It’s the end of December and it’s been a stellar year in sustainable design – the Inhabitat team wishes you a wonderful holiday season from every corner of the globe!

Piper Kujac shares her holiday memories: These xmas tree decor pics were taken in Hawaii this past week. That part is irrelevant, but since I’m not gathering around a tree with family this year, they reminded me of how special and nostalgic holiday decorations can be. Tree decorations often span a lifetime and represent family memories over time. Each year growing up, my mother would display early hand prints from me and my sisters in preschool.. and she’d bring out this hand-woven nativity scene from Chile that’s as old as I am.. some of the woven straw donkeys became half-chewed from the dog I had when I was 10.. but that was just part of their charm, and the memory of my dog Timothy

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM INHABITAT!!

2 Responses to “HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM INHABITAT!”

RaDe says:

December 25, 2008 at 5:53 pm

Happy Hollydays to you too !!

Martha says:

December 26, 2008 at 9:02 pm

What a great post. Thank you for giving us a window into your lives.

In Muskogee Oklahoma USA, it was 74 degrees today. We gardened and prepared for a holiday party tomorrow.

Happy, healthy and sustainable 2009.

Leave a Comment

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

Please note that gratuitous links to your site are viewed as spam and may result in removed comments.

Add your comments

NEW USER

Username:

E-mail:

Sign me up for weekly Inhabitat updates

CURRENT USERS LOGIN

Username:

Password:

Remember Me

Lost your password?

Twitter username - to use your Twitter avatar (optional):

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail

get the free Inhabitat newsletter

get the free Inhabitat newsletter

Email Address *

First Name *

Last Name *

I'm interested in ...

San Francisco events and information

London events and information

New York events and information

Los Angeles events and information

Close

follow inhabitat on:

Inhabitat Facebook

Inhabitat Twitter

Inhabitat RSS

Inhabitat Flickr

popular today

all time

most commented

READ MORE >
HEINEKEN WOBO: A Beer Bottle That Doubles as a Brick

Mr. Heineken’s idea came after a visit to the Caribbean where he saw two problems: beaches littered with bottles and a lack of affordable building materials. The WOBO became his vision to solve both the recycling and housing challenges that he had witnessed on the islands. The final WOBO design came in two sizes – [...]

READ MORE >
X-SEED 4000: World’s tallest tower will house 1 million people

There’s a lot of debate about what the tallest tower in the world currently is. Some say the Taipei 101, at 1671 ft to the tip of it’s spire, is the world’s tallest tower, whereas we might argue that the Sears Tower, at a whopping 1731 ft (and 110 stories), still takes the prize. However, [...]

READ MORE >
Deep Ocean Technology Unveils Plans for Their Insane Underwater Discus Hotel in Dubai

Dubai had announced plans to construct a different underwater hotel, Hydropolis, in 2006. Projected to cost 300 million pounds to construct, it would have stood as one of the world’s most expensive hotels, home to an array of facilities including a cosmetic surgery clinic and a marine biological research laboratory. After a series of delays, [...]

READ MORE >
Audi Unveils High Performance Wörthersee E-Bike!

Next week Audi will debut their prototype Wörthersee e-bike, which promises to be a highly advanced, versatile electric bike from the German automakers. The Audi e-bike will be unveiled at Wörthersee in Carinthia, Austria where trial biker Julien Dupont and downhill specialist Petra Bernhard will demonstrate their stunts and streetbike skills. “As a high-performance e-bike [...]

READ MORE >
Meet the Tiny House Family Who Built an Amazing Mini Home for Just $12,000

The Tiny House Family recently went on Anderson Cooper. As you can see, the actual-size outline of their home in black is even smaller than the show’s stage! INHABITAT: Can you tell us a little bit about the Tiny House Family‘s home and its features? Hari: Our tiny home is 8’ x 21’ with a [...]

READ MORE >
HOW TO: Switch Your Light Bulbs And Get Ready for the Big Light Bulb Phase-Out

By now, most of you have probably heard about the incandescent light bulb phase-out starting this year (likely as a result of the ridiculous political bickering about the lighting legislation in the count-down to the end of 2011). However, a quick survey of your friends will reveal that few of us actually understand what it [...]

