you, a cyclist with a mirror can just glance to the side and get a full view of the roadway.

For cyclists heading through dense pedestrian traffic, a bell can be a great device for clearing a suitable bike path. On hike and bike trails, it’s always a good idea to alert pedestrians to your presence with some sort of noise. Some bikers choose to call out “On your left!” or “Excuse me!” The bike bell has the added advantage, however, of not wearing out your lungs. While a dinging bike bell may be a nuisance, it’s better than a shouting to and from the office.

Restoring an effective commuting bike is the first step towards turning your rush hour commute into a healthy, eco-friendly activity. Besides, life is too short to spend it sitting in traffic.

Brian writes for the W.T. Johnson Law Firm in Dallas, Texas. The Dallas lawyers at W.T. Johnson handle personal injury cases involving bicyclists and pedestrians and are committed to promoting eco-friendly traffic in the DFW area and across the country.

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A recent report by psychologists shows an alarming increase in egocentricity among young adults. In psychological parlance it is called a narcissistic personality disorder. This potentially spells bad news for the environment.

Psychologists Jean Twenge and W. Keith Campbell are the authors of The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement. In it they report that narcissistic personality traits have become so pervasive in American culture that they threaten to transform us into a nation of egomaniacs. The condition is particularly common among young adults where its prevalence matches that of obesity.

What has this to do with the well documented wave of environmental crises facing the planet? The answer is that the one thing that prevents us from fixing these crises is a particular symptom of narcissism – and that is the inability to care about anything outside your own immediate interests. In a word, narcissism equates to apathy.

Green education is the obvious antidote to this apathy and the National Environmental Education Act of 1990 was a significant step. However a moment of thought reveals an interesting conundrum. There is no suggestion that better education in green values will affect the causes of the narcissism epidemic. What this means is that an increase in environmental awareness will likely to occur alongside an escalation in egocentricity. How this will play out is anyone’s guess. Perhaps the outcome will be a functional, but somewhat uneasy alliance whereby self-interest champions conservation.

At best, this would appear to be a high risk strategy – selfishness and selflessness are not natural bedfellows. A sounder approach might be to try and tackle the causes of egocentricity at their source. According to Freud, egocentricity – and narcissism in particular – is “an attempt to null the pain of disappointed love and the child’s rage against the perceived inadequacies of caretakers.” This is in accord with the causes listed by Twenge, of which the foremost is ‘parenting.’

So perhaps the answer lies in raising our children so that they aren’t blinded by preoccupations to the planet’s plight. Of course many believe this to be unrealistic, and the pragmatic approach of education and legislation is the only way forward. In this attitude one is reminded of Marx’s famous adage that “the point is not to understand the world but to transform it”.

However the evidence suggests that on a global scale this strategy is not winning the day. Of course we are now faced with the developing economic powerhouses of China and India, where environmental concerns appear to be, at best, a luxury, as they race to catch up with the West. It is concerning to note that Twenge reports that the narcissism epidemic is not confined to the U.S. Indeed the term ‘little emperor syndrome’ has been coined to describe the self-interest of the new generation of Chinese.

In light of these developments it is not surprising that more and more thinkers are eschewing the solely pragmatic for more profound solutions. Richard Neville is one who summed up the situation when he said “We humans are locked in a race between self destruction and self discovery”. Another is Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith, who has no doubt that egocentricity is responsible for the apathy that leaves us in such peril, and that more egocentricity will only bring more destruction. Like Neville, he believes that the choice before us is stark: either we understand our condition better, or we perish.

What we can be sure of is that rising levels of egocentricity have added a new and potentially dangerous dimension to an already dire predicament, and that any thinking on the environmental problem must take this into account.

Jason is passionate about the world we live in and what we can do to change it. Recently the ideas presented by the World Transformation Movement have interested him greatly. See what you think here!

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Whether you think terms like “urban farming” and “urban agriculture” are accurate (a discussion we’ve had a couple of times), there’s no doubt that the movement to produce fresh food in urban spaces has inspired a lot of people to start growing their own food. Could that inspiration extend to young people in poor urban neighborhoods looking for economic alternatives to criminal activity? We’re about to find out here in St. Louis: former publisher and Post-Dispatch columnist Sylvester Brown, Jr., announced this Summer’s launch of The Sweet Potato Project in North St. Louis on his blog.

A joint effort of non-profit organizations When We Dream Together (which Brown founded) and the North Area Community Development Corporation, the Sweet Potato Project is designed to expose urban youth to economic opportunities beyond drug dealing and other criminal enterprises. According to Brown,

This pilot program is designed to teach a group of high school-aged children that there are indeed opportunities within their reach. Young people will be paid a minimum wage salary during the summer to plant and harvest sweet potatoes, create a product and learn how to market and distribute what they’ve created. We will nurture the spirit of entrepreneurism in kids who will go out and sell their product and receive commissions after the school year begins. The idea is to show them that there are viable (and legal) means within their communities in which to make money.

