Need Some Weekend Entertainment? DIY Solar Robots for Backyard Battles (Video)
Image via Solarbotics
A greener way to enjoy a crafty and entertaining weekend revolving around electronics is to make your own solar robots to compete in competitions, like tiny offspring of BattleBots. These cool, tiny, spinning robots are fast and easy to whip up, and you can challenge your friends to duals. Check out a video of two “BEAM Solar Symets” battling it out. …Read the full story on TreeHugger
GOOD Tells Us How to Slow Down
Image credit: Good
Good finishes its “Slow Issue” with a helpful guide to reducing the hectic pace of your life. “We are taught that we’ll be judged by what we achieve,” they explain, “but what does it mean to actually achieve?”…Read the full story on TreeHugger
DIY Projects Galore! MAKE Sends Out 2009 Opensource Hardware Guide
Image via MAKE
Opensource! We love this golden green idea because it encompasses the idea-sharing that is vital to DIY communities, which in turn are vital for sustainable living. And MAKE has put out one awesome opensource guide. Jam-packed with projects for the do-it-yourself community, it is “the definitive guide to open source hardware projects in 2009.” And, even the guide is somewhat opensource – MAKE is asking for your help in completing it. …Read the full story on TreeHugger
Buy and Install Your Own Plug and Play PV System From Lowes
Image via: remintola on Flickr.com
We’ve mentioned the Akeena Solar Andalay PV (photovoltaic) panel previously for its near plug and play installation format. With almost all of the pieces integrated, installers simply install the base into the roof, set the panels down, plug them together and the rooftop installation is done. Now, for the first time, Lowe’s sells all the pieces to these systems so Do-It…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Tandem Unicycle for a Super Balanced Cycling Duo (Video)
Photo via Corbin’s Treehouse
If you’re looking for a minimalist way to bike pool to work, or just tyring to figure out your next circus act, check out the Tandem Unicycle. Watch the creators attempt to ride it, and see if you can resist making one for yourself just so you can test you and your BFF’s balance….Read the full story on TreeHugger
10 Eco-Friendly Alternatives to Wrapping Paper
Photo via Flikr
Ahh, the holidays are fast approaching. So, you’ve decided to go green this year: you’ve perused our green gift guide, donated to some great green charities, and now you’ve got a pile of gifts that need to be wrapped. But wait! You’ve been so good keeping eco-friendly this year, can you really stomach the thought of using store-bought wrapping paper? Ugh! It’s just so wasteful, isn’t it? Well, I’ve compiled for you a list of…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Rural Kenyan Family Uses Old Car Battery for Greener Electricity
Photo via Afrigadget
In rural Kenya, most families don’t have electricity. But that doesn’t stop this family from getting their news and music on the radio. They use a recycled car battery that lasts far longer, is far cheaper, and far more green than other battery options. But there’s one thing that would make it even greener….Read the full story on TreeHugger
Hack Things Better With Crazy Cool Material Sugru
Screenshot via Sugru
“The freedom to hack things better.” We love the sound of that! Jane, Ian and Steve are inventors who have worked for the past 6 years to come up with a new material called Sugru, a silicon based material that allows you to hack the stuff you have into something better. It’s like silly putty on steroids and it helps you live greener.
…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Unity College Students Participate in Community Weatherization Program
Image via: Neighbor Warming Neighbor
Here is something we wish there was a little more of: community members, in this case Unity College (ME) students, going out in the community to help provide a little elbow grease for the planet and for the community pocketbook. The program, Neighbors Warming Neighbors, trains college students on how to wea…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Attention Green Shoppers: Buy Nothing Day on Cyber Sunday, Too?
“Sit and Spin” submitted by Pearse O’Halloran to Adbusters Media Foundation
Yesterday was the recommended “Buy Nothing Day” in North America. Today, November 28 is “Buy Nothing Day” for the rest of the world, when consumers (that means most of us) “participate by not participating.” The Adbusters BND campaign has been written about in Treehugger with good points about the idea, from why only one day to buying green as an alternative. There are a lot of people facing financial difficulty who …Read the full story on TreeHugger