READ MORE >
Tentsile Treehouse Tents Provide a Safe Haven in the Treetops!

Tentsile is a portable habitation unit that can be suspended amidst trees to provide accommodation for three people. With three anchor points and the use of tension instead of poles, the Tentsile is part tent and part hammock. The structure is made from a collapsable frame of webbing straps with fire retardant, UV PU and [...]

READ MORE >
6 Delightful DIY Mother’s Day Gifts to Make for Your Mum

Easy-to-Make DIY Mother’s Day Gifts: FABRIC NECKLACE If your mom likes jewelry, she’ll love wearing a one-of-a-kind fabric necklace made by you. All you need is a few pieces of scrap fabric, some stones and some string and the result is an artsy accessory that you could find selling in a store for much more [...]

READ MORE >
Germany Sets New Solar Record By Meeting Nearly Half of Country’s Weekend Power Demand

Germany fed a whopping 22 gigawatts of solar power per hour into the national grid last weekend, setting a new record by meeting nearly half of the country’s weekend power demand. After the Fukushima disaster, Japan opted to shut down all of its nuclear power stations and Germany followed suit after considerable public pressure. This [...]

READ MORE >
Jake Dyson’s CSYS Lamp Extends the Life of Its LEDs by a Whopping 37 Years!

Up until now, heat-sink technology has been being used primarily in satellite technology, and Dyson is the first to use it in a consumer lighting context. Dyson set out to not only create a lamp for the future in terms of sustainability, but also in terms of practicality. The lamp’s arm is able to move back [...]

READ MORE >
Egyptian Teenager Creates Next-Generation Quantum Space Propulsion System

An Egyptain teenager has patented a next-generation propulsion system that could send spacecraft to other solar systems—without using a single drop of fuel. While it is not quite warp-drive technology, young physicist Aisha Mustafa’s system is based on quantum physics and could see mankind boldly go where no man has gone before. The 19-year-old is [...]

READ MORE >
Rotating Wind Power Tower to begin construction in Dubai

Dubai has garnered much attention in recent years with a never-ending supply of architectural wonders being built, or proposed, at a head spinning pace. Mostly these towering structures are grand and tall, but some are also green. We’ve covered many an ambitious Dubai skyscraper scheme here at Inhabitat, including David Fisher’s Rotating Tower, but there [...]

more popular stories >

READ MORE >
Iceland’s Gorgeous Passive Solar Hof House

Deep in the northern chill of Iceland, just outside the arctic circle, the Hof House sits snugly within its landscape. Built on an existing estate, Studio Granada Architects salvaged whatever materials possible from the site to be incorporated into the new residence, converting telegraph poles into a sun screen and basalt pillars into stepping stones. [...]

READ MORE >
It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! No! it’s a… Hostel?!

The Jumbo Hostel is housed within a retrofitted 747-200 situated in the Stockholm-Arlanda airport. The jumbo jet has a long history of service – it was originally built for Singapore Airlines and even flew for Pan Am. It was last operated by Transjet, a now bankrupt Swedish airline. The Jumbo Hostel has 25 rooms with [...]

READ MORE >
13-Year-Old Makes Solar Power Breakthrough by Harnessing the Fibonacci Sequence

// While most 13-year-olds spend their free time playing video games or cruising Facebook, one 7th grader was trekking through the woods uncovering a mystery of science. After studying how trees branch in a very specific way, Aidan Dwyer created a solar cell tree that produces 20-50% more power than a uniform array of photovoltaic [...]

READ MORE >
A Swirling Green Roof Tops Nanyang Art School in Singapore

If art school was in our future we might opt to study under, or on top of, the amazing green roof at the School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. This 5 story facility sweeps a wooded corner of the campus with an organic, vegetated form that blends landscape and [...]

READ MORE >
Top 5 Tiniest Prefab Homes

1. WEEHOUSE At just $125 per square foot, the WeeHouse is a single module that can be plopped on just about any site, including a rooftop. The basic unit is framed with steel and wood, and comes with tongue-and-groove bamboo flooring, and Ikea cabinetry, kitchens and sinks. Despite what the name implies, don’t let it [...]

