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Vincent Callebaut Designs "Bionic Arch"- A Green Skyscraper For Taiwan

When Jerry wrote about Vincent Callebaut's proposed vertical farm for New York City, he called it a Locavore Wet Dream; I called it one of the silliest, most overwrought jump-the-shark vertical farm ideas ever




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Food in Focus at New Wetlands Art Show

This year's Cheng Long Wetlands International Environmental Art Project is asking artists to create sculptures using local materials such as oyster shells and bamboo to spark dialogue about healthier ways to produce food in Taiwan.




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Could Cities Benefit from Small-Scale, Local "Urban Acupuncture" Projects Like This? (Photos)

Woven from bamboo, this inviting structure transforms an empty lot in busy Taipei into a haven where neighborhood residents can relax and gather over a fire.




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236 sq. ft. micro-apartment stacks & maximizes its interior up in Taipei

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




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These clever concrete defense pods double as mangrove planters (Video)

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




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Taipei's forest bus brings lush nature to the concrete jungle

Draped in moss, orchids, lilies, and ferns, this city bus transports riders to a whole new world.




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Tiny 355 sq. ft. micro-apartment is expanded with adaptable mini-loft

A small apartment gets enlarged by knocking some walls down and adding a multi-functional staircase and mini-loft.




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Space-saving design makes one child's bedroom a fun hideaway

A small child's bedroom becomes a magical little place to sleep and play.




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Arched basement coworking space offers inspiring 'rain of light'

An old basement is transformed into a beautiful new shared multipurpose space for working, learning and leisure.




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Small 420 sq. ft. apartment gets multifunctional redesign

Multifunctional zones and a sleeping loft enlarge this small apartment in Taipei.




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Former piano studio converted into modern 189 sq. ft. micro-apartment

Once a centrally located piano practice space, it's been converted into a comfortable little apartment with the help of some smart space-saving strategies.




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People of Sydney: Tell Us About Your City

Sydney is white Australia's birthplace, settled as a penal colony in 1788. Many of its first white inhabitants would be very surprised to learn that it is now often recognized as one of the world's top ten most liveable cities. Earlier this year it was




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Foaming Ocean Whips Beachgoers into a Frenzy

Beach-side foam party gone out of control? Not quite. A shoreline north of Sydney, Australia was transformed into the "Cappuccino Coast," as one journalist put it, with foam swallowing up an entire beach and half the nearby buildings, including the




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Elderly Man Killed By Neighbor for Watering Lawn in Australia

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




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Australia Stepping Back From The Coal-Fired Edge

Climate change is powerfully symbolized by severe drought. Extended, widespread drought can make potable water scarce. Desalination plants are energy intensive and expensive to build and run: the several recently build or planned for Australia may




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International Bicycle Film Festival Comes Down Under

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.




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Is Zero-Carbon Farming Even Possible?

That's the question I'm scratching my head over while reading about the ambitious goals of one Douglas Jones, a 20 year old studying at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia who hopes to turn his family's 1500 acre dairy




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Happy Birthday Alfalfa House

Alfalfa House provides low-cost, ethically-produced and minimally-packaged wholefoods which are predominately organic, biodynamic, as well as




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Earth Hour 2008 From Sydney, Australia

Last year, for the very first Earth Hour, we bundled ourselves up a picnic supper and drove off to the parking nightmare that is the north shore of Sydney Harbour. Sitting in the gloaming of a nature reserve, with hundreds of other Earth Hour devotees.




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Lost Baby Whale Mistakes Yacht for Its Mother, Later Put Down

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




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Sydney Becomes Australia's First Carbon-Neutral Government Body

Last month the City of Sydney declared that it had become Australia’s first carbon neutral government. It is important to note that whilst the total area of this southern metropolis is said to be equal to the size of London




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Students Design for Change at Australian GreenTECH

For all the talk of green design and eco lifestyles, it’s odd that Australia has so few events for businesses, organisations and institutions to showcase their wares in this area. Melbourne does have its very well attended Sustainable Living Festival,




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eCycleway - Safe Urban Cycling or Dangerous Segregation?

It is an undisputed truth that the majority of American cities have incomplete bicycling infrastructures. This is perhaps especially true in Los Angeles, where




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From 200 Bikes, One Amazing Sculpture: Sydney Art Celebrates the Green Life

It's a safe bet that few, if any, of Sydney's bicycle commuters go with penny farthings as their two-wheeler of choice. The outdated ride (popular in the 1870s) is most used these days for its retro value and the




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Australia's First Green Star Public Housing Project Opens in Sydney

Green Star is to Australian commercial and government buildings, what LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) is to American structures of a similar ilk. The 5 Green Star rated Lilyfield Housing Redevelopment in inner




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Greenhouse: Sydney's Traveling, 'Waste-Free' Strawbale Restaurant by Joost Bakker

In our conventional, resource-intensive food and building industries, 'waste-free' may seem like an alien concept, which makes projects like Australia's Greenhouse all the more impressive. Touted as a




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Luminous Fish Bikes Light Up Sydney Festival

A trio of awesome fish bikes made a rousing debut at this arts festival in Australia.




