Swedish advertising company, Acne, put together a rather eye-catching advertising campaign for Flygbussarna, an airport coach bus service, to inspire individual car drivers to take the coach bus instead. An installation made up of 50 wrecked cars resembling a Flygbussarna coach bus was placed next to the highway leading to the Swedish airport. Acne used 50 cars to emphasize that a coach bus can seat up to 50 people whereas, on average, an individual car has only 1.2 people. Consider that with the fact that a coach bus releases no more carbon than 4 cars. The campaign also included a website where visitors could watch cars whizz past the installation. The website tracked the number of cars that drove by and how much carbon could have been saved if those drivers had taken a bus instead.

Read the rest of Deceiving Eco Art: Is This One Huge Bus or Fifty Cars?

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Post tags: carbon emissions car, eco activism, eco advertising, environmental advertising campaign, green advertising campaign, public transporation

Hey New York Readers!

If you live in New York City, we hope that you’ve made it down to the new Hester Street Fair in the Lower East Side. The awesome flea-market/street fair opened in May, bringing together local craft and food vendors to sell their wares, and recently added a Greenmarket in June. Now we’re excited to announce yet another local green initiative for the neighborhood fair — Hester Street Fair has partnered with Lower East Side Ecology Center to set up an e-waste recycling center this weekend! So dig those old broken and outdated electronics out of your closets and drawers and go to the Lower East Side Ecology Center website to find out what you can drop off THIS WEEKEND!

Read the rest of Recycle Your E-Waste at NYC’s Hester Street Fair THIS WEEKEND!

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Post tags: e-waste, e-waste recycling, e-wate, electronics recycling, electronics recycling drop-off, electronics waste, Hester Street Fair, Hester Street Market, inhabitat, lower east side street fair, new york city street fairs

Seattle-based architect Don Frothingham has converted an old dairy barn into a beautiful modern home on scenic Bainbridge Island in Washington. Offering 3 bedrooms, expansive interior living spaces and plenty of outdoor recreation, the home exudes agrarian charm and is updated with modern conveniences that prove to be quite eco-friendly as well.

Read the rest of Old Dairy Barn Converted Into an Eco Home Filled With Rustic Charm

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Post tags: barn renovation, converted barn, eco friendly renovation, green builsing, green renovation, renovated barn, Sustainable Building

Wondering how to express your budding love for a fellow dirt aficionado? Try a soil and nutrient packed Luvmud by architecture and strategic consulting firm, super-interesting! A heart-shaped seed bomb packed with soil, worm castings, cow manure, clay, coconut coir and herb or vegetable seeds, they’re the perfect way to say, “I love you and the earth.” In celebration of Valentine’s Day, super-interesting! will be giving away their Luvmuds at Spring Art + Design, located at 156a Front Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn starting Friday at noon. Unlike your undying love for your sweetie, there is a limited amount of free Luvmuds, so be sure to pick one up early!

+ Luvmud

+ super-interesting!

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Post tags: eco friendly valentine's day, green valentine gifts, green valentines day, seed bomb, urban gardening, urban greening, valentine's day

Lately it seems that everyone is fixated on food — its production, its enhancement, its delivery and consumption, and ultimately our evolving relationship with it. Amidst this food frenzy, progressive designers have sought new ways to grow food easily and in tight spaces. The Urb Garden, designed by Xavier Calluaud, is a vertical garden outfitted with modular cubby holes and an integrated worm farm, making it a perfect all-in-one solution for urban gardeners. As an added bonus, when fully planted, the Urb Garden looks a lot like an attractive green wall.

Read the rest of The Urb Garden Helps Urban Gardeners Grow Food at Home

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Post tags: commerical food production, food networks, food system, urban agriculture, urban farm, urban food systems, urban gardening

The end of the COP15 Climate Conference is rapidly approaching, and the web is rife with critical commentary. Delegates stayed up late last night working towards an agreement, but the 3-page draft is still far less ambitious than hoped for. Some sources say that the pledges made in the draft text would still result in a 3 degree rise, when 2 degrees will be catastrophic to many small countries. Obama made a speech this morning that reminded the delegates that the dangers of climate change can not be ignored; he re-iterated the promises that the US is willing to make, but left many disappointed. In another effort, Obama met with Chinese premier Wen Jiabao to discuss emission targets, financing and transparency. Expectations are steadily dropping as time runs out and a last-minute climate deal hangs in the balance.

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Post tags: Climate Change, cop15, copenhagen, global warming, obama, obama copenhagen, united nations climate change conference, united nations climate change talks

Living in a land filled with perpetual snow, we can only imagine that Santa Claus has some special magic to keep him and all his elves warm all year. For the rest of us, a stay in the North Pole requires proper equipment — like this arctic mobile unit designed by 2-B-2 Architecture‘s Andrey Bondarenko. The compact little unit operates off a solar battery and power generator and can keep its occupants safe and warm for 15 days, operating between -40 to +10C and withstanding winds up to 85 km/hour (about 50 mph).