READ MORE >
REVERSE GRAFFITI: Street Artists Tag Walls by Scrubbing Them Clean

When is cleaning the sidewalks a crime? When you’re doing it to create art. Obviously. A number of street artists around the world have taken to expressing themselves through an innovative practice known as Reverse Graffiti. Taking a cue from the “Wash Me” messages scrawled on the back of delivery trucks, they seek out soot [...]

READ MORE >
X-SEED 4000: World’s tallest tower will house 1 million people

There’s a lot of debate about what the tallest tower in the world currently is. Some say the Taipei 101, at 1671 ft to the tip of it’s spire, is the world’s tallest tower, whereas we might argue that the Sears Tower, at a whopping 1731 ft (and 110 stories), still takes the prize. However, [...]

READ MORE >
New Zealand’s Whimsical Yellow Treehouse Restaurant

The new Yellow Treehouse Restaurant by New Zealand based Pacific Environments Architects Ltd. (PEL) is a stunning architectural feat perched high above a redwood first. Appearing for all the world like an enormous chrysalis grafted onto a 40-meter-high redwood tree, the project is constructed of plantation poplar slats, redwood balustrading milled at the site, and [...]

READ MORE >
World’s Biggest Building Coming to Moscow: Crystal Island

Moscow’s rapidly growing skyline will soon feature an eye-popping new addition: Crystal Island, which will be the world’s biggest building when completed. Sir Norman Foster’s mountainous 27 million square feet spiraling “city within a building” will cost $4 billion and it is scheduled to be built within next 5 years. The Crystal Island will be [...]

READ MORE >
Spiraling Skyscraper Farms for a Future Manhattan

As the world’s population continues to skyrocket and cities strain under the increased demand for resources, skyscraper farms offer an inspired approach towards creating sustainable vertical density. One of three finalists in this year’s Evolo Skyscraper Competition Eric Vergne’s Dystopian Farm project envisions a future New York City interspersed with elegantly spiraling biomorphic structures that [...]

READ MORE >
Ingenious Cardboard Packaging Folds to Fit Parcels of Any Shape

Excessive packaging is one of our top pet peeves here at Inhabitat, so we were really inspired by this flat cardboard sheet that is capable of conforming to the shape of any object, saving a bundle on wasteful filler. Designed by Patrick Sung, the packaging design concept features triangulated perforations that allow it to bend [...]

READ MORE >
THE MAGLEV: The Super-powered Magnetic Wind Turbine

Renewable energy produced from the wind has garnered much attention and support in recent years but is often criticized for its low output and lack of reliability. But now a super power wind turbine has come along that may be just what the renewable energy industry needs. The MagLev wind turbine, which was first unveiled [...]

more popular stories >

2002 Comments >
Win an iPad and Matching Eco Case (worth $549)

MAKE SAVING TREES SEXY and WIN AN IPAD! Hoping to catch up on your summer reading without the bulk and arborcide associated with books? Well, we’re giving away a brand spanking new iPad and awesome bamboo sketchbook-style DODOcase (worth $549) that will let you do just that. Imagine having all of the powerful capabilities of [...]

411 Comments >
BACK TO SCHOOL GIVEAWAY: Enter to Win a HP Pavilion dv6 Laptop and Green Prize Package (Worth $1155!)

While no one likes to bid adieu to summer, if you’re a student gearing up to go back to school, September couldn’t come sooner! New people, new classes, new possibilities – the excitement is building. If you’re a student who is looking for a fresh green approach to the start of the new school year, [...]

347 Comments >
WIN a Beautiful ANDREA Houseplant Air Purifier (worth $195)!

Want to clean and freshen the air in your home using the power of plants? We’ve been in love with the ANDREA houseplant filter’s modern design for quite some time now, so we’re thrilled to be giving one of these amazing air-purifiers (worth $195) to one very lucky reader this week! ANDREA isn’t just pretty [...]

344 Comments >
LAST CHANCE to Win a Shiny New Linus Bike and Bike Bag (worth $730) for Earth Day!

We've teamed up with Linus Bikes to give one lucky reader a new bike!

