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Beverley Mitchell

Beverley is an Australian-born, Montreal-based writer and editor with a background in contemporary visual art, craft and design management. From a long line of green thumbs, she is now coming to terms with Canadian urban balcony gardening after nine years in the Australian tropics, where she had a jungle for a backyard. Beverley’s love of organic gardening led her to permaculture, which particularly influenced her with its concept of self-sustaining systems. She is interested in seeing this concept applied not only small-scale food production, but business models, consumer products and project development as well. When she's not writing, editing or cooking, you'll find her thrifting.
christmas gifts, holidays, xmas gifts, presents, eco-presents, green presents, green holidays, green xmas, green gift guide, green gifts, eco-gifts, earth-friendly gifts, handmade gifts, gift guide, holiday gift guide, green gadget gifts, gadget, eco gifts for gadget geeks, sustainable gifts for gadget geeks, green gifts for gadget geeks, smilesolar watch, usb cell batteries, rechargeable batteries, green batteries, hand sun and cloud camera, cranked digital camera, green digital camera, salvage audio stereo, reclaimed wood stereo, green stereo, eco stereo, powerslayer usb charger, smart usb charger, green usb charger, port solar charger, xd design solar charger, green phone charger, plumen light bulb, green light bulbs, ore board wooden keyboard, sustainable wood keyboard, rydon pixeo bike light, solar bike light, Bambu iPad case, cork iPad case, nest protect, garmin vivofit fitness band, vanmoof electric bike, ebike, eco-amp iPhone speaker, eden garden monitoring system, voltaic switch solar bag, wewood watch

18 tech-tastic green gadget gifts

With the ubiquity of smartphone technology and tablets, there's really a little bit of gadget geek in every person on...

Artichokes, gardening, fall planting, vegetables for spring harvest, overwinter vegetables, vegetable gardening, cold frames, poly house, plant hardiness zone, map, kale, collards, onions, shallots, scallions, Egyptian onions, carrots, beetroot, daikon radish, leafy greens, lettuce, artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, broad beans, pre-seeding crops, winter, spring

10 vegetables to plant now for a bountiful spring harvest

Here we are at the end of the Northern Hemisphere harvest season, but that doesn't mean you have to pack up your...

backyard shed, backyard, cottage, backyard office, plant-covered office, backyard studio, backyard art studio, san francisco backyard office, san francisco backyard studio, Scott Lewis Landscape Architects, landscape architecture, garden, garden studio, green cube studio, San Francisco, urban garden, artist studio, garden renovation, urban oasis

This lush, green backyard office is a dream artist's studio hidden in a San Francisco garden

Scott Lewis Landscape Architects were tapped for this Presidio neighborhood townhouse garden renovation after working...

artificial intelligence, AI, robots, technology, Professor Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, future visions, futurist, Stephen Hawking says artificial intelligence spells end of human race,

Stephen Hawking says AI could spell the end of the human race

Professor Stephen Hawking has revealed in an interview with the BBC that he believes, "The development of full...

Tsubomi House, Flathouse, Bud house, Yotsuha Cookie Shop, working from home, work life balance, work at home, open plan, tiny home, split level, multilevel, small footprint, Tokyo, Japan, Japanese tiny homes, plywood, home business, architecture, stacked home, stacked building

Tiny Tsubomi House is a Multi-Level Residence that Blooms Atop a Cookie Shop

The Tsubomi House is focused around its central staircase, which is made of concrete on the lower floors and folded...

Bernhard Lang, photography, aerial images, aerial photography, beach, pictures of beaches from the air, Adria, Italian beaches photographed from the air, fine art photography, pattern, beach umbrella, Italy, overcrowding, overpopulation

Bernhard Lang's aerial photographs give a whole new perspective on the day at the beach

Lang has been producing his Aerial Views works since 2010. He charters small planes to take him above mines, shipping...

Refugees Welcome, sharing economy, AirBnB for refugees, Berlin, Germany, European refugee crisis, European migrant crisis, refugees, social responsibility, housing refugees in share homes, cohabitation, communal living, what can I do to help refugees, donations, non-profit organizations,

"Refugees Welcome" is the sharing economy's response to the crisis in Europe

So far the sharing economy has offered innovative solutions to everything from reducing food waste to getting around...

