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Cat DiStasio

Cat DiStasio is a writer, storyteller, and community architect. Previous to her freelance career, Cat worked in human resources and recruiting in a variety of industries. She holds a B.A. in Ethnic, Gender, and Labor Studies from the University of Washington. Cat believes wholeheartedly in the healing power of freshly baked bread.
china, people's architecture office, china pao, prefabricated home, prefab home, urban housing, urban dwellings, hex key, mrs fan's plugin house, plugin tower

This $10k tiny house can be built with a hex key in less than a day

Cheap Chinese goods are a bit of a joke in America, but when a company manages to produce an entire house with...

charitable giving guide, nonprofit organizations, environmental work, environmental justice, donating to nonprofits, charitable giving, tax deductible donations, environmental protection, sustainable food, earth justice, environmental working group, wildlife conservation, animal welfare institute, ecotrust, conservation fund, rainforest alliance

7 ecological charities to support on Giving Tuesday and beyond

‘Tis the season of giving and all through the town, pocketbooks are jingling with the sound of spending. Hang...

thanksgiving, black friday, alternatives to black friday, what to do on black friday, autumn activities, giving back, ways to give back during the holidays, autumn holidays, winter holidays, fun things to do, cheap things to do, volunteering

6 more meaningful ways to spend Black Friday instead of shopping

It's here. The day widely known as Black Friday is upon us. The mall will be packed and your Christmas shopping...

jean nouvel, cyprus, nicosia, Eleftheria Square, greenery, plants, balcony, atrium, landscape design

Jean Nouvel's Cyprus tower is a pixelated, perforated plant paradise

Nouvel’s tower in Cyprus, which his firm calls “White Walls,” is a radical departure from a traditional high...

Bolwoningen, Dries Kreijkamp, netherlands, dutch architecture, spherical homes, globe homes, spherical apartments, bulb homes, 's-Hertogenbosch, Den Bosch, Maaspoort

Futuristic Dutch community features 50 out-of-this world spherical homes

Although it might look like the set of a science fiction film, this neighborhood in the Netherlands was built by...

washington state university, smartphone spectrometer, cancer screening, cancer biomarkers, detecting cancer, early detection of cancer, lei li

New $150 gadget lets your smartphone detect cancer with laboratory precision

While smartphone spectrometers are already being used to help detect cancer, they have only been able to evaluate...

charles bombardier, ashish thulkar, tridika, driverless mag-lev pod, driverless living room, self-driving vehicles, magnetic levitation, urban transportation, private transportation

Tridika is a self-driving maglev vehicle that would double as a portable living room

Hold onto your seats, folks—especially if you’re sitting on your living room couch. This wild self-driving...

escape homes, vista, vista tiny home, escape vista travel trailer, tiny homes, portable homes, off-grid homes, rooftop solar power, home battery system, rainwater collection, gray water recycling

This tiny home on wheels lets you change your Vista on a whim

The Vista, at its core, has a great deal in common with traditional recreational vehicles. The trailer measures...

south korea, south korean architecture, korean architecture, ON Architecture Inc, ON Architecture, tower house, scenic views, observation tower, terrace, daylight, natural light

This bright teal tiny house features an observation tower for amazing views

Imagine buying a plot of land with a stellar view for your future home, only to see the construction of multi-family...

rooftop garden, woodland cabins, california cabins, natural-looking architecture, low-impact construction, cabin art studio, cabin yoga space, cabin guest home, cabin guest room, cabins with natural light

Pair of tranquil hillside cabins provide space for art, yoga, and guests

Why have one hillside cabin when you can have two? Feldman Architecture is responsible for the design of this pair...

the netherlands, netherlands, dutch trains, electric trains, wind farms, electric passenger trains, high-speed rail, high-speed trains

Wind power now runs all electric passenger trains in the Netherlands

All of the electric passenger trains running in the Netherlands are now powered entirely by wind. One year ahead...

mit, graphene, strongest material, lightweight material, 3D graphene, compressed graphene, carbon

MIT researchers unveil ultralight material 10 times stronger than steel

Researchers at MIT have found a way to make one of the world’s strongest materials even stronger. Graphene, a...

cliff haven, utah, off grid homes, cave home Utah, off grid cliffside home, off grid house for sale Utah,

Off-grid Utah home nestled inside a natural cave-like opening

The word ‘incredible’ does not begin to encompass the awesomeness of this Utah abode, hidden in the side of...

tiny trailer, tiny camper, tiny rv, homie, expandable trailer, expandable rv, lightweight trailer, ultralight camper, wide path trailer

Tiny Homie camper expands from roadworthy to camp-ready in a minute

Of all the tiny trailers in all the towns, this one rolled into our line of sight and won us over right away. The...

china, china renewable energy, china solar power production, china National Energy Administration, china National Development and Reform Commission, china economy, china pollution

China to spend $361 billion on renewable energy projects by 2020

China may still be one of the top polluting countries on the planet, but they’re trying to improve. The country’s...

