The Ditty Bops in Plastic Bags

For their latest tour earlier this month with Jesca Hoop, The Ditty Bops wore tops made of plastic bags and urged the signing of their petition curbing the use of plastic bags.



At the San Francisco show, Abby and Amanda were presented with a Certificate of Honor from the city by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi honoring the duo for their environmental efforts. You can listen to the show here and the presentation here (thanks to Danielle and Dave).



Coincidentally enough, earlier this week, "San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to become the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags from large supermarkets to help promote recycling." It was Mirkarimi who sponsored the bill. Read the news @ CNN here and The Los Angeles Times here.

The Ditty Bop's You And I Save The World website. These ladies are pretty awesome, they make wonderful music and did a bike tour.

Green Homes? In One Ear and Out The Other

In October 2006 The Martha Stewart Show hosted "Going Green Week", a series of shows with different guests who shared 25 eco-friendly tips. So what's Martha up to now?

Associated Press 03.27.07, 11:26 AM ET
Homebuilder KB Home said Tuesday it will build a community in Los Angeles County with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

The community, called KB Home (nyse: KBH - news - people ) Terrena Vista, is scheduled to open in fall of 2007 in Lancaster, Calif., the company said. It is the second community the two companies have built together in the state.

KB Home said the 97 houses that will be built in the community are inspired by Martha Stewart's personal homes in Maine and New York. They will be one to two stories high and range from 1,875 to 2,968 square feet. Prices will start in the low $300,000s, the company added.

The homes will have specialized flooring, bathroom and kitchen fixtures, lighting and paint colors that match Stewart's style, KB Homes said.

The two have partnered on eight neighborhoods in Georgia, North Carolina, California and Texas and Texas.

KB Homes shares fell $1.23 to $44.76 in morning trading. Martha Stewart Living shares climbed 81 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $17.69. Both stocks trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press

97 houses employing 0 methods of sustainability.

email Martha Stewart

The Catalyst: Encouraging Proactivity in a Dire Age

Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart

William McDonough's new book, written with his colleague, the German chemist Michael Braungart, is a manifesto calling for the transformation of human industry through ecologically intelligent design. Through historical sketches on the roots of the industrial revolution; commentary on science, nature and society; descriptions of key design principles; and compelling examples of innovative products and business strategies already reshaping the marketplace, McDonough and Braungart make the case that an industrial system that "takes, makes and wastes" can become a creator of goods and services that generate ecological, social and economic value.

In Cradle to Cradle, McDonough and Braungart argue that the conflict between industry and the environment is not an indictment of commerce but an outgrowth of purely opportunistic design. The design of products and manufacturing systems growing out of the Industrial Revolution reflected the spirit of the day-and yielded a host of unintended yet tragic consequences.

Today, with our growing knowledge of the living earth, design can reflect a new spirit. In fact, the authors write, when designers employ the intelligence of natural systems—the effectiveness of nutrient cycling, the abundance of the sun's energy—they can create products, industrial systems, buildings, even regional plans that allow nature and commerce to fruitfully co-exist.

Cradle to Cradle maps the lineaments of McDonough and Braungart's new design paradigm, offering practical steps on how to innovate within today's economic environment. Part social history, part green business primer, part design manual, the book makes plain that the re-invention of human industry is not only within our grasp, it is our best hope for a future of sustaining prosperity.

In addition to describing the hopeful, nature-inspired design principles that are making industry both prosperous and sustainable, the book itself is a physical symbol of the changes to come. It is printed on a synthetic 'paper,' made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers, designed to look and feel like top quality paper while also being waterproof and rugged. And the book can be easily recycled in localities with systems to collect polypropylene, like that in yogurt containers. This 'treeless' book points the way toward the day when synthetic books, like many other products, can be used, recycled, and used again without losing any material quality—in cradle-to-cradle cycles.

A good definition of "cradle to cradle".

Point A (of points A through Zed)

Hi blog! Hi everyone! Welcome to The Waste Project, created by moi. This is my first official time keeping a blog (not including the angsty days of LiveJournal). Please do comment & check out the links. Also, I'm really interested in this multiple author feature. The idea of collaboration is really appealing... so think on that. If the purpose of this blog/project isn't quite clear yet, be assured that within the next week things will be coming together quickly (coupled by me rapidly re-learning code). So you shall see soon, but do ask me questions!


-sedm