Every FSC product and building material has a tracking number that points to the source of the wood or paper. It shows, as explained in this personal story by Franke James, “Who Cares About the Forest.“ If you’re in charge of purchasing wood products, you should watch this informative and thoughtful video (while keeping in mind that it was underwritten by FSC Canada).
This 2,600 square-foot home in Kansas City was built with five, used shipping containers from China and designed by owner Debbie Glassberg. Referred to as Home Contained, the project has a green roof, spray foam insulation, passive solar design, and geothermal heating. Watch this video below with Glassberg providing a tour of the place:
The Johnsons, a four-person family in Mill Valley, California, have been called “extreme,” “austere,” and “OCD,” by some onlookers. But I appreciate what they’re trying to do. The family has been on a trash diet to completely eliminate garbage and waste. In fact, they only produced two handfuls of trash in a year, according to Sunset Magazine!
In this rather concise TED video, Kamal Meattle explains that there are three common plants that can be used to grow all the fresh air needed to maintain human health. Research suggests that these plants can help with tight, energy-efficient structures to mitigate what’s commonly referred to as sick building syndrome. The plants are:
Gypsy Junker, a 24 square-foot shack built by Derek Diedricksen, recently hit the New York Times and the article is blowing up right now. The Gray Lady published some excellent photos, which you can see in the Home & Garden section.
There’s a YouTube channel with four videos of William McDonough’s “Deep Dive” at West Coast Green 2010. All of them are worth watching, but I thought it would be worthwhile to share the one about NASA’s innovative Sustainability Base in Silicon Valley.
