As Earth Day approaches this Sunday, many of us will contemplate our concerns over climate change, environmental destruction or dangers to our food supply, but do you know how this holiday first came to be? 42 years ago, the word “environment” was rarely used in daily conversation, until a picture in Time Magazine changed everything. Read on as we take a look back to the late 1960s to see why Earth Day started in the first place and how far society has come in caring for the earth.

Read the rest of The History of Earth Day: When and Why This Celebration Came to Be

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: central park, Cleveland, cuyahoga river, earth day, earth day history, environmental destruction, first earth day, gaylord nelson, history of earth day, New York., Pollution, republicans, smog, when did earth day start, who started earth day

Read the rest of Inhabitat’s Top Picks from the 2012 NY Auto Show

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: 2012, 2012 NY Auto Show, Amanda Coen, best of, concept car, delorean, eco-friendly, energy efficient, ev, Fisker Atlantic, green auto, green car, green technology, hybrid car, hybrid vehicle, infiniti le, inhabitat, Lincoln MKZ, mitsubishi, Mitsubishi i-MiEV Sport Air, new york auto show, New York., NISSAN, Nissan NV 200, Sport Air, sustainable design, sustainable interior, taxi of tomorrow, Terrafugia

Read the rest of Heller Manus & Hornblower Win Niagara Falls Landing Competition

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "sustainable architecture", boat tours, eco design, green architecture, Green Building, green design, heller manus, heller manus architects, hornblower, landing facilities, leed certification, New York., niagara, niagara falls, niagara falls boat tours, Sustainable Building, sustainable design

Read the rest of offMetro Launches New Website Promoting Car-Free Adventures Around San Francisco

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: alternative transportation, Amanda Coen, bicycle, biking, eco-travel, green lifestyle, green travel, inhabitat, interactive map, Lauren Matison, new york city, New York., offMetro, oM, public transportation, San Francisco, sustainable lifestyle, sustainable travel

It’s happened to all of us: You’re racing down a busy Manhattan street, jonesing for sugary baked goods, but with no time to pop into a bodega to satisfy the craving. NYC-based bakery Sprinkles Cupcakes has come up with a solution to that exact dilemma by installing new cupcake ATMs around Manhattan. Beginning this summer, the bakery will set up three cupcake ATMs, in midtown, downtown and the Upper West Side, that will dispense gourmet cupcakes wrapped up in boxes and bags made from recycled materials.

MORE >

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: ATMs, bakeries, baking, cupcakes, manhattan, midtown, new york city, New York., NYC, Upper West Side

It can be a bit distressing to see fashion designer Samantha Pleet without a hat. But all of her models at New York Fashion Week were sporting wide, crown-less brims of burnished gold while strutting Pleet’s Fall/Winter 2012 collection on the runway. Pleet tells Ecouterre that her latest collection is a “revival of Romanticism,” the artistic and intellectual response to the Industrial Revolution. Continue reading to see more of Samantha Pleet’s new Romanticism.

READ MORE >

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: eco-fashion, Fashion, fashion week, green fashion, New York Fashion Week 2012, New York., NYC, romanticism, Samantha Pleet

Gretchen Jones plays with the power of light and dark during her Fall/Winter 2012 collection at New York Fashion Week.  In mourning because of the recent loss of her father, Jones held her show in a dark, cavernous venue where the models stepped out of shadows.  The looks were gorgeous as always, as the Project Runway winner returned to her Southwestern roots.  Click ahead to admire the rest of the looks and the models that seem to be suspended in light.

READ MORE >

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: eco-fashion, Ethical Fashion, Fall/Winter 2012, green fashion, Gretchen Jones, Made in the U.S.A., new york city, new york fashion week, New York Green Fashion Week, New York., Project Runway, Sustainable Fashion, sustainable style

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: barcelona bicing, barcelona bicycling, bicycles, bike share, bike shares, boston, copenhagen, cycling, eco bike shares, green transportation, New York., top 6, wuhan china

Erin Brockovich, the famed environmental activist, is researching a new, rather disturbing Tourette-like illness affecting more than a dozen teens in Leroy, New York. What started as a seemingly isolated case with one teenage girl several months ago has spread to affect 17 students, 15 of whom attend LeRoy High School in Genesee County. The two students not attending the school both passed through last year for a softball tournament. While school officials have ruled out environmental factors, Ms. Brockovich and even the National Institute of Health seem to disagree, having launched separate investigations. Hit the jump to see a YouTube video by one of the affected teens.