Read the rest of Arctic Mobile Unit Keeps North Pole Visitors Warm

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Post tags: prefab cold weather, prefab extreme weather, Prefab Housing, prefab shelter

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced earlier today at COP15 that the US is ready to join other industrialized countries in offering developing nations a total $100 billion by 2020 to help develop clean technology and cope with climate change. She also noted that this money will only be available if an ambitious deal is made by the end of this week. Specifically, the AP reports that Clinton said the agreement must include “meaningful actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions and a system to ensure all parties’ actions are transparent.” As the talks have continued to stall due to the dissatisfaction of developing countries, this compromise between industrialized and developing countries needs to be accepted by all of our world leaders if an agreement is going to be reached soon.

Read the rest of Hillary Clinton Announces US Ready to Join $100 Billion Finance Deal

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Post tags: climage change, cop15, copenhagen, copenhagen climate change talks, hillary clinton, meles zenawi, united nations climate change conference

The climate talks continue to heat up as protesters attempted to gate crash the conference this morning in Copenhagen. The Danish police used less than friendly tactics to keep the activists away — tear gas and batons — and 250 have been arrested. Organized by Climate Justice Action and Climate Justice Now!, the rally was an attempt to bring attention to the fact that world leaders have still not settled whether industrialized countries will agree to strict limitations on carbon emissions and how these countries will help developing nations to to cope with climate change.

Read the rest of COP15 Update: Protesters Rally and 250 Arrested at Bella Center

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Post tags: climate action, climate change activism, climate change activist groups, climate justice, cop15, copenhagen climate talks, protests cop15, united nations climate change conference, united nations climate change talks

This morning in Copenhagen, the climate talks stalled as African nations threatened to walk out on the conference. Upset that industrialized nations appeared to be killing the Kyoto Protocol, the African bloc cried out that industrialized nations were short-changing developing countries.

Read the rest of COP15 Update: Developing Countries Threaten to Walk Out

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Post tags: Climate Change, cop15, copenhagen, copenhagen cilmate talks, kyoto protocol, United Nations, united nations climate change conference

Today marks the end of the first week of the landmark climate talks that have been taking place in Copenhagen, and there’s already been so much news surrounding the conference on the interwebs that we thought you could use a quick refresher! While most of the major news networks have been broadcasting the main points that we’ve already gone over with you, there are also a bunch of titillating side stories and developments that we thought would pique your interest. For example, did you hear that “COP15″ hit the web’s #1 most googled term the other day? Here are some more lesser known tidbits about Copenhagen that you can use to impress your friends over Friday night drinks tonight.

Treehugger says that Gordon Brown believes that if you still think climate change is a crock, you can join the group of people who believed the world was flat. And for those of us that do believe, help create a Twitter book for Copenhagen.

Guardian reminds us that nothing important in this world can happen without it becoming a video on YouTube.

If you really want to make a personal change to help the planet, you should eat less meat and dairy — and submit a question to be asked at COP15 here. You have until December 14th!

Forbes reports that China has turned hostile on “The West.” (China also says that climate change can be fought with population control)

Grist produces the first of quirky videos featuring Eugene Mirman as he reports on all the Copenhagen happenings.

Worldchanging reminds us that those who walk, save the planet.

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Post tags: Climate Change, cop15, cop15 news, copenhagen, united nations climate change conference, united nations climate change talks

Since the beginning of December, riding your bike to work in New York City got a little easier, but riding through Brooklyn just got a little harder. On Monday, the NYC Department of Transportation and Department of Building announced that together, they would work to implement the Bicycle Access to Office Building Law, which will help cyclists secure parking at their office buildings and thereby encourage more people to bike to work. Strangely though, earlier this month, the NYC DOT sandblasted away a bike lane on Bedford Avenue, between Flushing Avenue and Division Street, forcing many Brooklynites to leave their bikes at home. There is certainly a large dose of irony here – why get cyclists to bike to work while at the same time eliminating a thoroughfare that, as several comments to a Streetsblog post proved, many need to gain access to Manhattan?

Read the rest of NYC Allows Bicycle Parking in Buildings While Cutting Bike Lanes

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Post tags: bicycle, bike lane, bike to work, Brooklyn, dot, green brooklyn, green new york, green ny, new york city, New York., nyc dot

Just last night, the New York City Council voted overwhelmingly to pass the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan – a package of bills aiming to reduce New York City‘s carbon emissions by almost 5%, create more than 17,000 jobs, and save New Yorkers $700 million dollars a year in energy costs (via Campaign for New York’s Future). While we were disappointed with Mayor Bloomberg’s changes to the legislation (which we detailed yesterday) before it went to the City Council, we think it is important to report that the revised plan did pass and will still require smaller improvements, oversee the creation of an energy code for buildings and require building owners to offer tenants information on their individual energy use.

Read the rest of NYC Passes Landmark Greener Greater Buildings Plan!

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Post tags: bloomberg, environmental policy, greener greater buildings, new york city environmental policy, new york city legislation, new york city policy

Last Friday, NYC Mayor Bloomberg announced that he would be dropping a measure that was a part of the ambitious Greener, Greater Buildings Plan (GGBP) which called for buildings over 50,000 square feet to undergo audits to determine what renovations would be required to make them more energy efficient. When announced earlier this year, the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan would be the first to require existing, not just new, buildings to meet energy efficiency standards. The changes made on Friday would mean that building owners are only expected to voluntarily participate in audits, which is certainly saddening and disappointing to us here at Inhabitat.

