Yesterday, AT&T, Goal Zero and Pensa unveiled Street Charge, a new way for New Yorkers to charge their phones on-the-go using solar power. The new tree-like modules will be placed around the five boroughs in public plazas and parks, allowing people to plug in their devices for free. The first two Street Charge units went up yesterday in Fort Greene Park, but to view a full list of planned locations, click here.

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Post tags: AT&T, eco design, free AT&T chargers, free solar phone chargers nyc, goal zero, green design, nyc cell phone charging, nyc solar phone chargers, pensa, pensa design, solar phone charger, solar phone chargers, Solar Power, street charge, sustainable design, where to charge cell phone in nyc

Inhabitat is getting our sea legs this morning aboard the world’s largest solar-powered boat, which docked today at the North Cove Marina in downtown Manhattan. NYC is the MS Tûranor PlanetSolar‘s second stop along its expedition across the Atlantic Ocean to study the effects of climate change along the Gulf Stream. Stay tuned here as we post more photos and info from the boat!

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Post tags: "solar energy", biobox, Climate Change, eco-vessel, gulf stream, PlanetSolar, planetsolar deepwater, PlanetSolar’s Tûranor, solar boat, Solar Power, solar powered boat, solar powered vessel, TÛRANOR PlanetSolar, TÛRANOR PlanetSolar circumnavigation, TÛRANOR PlanetSolar solar, TÛRANOR PlanetSolar world, TURANOR, university of geneva, world's largest solar powered boat

New Yorkers who have been lugging their food scraps to composting centers in the city may be catching a break very soon. Mayor Bloomberg is expected to announce shortly a new citywide composting program that could divert 100,000 tons of food scraps from landfills per year. The new system would make it easier for apartment dwellers to separate their organic food scraps from other trash without having to compost it themselves.

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Post tags: composting, composting nyc, food waste new york, landfills, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York city Department of Sanitation, new york city mayors office, new york city recycling, new york city recycling programs, new york city schools recycling, NYC landfills, nyc waste reduction, solid waste reduction, staten island compost program, staten island composting

3D printers have opened up a world of opportunities including one very scary one – the means to fabricate firearms. In order to protect the public against 3D-printed guns, officials in New York recently introduced a new bill calling for regulation of these types of weapons. The legislation also proposes making it illegal for anyone but a licensed gunsmith to produce a firearm using a 3D printer.

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Post tags: 3d printed guns, 3D printers, 3D printing, Cody Wilson, Defense Distributed, lewis fiddler, linda Rosenthal, printable guns, printable weapons, wiki weapon

If your dad’s sock drawer is already looking pretty full, skip the Father’s Day gifts this year and spend some time good ol’ quality time with him instead. From foraging for wild edibles to sampling local flavors, check out all of our ideas for fun Father’s Day activities to do in NYC this weekend.

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Post tags: father's day, father’s day activities, Father’s Day at the Audubon Center, Father’s Day at the Staten Island Zoo, Father’s Day NYC, father’s day things to do in nyc, fathers day gift ideas, Food Truck Rally, green events, green events nyc, green things to do for father’s day, Kayaking on the Hudson, MillionTrees NYC Father’s Day Workshop, nyc activities, nyc events, things to do nyc, Wildman Steve Brill Foraging Tour

This past weekend, STUDIOKCA invited New Yorkers to get their heads stuck in a cloud inside their giant pavilion made with over 53,000 reclaimed plastic bottles. The massive white “cloud” popped up on Governors Island as part of the 2013 FIGMENT art festival and called attention to the approximately 53,000 plastic bottles that get thrown away in New York City in just one hour. Once inside, festival-goers were able to gaze upon the iridescent ceiling (also make of water bottles) while dancing to tunes played by the on-site DJ.

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Post tags: city of dreams, eco design, Enneper Pavilion, figment, figment festival, Fodder Form Pavilion, governors island, green design, Head in the CLouds, HuycKurlanDowling, Jason Klimoski, Lesley Chang, Maria Mingallon, MTQTHSS, recycled art, recycled plastic bottles, STUDIKCA, sustainable design

Designer Derek Chen has fittingly transformed a bunch of old wine barrels into a beautiful wine rack! The San Francisco-based furniture maker recently debuted the limited edition “Pino Solo” wine tree, which he created for Newton Vineyard. To form the base of each piece, Chen repurposed oak barrels previously used to make chardonnay at the winery, giving a nod to their past lives as well as Newton’s eco-friendly philosophy.

