California state regulators voted that PG&E customers can opt-out of smart meter installations, but they'll have to pay a fine and a monthly fee.

Water conservation is obviously a huge concern in Israel and the rest of the Middle East. An interesting startup called Woosh Water is helping conserve water and reduce plastic use by reinventing the public drinking fountain with a high-tech solution.

Here is an interesting buisness idea; grow butterflies to let fly at special ocasions and at the same time help the enviornment as well as people with special needs. The project is called Mariposeando (Spanish for something

Say I love you with these lovely living gifts that go easy on the planet.

But, we ask, are they green and sustainable?

Is your soon-to-be fiancé eco-chic? As you're getting ready to pop the question and thinking forward to your green

Our photo of the day comes from California's Central Coast.

In anticipation of World Environment Day on June 5, the United Nations Environment Programme is hosting a blogging competition to raise awareness about this year’s theme of sustainable consumption.

Inspired by coastal redwoods, scientists have created a new kind of fog harvesting design that appears to increase the capacity of clean water collection by threefold.

Fruit flies play a role in all those fruity flavors we detect as we take whiff of wine fumes. Find out how.

Just what we've been waiting for - an automated home fermentation device that can turn fruit or honey into wine, mead, or cider.

Entirely funded by donations, this project is hoping to provide veterans struggling with PTSD or homelessness free housing, counseling and an experience of the healing power of nature.

Vegan burgers, sausage, deli slices, roasts, seitan, and even jackfruit are moving to the meat department at the nation's leading grocery retailer.

I don't think it would actually work, but it is an innovative way of reskinning buildings

A species of wasp discovered in Thailand has been named for evil spirits invented by J. K. Rowling in her Harry Potter books.

Fewer people are walking and more people are voting with their gas pedal.

There will be indignation, but this is the result of one of the most successful transformations of a market in our lifetime.

Calls came into emergency centers and even the Griffith Observatory from LA residents who described seeing a “giant silvery cloud.”

How would design for obsolescence change if materials that conduct electricity or emit light could be grown and repair themselves, like bone?

Seventy-two days after setting out from Istanbul, champion distance runner Kevin Lin Yi Jie and a small team of other athletes have covered 4,434 kilometers of their 10,00-kilometer goal: Running the

To make this small space more livable, there is an emphasis on filling out the vertical space. Plus, a great tatami-inspired seating area.

This design is a hybrid of existing concrete sea defenses that can hold a mangrove seedling inside.

Infrastructure doesn't have to look boring; this one references an old fable about a mountain utopia and features a modular steel frame.

According to CNN, a 66 year-old man was beaten to death on his front lawn by his 36 year-old neighbor for watering it yesterday in Sydney, Australia. Apparently, the pair started arguing over his water usage, and the victim sprayed his neighbor with

By some oversight we’ve missed the opportunity to alert readers to the International Bicycle Film Festival of 2007 until now. After it has already blitzed 13 cities worldwide, it finds itself skidding to a halt for a few weeks in Australia.

This is the most heartbreaking story we've read all week, and if the idea of a baby whale trailing after a yacht and trying to suckle from it doesn't make you go "awww," then that lump of muscle you call your ticker has been

The world’s largest permanent interactive light installation has been installed in Sydney's recently revitalized Darling Quarter.

Are they good for everyone or just about making money and getting rid of workers?

This is one area of measurement where perhaps the Americans, Liberians and Burmese get it right.

With people living in smaller spaces and with better toilets, perhaps it is.

I am leaning to Responsible Design.

You can't blame them for trying: With the White House set to change hands in less than a year's time - likely bringing on board a more eco-friendly administration - industry groups have been pressing the EPA to squelch stricter air-quality standards

New NASA study offers first direct proof that the ozone hole is recovering thanks to the Montreal Protocol treaty and the international ban on CFCs.

Can humans endure the isolation, self-reliance, and deprivations of travel to Mars and back? Six pale-faced but smiling astronauts answer the question.

A breakthrough in controlling yeast with computers gives a glimpse at where science is headed with controlling lifeforms.

It may have also been done under falsely obtained consent...

Because the iron dumped in the ocean off British Columbia wasn't dumped as waste, it didn't violate international law.

Kevin Kelly explains why the complex interconnectedness of modern technology and society makes disaster relief and system change so challenging.

From now on, thirsty visitors can refill their own bottles at water fountains or grab a reusable cup in the cafeteria.

Shigeru Ban mixes it up next to Arthur Erickson’s Evergreen Building on Vancouver's Coal Harbour

There are just a few small problems standing in the way.

What's the point of protecting the environment if bad luck brings a big space rock on a trajectory that crosses Earth's path?

A visual breakdown of emissions by country and industry.

The Greatest Outdoor Gear How do you make the greatest outdoor gear? We went to Empire Canvas Works' Kevin Kinney to find out. If the quality of Kevin's work is any indication, the recipe is clear. Start with a passion seeded by stitching together a

A hydropower turbine has the potential to not only create energy, but has also sparked the creation of both a renewable energy company and a renewable energy education program in Maine.

The company says this system is simpler than other wave devices that need to be finely tuned to the waves to pick up their energy.

Sad Anniversary digg_url = 'http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/one-year-later-tva-toxic-coal-ash-spill-tennessee.php';A year ago, a massive coal ash spill took place in Tennessee. About 5.4 million cubic yards of ash ended up in a river and

After a storm hit Tennessee last Sunday and Nashville saw record-shattering rainfall, the Cumberland River swelled to overflowing and the city experienced an epic flood. As soon as it was safe, residents were out

Late last month, when officer Shelley Hammonds of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency received word of an animal in distress, it might have sounded like a routine rescue operation. Witnesses described

These "plug-and-play" donkeys, equipped with solar panels, allow sheepherders to catch up on the news and socializing while out on their rounds.