Stuff We Found This Weekend - 05.31.09

Wow!

Family, Kids & Health Stuff

• Eco Day Camps: Want kids to head outside this summer...? - (Ideal Bite) "Just sign up your squirts for eco day camp. They'll learn about nature, farming, science, and sustainability - and have some kitschy fun while they're at it." Some great suggestions in this post.
• Solar-Powered 6-in-1 Robot Drives, Flies and Floats - (EarthFirst) "For $21 you can distract your kids – or amuse yourself – with a fun kit that can be transformed into six different solar-powered robots."
• Modularean Eco Prefab Dollhouse - (Inhabitots) Looking for a dollhouse for your little one? This has got to be the coolest we've seen (and it's made from sustainable materials)...wouldn't mind having one of these in full-size!
• Parenting for a peaceful world - (Mother Nature Network) "Does your parenting style affect society as a whole?...an interesting book that delves into how child-rearing customs have shaped societies and major world events."

Food Stuff

• Massaged Kale & Current Salad with Gorgonzola - (Cookus Interruptus) Massaging your food...this looks like a fun recipe to try!
• Best-Selling Author John Robbins Gives The Low Down On Meat-Free Diets - (Ecorazzi) Warning - video in this post is graphic and difficult to watch.
• The Green Review: New Documentary "Fresh" Inspires Food Reform - (Ecorazzi) "Fresh featured a cast of real life characters who literally spend every minute of every day inspiribg the world to change our relationship with food."
• The unhealthy truth - (Mother Nature Network) Book - The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food is Making Us Sick – and What We Can Do About It - "...modern developments in our food system very well might be the reason that so many children in the United States are disproportionately sick..."

Home Stuff

• Growing Chair: From the Forest to Your Living Room - (EarthFirst) This could be cool as backyard furniture so that it can keep growing as stay green.
• Helpful Tips On What To Do With Baking Soda - (EcoFriendlyDaily.com) Who knew you could do so much with baking soda...okay, well maybe our grandmas...
  
• Salvaged Dreams: Recycled Plates & Bowls by Fox & Clover - (Green Your Decor) These are gorgeous, handpainted plates and bowls made of recycled/repurposed glass.
• 32 amazing Examples of Recycled Furniture Art - (WebEcoist) Some of these are a bit odd, but some are pretty cool.

Beauty & Fashion Stuff

• Reviving Vintage Bags - (GirlSustainable.com) We love vintage, and these reworked bags are gorgeous.
  
• Berries - Ingredients in Anti-Aging Skincare - (Green Living Ideas) You can even make your own skin toner - see post.

Tech & Science Stuff

• Concentrated Solar Power Could Generate 25% of the World's Electricity by 2050 - (CleanTechnica) "...study from Greenpeace, the European Solar Thermal Agency, and the International Energy Agency’s SolarPACES Group..."
• General Motors First Hybrid: from 1969! - (Gas 2.0) Just imagine where we could be today if we actually made and bought hybrids back then.
  
• Google's new formula for energy independence - (Mother Nature Network) "Google lays out a plan to make renewable energy cheaper than coal."

Work & Business Stuff

• Great Green Job of the Week: Communications Director, Amazon Watch - (EarthFirst) "Join Amazon Watch, a dynamic organization that has led the way to ground breaking victories for indigenous peoples’ rights and the environment..."
• Green Jobs From Home - May 30, 2009 - (Green Gigs)
  
• Choose a green career - (Mother Nature Network) Now there's an Idiot's Guide to Green Careers!

Nature & Environment Stuff

• Climate Change Kills 300,000 A Year - (AboutMyPlanet.com) "Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan led a think-tank study which...found that climate change related deaths number around 300,000 a year.
• Can Desalination Projects Remedy California's Drought Problem? - (Blue Living Ideas) Possible in the short run...but bad in the long run?
• Carbon Emissions in U.S. Make Biggest Decline Since 1982 - (Global Warming Is Real) Just too bad that it took a dive in the economy for this to happen.
  
• Agency says climate change amplifying animal disease - (Grist) "Climate change is widening viral disease among farm animals, expanding the spread of some microbes that are also a known risk to humans, the world’s top agency for animal health said on Monday."
• Global Warming Will Harm U.S. Poor Disproportionately - (TheDailyGreen) "Study highlights risks of climate change to poor and minority populations within the U.S."

Arts, Entertainment & Travel Stuff

• Why Cate cares about climate change - (Celebs Gone Good) "She traveled to Copenhagen on Monday to participate in the World Business Summit and give business leaders a piece of her mind."
• HOME - a date with the planet video - (CTN Green News) "Spectacular Videography of the Planet, in a Film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. THIS FILM IS STUNNING. We all have the power to change … so what are we waiting for?" (trailer video in post)
• Prius Stars in Casual Mafia's Rap Video - (EarthFirst) this is funny.
  
• ECO ART: Plastic Bottle Installation in NYC - (Inhabitat) "Sometimes it is hard to truly grasp how much waste we create as a society. That’s why NYC-based graphic design agency, MSLK is creating an installation that is an in-your-face visual of the amount of water bottles consumed in the United States. " (video in post)

International Stuff

• China to Impost Stricter Gas Mileage Rules Than U.S. - (EcoGeek) "While China still has a long way to go in cleaning up their technologies, they've repeatedly shown great ambition and advancements in areas like electric cars and renewable energy."

Political, Social & Economy Stuff

• The Prez hits up DC's "Five Guys" restaurant for lunch - (Obama Pics Daily) Fun pics.
• The FLOTUS @ Bancroft Elementary School - (Obama Pics Daily) Kids just seem to love her.
• Photos from Obama's Great-Uncle - (Obama Pics Daily) Kind of neat to see...
  
• The Military responds to Global Warming - (Change.org: Stop Global Warming) "Could the U.S. military help lead the nation into a clean energy future?" Could be the best way to get naysayers to realize how important this issue is.

Other Random Cool Stuff

• Activist Nuns convince Chevron to Track its Carbon Footprint - (EarthFirst) That's what we call "good sisters".
• The Butts Remain - (EcoSalon) Cigarette butts, that is... "Cigarettes might go up in smoke but the butts remain and account for 1.7 billion pounds of non-biodegradable trash."
• Global Warming's Six Americas 2009: An Audience Segmentation -(Goerge Mason University: Center for Climate Change Communication) Interesting report on on how Americans are divided on their perception of global warming...eye opening. This is a PDF file to download.
• Blowin In The Wind - (Ecopreneurist) Funny cartoon.
• Trade this for that: Compact discs - (Mother Nature Network) "CD-Rs are wasteful. Why not try CD-RWs packaged in recycled plastic?"
• Ka-ching, ka-green - (Mother Nature Network) "Save the planet -- one credit card purchase at a time."