There’s no doubt there are plenty of ways these organizations could’ve chosen to teach these lessons, so I’m thrilled to see that they’ve incorporated food production into the equation: the communities served by a program like this are also likely to be “food deserts.” Perhaps there’s a budding farmer or two in these neighborhoods that just needs some guidance and support.

I’m going to keep an eye on the development of this project; if you know of similar efforts (anywhere), please share them with us.

Image credit: RaeAllen via photo pin cc

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Infographic Credit: SpheralSolar.com

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When you live in a somewhat unpredictable climate, it can be truly frustrating to try and deal with a gardening routine. Many plants might even die if you accidentally plant too soon. That is why it can really pay off to do an indoor garden or, at least, prepare for it indoors until you are really sure a garden is workable outside.

Here are five simple DIY projects for those who want to begin some indoor gardening. But the best part is that upcycled materials are used to do them!

1. Light Bulb Greenhouse

If you have something really tiny you want to grow for decoration, you can use clear light bulbs to do it. Otherwise, this is better for initial sprouting. The domed glass of the bulb makes the perfect isolated and enriched environment for your seeds to begin to grow. Once they outgrow it, you could very carefully transfer it to a planter or garden, making it ready for when your weather actually permits. Don’t worry about oxygen, as the closed-off area allows it to create its own ecosystem.

2. Phone Book Seedbed

Who actually uses phone books anymore? Despite their lack of use thanks to the Internet, which everyone and their grandmother now have access to, they keep showing up on every doorstep once a year. Don’t just toss them out – turn them into a gardening tool! Being biodegradable, they make a great addition to any garden as a seedbed. Just cut out portions to fill with dirt for planting starter seeds. It will help keep the plant straight as it grows.

3. Recycled Terrariums

These are adorable terrariums made out of recycled apothecary jars. Using small nursery plants and any lidded jaw you can find at a craft or secondhand shop, you can make your own. The blog owner has a number of photos on her site to give you ideas. She also has a little how-to guide there, but it is pretty self-explanatory, really. You should be able to make your own with both real and fake plants without much effort.

4. Windowfarms

If you want something truly unique and also attractive, you will love these cool windowfarms. They work by creating a beautiful hanging collection of plants that are attached in a kind of chain running downward from the top of the sill. They capture light well, which is their main positive. This particular type is for edible plants, such as herbs.

5. Indoor Succulent Garden

If you are wanting a succulent garden that can easily be maintained indoors, here is a great DIY guide from The Creative Mama. My favorite part is where she put a little plastic dinosaur in with the plants – adorable and a great decoration with a practical purpose.

Conclusion

Gardening is available to anyone, no matter what your climate. All you need are a few DIY projects to help you get started inside before moving outside or not at all. These can be maintained all year round and are very easy to begin. So get started today!

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An urban ecovillage isn’t a new concept: a quick dig into the Fellowship for Intentional Community’s directory will produce numerous “villages” that exist within urban settings. But could an existing city turn itself into an ecovillage by adopting the kinds of expectations that exist at (much) smaller sustainable communities? Could you, for instance, greatly reduce, or even eliminate, personal car ownership in New York City?

Sounds like a stretch, right? But it’s an idea worth exploring, and Tony Sirna, one of the founders of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage (and – disclosure – one of my fellow board members of the community) digs into the notion in the first of several articles in which he imagines urban spaces operating under his own community’s ecological covenants. Tony defines these covenants as

…the foundation of our ecological expectations of residents and members. Our covenants are based in the belief that radical change is possible and that it will come both through personal choices and through major shifts in physical and social infrastructure. They are based in the understanding that conservation is key, and that only with reduced consumption can technological innovation meet our needs sustainably. We’ve found that cooperation is a powerful tool for conservation and we believe a shift towards more sharing is a big part of the social change we’ll need. Our covenants don’t describe every aspect of a sustainable society, but we’ve found that these few simple rules put us far along the path towards sustainability.

Sounds exactly like city living, right?

In this first article, Tony explores the question I pose above about cars and New York City. How does a community define, for instance, “motorized vehicles?” Could Dancing Rabbit-style vehicle cooperatives work in a “community” of millions of people? What kinds of motorized transportation would be permitted?

Read through Tony’s article on The March Hare (DR’s blog), and join the conversation. Feel free to start one here, also – do you think such expectations for community members could work in a large urban setting?

Image credit: Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage

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