Eco Link Love

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We hope you’re all having a great holiday weekend.-We want to see our cities overflowing with urban gardens, horizontal and vertical, until our cities are thoroughly home-grown. Over at Wired, Clive Thompson is of a similar mind – except it’s victory gardening that he wants to see as the driving force. (Here’s our Vanessa on the same topic).-"You know you’re a shopaholic if a thief steals all your credit cards and goes …

Light's Out for England's Churches?

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I’d like to bring up a challenging topic for discussion with you all. What responsibility do churches have to encourage their parishioners to be responsible stewards of the Earth? If all animals and ecosystems are part of God’s magnificent creation, isn’t it imperative that Christians (to name just one faith as the predominant example) step forward to take care of the environment?

The Church of England is setting forth some ecologically-sound guidelines in a newly published book “Don’t Stop at the Lights.” This book proposes that parishioners not only replace their light bulbs, but that …

Bakeware-Inspired Brilliance

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Art is born of ingenuity and creativity – but is often inspired by the everyday. Familiar with the tradition of baking chapati flat bread from scratch, cottage industry artisans from India found creative potential in one of their culture’s most common pieces of bakeware. Hand-hewn and chiseled from a solid block of sustainable mango wood, the Chapati candle tray is filled with eco-friendly soy wax that anchors three wicks to fit its oval shape. Burn your candle periodically throughout the next several months and, when the holidays roll around, you’ll have the perfect

Honey for Healing

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I’ve always considered honey more of a medicine than a food, considering that eating small amounts of raw, local honey can help build immunities to pollen allergies. And now honey – specifically New Zealand Manuka honey – has been shown to have another medical purpose: dressing wounds.
Manuka honey (Leptospermum scoparium) has incredible antibacterial properties – even against antibiotic resistant strains. It can be eaten by the spoonful (truly your "spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down") or applied to cuts and scrapes for healing. But in …

Yurts: Taking Your Business Outside

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It seems an unspoken rule that all modern businesses never have enough conference rooms free. So here’s an idea – go sit outside.
During my Archaeology degree here in England, when the weather was good enough (a rare occurence), our lecturers would hold seminars on the lawns outside the department, snaking a power cable inside when electrical equipment was required. The only distraction was the view – a tent around us would have been ideal. And that’s the thinking behind the Nomad, a spacious, luxurious tent modelled on the Mongolian wood-framed yurt (or …

Flirting for the Earth

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Even Mother Nature likes to get a little bit flirty.
Designer Lav & Kush tout themselves the "flirt of sustainable fashion".
In Hindu mythology, Lav and Kush are the protectors of the forest. Lav & Kush designers do their part through a 100% sustainable textile line of soy and bamboo, with an emphasis on yarn quality and sheer, curve-hugging drape. The collections are femininity embodied and true to their motto of "confident and coy". All the looks are beautiful in their lush celebration of the female form, but don’t miss this …

Good Karma Farming

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Most of us grew up thinking that Old McDonald had a farm with happy cows and happy chickens, not necessarily making the connection between those critters and our Happy Meals. As sustainable family farms give way to industrialized factory versions, the romantic farming dream is quickly being tossed into the slop pile.
However, some family farms are not just surviving, but thriving. Take Tramar Farms in Iowa. Now on their 3rd generation of farmers, this small, sustainable operation doesn’t intend to compete with huge chicken ranches, but wants instead to build lasting relationships …

20 Unforgettable Works of Environmental Art

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Environmental art has the power to change the way we view our world. Some artists showcase the innate beauty in nature, while others make a statement with agit-prop or controversial imagery. Here are 20 powerful and unforgettable works whose artists seek to make you rethink your relationship with the Earth and its creatures.

1. Earth from the Air

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Earth from the Air by Jann Arthus-Bertrand. A photographic documentation of the planet. Not just pictures, but portraits, showing a sense of place in many places around the …