Gym Power to Power the Gym The Green MicroGym, in Portland, OR, takes full advantage of pedal power — its goal is to be a carbon neutral business and to use only solar power and energy created by clients. Most fitness equipment contains a spinning wheel that can be used just like a windmill for creating energy. At the Green Microgym, the treadmills and exercise bikes are connected to batteries that store the energy exercisers have
From adobe to cob masonry, people all over the world have built with earthen materials to create their homes. Now, one form of earth building — rammed earth — has been given a technological update. In the San Francisco Chronicle article "Sonoma Couple's House Shows Mexican influence," husband and wife Bruce Needleman and Edna Hayes recount the process of building their beautiful earthen home.
The rammed earth building technique, which entails pounding layers of soil, mixed with a small amount of cement, into molds, has been around for literally thousands of years: Pliny, who wrote before the Common Era, recounts Hannibal seeing rammed earth towers in Spain. However, this ancient building technique is perfectly at home in the modern world.
To find out how the Hayes-Needleman's home used an update of rammed earth, read more
Give Back: Empty Your Linen Closet For Pets' Sake! If you're planning on keeping a tidier home this year, get started right in the linen closet, by donating blankets and towels to your local animal shelter.
Pro skater Chad Knight has made his bed, and now he's gonna profit from it. His Shred Bed (inquire for price) features a headboard and footboard made of skateboards. It seems like skateboards are everywhere in the design world these days (see here and here). Would you sleep in a Shred Bed? Source
Last year, Keep Calm and Carry On was all over the design world, from posters to rugs. I'm predicting that the phrase has reached saturation level, though, and it's time to move on to another motto to live by. May I suggest Now Panic and Freak Out ($35)? If this isn't to your taste, check out the slideshow for eight other pithily worded art posters for 2009.
How-To: Keep Plants Alive Without Guesswork Improper watering is often the underlying cause of plant problems. The leaves of underwatered plants become brown or yellow, dry, and brittle, eventually killing the plant. Contrarily, overwatering a plant can make its leaves limp, and the plant itself more susceptible to disease.
Hi CasaSugar!
I am working on wrapping up my living room and would love to get a petrified wood stool and a ceramic white stool similar to those in Monique Lhuillier's house (that I am totally in love with), which was featured on an Elle Decor cover a year ago.
I've talked to Hudson Furniture in New York — they have the petrified wood but they sell at $1,200-2,000 each. I'm looking for something in the $800 range. As far as the ceramic stool, I've seen one from West Elm, but I'm not sure about the quality. I'm willing to spend up to $500 on something nicer.
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