costa rica, renewable energy, renewables, hydropower, solar power, wind power, wind farms, costa rica rainfall, costa rica electricity institute

Costa Rica ran almost entirely on renewables in 2016

It’s a happy new year in Costa Rica, where the nation’s Electricity Institute has reported that 98.1 percent...

israel, Ashalim Solar Thermal Power Station, negev desert solar, concentrated solar power Israel, solar power plant Israel, world's tallest solar tower, BrightSource Energy, General Electric, NOY Infrastructure & Energy Investment Fund

Israel building world's tallest solar tower to power 130,000 households

Three years after Israel first announced plans for an enormous solar power station, the project is progressing...

faraday future, faraday future ff91, fastest electric car, tesla, tesla model s, faraday future car factory, ces, ces 2017

Faraday Future's FF91 smashes speed record of Tesla Model S in ludicrous mode

Faraday Future made a bold claim Tuesday when the California-based automotive startup unveiled its 1,050-horsepower...

fiat chrysler, chrysler portal, chrysler self-driving car, self-driving car, self-driving vehicle, autonomous car, electric cars, chrysler concept car, ces, ces las vegas

Chrysler unveils all-electric self-driving Portal car "designed by millennials for millennials"

While Tesla and Google are busy developing the technology to make cars drive themselves, other auto companies are...

india, carbon clean solutions, carbon capture, carbon capture and utilization, CCU, carbon capture and storage, CCS, baking powder, capturing co2, capture carbon emissions, reduce carbon emissions

Breakthrough technology turns coal plant CO2 into baking powder

When it comes to mitigating the impact of modern civilization on our planet’s environment, many scientists and...

edina tokodi, living fence, brooklyn, brooklyn botanic garden, new york foundation for the arts, nyfa, moss graffiti, living wall, green wall, botanical art, living art

Artist raises money to install living billboard at Brooklyn Botanical Garden this spring

Brooklyn-based artist Edina Tokodi is raising money to build a living art installation that highlights the effects...

new jersey, new york, new jersey pipeline, nj pipeline, pilgrim pipeline, oil pipeline, pipeline protests, proposed pipeline, drinking water, water reservoir, water supply, Ramapough Lunaape Nation

Native American tribe is fighting against the Pilgrim Pipeline in New Jersey

As oil and gas companies race to plan more pipelines to criss-cross America, conservationists are similarly ramping...

ford, ford fusion, ford fusion hybrid, self-driving car, self-driving cars, autonomous cars, autonomous vehicles, ces 2017

Ford to unveil new driverless Fusion Hybrid at CES

Ford is revving up the future of autonomous vehicles with its new Fusion Hybrid. The second-generation Fusion is...

panasonic, tesla, solarcity, buffalo, solar cells, solar modules, photovoltaic cells, photovoltaic modules, pv cells, pv modules, tesla powerwall, tesla powerpack, tesla solar power, tesla solar cells, tesla solar cell factory, buffalo new york

Panasonic investing $256M in Tesla's Buffalo solar manufacturing plant

Following Tesla’s recent acquisition of SolarCity, the California-based company just scored another big win....

polar bear, polar bears, arctic, alaska, barter island, patty waymire, photography, photographer, climate change, habitat loss, global warming, endangered species

Snow-free images of Arctic polar bears show the harsh reality of climate change

When Patty Waymire headed to Barter Island, Alaska a few months ago, she expected to take lots of photographs of...

farm from a box, california, drought, san francisco, shone farm, santa rose junior college, two acre farm, farming kit, easy farm kit, growing food, sustainable food, off-grid farming, community farming

Solar-powered Farm From a Box is a compact farm kit that feeds 150 people

Two acres of land is enough to farm a sustainable food supply for as many as 150 people, and now a San Francisco...

uber, san francisco, volvo xc90, self-driving car, autonomous car, rideshare program, car service, rideshare, uber app

Did Uber flub its chance to expand self-driving ride-hailing service to San Francisco?

A few weeks ago, Uber quietly expanded its self-driving ride-hailing service to its hometown of San Francisco....

vegan butcher, vegan meat, seitan, wheat meat, vegetarian meat, meat alternatives, meat substitutes, meat analogs, monk's meats, monk's vegan delicatessen and kitchen

NYC's first vegan butcher shop set to open this spring

A former Chinese restaurant is preparing to take on a new life as the home of Brooklyn’s first vegan butcher...

tesla, tesla supercharger, tesla battery, elon musk, supercharger v3, next-gen supercharger, supercharger network, tesla network, tesla chargers, ev chargers, solar-powered ev chargers, solar panels supercharger

Tesla's next Supercharger could charge electric cars in mere seconds

When it comes to electric vehicles becoming the norm, many people scoff at the idea of having to plug in their...

nigeria, fake rice, plastic rice, counterfeit rice, china, fake products, fake food, counterfeit products

Nigerian customs stops 2.75 tons of potentially deadly fake plastic rice from hitting markets

Customs agents in Nigeria recently intercepted nearly three tons of “plastic rice,” which could have wreaked...

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