267 Comments >
GIVEAWAY: Enter to Win a Sloan AQUS Grey Water Toilet System That Recycles Your Sink Water (Worth $189)!

Win a Sloan AQUS Grey Water System! Saving water is one of the most important things we can do to ensure environmental and social sustainability for generations to come – but while many of us try to be conscious of our water use, we flush thousands of gallons of water down the drain each year [...]

244 Comments >
GIVEAWAY: Win a Year’s Supply of Eco Goodie-Boxes (worth $450) from Lost Crates

Lost Crates is a unique new care package subscription service that delivers curated goodie-boxes right to your door, and last week, we covered their fabulous new “Eco Crates” geared towards the eco-conscious amongst us (That’s you, right?). If you’re thinking to yourself, “I want an eco care package subscription!”, you’re in luck, because Inhabitat is teaming up [...]

227 Comments >
Enter to Win a SAYL Task Chair from Herman Miller (Worth $749)!

HAPPY EARTH THURSDAY INHABITAT READERS! If you’ve been reading Inhabitat, you know that we’re celebrating Earth Day in a big way with our Earth Week Giveaway. In addition to offering up a super cleaning package from Method and Casabella, a luxe Eco-Wise wool throw from Pendelton and a super plush Ultra Shag Shaw Rug we’ve teamed [...]

220 Comments >
Win a Basket of Method Cleaning Products and a Casabella Cleaning System (Worth $100)!

HAPPY EARTH MONDAY INHABITAT READERS! To kick off our exciting Earth Week Giveaway, today we’ve gathered up a basket full of Method cleaning products and an amazing Casabella Eclipse Cleaning System (worth $100) for one lucky reader to take home! These Cradle to Cradle products are sure to keep your home sparkling clean while protecting [...]

187 Comments >
Win an Eco Lounge Chair and the Ultimate Green Summer Picnic Set!

The Fourth of July is right around the corner, and we can’t wait to spend some time outdoors enjoying backyard barbecues, picnics, and other forms of fun in the sun! To celebrate the season, we’ve teamed up with Branch and Room & Board to offer you the chance to win an awesome picnic set (worth [...]

181 Comments >
BACK TO SCHOOL GIVEAWAY: Win a Solar Powered Package (worth $500)!

WIN A BACK TO SCHOOL SOLAR BAG BUNDLE WORTH OVER $500! Headed back to school and need some help getting inspired? Inhabitat is here to help! We’ve got an awesome eco back-to-school package that we’ll be giving away to one lucky winner in our Green Back-to-School contest. You may have noticed we ran a contest [...]

161 Comments >
BACK TO SCHOOL CONTEST: Win An Awesome Solar Book Bag!

Get ready for school with our back-to-school green giveaway contest! Fall is just around the corner, and students everywhere are getting ready to go back to school. To get into the autumnal school spirit and help our readers green their back-to-school regime, we’re running a contest on this site to give away an AWESOME solar [...]

159 Comments >
Win a Hymini Portable Wind + Solar Gadget Charger!

Put green power in the palm of your hand! Having trouble keeping your gadgets charged on a daily basis? Ever had your cellphone run out of juice on you in the middle of an important day? You’re in luck – we’re giving away one incredibly handy HYMini charger so that you’ll have access to clean [...]

more popular stories >

What are you looking for? (Solar, HVAC, etc.)

Where are you located?

Yuka Yoneda

BRC Designs’ American Pipe Dream Chair and Table Are Made from a Maze of Copper Piping

The American Pipe dream table and chair were inspired by Benjamin Rollins Caldwell‘s own frustration after some thieves stripped the copper out of one of his welding machines. According to the designer, copper prices are currently at an all time high, and the theft of copper is a growing problem (who knew?). After feeling the [...]
READ MORE >

Yuka Yoneda

7 Weird and Wonderful Uses For LED Lighting Technology

It’s amazing to think that just a few years ago, many people thought of LEDs as nothing more than the tiny red lights in our laser pointers but my, how the times have changed! With more and more people realizing the energy-efficiency benefits of LED lighting, it seems that everything from headlights to TVs to [...]
READ MORE >