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Post tags: "green furniture", Derek Chen, eco furniture, green design, green wine rack, Newton Vineyard, pino solo, recycled design, sustainable design, wine barrel furniture, wine barrel wine rack, wine rack

This morning, Inhabitat was luck enough to be on the scene for the opening of the new MakerBot 3D printer factory in Brooklyn, NY. The new 50,000 sq. ft. facility in the Sunset Park neighborhood is a milestone for the 3D printing company and is also poised to bring new jobs to the area. Click here for a photo tour through the new facility!

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Post tags: 3D printers, 3D printing, 3d printing companies, 3d printing factory, 3d printing warehouse, bre pettis, makerbot, makerbot brooklyn, makerbot factory, makerbot nyc

Facebook will once again be enlisting the help of legendary architect Frank Gehry – this time, in the design of their new NYC headquarters. The social media giant recently signed a lease for a 100,000-square-foot space at 770 Broadway, and hired Gehry to create a vision for the interior. Word on the street is that the plan will feature natural lighting and an airy, open feeling.

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Post tags: 770 broadway, architect frank gehry, designer frank gehry, eco friendly buildings, eco friendly buildings nyc, Facebook, facebook Menlo park, facebook new york office, facebook nyc, facebook rooftop garden, Frank Gehry, frank gehry facebook, frank gehry facebook campus, green buildings, green buildings nyc, menlo Park, new york architecture, nyc architecture

The interwebs have been buzzing with news about Kickstarter’s new NYC headquarters for quite some time now, but there weren’t any real visuals to go by other than renderings until now. The first signs of the historic Eberhard Faber Pencil Co. factory’s transformation into the crowd-sourcing startup’s offices showed up last week with the new trees that popped up on its soon-to-be green roof. Read on for a sneak peek at the rooftop deck’s progress!

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Post tags: eco design, green architecture, green design, green nyc architecture, green roof, green roofs, greenpoint green, kickstarter, kickstarter green roof, kickstarter greenpoint, kickstarter headquarters, Ole Sondresen, Ole Sondresen Architects, sustainable design

Good news for New Yorkers who’ve been waiting patiently to take a shiny new Citi Bike for a spin. The city officially opened the bike share program to all riders (it was previously only available to annual members) this past weekend. So if you felt left out last week, be sure to head to the closest Citi Bike kiosk and get riding today.

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Post tags: bike smart, bike stations, Citi bike, citi bike launch date, citi bike official launch date, citi bike share, citi bike share program, Citibank bike share program, citibike, city bike share programs, department of transportation nyc, gramercy park, Hurricane Sandy, new york bike share program, new york bike share stations, new york bike tours, nyc bike share program, nyc bike tours, nyc transportation, shelly mossey, Transportation Alternatives, urban mobility project, when does citi bike launch

If you’ve always dreamed of having a little herb garden in your kitchen, here’s a video DIY from our friend Summer Rayne Oakes that can bring that fantasy to fruition today. Follow along as Summer and her dad use just a few components to create a mason jar herb garden that not only provides fresh seasonings for cooking but also looks fantastic.

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Post tags: DIY, diy design, diy herb garden, diy mason jar herb garden, diy vertical garden, eco design, eco model, green design, green nyc, Green Walls, how to make a container garden, how to make a diy garden, how to make a mason jar garden, model Summer Rayne Oakes, planted walls, Summer Rayne Oakes, sustainable design

You might think that mushroom houses only existed in Smurfland, but a real-life ‘shroom shack is being grown right now in Green Island, NY. To be fair, the Mushroom Tiny House won’t be made completely of fungi (a wooden frame supports the structure) but the insulation and ceiling tiles will all use Ecovative’s unique mycelium technology. Click here to see more pics of the Mushroom Tiny House in progress.