Read the rest of NYC Mayor Bloomberg Cuts Back on Greener Greater Buildings Plan

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Post tags: building retrofits, city audits energy use, eco new york city, Green Building, green new york city, green nyc, greener greater buildings plan nyc, mayor bloomberg, new york city, new york city green building, New York., planyc 2030

At Inhabitat, we’ve been showing our support for COP15 by telling our readers about the need to take action on climate change. Various Architects in Oslo, Norway has taken a different path and did what they do best – designing a concept for an ultra energy-efficient building that could help mitigate the world’s climate problems! The building features a variety of energy-saving measures including operable insulated shutters on the building’s facade, wind turbines, a green roof, and the use of local and sustainable building materials – sounds like a pretty fitting tribute to COP15 if you ask us.

Read the rest of Norway’s Most Energy-Efficient Office Building Unveiled for Cop15

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Post tags: "wind power", Climate Change, cop15, energy efficient architecture, energy efficient design, Green Building, greywater system, local, local materials, locally sourced materials, low carbon footprint, nordic architecture, passive heating

Perhaps following London’s lead, the NYC Transit recently rolled out a new electric bus that uses a turbine engine to recharge a lithium-ion battery. Also eco on the inside, the interior is lit by LED panels and has room for 37 seats and, as any veteran NYC rider knows, can have at least double that amount standing. The buses hail from manufacturer, DesignLine — and while three buses are already operating in Brooklyn and Manhattan, 87 more could arrive by the end of 2010.

Read the rest of New York City Unveils New Silent Electric Bus

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Post tags: eco-friendly transportation, electric bus, electric transportation, electric vehicles, green transit, green transporation, MTA, new york city, New York., nyc transit, public transportation

The AIA voted yesterday to award Pugh + Scarpa Architects the 2010 AIA Architecture Firm Award. We’ve featured Pugh + Scarpa’s sustainable works before here (Cherokee Lofts) and here (Solar Homes) — so we were glad to hear that this Santa Monica-based architecture firm was being honored not only for their attention to sustainable design, but for their “excellent work, including its seamless blending of architecture, art, and craft; community involvement…and nurturing of in-house talent.” Take a peek at some of their incredible work here, or head on over to their website for more.

Read the rest of Sustainable Design Firm Pugh + Scarpa Win 2010 AIA Architecture Firm Award

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", aia, aia awards, architecture awards, national awards architecture, sustainable design

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) begins in just a few days! As the conference is crucial for countries to reach an agreement about how to mitigate climate change in the years to come, it is no surprise that cultural programs and changes in the landscape of the city of Copenhagen call for greener living. Yesterday, we reported about Copenhagen’s Christmas tree this year being pedal-powered and today, we have another interesting development. Thanks to architecture-firm 3XN’s Gotham luminaires and Scotia Light‘s solar-powered street lamp, the path to the conference center will be lit by solar power!


Read the rest of Path to COP15 Will Be Lit by Solar-Powered Street Lamps

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Post tags: Climate Change, cop15, solar energy lighting, Solar Power, solar powered lighting, street furniture, street lamp, Street lighting, united nations climate change conference

This year, Copenhagen’s annual Christmas tree will light up with the help of Danish citizens’ aerobic efforts. The energy produced by the riders of 15 bicycles in Copenhagen’s City Hall Square will light up the 700 LED bulbs that adorn the 17-meter-tall evergreen. The Christmas tree is one of several features in City Hall Square that will transform the civic space into an environmentally-friendly arena called Hopenhagen Live from December 7th to December 18th. Music, exhibitions and more throughout Copenhagen will help bring attention to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) occurring during the same time period.

Read the rest of Copenhagen’s Christmas Tree Will Be Pedal Powered!

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Post tags: christmas tree, Climate Change, climate change talks, copenhagen climage change conference, holiday cheer, united nations climage change conference

As the trees begin to lose their leaves, once full and leafy branches grow increasingly bare to create suddenly spooky shadows in our windows — just in time for Halloween. Halloween is tomorrow and we’ve been admiring the green and ghoulish as well as just the plain weird. Take a look below for some of the best stories on Inhabitots and Ecouterre.

We’re curious to know if you would wear these LED eyelashes as part of your Halloween costume.

Sometimes a fashion faux-pas can be as frightening as a zombie, so take a look at these six howlers that will make your blood run cold.

We are seriously disturbed by these taxidermy accessories made of preserved rat heads, guinea pig feet, pigeon feathers and whole mice.

These spooky and eco-friendly lights are the perfect thing to provide light for your Halloween journey.

If you are thinking about doing some Halloween face painting, be sure to read this article about lead and other harmful toxins in paint.

And if you haven’t already, be sure to enter our Halloween costume contest on Inhabitots. There are great prizes!

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Post tags: eco-friendly Halloween, ecouterre, green costumes, green halloween, halloween, halloween costume, Inhabitots