You may remember our $8500 Laundry Room Makeover contest, where we teamed up with Method to give away an incredible green laundry room renovation. Well, more than 100,000 entries later we’re thrilled to announce that our grand prize winner is…. Karen Murphy of Connecticut! She’ll be receiving a complete eco-makeover of her entire laundry room — from new flooring and a fresh re-design to a brand new energy-efficient washer and dryer, not to mention an entire year’s supply of Method’s eco-friendly laundry detergent!

Read the rest of Announcing: Our $8500 Method Laundry Room Makeover Winner!

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Post tags: eco design, eco laundry, eco laundry room, green design, laundry room, laundry room makeover, method, method laundry room makeover, sustainable design

Attempting to speed up the oil spill clean up in the Gulf, BP has just tapped the world’s largest oil skimming vessel. This converted Taiwanese cargo ship known as “A Whale” was put through her paces during a trial run this past weekend in a 25 square mile area north of the ruptured well. Capable of skimming roughly 21 million gallons of oil each day, it’s nearly 250 times more efficient than many of the 550 converted fishing boats and other vessels presently being employed as skimmers. The results of this weekend’s tests are expected later today, and if all went according to plan, A Whale will become a central part of BP’s $3 billion cleanup operation.

Read the rest of Oil Spill Costs Rise to $3 Billion as BP Tests World’s Largest Skimming Ship

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Post tags: a whale, bp gulf spill, BP oil skimmer, bp oil spill, british petroleum, cargo ship skimming, deepwater horizon, gulf coast oil spill, Gulf oil spill, New York Design Week 2009, NY Design Week 2009, oil skimmer, Oil Skimming vessel, oil spill, oil spill cleanup, skimmer, skimming vessel, taiwanese skimming, taiwanese vessel

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ATTENTION GREEN BUILDERS!

We’re still energized from the success of our Webcast Editors Roundtable yesterday, and we’re thrilled to announce the next installation of Green Talks this coming Monday! On Monday, October 19, at 2:00pm EST, Inhabitat founder and editor-in-chief Jill Fehrenbacher will be moderate a live conversation with USGBC Vice President Tom Hicks on greenbuilding practices, LEED and the USGBC. The second installment in our series of Green Talks will provide an inside look at the USGBC, exploring advances and initiatives that are driving sustainable building both stateside and abroad. This presentation and discussion is sure to be really thought provoking, and we want YOU to join us!

SIGN UP HERE TO JOIN IN THE CONVERSATION >

Read the rest of ANNOUNCING: Our Next Green Talk with Tom Hicks of the USGBC!

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Announcing Green Talks! Starting next week, Inhabitat will be hosting a series of webcasts with sustainability luminaries from across the US, and we want you to join in the conversation! These interactive online meet-ups will focus on green architecture and design in three cities that have been making huge strides toward sustainability – Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco. We’ll be harnessing Adobe Connect Pro to bring together readers from around the world, and we’re inviting you to get involved as we interview top civil and sustainability leaders and discuss these experts’ ideas for improving cities. Stay tuned for more info as we unveil our lineup of speakers!

+ Inhabitat Green Talks

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Post tags: "announcement", Adobe Green Talks, green design, inhabitat, sustainable design, web meeting, webcast

Wouldn’t it be amazing if the old magnifying glass on a sunny day trick could be used for good instead of evil? Well, meet the SunCatcher. Created by Stirling Energy Systems in collaboration with Tessera Solar, the SunCatcher is a parabolic dish composed entirely of precision mirrors. Following the sun from east to west, the SunCatcher squeezes every last drop of energy out of the sun’s rays by focusing the light onto its very own innovative and truly sustainable power conversion unit. Read on to find out how it works!