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Post tags: eco design, ecovative, green design, mushroom bricks, mushroom building materials, mushroom home, mushroom house, mushroom roots, mushroom tiny house, mycelium, sustainable design, World’s First House Made of Mushrooms

By now, you’ve probably heard of the High Line, but did you know that there is also an underground park called the LowLine proposed for downtown Manhattan? It may have seemed like a pipe dream at first but with many residents backing the project and New Yorkers in awe of what a subterranean park could mean for the city, the LowLine is picking up speed and could soon bring an amazing new public space (not to mention added revenue for the city) to the Lower East Side . Inhabitat’s very own Editor-in-Chief, Jill Fehrenbacher, recently caught up with the LowLine team, James Ramsey and Dan Barasch, to pick their brains about what could be New York’s next design landmark. Click through to see the video, and learn more about this incredible initiative.

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Post tags: dan barasch, delancey underground video, fiber-optic daylighting, greening new york, high line nyc, high line park, Interview Dan Barasch, Interview James Ramsey, James Ramsey, landscape design, les parks, Low Line, low line nyc, low line park, low line underground park, low line video, lower east side parks, new york parks, new york public space, new york urban design, new york urban planning, ny parks, raad, raad architects, subterranean park, sunlight transportation, sustainable new york, The Low-Line, underground park, Urban design, video interview of the delancey underground

Approximately 27.4 billion disposable diapers end up in US landfills each year, and once there, they take about 500 years to decompose! If you want to stop contributing the the problem with your baby’s diapers, (and maybe even potty train early) cloth diapers are a great option, but getting started with cloth diapers can be a bit intimidating for newbies. Inhabitots editor Julie Seguss recently got a tutorial in cloth-diapering by Carolyn Sutton of Charlie Banana to learn about the basics, and we made this handy video so that you can follow along step by step, and learn how to get started with cloth-diapering. Click here to check it out!

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Post tags: buying green diapers, carolyn sutton, charlie banana, charlie banana diapers, cloth diapering, cloth diapering how to, cloth diapers, diapers, eco baby, Eco diapers, eco friendly diapers, eco-friendly design, green baby, green design, green diaper how to, green diapers, guide to cloth diapers, how to cloth diaper, How to Get Started With Cloth Diapers, how to green diaper, how to use green diapers, julie seguss, Luca, Luca Seguss, Reusable diapers

New Yorkers looking to make some extra cash by renting out their pads on Airbnb may be in for a very rude (and expensive) awakening. An NYC judge recently fined a man who listed his condo on Airbnb $2,400 after finding that he violated a 2011 law which says it’s illegal to rent out an apartment for less than 29 days. Do you think the law is fair, or does it need to be amended? Read on for the full story.

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Post tags: Airbnb, airbnb illegal in nyc, cheap nyc hotels, Christine Quinn, emily giske, illegal airbnb, is airbnb legal, nyc airbnb, nyc apartments, nyc hotels, nyc rentals

Read the rest of Deger Cengiz’s Threatening Cactus Terrarium Chair Puts Sitters on the Edge of Their Seats

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Post tags: cactus chair, chair with living plants, Deger Cengiz, eco design, green design, green interior design, ICFF, interior design, International Contemporary Furniture Fair, living furniture, plant furniture, sustainable design, Terrarium Chair, Terrarium Furniture, Terrariums

Read the rest of Colin Selig’s Dalí-Esque Sofas Are Made from Recycled Propane Tanks

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Post tags: "green furniture", colin selig, eco design, eco furniture, green design, ICFF, icff 2013, International Contemporary Furniture Fair, javits center furniture show, new york design week, propane tank furniture, recycled furniture, recycled seating, recycled sofas, sustainable design

Read the rest of Blackbody Shows Off Beautiful Life-Size OLED Trees at ICFF 2013

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Post tags: "green furniture", Alessandro Dolcetta, ambient lighting, Blackbody, Blackbody OLED, Bruno Dussert-Vidalet, eco design, eco furniture, eco lighting, energy efficient lighting, green design, green lighting, ICFF, icff 2013, International Contemporary Furniture Fair, javits center furniture show, new york design week, sustainable design

Greetings from ICFF! Inhabitat is on the scene today reporting live from the mother of all home furnishing tradeshows, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. Stay tuned for all of the fresh green designs we uncover on our treasure hunt across the show floor and keep it tuned right here and on our Twitter feed to see our latest finds.

+ ICFF Coverage on Inhabitat

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Post tags: "green furniture", eco design, eco furniture, green design, ICFF, icff 2013, International Contemporary Furniture Fair, javits center furniture show, new york design week, sustainable design