Yuka Yoneda

6 Green Ways to Ward Off the Winter Blues (a.k.a. Seasonal Affective Disorder)

WINDOWHOP It’s easy to get depressed when your work schedule has you getting less sun than Edward Cullen (you’ve got the sickly pallor to match and it’s not nearly as sexy on you). If you’re lucky enough to at least have a window in your workspace, open those shades and try to angle your desk [...]
READ MORE >

Molly Cotter

Rock Restaurant is a Tropical Culinary Dream Perched in the Middle of the Ocean

The restaurant itself can accomodate 14 people and includes a beautiful wrap-around terrace boasting panoramic views of turquoise water. Built entirely with rustic, local materials, the structure easily adapts to the ever changing nature of its environment. When the tide is low, an amazing tiered staircase greets visitors, leading them to the main dining room. Higher [...]
READ MORE >

Bridgette Meinhold

EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Utah Opens Its Striking New Natural History Museum in Salt Lake City

The Utah Natural History Museum is the caretaker of 1.2 million objects from the fields of paleontology, archeology, ethnology, entomology, vertebrate zoology, mineralogy, botany and malacology. Not only does the museum work to preserve these precious artifacts, it also actively works to study their collection and educate residents, schoolchildren and visitors. The new museum was [...]
READ MORE >

Jill Fehrenbacher

VIDEO: A Look Back at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show and The Green Cars We Loved

Last year I had the good fortune to attend the North American International Auto Show (or NAIAS) in Detroit – for the first time – and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect! I had never attended an auto show before, but I’ve heard that most SUV-focused auto shows of years past have not been [...]
READ MORE >

Bridgette Meinhold

Starbucks Opens New Reclamation Drive Thru Made From Recycled Shipping Containers

Inspiration for the shipping container drive thru came from the company’s use of the containers to ship their coffee and tea from sources around the world. Rather than let the containers wallow after moving their goods, the brilliant minds in Seattle thought to put them to good use and so the Reclamation Drive Thru was [...]
READ MORE >

Bridgette Meinhold

Sparano + Mooney’s Beautiful Kimball Art Center Proposal Takes Inspiration From Aspens

In this third installment of the Kimball Art Center Transformation proposals, we explore the design by the only local firm of the 5 design teams who presented. Sparano + Mooney, who have worked both locally and internationally, culled their inspiration from the Aspen tree, which is found throughout Utah and is a favorite for its [...]
READ MORE >

Tafline Laylin

Nicole Dextras’ Giant Words Made of Ice Depict the Folly of Environmental Destruction

Dextras capitalizes on the notion that a single word or set of words juxtaposed against a certain backdrop can create a lasting impression that hopefully shifts people’s awareness of their environmental impact. Nothing is quite so striking as the word CONSUME built in ice and decorated with blue food coloring set against an ugly, half-finished [...]
READ MORE >

Yuka Yoneda

HOW TO: Make a Recycled Mustache Mirror

MATERIALS: - A mirror (preferably one you already have) - Fabric paint (we used Tulip non-toxic paint in black) - Mustache templates - A clean, large ziplock bag (you could also use a clean sheet of saran wrap but it’s a little more unwieldy because of its self-stick properties) - A damp towel to wipe [...]
READ MORE >

Yuka Yoneda

6 Natural Hangover Remedies to Cure What Ails Ya on New Year’s Day

BANANAS You might have heard that bananas are favored by athletes because they contain potassium and it’s that same reason that makes them great hangover cures. When you’re hungover, your body has lost a lot of potassium that needs to be replenished, so eating a banana when you wake up will provide much needed relief. [...]
READ MORE >

Yuka Yoneda

This Towering Holiday Tree is Made of 86 Shopping Carts

Images © Graham King “The shopping cart tree symbolizes both generosity and abundance, as well as acknowledging those less fortunate where their whole world may be housed in a cart. We see shopping carts every day and take them for granted. Individually the beauty of an everyday object may become invisible, but in quantity you [...]
READ MORE >

more inhabitat authors >