Read the rest of The SunCatcher: Concentrating Solar Dishes Set Efficiency Record

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Post tags: alternative energy, green design, renewable energy, Solar Power, stirling energy systems, suncatcher, sustainable design, tessera solar

Now that I’ve spent a bit of time with my Cobi chair, I feel it’s only fair that I tell you all a little about my experience. Long story short, I love it. It’s improved my working posture, comfort, and most importantly, my ability to sit at my desk for the entire workday. Most surprising of all, its balancing mechanisms, which are intended to focus on center of gravity rather than weight, actually work well. The chair comes in just about any color you could want, and SmartFurniture.com’s 3-Minute Design Tool makes it easy to get a little adventurous. Read on to see how you can win a Cobi chair of your own for free!

Read the rest of There’s Still Time to Win an Eco-Friendly Cobi Office Chair!

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Post tags: cobi chair, Competition, contest, eco office chair, green chair

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Inhabitat is rapidly growing into a full-fledged media empire, and it’s about time we enlisted the help of an elite group of rockstar interns to lend a hand as we develop new products and properties that will help take our brand and content to new levels. So, if you’re based in the NYC area and interested in becoming involved in the growth phase of future Inhabitat ventures, please read on!

Read the rest of INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY: Inhabitat Is Looking For Fall Interns!

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Post tags: "announcement", fall internship, green design, inhabitat

Our friends at SmartFurniture.com are offering eco-chair connoisseurs a chance to win one of five sustainably made free Cobi Chairs. Designed by PearsonLloyd in collaboration with Steelcase, the Cobi Chair was created in response to a problem we’ve all experienced and lamented at one time or another: sitting in one chair for a long time hurts. Focused on center of gravity rather than weight, the Cobi Chair makes self-adjustments to ensure perfect balance and posture, and it’s so effective that all you need do is find a comfortable height and let the chair do the rest. And the fact that the Cobi Chair’s entire lifecycle is sustainable means it’s easy to focus on the task at hand without worrying about your environmental impact.

Read the rest of Win a Free Eco Office Chair at SmartFurniture.com!

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Post tags: cobi chair, cobi contest, eco chair, smartfurniture.com, sustainable chairs

You may remember that back in April we announced a design contest to do a virtual room makeover in Comcast Town. The prize was a collection of sweet new home entertainment electronics and a green room makeover by our editor-in-chief (and green designer extraordinaire) Jill Fehrenbacher.

Well, it is our sincerest pleasure to announce that the winner of the Comcast Town Interior Design Contest is… none other than Howard J Dudy! Howard delivered a stunning performance with the design of his own tropical paradise, complete with aquarium, beautiful hardwood floors, and a lovely palm tree. As winner of the Comcast Town Contest, Howard will receive a 40-inch Sony BRAVIA® HDTV, a Sony VAIO® AW laptop, and a Philips digital phone as well as a green room makeover worth up to $30,000, designed by our very own LEED-AP Jill Fehrenbacher! Stay tuned to see the process and result later this summer right here on Inhabitat.

Congratulations, Howard!

+ Comcast Town

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Post tags: comcast town, Competition, green design, interior design, sustainable design, winner

Civil engineers at MIT are currently exploring ways to create concrete with reduced creep that will be able to last for 16,000 years. Concrete is one of the most frequently used and widely produced man-made building materials on earth, with over 20 billion tons produced per year globally. The use of new ultra high density concrete will have enormous environmental implications, given its ability to deliver lighter, stronger structures capable of lasting many civilizations, while drastically decreasing the carbon emissions sent into the atmosphere by its inferior predecessor.

Read the rest of MIT Discovery Means Next-Gen Concrete Could Last for 16,000 Years

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Post tags: building material, concrete, Franz-Josef Ulm, Georgios Constantinides, green design, MIT, sustainable design

Tired of saving your fruit and veggie scraps only to have to carry them to another location to compost? You’ll be happy to hear that designers Leonardo Fortino and Andrea Bartolucci have developed an ingenious solution for precisely this problem: Jarst. Featuring a seal drum and cap inside a traditional flower pot, Jarst brings composting right to your countertop and makes sure plants get the nutrients and energy they need to stay happy, healthy, and in some cases, delicious. Fresh basil, anyone?

Read the rest of Bring Composting to Your Countertop with the Jarst Planter

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Post tags: composter, composting bin, composting vase, Gardening, green design, green solutions, jarst, planter, sustainable design