Broom corn grown on Old Field Farm in the Hudson River Valley, made into hand brooms.

Pencil bags.

Handmade by Christin Ripley for Christin Ripley.

April 09, 2012

Ah! This looks so comfortable!

April 08, 2012

Girl and Echo is an independent Lithuanian film about childhood, friendship, freedom and nature.

Watch: - http://pinterest.com/pin/99149629266488028/

Dow Powerhouse solar shingles blend in with your traditional shingles and apparently do not require any special tools for installation.

- http://gizmodo.com/dow-powerhouse-solar-shingles-could-finally-have-you-hugging-trees

March 19, 2012

March 06, 2012

Antelope chair designed by Ernest Race (1913-1964), Cord Lamp by Brendan Ravenhill, Wire Flow Chandelier by Arik Levy,  Leaf Chair by Arper and 3 Arm Industrial Chandelier by Workstead.

February 26, 2012

Moss rag rugs from recycled fabric and yarn by Kate Fenker.

- http://www.katefenker.com

February 11, 2012

Roomroom by Takeshi Hosaka Architects

Melnikov House

February 09, 2012

Above: Overgrown wild garden aesthetic. Design by Plant Architects

February 03, 2012

http://www.asmallspace.com/index.php?/project/a-cabin-in-a-loft/

January 30, 2012

Upcycled old toys sofa / lounge couch by Dan Kennel.   Looks very comfortable.

January 27, 2012

Letting green take over.

Above: Flower Tower, Paris.  “A box full of ordinary apartments with terraces surrounded by flower pots. A very literal green building” - New York Magazine

January 25, 2012

“Long before the green-minded hip began toting these fishnet shopping sacks whilst touring organic foodmarts, the USSR had developed the archetype — the amazing avoska. Extremely long lines were commonplace and a score of good groceries was rare, so avoskas were essential, with their magical capability to collapse, unfold, and hold stockpile-bound bounties. Image Courtesy Michael Idov.” from Made in Russia: Unsung Icons of Soviet Design

- http://www.blog.designsquish.com/avoska-russian-net-bag/

- http://pinterest.com/designsquish/russia/

October 19, 2011

More delicious food photos:

-http://pinterest.com/designsquish/berries/
-http://pinterest.com/designsquish/mushrooms/

Finally!! Houses birds actually want to live in!

-http://www.thehighline.org/
-Birdhouses for High Line

September 30, 2011

via Old Chum

August 11, 2011

Wild strawberries grown in our backyard in Brooklyn this summer. Last year’s photos of wild strawberries: http://www.blog.designsquish.com/wild-strawberries

“Evidence from archaeological excavations suggests that wild strawberry has been consumed by humans since the Stone Age. It was widely cultivated in Europe until the 18th century, when it began to be replaced by the garden strawberry, which has much larger fruit and showed greater variation, making them better suited for further breeding.”

August 06, 2011

Hand kranked + solar powered radio by Kikkerland: 
-http://www.kikkerland.com/products/radio-solar-crank/

July 25, 2011

DIY chairs from around the world.

- http://www.folkforms.ru

July 24, 2011

July 14, 2011

Do-it-yourself beach tents. Black Sea, Russia 1970’s.  All you have to do is pack a sheet and find some driftwood when you get there. 

July 13, 2011

French designer Ariane Prin has been working on a project called “From Here for Here” as a part of her master’s program at the Royal College of Art. This project produces pencils sustainably by using waste from various departments of the school with the goal of supplying drawing tools for students. Each pencil has a center filled with graphite from the glass department, and its body comprised of sawdust from the wood workshop, clay from the ceramic department, and flour from the cafeteria.  Watch a video on how these pencils were made on DesignBoom

July 10, 2011

I am happy to share this interview with Matt Anderson, an amazing filmmaker and artist. In fact, Matt has almost completed his very first feature length documentary, Fall and Winter. The film focuses on environmental issues, but interestingly enough the underlying message doesn’t stop with political action to “change the world.” Fall and Winter inspires us to take matters into our own hands, often quite literally by working with our hands. Building our own homes, growing our own food, and other such practices may require us to alter our current world views, but will ultimately help achieve a much more sustainable lifestyle.

Q: What would be a dream come true?
A: To witness an extraordinary stage of evolution in human consciousness. I think this is happening one way or another.

Q: What did you like about growing up in Vancouver?
A: When I was about 6 or 7 we moved from the city to a small, unserviced island off the coast of Vancouver. There were no cars or stores, and all water and power had to be self-contained. I commuted to school every day on our boat. No matter how big the waves were we had to jump into the dinghy and make it to the mainland. I think this gave me a deep love and respect for the forces of Nature, and set the foundation for my values today.

Q: Why/where/when did you decide to make “Fall and Winter”?
A: There really is no beginning point for this film. For years I was fascinated by conspiracies as a modern mythology - a realm of free thought where fantasy and history co-existed in pursuit of meaning and truth. I went to some conspiracy conventions and read stacks of books about the New World Order, UFO’s and ‘hidden history’. Somewhere along the way I began to migrate from asking ‘what if…?’ and towards ‘what is…?’. This lead me to a small conference in the Silicon Valley called ‘Global Catastrophic Risks’ about 3 years ago. 30 scientists were meeting to discuss the myriad of threats facing life on earth, and strategies to mitigate these threats (if possible). I began to understand that what is really happening is more fascinating and important than the realm of conspiracy. I decided that the film had to be about the massive changes occurring on our planet - and the people facing this challenge head on.

Q: What are some things that inspire you?
A: To me, it’s important to be inspired both by positive and negative forces. I am driven by the beauty of Nature, the things that my dear friends create and also by the destructive practices rampant around the globe. I think it’s important to be full of love and also mad as hell!

“Fall & Winter is a documentary that explores the origins and present-day realities of our global crisis to better understand the catastrophic transition we have now entered. Over the past year we’ve traveled 15,000 miles around the country, documenting various aspects of both the collapse and rebirth happening all around us. The film highlights a variety of ways in which individuals are creating innovative, sustainable methods of living in adaptation to their environment, and fostering in their communities a vital transformation in the way we live on this planet.”

WatchFall and Winter previewand remember to donate at their website!

-http://fallwintermovie.com/
-http://fallwintermovie.com/donate.html

July 03, 2011

Photographs from our trip to Harriman State Park(Upstate New York). Magic macro zoom lens uncovering detail almost invisible to the naked eye…

I love the heart pattern on the dragon fly tail.

Photographs by Paul Gower

Recycled jean fabric necklace by MAGICOVERACID

July 02, 2011

Bloom Magazine launched by one of the most famous trend forecasters, Lidewij Edelkoort.  This blog posting is an excerpt from Bloom Magazine article “Newer flower Children”.  “The flower child is back.  The signs are around us: along with the rise of the musical genre known as freak folk and the nature-espousing counterculture that goes with it, we live at a time of defiance by hair. “

Everywhere you look you see dreadlocks, beards, and fantastical moustaches.  Hair is being employed as a tool of expression and rebellion, an assertion of values that go counter the status quo.

“Over the past several years we’ve seen a re-awakening of responsibility for the environment, a desire to live simpler lives, a revival of community, an appreciation for the handmade, the small-scale and the humble, all symptoms of an urgent realization that it’s time to seriously confront our more serious habits as a species. It’s if the flower-child ethos took a break for fifty years, re-emerging in a more developed form when the world had reached a new pinnacle of self-destructiveness and was particularly in need of its values”

“The flower-child spirit of our time has become a more savvy beast - updated, re-imagined, but familiar.  Could this be the decade where people finally get serious about turning things around?”

June 30, 2011