Here's what Re-nest readers were clicking on this week:
• Top Ten: Ways to Recycle Your Old Towels and Sheets
• How To: Make Your Own Fruit and Vegetable Wash
• Simple Green: One Ti...
The Briard House in Culver City, CA was designed by architect Whitney Sander, and it's the greenest "hybrid house" (meaning part of it uses prefab elements) ever built. The total project cost ...
Don't put it past us to wrap gifts in magazines, newspapers or a pretty tea towel--but sometimes an occasion calls for something a little more fancy. Because we'd still like the effort to be ec...
We've seen a few pieces of recycled-bike-part home decor over the last few years, but we usually find that sort of thing on Etsy. This is the first time we've ever seen a place like CB2 jump on the re...
We've recently started coveting the scoops in the bulk storage bins at our local grocery. They fit in our hand so nicely, they're easy to maneuver in the bin, and they scoop without spilling! We can t...
As frustrated as any consumer with making sure to get every last drop out of a product, Consumer Reports pumped, poured, squeezed, shook, and tapped as much as could out of a variety of bottles and th...
Yesterday we wrote a post on House Ocho by Feldman Architecture. This renovation was also done by Feldman. The owners of this 1906 Victorian wanted to maintain the building's original feel wh...
On the Mexican coast of Baja located in the Guadalupe wine-making region, architects Alejandro D’Acosta and Claudia Turrent have been performing experiments in green design for wineries &mdas...
Our post on using tennis balls and dryer balls as a green alternative to fabric softener and dryer sheets got a pretty strong reaction. First of all, thanks to all the readers who commented and info...
If you're planning your fall garden (or trying to salvage the last few plants of the summer) and need to improve your current watering system, here's a great how-to. Drip irrigation is perfect for are...
Q: I'm about to have my first baby and my question is about diapers. What's the best eco-friendly diaper? Is it Seventh Generation diapers, or gdiapers, or some other eco-friendly disposable or clot...
Even if they're rechargeable, batteries are just...not...green. Unfortunately they power many of the gadgets that make our life much more comfortable, like our TV's remote control. Despite our lov...
Nauti & Co creates nautical inspired art using salvaged pieces from beaches, barns and abandoned boats around New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Vermont. Making every piece a true one of a k...
This tutorial over at Sunset magazine's home blog reminded us of all the crazy things we used to do with cinder blocks back in our college-dorm days. So we thought it was perfect, seeing as a lot of c...
We love the tongue-in-cheek sunflower design of this solar powered CD player/charging station combination, but haven't found any evidence it has yet made it into production. With the CD controls an...
Ever since we can remember, we were taught to be conscientious about water use – turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth, be mindful about watering lawns, etc. Lately, the scope of water c...
Furniture and object upcycling is one of the more intriguing new artistic media of our era. These days it seems there are so many artists and designers working in the spirit of sustainability, bringin...
“Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity.” - Plato...
UK company Mibo is making these adorable Paper Owls available via download for only £1 (about $1.66). You can purchase them through PayPal at which point you'll be sent a PDF file with all 4 ...
We've seen a few of these before (like the DIY Vertical Shoe Organizer Herb Garden and the Space-Saving Potato Growing Solution) but when we saw that GreenUpgrader was listing their top 10 favorite DI...
Hmm...it's been awhile since we had one of these! We've been entertaining a lot this month —friends from all over have been coming in droves every weekend... nothing is better than just hanging ...
If you’re looking to replace or upgrade your existing siding, cement fiberboard is a great material to consider. Less maintenance than wood, more durable than vinyl (and less toxic) and guara...
The House Ocho designed by Feldman Architecture is located on a nature preserve in the Santa Lucia mountains along the coast of California. This light and peaceful home was specifically design...
With students heading back to college, it's time once again to begin thinking about ways to green your dorm room. Project Green Dorm, by Teens Turning Green, has put together a great collection of i...
The most recent lead test for the White House garden came in very low at 14 parts per million — a score similar to those found in places where there are no automobiles. (Amazing for Washingto...
How's this for mid-day inspiration? Take a look at the gorgeous and sometimes surprising mix of modern lines and vintage curves. This remodeled house makes beautiful use of timbers that were salvaged ...
Q: My county is transitioning from septic systems to county sewer, and before I have the current "crush and fill" done to mine, I have discovered that my county has made provisions for turning septic ...
Materials: Mohair, socket+electrical cable, CFL lightbulb
Price Point: $30-40
"Following the new EU regulations that aim to prohibit the sale of non CFL bulbs in Europe, I decided to design a...
