Ecoscraps

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In 1963, the Heineken World Bottle, the“brick that holds beer”, was created after Mr. Heineken visited the Caribbean.  He saw two problems: beaches littered with bottles and a lack of affordable building materials.  The solution:  beer bottle bricks!

Source:  Frost Fire Zoo

UK Supermarket goes green growing tomatoes for power.
Photograph: Martin Argles

It’s long been a concern of mine - a concern that has been growing in recent months.How exactly do you get the public on board, get them to make green choices? Gordon Brown dreams of 100,000 sustainable homes being built.

Only 99,997 to go then.

Only three sustainable homes built in UK so far.

Image courtesy of Flickr.

An interesting report ran in The Guardian today - offering tips on how your community could become greener by way of the green living awards.

Environmentally friendly scuba diving, a new kind of courier bicycle service, the “scrapmobile” and more. A thoroughly positive and refreshing report as we head into the weekend.

A very green DIY house renovation in Chicago: the Heppner residence at the Chicago area green building blog Green Bean.

“They have also recycled all the metal, concrete, glass blocks and windows with the assistance of a local scrapper. All new materials are required to meet at least one of the following criteria: sustainable, durable, recycled/recover content, produced locally, low or no VOC, formaldehyde free, plantation grown, rapidly renewable, or FSC certified.”

Growing by an impressive average of 48 percent each year since 2002, PV production has been doubling every two years, making it the world’s fastest-growing energy source.

(More on this at Environmental News Network)

(Image courtesy of 24volt.co.uk)

The California Academy of Sciences next week begins its “Great Migration” from its Howard Street museum and aquarium to a cutting-edge, green-designed new facility in Golden Gate Park.

Photo courtesy of the California Academy of Sciences, http://www.calacademy.org/geninfo/newsroom/releases/2007/howard_closing.php.

In looking for ways to build a stronger, more hurricane-resistant home to replace his mother’s storm-damaged house in Indialantic, Florida, Developer Mark Baker and his wife Nonnie Crystal discovered that solid often means green as well. They hope to unveil the “Florida’s Showcase Green Envirohome” — which they call the world’s greenest home — early next year.

CNN reports that Al Gore has greened up his hotly-debated Nashville home. Take that, haters.

Towering 1,700 feet above Chicago, this 4.4 million square foot building is going green.