READ MORE >

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: corinth, environmental news, erin brockovich, Erin Brockovitch Leroy New York, genesee county, leroy, leroy high school, national institute of health, new york news, new york state, new york teens illness, New York., news, ny teens illness, ny teens sickness, ny teens tourettes, tourette, tourette breakout, tourette outbreak, tourette symdrome, tourette symptoms

If you’re trying to amp up your wardrobe with a unique flair, we might have just the thing.  Made in Forest Hills, founded by recycling connoisseur Nicholas Ruiz, is a collection of some of the most interesting bow ties we’ve ever seen! This “Bow Tie Collection,” is a series of 11 ties inspired by different exhibits at MoMA over the course of 2011 and made from things that might otherwise be trash.  Click ahead to check out more of the awesome designs and their inspiration!

READ MORE >

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: eco-fashion, eco-friendly bow ties, Ethical Fashion, green fashion, Made in Forest Hills, museum of modern art, new york city, New York., Nicholas Ruiz, recycled accessories, recycled fashion, sustainable bow ties, Sustainable Fashion, sustainable style, upcycled accessories, upcycled fashion

Diller Scofidio + Renfro beat out fierce competition to apply the same urban revitalization savvy to Aberdeen, Scotland as they did to New York’s cherished High Line park. DS+ R went up against Foster + Partners to clinch the final win, which the designers told our friends over at WAN only encouraged them to work harder for a more compelling design. They and the residents of Aberdeen will definitely be rewarded for their efforts. When complete, the “Granite Web” will feature a gorgeous new green park, a partially buried performance center, and a cultural arts center, all of which are expected to completely transform the heart of this historic city.

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: aberdeen, cultural center, Diller Scofidio + Refro, DS+R Architects, eco design, Foster + Partners, Granite Web, green design, high line, New York., Scotland, sustainable design, urban park, urban revitalization

Read the rest of EcoAfrica Transforms T-Shirt Clippings and Weeds Into Amazing Handmade Paper Crafts

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Cape Town, eco design, eco-materials, EcoAfrica, EcoAfrica social ventures, England, green design, green materials, handmade paper, humanitarian design, Janice Ashby, natural fibers, New York., paper crafts, Recycled Materials, social design, South Africa, sustainable design, t-shirt scraps, weeds, Zimbabwe

Read the rest of Rochester Institute of Technology’s Global Village is a Green Social Hub

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "sustainable architecture", arc architects, ARCusa, eco design, eco university, global village, green architecture, Green Building, green design, green university, Landscape Architecture, New York., rit, Rochester Institute of Technology, sustainable design, SWA SWA group, Urban design

Some of us were lucky enough to have moms or dads build treehouses for us – for the rest of us, there’s Benjamin Jones. The artist recently brought his colorful TreeHouse made of sustainable materials to Governor’s Island in NYC for the annual Figment Festival and it was an instant hit with kids and adults alike! We wanted to know more about the inspiration behind the arboreal home’s recycled design so we caught up with Benjamin to ask him everything from where he sourced his supplies to what cool interactive art projects he’ll be hatching next. Read on to see what he shared with us – including the real reason he decided to go for building the treehouse (read: a girl)!