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Laneway Studio is a tiny rooftop house in the city

Built on top of an existing garage, this laneway house in Australia makes use of what's already there.




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Do you prefer a paper book or an e-book? (Survey)

A recent post that claimed readers absorb less from e-books. I wonder (and so do many commenters) if that's really true.




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How long would your home's food supply last if you had to rely on it?

The Resilient Design Institute suggests we should all have six weeks of food in our homes. Too much or too little?




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If you had a choice: Eat-in kitchen or separate dining room?

I think open kitchens are greener and more efficient, but others like a separation.




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Is Fahrenheit a better temperature scale than Celsius? (Survey)

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




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Some like it Hütte Hut: the Tiffany of Teardrops

It's a thing of beauty but really expensive. Poll: Hütte or Nüts?




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A flatpack pot: hot or not?

It does take up a lot less space, but there are issues.




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Is it time for the toilet to finally come out of the (water) closet?

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




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Trulia study finds Americans say they care about the environment but aren't willing to pay for it

The extremely dated "It ain't easy being green" title of this Trulia survey actually misinterprets the data; judging by the questions they asked, it is perfectly easy being green; it just ain't cheap.




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Are you a successful minimalist?

Which of these two images does your place look like?




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One-a-day bananas: Genius at work or waste of packaging? (Survey)

Bananas are already in a perfect package. But is this even better?




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Photo: Grand Canyon's Havasu Falls are a picture of paradise

Our photo of the day comes from the 15th oldest U.S. national park.




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Who's Looking Out for Your Lungs? Industry and Legislators Pressing EPA to Drop Tighter Ozone Standards

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




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Could Fixing the Ozone Layer's Hole Make Global Warming Worse?

Talk about a lose-lose situation: On one hand, not taking any action to repair the hole would allow harmful UV radiation to percolate through; on the other hand, helping to accelerate its recovery could strengthen global warming by




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Scientists Develop Potent Acids to Take Down Destructive Fluorocarbons

While their brethren, the dreaded chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), may be on the wane, fluorocarbons -- a class of equally dangerous industrial gases -- are still wreaking havoc. As the name implies, the main distinguishing characteristic between CFCs and




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Asthma Inhalers' Green Upgrade Deadline Fast Approaching

Good news: The ban on CFC-based asthma inhalers is rapidly approaching. Inhalers are going green and by December 31, all inhalers must be powered by hydrofluoroalkane (HFA) instead of the ozone-harming chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).




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Ozone Depletion Contributes to Ocean Acidification in the Southern Ocean

Forty percent: That is the share of annual oceanic carbon dioxide uptake accounted for by the Southern Ocean. Given that oceans comprise Earth's largest carbon sink, that is not an insignificant figure;




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Beautiful Sweaty Snowflakes Dissolve Polar Ozone

Image credit: Purdue University photo/Shepson Lab digg_url = 'http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/beautiful-sweaty-snowflakes-dissolve-polar-ozone.php';Snowflakes, we have seen, are beautiful and diverse but they are not inert byproducts of cold




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The Secret Life of the Sun (Slideshow)

We rely on the sun for everything from powering up our electronics to basic heat and warmth for survival, but this massive star does more than just send light our way: It's a huge nuclear reactor with explosions, eruptions, storms,




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California Paves the Way for Lower-VOC Cleaning Products to Reduce Smog

Household cleaning products in the U.S. might soon be a little greener, thanks to a new rule in California that will require companies to reformulate products so they contain fewer volatile organic compounds, or




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Ozone hole is officially shrinking, proof that international treaties can be effective

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.




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Reflecting Sunlight Away From Earth to Cool the Planet Could Help Some Places, Really Hurt Others

Among the more high risk methods of geoengineering, methods that reflect sunlight away from the Earth to counteract temperature rise are right up there in terms of potential unintended consequences. Well, a new piece of




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First-Ever Geoengineering Research Ban Considered by Convention on Biological Diversity

While preservation of the planet's dwindling biodiversity itself has rightly grabbed the headlines at the ongoing Convention on Biological Diversity in Japan, Science Insider points out an important geoengineering