Author Angela Youngman has released a guidebook that will immerse you in world of green roofs through case studies, imagery, and must-know terminology related to design, build, and installation of these vegetated scapes. Green Roofs is not a self-help manual, but rather a light read that takes a broad stroke look at many of the variables and considerations surrounding what should really be called “living buildings.”

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Post tags: angela youngman, Biodiversity, book review, green roofs, guide book, living building, Living Walls, publication, resource, stormwater pollution, urban gardening

Read the rest of Abandoned Food Factory to be Transformed into Chicago’s First Zero-Energy Vertical Farm!

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Post tags: "sustainable architecture", chicago's first vertical farm, eco design, factory conversion, factory renovation, green architecture, Green Building, green design, green renovation, off-grid, plant chicago, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, sustainable food, the plant, Urban design, Urban Farming, urban gardening, vertical farm, vertical garden, Zero energy

Predicting food shortages in the 21st century, Zurich-based UrbanFarmers AG and Conceptual Devices have teamed up to produce plans for the Globe (Hedron), a geodesic greenhouse that rests on the top of flat roofs in urban areas. The dome, which is framed with bamboo, is designed as an aquaponics system that can grow both fish and vegetables. The load of the fish tank is hung on the greenhouse structure, allowing this aquaponic farm to be housed on a wider variety of roofs without any structural building adaptation. The greenhouse is designed to feed four families of four, year-round. The project has been entered in the 2012 Buckminster Fuller Challenge, and the designers are currently raising funds for it on IndieGoGo.

+ Conceptual Devices

+ Globe (Hedron) on IndieGoGo

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Post tags: food security, geodesic dome, geodesic greenhouse, globe (hedron), greenhouses, roof garden, rooftop farm, rooftop greenhouse, sustainable food, Urban Farming, urban gardening

Brooklyn-based Halona Glass has created a series of beautiful glass enclosures that can transform any potted plant into a beautiful geodesic terrarium! The crystalline toppers fit snugly inside standard flower pots, and they reflect and refract sunlight to cast a burst of geometric shapes across any room.

Read the rest of Turn Any Potted Plant into a Geodesic Crystal Terrarium With Halona’s Plant Toppers!

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Post tags: eco design, geodesic terrarium, green design, halona glass, indoor gardening, stained glass, sustainable design, terrarium, urban gardening

A community in Kathmandu, Nepal, has begun building an urban garden and outdoor art space for public enjoyment and education. The project is a collaboration between CATALiST design, a newly-founded sustainable design and community development organization, and Sattya Media Arts Collective based in Kathmandu. The project is called “Hariyo Chowk,” which means “Green Commons” in Nepali. It’s an urban garden and outdoor community arts space – a place for people to learn and share ideas about art and sustainable urban living, as well as a place to simply enjoy some greenery away from the chaos of the city. It’s a very needed project for Kathmandu, which has almost no public green space at all and is rapidly developing into a concrete jungle. CATALiST and Sattya are currently in the last days of a fundraising campaign, and they need your help to reach their funding goal – read on to learn more about this project and donate to their Kickstarter!

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Read the rest of Help Kickstart the Hariyo Chowk Community Garden in Kathmandu, Nepal!

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Post tags: CATALiST design, green design, Hariyo Chowk, kathmandu, kickstarter, Nepal, public garden, Sattya Media Arts Collective, social sustainability, sustainable design, urban gardening

Mexican-born, Netherlands-based designer José de la O unveiled a brilliant hanging pendant lamp that doubles as a vegetable garden at this year’s Milan Furniture Fair. Dubbed “Vicky”, the lamp uses a special bulb that provides increased light in the blue spectrum, which helps the plants grow. The designer sees the lamp not only as a source of light but also as a resource for growing food in urban environments that lack space for a garden.