Wild Thing, Riga Technical University, Riga Technical University International Summer School, architecture, student projects, treehouse, rewilding, tiny cabins, bird hide, revegetation, Latvia, recycled building materials, wood, wooden structures, Wild Thing cabin in Latvian meadow,

Adorable Wild Thing Cabin is perched in the middle of a rewilding Latvian meadow

The Wild Thing's home is the Pirtsupite Valley in the Latvian town of Cēsis. The valley is a wild area within...

trees, planting more trees equal to $10000 a year, study, more street trees make people feel younger, street trees, urban design, green cities, green neighborhood, planting trees, Nature, open access, public health, well-being, health, greenspace, green space, urban green space

Study shows planting street trees can make residents feel up to 7 years younger

A new study published in the journal Nature has a shown a strong correlation between an abundance of street trees...

Szymon Hanczar, tiny home, tiny apartment, 140 square foot apartment, 13 square metre apartment, Poland, interiors, interior design, compact spaces, multipurpose living space,

Polish designer lives every minimalist's dream in a tiny 140-square-foot apartment

First the obvious: this tiny space is for single living only. However, within the compact floor plan, Hanczar has...

Chao Chen, water sensitive building material, hydro sensitive, water sensitive, transforming materials, wood laminate building cladding reacts to water, biomimicry, wood laminate, natural ventilation, wood, surface treatments, cladding, student projects, Royal College of Art, RCA

Astonishing water-sensitive building material acts just like pine cones

Chen's inspiration for the Water Reaction Project grew from his past observations of pine cones: the cones are...

Survival Capsule, disaster shelter, natural disasters, tsunami, tsunami-proof design, survival pods, tornado shelter, disaster capsule, Survival Capsules protect against tsunamis

Pod-like Survival Capsule protects those who can't flee a tsunami

The Survival Capsules are designed as a last-resort measure, to be placed in schools, public buildings and private...

adidas, Parley for the Oceans, Ecouterre, sneakers, ocean trash, adidas make sneakers out of ocean trash, ocean cleanup, gillnets, drift nets, recycled materials, recycled plastic, plastics in the ocean

Adidas unveils new sneaker prototype made from reclaimed ocean trash

Adidas has partnered up with Parley for the Oceans to create the world's first sneaker made from reclaimed ocean...

Bienenhaus #3, Massimiliano Dell'Olivo, bees, beekeeping, bee hives, apiary, honey, honeybees, wooden structure, Italy, Alps, small structures

This colorful Bienenhaus is a bee castle that provides sanctuary for 16 beehives

A Bienenhaus (literally translating as "house of the bees") is often found as an out building near a farm or home....

Mill Ends Park, world's smallest park, Portland, Oregon, parklet, public spaces, urban design, park, green cities, mini-park, tiny spaces, leprechaun

World's smallest park was started by a guerilla gardener over 65 years ago

Dick Fagan returned to Portland in 1946 after serving in World War Two. A journalist, his office at the Oregon...

The Slice, Saunders Architecture, Todd Saunders, Norway, Scandinavian design, Canadian architect, tiny home, tiny cabin, minimalist, monochrome, backyard studio, deck, triangular building, triangle, guest house,

The Slice by Saunders Architecture is a tiny cabin that's built around three existing plum trees

The interior of the Slice comprises simply a bed, a kitchen and a small bathroom. The tiny space is mirrored...

solar energy, James Cameron gives flower-shaped solar arrays to school, solar design, flower-shaped solar array, solar energy, green schools, solar panels, James Cameron, MUSE School

James Cameron designs five huge flower-shaped solar arrays to power his wife's sustainable school

Blockbuster director James Cameron has added a new entry to the code of the language of flowers. By gifting his...

Vancouver, Canada, renewable energy, 100 percent renewable energy, 100% renewables, green cities, climate change, global warming, electricity, transport, Vancouver to run on 100% renewable energy

Vancouver will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy

Vancouver, Canada, has become the latest city to commit to running on 100 percent renewable energy. Following...

