consumerism
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‘The Story of Broke,’ Annie Leonard’s new video
Annie Leonard made a splash with her viral video about our consumerist society, “The Story of Stuff,” which inspired a book, an in-depth website, and a series of spinoffs. Her latest installment in the series is “The Story of Broke” — watch it here: The video in a nutshell: The Story of Broke: Why there’s […]
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Designers launch high-fashion bicycle labels
Do you wish you could bike more, but you can't bear the thought of going your whole commute without flashing high-end labels? Okay, probably not, but if you were we'd have a solution for you. Kate Spade, Missoni, and Ralph Lauren have all launched designer bikes this year. According to the rules of a New […]
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Patagonia asks customers to overthrow capitalism’s basic tenets
Patagonia, the official apparel of green-minded outdoorsy people and all of San Francisco, wants its customers to buy fewer of its products. Instead, the company is asking that Patagonia lovers reuse and repair their clothes. The company will mend its products for cheap, and help customers sell them on eBay or through their website. It […]
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Too lazy to go green? Hire an eco-concierge
Have you ever been sitting around the Drones Club, throwing rolls around, and thought to yourself, "gosh, going green is very hot right now, but it sounds hard! I wish I could use my gobs of money to pay someone else to do it for me." Well, if you have, you're probably not reading this […]
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Huge, polluting container ships that carry all our stuff clean up their act
Everyone knows that our iPads, clothes, kitchen appliances, furniture—our entire lives, basically—are made in China. But everyone might not know the container ships that bring that stuff over to the U.S. are climate-destroying juggernauts. According to OnEarth, just one container ship emits as much sulfur oxide (the stuff that makes smog) per year as 50 million cars. Plus, shipping accounts for 3.5 percent of all GHG emissions, twice as much as aviation.
The good news is that air pollution rules are pushing container shipping companies to clean up their act. -
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Reenact global warming in your cocktail
This Japanese site sells ice cube molds depicting penguins and polar bears sitting on ice floes. As the ice melts, both the floes and the critters are destroyed, making this a pretty good simulation of the effects of global warming. Finally, a product that combines climate education with all the drinking you need to do […]
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Got trash? Put a kitten in it.
The Etsy shop Atomic Attic makes upcycled pet beds and feeding trays out of old suitcases and vintage electronics, thus making use of a cat's natural tendency to sit on any damn thing you happen to have lying around. My dog wouldn't fit in a suitcase — maybe a steamer trunk — but I love […]
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Just shut up and love this bicycle mustache
"Oh, there's no way I'm that much of a hipster," you say. "Sure, I like to bike to my community garden to pick up some herbs to go with the eggs from my rooftop chicken coop while listening to Dave Roberts' latest music recommendation, but ironic facial hair for a bike — it's just a […]
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Are these eco-friendly sandals worth $18,000?
Chipkos, a company that produces eco-friendly footwear, has partnered with artist David Palmer to produce the world's most expensive pair of flip-flops. They cost $18,000, but hey, at least they're really ugly!