Read the rest of INTERVIEW: We Talk to Artist Benjamin Jones About His Incredible Sustainable TreeHouse

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: benjamin jones, build it green, eco design, eco-art, figment arts festival, governor’s island figment festival, governor’s island green building, governor’s island pavilion, governors island, green architecture, green art, green art nyc, Green Building, green design, inhabitat interview, interview, New York., NYC, Reclaimed Materials, Recycled Materials, Solar Power, sustainable art, sustainable design, sustainable treehouse, tree house, treehouse, Treehouses

The Census Bureau just released a report on the commuting behavior of Americans in 2009. The commuting report is part of the American Community Survey, and it details the average commute time for Americans along with their mode of transportation. Although seven-tenths of Americans living in metro areas reside within 3/4 of a mile of public transit, only 4.9 percent of workers regularly took mass transit to work in 2009. Nine of the ten cities on this list have less than 15% of the population commuting on mass transit. If those are our highest statistics, perhaps Americans need a bit of a mass transit education along with additional infrastructure support.

Read the rest of US Census Reveals the Top 10 US Cities for Mass Transit Commuting

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: best mass transit cities, best public transport, best public transportation, boston, chicago, Honolulu, infrastructure, mass transit, most efficient mass transit, most efficient public transportation, New York., philadelphia, public transportation, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC

Boston’s new bike-share program, dubbed the Hubway, officially launched yesterday with over 600 bicycles geared up and ready to rent. For those unfamiliar with the city’s narrow and winding roads, it has long been derided as one of the least bikeable cities. However, the popular support behind Hubway signals a great change. Boston is now striving to be a center of public bike travel in the Northeast. To celebrate the launch of the system and demonstrate how easy, inexpensive and green biking can be, Hubway members rode 200 of the bikes around the city!

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: alta bicycles, bike share, bixi, boston, Boston bike share, hubway, mayor Menino, new york bike share, New York., Northeast, velib, washington d.c.

Like owning a pony, playing in a treehouse is one of those childhood dreams that many urbanites just never get to fulfill – but if you’re going to be in NYC this weekend, you can cross one of those of your list (hint: it isn’t the pony). We’ve been following artist Benjamin Jones’ awesome TreeHouse made of reclaimed materials and are excited to announce that this upcoming Saturday, July 9th, he will be throwing a picnic and party for anyone who wants to come and help him paint it! And if you want to see more pics of this sweet arboreal lair (including ones of the sweet slide built into the side of it) check them out here.

READ MORE >

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: benjamin jones, build it green, eco design, eco-art, figment arts festival, governor’s island figment festival, governor’s island green building, governor’s island pavilion, governors island, green architecture, green art, green art nyc, Green Building, green design, New York., NYC, Reclaimed Materials, Recycled Materials, Solar Power, sustainable art, sustainable design, sustainable treehouse, tree house, treehouse, Treehouses

The Trash Me is a simple table lamp designed by NY-based Victor Vetterlein made from paper-based recycled materials. The lamp’s two ephemeral grey shells have been made by blending four paper egg cartons into paper pulp, spreading the mix into molds and leaving them to dry. The remaining parts are made from recyclable aluminum and low energy electrical components. Thanks to a secret compartment at its base filled with hundreds of birdseeds the lamp can be set upright on any flat surface. If you love this great lamp idea by Victor, show your support by voting for it here!

VOTE FOR THE TRASH ME LAMP >

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Art, Bright Ideas, Contests, egg carton, green home decor, green lighting, green materials, green packaging, low energy light, New York., recycled pulp paper, recycling / compost

Read the rest of Petroleum Tank Turned into Futuristic Loft Sleeping Pod and Loo

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: "sustainable architecture", container living, Eco Architecture, green architecture, green design, green home, loft, lot-ek, lotek, manhattan, morton loft, New York., petroleum tank, Recycled Materials, sleepind pod, tanker

Leave it up to the wunder-kids at Mad Men to come up with a great advertising campaign for high speed rail. Actors Vincent Kartheiser and Rich Sommer head back to 1965 to discuss commercial ideas to drum up support for trains in this Funny or Die clip. Everything they say (except for gas costing $1 a gallon in the future) still rings true. Trains not only get you right into the heart of Manhattan, but you avoid avoid parking, traffic and smoke with your buddies in the train car. Makes sense to us (‘cept maybe the smoking part).

Via Funny or Die

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: commercial, funny or die, green transportation, high speed rail, mad men, New York., Rich Sommer, trains, Vincent Kartheiser