Scarcity Waste, Syngenta Photography Award, Somerset House, photographic exhibition, photography, resource consumption, pollution, inequality, hunger, poverty, global development, Mustafah Abdulaziz, Benedikt Partenheimer,

2015 Syngenta Photography Award presents powerful responses to the theme of Scarcity–Waste

The curatorial rationale for Scarcity Waste states: "In a world of limited resources, scarcity and waste have become...

Facteur-Cheval-Palais-Ideal-lead

Postman builds incredible palace from thousands of pebbles in Southeast France

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0mS-hTM4aI Of the fateful meeting with his muse Cheval wrote in his journal:...

National Parks Service, NPS, map, noise pollution map, soundscape map, map of noise pollution in US, noise levels, noise pollution, data gathering, acoustics, US noise pollution

National Parks Service maps show noise levels across the US—with and without humans

The National Parks Service (NPS) has published a map that shows the average sound levels across the lower 48...

Flow Hive, Flow Frames, Honey Flow, honey on tap, beehive, bees, honey, apiculture, beekeeping, urban beekeeping, honey extraction, honey extraction without disturbing bees, gardening, pollinators, colony collapse disorder, insects, animals, Cedar Anderson, Stuart Anderson

Flow Hive lets beekeepers harvest honey without disturbing the bees

The realization that there had to be a better way to extract honey from hives came to Cedar Anderson around 10...

Last Days of Ivory, Last Days, illegal wildlife trade, poaching, elephants, ivory, illegal ivory trade, terrorism, international wildlife crime, Kathryn Bigelow

VIDEO: Director Kathryn Bigelow takes on the illegal ivory trade in Last Days short

WARNING: video contains scenes that may disturb some viewers (but, then again, that's the point!) Hollywood...

Climate Resilience Data Challenge, NASA, USGS, competitions, app design, web design, climate data, data mining, climate change data, applications, innovation, NASA offering $35000 for apps using their climate data, big data

Help NASA and the USGS make use of all their climate data and be in the running for $35,000!

NASA and the U.S Geological Survey (USGS) have data. Big data! Together the two organizations have amassed a wealth...

The End of Sitting, RAAAF, Barbara Visser, sitting is the new smoking, standing desk, workspace, flexible workspace, public health, workplace health, Amsterdam, office space, office layout

The end of sitting? RAAAF and Barbara Visser radically reimagine the office

[vimeo 97231737] The End of Sitting presents an office without any of that sitting-is-the-new-smoking business...

vaquita, cetacean, porpoise, desert porpoise, dolphins, whales, critically endangered animals, illegal wildlife trade, gillnetting, bycatch, extinction, IUCN, IUCN Red List, Mexico, Gulf of California, smuggling, marine mammals, sea creatures, illegal fisheries, illegal fishing, prawn, shrimp, rarest cetacean will be extinct by 2018, Phocoena sinus,

World's rarest cetacean could be extinct by 2018 due to illegal gillnetting

The vaquita is the rarest, smallest and most endangered cetacean in the world. It's estimated that fewer than 100...

craft, diy kids craft, green gifts, green kids, how-to

DIY: 6 ways to make your own holiday gift wrap

Looking for a fun and inexpensive way to save some dough this holiday season? Break out the apple cider, gather...

Urbanwasabi, Taiwan, Tainan, House F, passive solar design, natural ventilation, cross breezes, ventilation, tiny home, renovation, open plan, tropical architecture, tropics, hot climate architecture, courtyard, minimalist, cross breezes

This light-filled Taiwanese home goes with the breezy flow to ward off the tropical heat

A major challenge of the renovation project for architect Fang Wei's team was how to capitalize on the lushly...

dolphins, Gulf of Mexico, dolphin shot with arrow, dolphin killings, pregnant dolphin shot, animal cruelty, protected species, animals, sea creatures, habitat conflict, fishing, NOAA

Dolphin cruelly shot with arrow and left for dead in Gulf of Mexico

A dead dolphin has washed up on the shores of Orange Beach, Alabama after being fatally shot with a hunting arrow....

Hyperloop, Elon Musk, UCLA, San Francisco, Los Angeles, high speed transport, Hyperloop is insane, Craig Hodgetts,

Head of Hyperloop design program describes it as 'insane' – but he means it in a good way!

The head of the UCLA-based design program developing Elon Musk's Hyperloop high-speed transport concept has described...

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