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After news broke last week that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have officially passed the 400 parts per million mark, a leading economist and researcher warned that hundreds of millions of people will become climate refugees in the coming decades. The head of Grantham Institute for Climate Change, Lord Stern warned that mass migrations will occur as a result of climate change, which will exacerbate desertification and cause entire continents to experience crop failure.

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This weekend, the Inhabiteam once again got to experience BKLYN Designs, one of our most beloved NY Design Week events, and revel in all of the Brooklyn-made furniture glory that it had to offer. As in years past, we also nominated our favorite green designers at the show for Inhabitat Green Designs Awards, and asked you to vote for a readers’ choice winner in addition to our editors’ choice pic. Read on to find out which two Brooklyn-based designers took home the top prizes!

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Let them eat… cockroaches? In an effort to address world hunger, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recently published a report suggesting that insects are a viable source of protein for humans, animals and pets. The report picks grasshoppers, ants and other bugs as protein-packed meat substitutes that are less harmful to the environment than traditional meat.

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Building Trust international has just launched PLAYscapes, an exciting, new design competition asking creatives to think of ways to transform redundant, neglected parts of their neighborhoods into a places for culture and play! This is a chance to change a part of your city, to inspire people, and create a space that inspires social interaction and enjoyment. The winning design will be brought to fruition by Building Trust international, and there will be 9 honorable mentions and a student prize worth $100. The deadline to register is July 29, 2013, and submissions must be received before September 15, 2013.

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Handy is a new line of sustainably crafted office accessories by Barcelona-based design studio Lucirmas. The versatile, modular desk set is made from recycled glass and cork. It comprises a pencil and business card holder, a small container with a lid, and a cable holder. Each glass element is entirely handmade by upcycling liquor bottles, and the entire set can be disassembled and recycled at the end of its lifespan.

+ Lucirmas

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Why use a light bulb to illuminate your home when you could just fill it with glowing plants? That’s the question asked by Antony Evans, the head of a team of bio-engineers in San Francisco, California. The team has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a project that will use the glowing genes from fireflies and bacteria to create plants that shine. By using synthetic biology and Genome Compiler software, the have already managed to modify Arabidopsis plants, and they’re working on glowing roses.

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Most plastics can be endlessly recycled without losing their indestructibility. But instead of being reused, the majority of plastics will end up as one-time-use products, finding their end as pollutants on land or in our oceans. Save Our Soup is Dutch designer David Graas’ colorful, speckled collection of recycled plastic lamps that have been created with then intent of diverting plastics from the Pacific Garbage Patch, or “soup”.

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‘Just Desserts’ is a colorful cluster of glass lights made from recycled dessert bowls. UK-based designer Jay Watson created this intriguing lighting array by stringing up traditional glass bowls sourced from flea markets and second-hand shops. The lamps are set to make their official debut at Interiors LDN this May in London.

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A whole new generation of eco-minded designers has emerged from the small European nation of Romania, which is currently showcasing its very first zero energy modular home concept - Soleta ZeroEnergy One. On display outside the United States Embassy in Bucharest, the tiny home is a prototype developed by the Justin Capra Foundation for Invention and Sustainable Technologies (FITS). This lovely dwelling is powered by clean energy and it can even be remote-controlled by a smartphone!

 

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Hyundai isn’t joking when it claims it wants to fight global warming. The car manufacturer just announced that it plans to install what will be South Korea’s largest solar photovoltaic system on the rooftops of its plant in Asan. Working with thermal power company Korea Midland Power Ltd. (KOMIPO), Hyundai plans to install 40,000 solar photovoltaic modules on the rooftops of the plant’s press, welding, assembly and engine buildings by the end of the year. The giant rooftop solar plant will curb 5,600 tons of CO2 emissions – the equivalent of planting 1.12 million pine trees.

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Vancouver-based designer Darryl Agawin has created a brilliant line of No, Sweat! furniture that doubles as gym equipment for space-starved apartment dwellers. Featured over at Treehugger, the chic exercise equipment is decorated with Keith Haring-like squiggles and it allows you to fit squats and push ups into your daily routine without leaving the house!

 

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Nature can be a dangerous place. Despite our efforts to carve a niche for ourselves as a species on this planet, we are still vulnerable to disease, poisons, the greater laws of physics, and one another. In her commissioned work for January Biannual, Australian artist Sonia Rentsch creates handcrafted weapons from organic materials. The pieces reflect the human proclivity to use take elements of our environment and manipulate them through technology to suit our desires. Photographed by Albert Comper, the harmless firearms, bullets, and grenades take on a slightly sinister appearance.

 

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The first sure sign of a robot uprising will be when robots gain self-awareness and begin acting autonomously – and if this self-assembling robot is any indication, we’re well on our way to the robopocalypse. Researchers at Harvard and MIT teamed up to produce a 3D-printed inchworm robot that is able to aseemble itself. Using shape memory polymers that automatically fold into desired shapes, the remarkable bot transforms itself from a completely flat, two-dimensional object into a walking inchworm-shaped robot with almost no help from human hands.

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In order to help reduce carbon emissions by 2020, the UK government recently opened the Green Investment Bank (GIB) in Edinburgh, making it the first bank in the world focused entirely on lending to clean energy developments. Capitalized with over 3 billion pounds, the GIB financed eleven projects over its first five months, the majority of which had to do with generating energy from waste. The bank reported that it was able to utilize 1.7 billion pounds of third-party lending, helping to spark a new, sustainable private sector.

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Naki’o, a mixed breed dog from Nebraska, has become the first dog fitted with four prosthetic limbs. This achievement was accomplished by US company Orthopets, which specializes in artificial pet limbs. Naki’o lost his limbs and part of his tail to frostbite when he was abandoned in a cellar as a puppy, but now, thanks to a successful operation, he can run and play freely like other dogs.

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