Today we're in New York looking for green building materials, appliances, and recycled/upcycled furniture. We've got some eco paint, carpet remnants, an organic comforter, and even a reclaimed Log Ca...
Lumenhaus is Virginia Tech’s 2009 entry to the US Solar Decathlon competition, an educational project of the U.S. Department of Energy supported by DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory....
In general, we're big fans of public art. We've seen it bring communities together, start important dialogues, and even stir up controversy. This public art installation, SunFlowers: An Electric Garde...
Amy’s home (shown above) contains some great ideas for repurposing objects, like these small plastic ice buckets that she used as planters. They’re cheap, colorful, and double-walled to keep moi...
Ever since we saw this wood slice walkway, we can't seem to get the trend out of our head. It seems we're not alone, as a reader recently submitted this wall seen at an office in Whistler...
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We love the idea of harnessing the power of the sun to cool our homes — it just seems so fitting! This design concept is intended to reduce dependency on conventional air conditioning units b...
Upon closer inspection you may have realized that these campers have been sawed in half. (Obvious note: clearly not an advertisement for weatherizing your home!) They're actually photos to sho...
It's stuff like this that really gets us excited about green furniture design. Sure, it's great that these Paper Tables by Matt Gagnon are made from recycled paper, but it's an extra bit of ingenuity ...
We are avid fans of mobiles, so you can imagine how thrilled we were when we stumbled upon these wonderful handmade mobiles from The Butter Flying. They seem so simple, but complicated at the same tim...
We're a sucker for any good DIY, especially those that can add to our container garden. Here's one that immediately caught our eye: repurposed drawers turned self-watering planter! No unsightly plasti...
The BADA Table: it's a dining table, a desk, and a sofa!
Brooklyn-based design firm EcoSystems creates some seriously cool furniture pieces, any one of which we'd be more than thrilled to have in our...
This rubber hose chair by Instructables user Wholman looks really comfy and consists of little more than an aging, leaky air hose, 4 threaded steel rods, and some scrap plywood. See how it was ...
We recently took stock of our linen closet and realized that half of the storage space was taken up by sheet sets and towels that we simply don't use. Some are very old and worn out and some just n...
With last month's New York Times article touting the benefits of cool roofs, Energy Secretary Steven Chu promoting them, and Energy Star now offering tax credits for having them, we think it's about...
Q: Our basement recently flooded and I was just wondering if anyone knew of any green-friendly clean-up solutions? I don't want to spread chemicals throughout the basement to clean up the musty smell...
Even if you buy organic, it's a good idea to wash your produce before you consume it to rid it of germs or residue. While water works, a wash can help you use less water; they're also effective at ...
We're continuing on with our new Re-nest Scavenger: the search for green building materials, appliances, and recycled/upcycled furniture. Today in Chicago we have antique wood beams reclaimed from ...
Sure, it would be great if all our homes were juiced via solar panels, but since a lot of us rent and we can only demand so much from our landlords, we have to make do with what we've got. One way to...
The UFO by Andrea Ruggiero is a plate made from bird seed, potato starch, guar gum, and a "seaweed-like binding agent". They're meant to be tossed (like a frisbee) into the bushes when you're done wit...
Check out the design for the Flow2 efficiency kitchen (key word: efficient) — Oregon-based Studio Grom has integrated all the functions of a kitchen so that drying dishes help water plant...
We read about non-native pythons invading Florida - in the recent The New Yorker — Swamp Thing; Florida's Uninvited Predators. But we didn't think that snakes were slithering around the District...
When we stumbled upon this kid-friendly gadget that took second place in this year's Greener Gadgets competition, we just knew we had to share. Designed to help teach kids a lesson about conservatio...
Oh, we wish. Can you imagine what swimming in this rooftop pool at night would be like? The artist Gabriel Orozco who designed and built this amazing house with the help of the architect Tatiana Bi...
Our friends at TreeHugger are hosting an Eco T-Shirt design contest right now with hessnatur. The contest is a chance for aspiring designers to get their original print on an organic hessnatur T-shir...
We've seen some examples of cohousing here at Re-nest, but as far as we can remember, we've never discussed multigenerational living. An article in the San Francisco Chronicle profiling three families...
We have yet to live in a home that did not require a dizzying amount of DIY improvements— that's half the fun, right? The not so fun parts are the constant trips to the hardware and craft stores to ...
Most people love New York's new abandoned railway-turned-elevated park, The High Line. But not everyone loves being so close to the very public space. NYC gallerist, Marianne Boesky, lives 5-feet aw...