Read the rest of Vicky Pendant Lamp Terrarium Shines a Light on Indoor Gardening

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Post tags: container garden, eco design, Gardening, green interiors, green lighting, indoor gardening, Jose de la O, milan furniture fair 2012, sustainable design, terrarium, urban gardening, vicky lamp

Read the rest of 6 Super Easy Gardening Projects To Do This Weekend

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Post tags: "living wall", DIY, DIY garden, diy gardening, diy projects, fire escape garden, garden project, Gardening, gardening projects, green design, green project, guerrilla gardening, indoor gardens, seed bombs, terrarium, top 6 gardening, urban gardening, vertical garden, weekend project

Read the rest of 6 Hard-to-Kill Plants for the Recovering Brown Thumb

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Post tags: 6 Hard to Kill Plants for the Recovering Brown Thumb, costa farms, easy to care for plants, Gardening, hard to kill houseplants, hard to kill plants, houseplants, low maintenance plants, plants, plants of steel, plants that are hard to kill, plants that live a long time, urban gardening, what plants are hard to kill

Does your backyard look as barren as the Sahara? What if you could transform it into a thriving edible garden using ecological design principles? Open Source Permaculture is giving you all the tools you need, providing a free site with expert tips for making a sustainable backyard garden more than a dream. Currently Open Source Permaculture  is offering a Q&A website, a gardener’s wiki, as well as a free Urban Permaculture Guide eBook. Permaculture is a school of design rooted in ecological ethics and principles, and it can be used to design anything from a sustainable garden to green architecture. To find out more, just click ahead!

+ Open Source Permaculture

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Post tags: eco gardening, ecological design principles, edible garden, Open Source Permaculture, permaculture, sustainable garden, urban farms, urban gardening, urban gardens, Urban Permaculture Guide eBook

Read the rest of PRODUCT REVIEW: Back to the Roots’ Mushroom Growing Kit is Fun But Slightly Disturbing

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Post tags: back to the roots, diy mushroom growing, eco design, eco food, green design, grow your own mushrooms, HOW TO: Grow Your Own Mushrooms with a Back to the Roots Kit!, mushroom growing kit, mushroom growing kit review, sustainable design, sustainable food, Urban Farming, urban gardening

Read the rest of 7 Indoor Plants That Purify the Air Around You Naturally

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Post tags: air cleaning plants, air filter, air purifying plants, anthuriums, Dendrobium, eco design, ferns, Gardening, green design, indoor garden, Indoor Plants, lilies, natural air filter, orchids, Palms, peace lilies, plants for health, potted plants, Schefflera, song of india, sustainable design, urban gardening, VOCs

Anyone who has ever cared for plants has probably purchased commercial potting soil at some point in their lives – but did you know that almost all commercial potting soils are made from peat – a non-renewable resource which exists in very limited quantities on our planet, and has be harvested from peat bogs which are thousands of years old? When I first heard about this I had no idea! Most peat comes from wetlands and swamp forests where it forms naturally from decomposing material and helps regulate carbon as well as support wildlife. To put this into perspective, a loss of just 5% of the carbon stored in Britain’s peatlands would equate to the UK’s total annual green house gas emissions (according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature). Given the importance of peat to our eco system, it hardly seems wise for us to continue to remove it just so that we can grow houseplants. Because of the ecological issues with using peat in soil, some growers like Costa Farms are searching for more sustainable alternatives for use in plant soil. On a recent trip to Costa’s Miami farm, we were introduced to one such substance called coconut coir. Coconut coir is attractive because it’s a byproduct of the coconut industry that is not eaten or used as fuel, and on top of that, it actually promotes plant health. Read on to find out more about this eco-friendly growing medium and flip through our pics of coir being processed.

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Post tags: Coconut, coconut coir, coconut soil, coir, costa, costa farms, eco friendly growing medium, Gardening, growing plants, plants, soil alternative, soil made of coconuts, urban gardening

Read the rest of How To: Make a Bird Feeder for Small Spaces With Recycled Materials

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Post tags: birdfeedert, DIY, diy birdfeeder, how to make a birdfeeder, how-to, Recycled Materials, small space gardening, Urban design, urban gardening

No matter how small your urban outdoor space is, it can offer a lot of unused space above your head. Skypots let you use that space to its full potential by offering a variety of simple white spheres with white bases and transparent tops that can be attached to the ceiling of a balcony and adjusted to an appropriate height. Just hang them and plant them to start your own farm in the sky.

+ Skypot

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Post tags: eco design, green design, sky farm, sky pots, skypot, skypots, sustainable design, Urban Farming, urban gardening

Hoping to get your own urban farm started this year but unsure where to begin? Urban Patches is a website that can help! With interviews from current, economically successful urban farmers, best practices, and guides, Urban Patches hopes to make urban farming a new way of life for city dwellers. With unemployment high and many people looking for fresh, local food, Urban Patches offers a great way to connect with and learn from successful city farmers while getting your own backyard garden going.

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Post tags: city farmer website, eco design, Gardening, green design, growing vegetables in the city, sustainable design, Urban Farming, urban gardening, urban green space, urban patches, website for city farmers

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Post tags: Art, east london, eco design, England, environmental art, green design, guerrilla gardening, Steve Wheen, sustainable design, The Pothole Gardener, Urban design, urban gardening

Students at Green Mountain College (GMC) recently took on a mission to develop a shed for urban farmers that would suit the needs of the gardeners of the future. The OVaL Shed — otherwise known as the Occupy Vacant Lots — is their final design, and it features a butterfly roof, rainwater collection, recycled materials, and a customizable plan. The project was designed by 20 students as part of GMC’s Renewable Energy and Ecodesign (REED) certificate program, and it now sits at its final resting place on the GMC campus where it will nurture plants for the Champlain Valley Native Plant Restoration Nursery operated by the Nature Conservancy.

Read the rest of Occupy Vacant Lots Project Constructs a Pre-Fab Shed for Urban Gardeners

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Post tags: agriculture, city farm, city garden, farming, Gardening, green mountain college, occupy, occupy vacant lots, oval shed, REED program, urban farm, Urban Farming, urban farming shed, urban farming tools, urban garden, urban gardening, urban gardening shed, urban shed, vacant lot farms, vacant lots

A group of consultants in Paris has hatched a plan to turn the Eiffel Tower into a giant tree by covering it with 600,000 plants. Their dream is to literally plant the 324 meter tall aesthetic symbol of Paris with 12 tons of rubber tubing, and gradually add bags planted with greenery all over it to turn it into a growing tree. The group says the project would cost 72 million Euros (that’s around 97 million US dollars) and would remove 87.8 tons of carbon dioxide from the air in the city of lights.

Read the rest of Ginger Group Unveils Plan to Transform the Eiffel Tower Into a Gigantic Tree

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Post tags: eco france, eco paris, Eiffel Tower, eiffel tower garden, eiffel tower makeover, eiffel tower plants, eiffel tower tree, eiffel tower visit, french sustainability, ginger group, green initiatives, green paris, Paris, parisian sustainability, sustainability in france, sustainability in paris, urban gardening, urban gardens, urban green

Pet-Tree is a vertical eco gardening system made from recycled PET containers. The design consists of structural plastic pieces and PET pots that are combined to form a tree-like shape. The system also has a built in water circulation system, and it harvests rainwater while feeding plants through drip irrigation. The project allows space-starved urban gardeners to grow a wide range of plants, and it’s a great option for organic growers. Designed by Dr.Hakan Gürsu from Designnobis, the Pet-Tree has been honored with a Green Dot Award and an International Design Award.

+ Designobis

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Post tags: container garden, Gardening, green design, green dot, Green Dot Award, green gardening, pet plant pots, pet-tree, rainwater recycling, Recycled Materials, recycled PET, sustainable design, urban gardening

A new report from researchers at the University of Minnesota says that the world’s food demand will double by 2050, however thankfully there is a gaping hole in their research – the team neglected to consider advancements in urban farming, which could provide agricultural solutions for Earth’s growing human population (as it is already doing in places like Havana, Cuba). The University of Minnesota researchers estimate that an area the size of the United States would need to be cleared by developing nations in order to make enough to feed their growing communities, and that clearing that area will significantly increase carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere leading to increased climate change. Or, we could build farms on empty urban lots, on city rooftops and in community spaces and feed ourselves on the open land we already have by using new technologies being developed in empty storefronts in London and high-tech laboratories nestled into Subway sandwich shops in Japan.

Read the rest of Food Demand to Double by 2050, Urban Agriculture to Become Increasingly Important

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Post tags: agricultural advancements, agricultural demand, agricultural technology, earth population, food demand, food growth, food needs, food technology, human population, urban agriculture, urban farm, urban food solution, urban food source, urban gardening