We love these colorful, pretty handmade felt placemats, and think they would make a fun unique addition to your summer table. The Purl Bee has an easy, no-sew tutorial. This is a great rainy d...
Improve your energy efficiency. Reduce your carbon footprint. Live a healthier life. According to a recent study, global CO2 emissions rose in 2008 by 1.94 percent year-on-year to 31.5 billion me...
This amazing office sits nestled among the treetops overlooking Chuckanut Bay in Bellingham, WA. The workspace doubles as a guestroom complete with glass on three sides and a cantilevered deck ...
We scrutinize every little thing we eat or drink these days: shopping trips that used to include impulse buys of cheese-flavored chips or sodas now shun those HFCS-laden goods and turn instead to all ...
Q: What is a better energy-saver: insulation or new windows? Our brownstone is very drafty, and we can only afford to do one energy saving application. Should we open our floors and put insulation or ...
Ugh, curtains. Really, given that they're just giant rectangles of fabric, they should be simple and inexpensive...but they're not. Over the years we've often used sheets on our windows. We wish ...
We're trying something new today: our own Re-nest Scavenger, where we search for green building materials, appliances, and recycled/upcycled furniture. Our focus city today is San Francisco. Inter...
From the archives at Dwell — architect Lynn Gaffney and her husband Bill Backus built a weekend retreat in rural Sharon, Connecticut. Manhattan renters, the couple wanted an escape that w...
We came across this development in Seattle during our daily blog browsing, and we were immediately drawn to this photo. Oh, to live in Seattle in one of these green homes .......
We've never seen floating gardens before, but we stumbled upon the Landskrona, Sweden Garden Guild contest. Every August, contestants build little garden environments on a raft. And while you ...
We spotted this sweet little detail in the bathroom of friend of ours who lives with a rented bathroom that's awaiting a facelift sometime down the road. We actually like this idea of using a stai...
The Greenhouse by Joost, located in Melbourne, Australia, was made completely of straw bales set into a 100% recyclable steel framework, chairs and tables made out of shipping crates, and a strawber...
We'll be honest: if we were looking for a side table, we probably wouldn't choose this one. It's not quite our style. But that hasn't stopped us from loving it. We love this table because of what it's...
Yesterday we were flying back to LA from Seattle and had to take a series of smaller airplanes with just the one compact bathroom in the back. Normally these get pretty...stuffy early on in the flight...
"Pee in the shower! Save the Atlantic rainforest!" That's what a TV ad in Brazil is encouraging people to do to save water and help the environment. Check out the hilarious and cute commercial after...
Some of our editors have a thing for chickens. They've tried to work through it, but they just keep coming back for more! Here's the newest addition: these sporty, mobile chicken coops by Mod...
These tiny huts — comprised of a kitchen, bedroom, storeroom and always a stove for warmth and cooking — were originally used by shepherds who lived and traveled alongside their flo...
Title: Decorated Tea Set
Name: Aya Rosen
Time: 2 1/2 Hours
Cost: about $12
Wow, what great small project that allows you to be totally creative on a very functional household item. Easier...
In the warm (read: hot) parts of the States, we're in the midst of saying goodbye to our summer gardens. The farmers' markets are a little smaller as the summer crops wind down, and we're all preparin...
Q: If I want to purchase my water at a Sparkletts water station outside my grocery store, what kind of plastic jug is available that is green, safe and reusable? The Brita water filter just does not ...
Most of us, when we think about making a change, go hog wild. We're going to clean out all the closets today! We're going to only buy organic and free trade! Which works for about ten minutes and...
We love scavenging for vintage finds. The weekend seems to have done some good for Apartment Therapy City Scavengers, because they came out this morning with a bunch of great finds, including this ...
Though we've looked at house boats, yachts and floating homes in the past, The Citadel is an entire apartment complex that floats! Part of The Netherlands' initiative to embrace their watery sur...
When we saw that Amy Wells, set decorator for Mad Men, was sharing her secondhand shopping secrets in the LA Times, we knew needed to pay close attention......
Free Market at Artscape
For me, the most difficult task when faced with a move or tackling a spring cleaning is deciding what to get rid of — I hate throwing perfectly good items in the trash. ...
I can’t name one friend who is a big game hunter — yet, more and more and more taxidermy seems to be popping up in homes...
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Scheduled for construction in 2010, LSarc architects has designed a three-story home that is totally energy neutral.
An eight kilowatt solar array, connected to the main energy grid and net metered...
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