Want an electric car without the price tag? You could always build your own, or maybe just hack your old gas guzzler into an eco-friendly electric machine... This weekend at Defcon, security consultant David Brown showed off his "Voltswagon" project, a 1974 Beetle named Shocky ...more
This video tutorial is a step by step guide to building an eco-friendly birdhouse. These easy materials are things that you already have sitting around the house. This mini carpentry project is a fun way to spend an afternoon, and will provide more hours of bird-watching fun i ...more
Looking to go "Green" When I'm looking to do new remodeling projects around the house, I find myself asking, is this Eco-Friendly? Is this main stream America brain-washing me into a "Greener Tomorrow?" I doubt it! Embracing Eco-minded products is not just good for preserving ...more
So, you broke a plate and are afraid you'll get in trouble? No worries! This tutorial is coming to the rescue! Turn that old plate into a very cool distressed flower vase. Everyone will be so distracted by your crafty creation, they won't even mind that you used Grandma's Chin ...more
Shopping bags are an ecological nightmare, so many modern shoppers use eco-friendly reusable shopping bags. If you have a stash of eco-friendly bags and want to store them more easily, watch this video to learn a novel way to fold these bags that turns them into a tiny pouch, ...more
Who wants to inhale pesticides when you flip burgers in the backyard? When creating an eco-friendly garden, it is fairly easy to avoid.
Get tips on how to make your home more eco-friendly, especially if you plan to renovate it. Attention all brownstone daydreamers (if you're eco savvy that's a plus)! Pulse follows green builder Blake Holden as he turns a dilapidated Brooklyn brownstone into a vintage green ho ...more
We realize Christmas is over, but there's no reason you shouldn't surprise a friend with a pretty gift for New Year's Eve! In many other cultures friends and family give each other presents to celebrate their new year, including during Chinese New Year. In this episode of Cra ...more
A clogged drain makes an unhappy cook. But unfortunately drains get clogged far too easily and often. And while pouring down a drain de-clogger can work, the very toxic chemicals in the de-clogger are damaging to your health and to the environment. So check out this kitchen t ...more
So many gift givers are mislead into believing that it's only the gift that matters, so the gift bag or wrap can be cheaply purchased at the gas station an hour beforehand and then thrown together in a slapdash manner. But gift bags are so much more than just a cover for a pr ...more
In this episode of GreenerBusiness, we show you how to make seed-embedded environmental-friendly business cards, as seen on www.rccosmos.org/greencard.
Curling your hair without either a curling iron or a flat iron? It sounds preposterous, but it can be done - and to great effect - after you watch this video. Sure, curling irons are great and quick ways to add bounce and volume to your locks, but they eat up electricity and d ...more
These days, everything is about efficiency. We're always looking for the fastest way to do things, from producing faster cars to faster internet. This need to get things done fast also extends to home organization, where we basically have a "keep" and "toss" pile. But if you ...more
Learn how to make a green, eco-friendly grocery bag. This is a great fashionable way to cut down on paper or plastic bags. All you need is some pretty fabric and a sewing machine. Remember this bag the next time you are going shopping.
You don't need to be Michelle Obama to have a house full of jaw-droppingly beautiful Christmas decor. All you need is a little ingenuity and the tips from this Christmas decorating video. Take a gander to learn how to craft some simple and cheap eco-friendly pieces like a ber ...more
This video home and garden tutorial explores the financial advantages of making your home energy efficient. Learn how to make an eco-friendly home that will help save money and the environment.
This video shows you how to make coasters out of old dominoes. If you are wondering how to make Christmas gifts, or gifts for any occasion, this video will show you how. It’s eco-friendly to boot.
In this Home and Garden video tutorial you will learn how to manage garden insects and pests in an eco-friendly way. For plant lice or aphids, blast them with a strong blast of water. That will dislodge them and they won’t climb back. You can also put some soap water in a yell ...more
You may not realize it, but most of the laundry detergents that are being sold in supermarkets contain chemicals that can be bad for peopel, but more importantly bad for the water supply. People have begun to realize this and are starting to make their own household items from ...more
You may or may not know, but much of the cleaning products that are used today can be harmful to you, kids, or even pets. They contain a great assortment of chemicals that can cause serious illness or death. So why risk buying thse products when you can make them yourself? In ...more
There are many ways to reform your old t-shirts, but this is an easy way to use yours. By taking your unused t-shirts and adding a few stiches here and there, you can create a reusable bag that can be carried along with you during shopping trips to the grocery store or booksto ...more
-It is very important that you choose the right counter top. Although granite and marble may look good, they are not kind to the environment because they are mine deep out of the Earth. -If you want the look of granite and the durability of marble, there is a green option. -Th ...more
There are lots of different ways to make windchimes, but three parts are essential; you will need something to hang it with, something to hang it from, and something to make some noise. This how-to video from a Piece of Craft shows an eco-friendly wind chime made from an old s ...more
Well suited for loft living, Studio Gorm's Flow Kitchen offers an extremely eco-friendly and efficient solution to all your daily actions in the kitchen. The Netherlands based design studio focuses on three major areas: Waste, Water and Energy. My favorite element? A cutting b ...more
Alas, today we continue on the journey to a more environmentally conscious way of being with part 2 of How to make your beauty routine more eco-friendly. Check out part 1 here. Greening your beauty routine is not actually a selfless decision. In fact, when you cut back on pla ...more
Learn how to build an environmentally friendly directional WiFi antenna with this simple video guide. To follow along at home, you'll need the following things: a copper wedge, an N-type connector, some screws, a clamp-on N plug, a pigtail, and a wireless card. You'll also nee ...more
Did you ever wonder which foods and meats are worst for the environment? Or the best? Check out this great study from the Environmental Working Group to help keep you informed!
Fruit flies suck, but the fruit fly traps you can get from a hardware store can sometimes be environmentally damaging. Here is how you can make a safe fruit fly trap out of a votive glass, plastic wrap and apple cider vinegar.
Keep your Christmas green! Don't resort to environmentally unfriendly wrapping paper. You can put your gifts in cloth bags or use catalog and magazine pages as your wrapping paper. Or, just use plain brown paper bags and decorate them as your wrapping paper!
Forget using glue or wallpaper paste, the best recipe for paper mache uses nothing more than flour and water. There's no set ratio, just mix what you think looks right. The key to this recipe is boiling the paste after you have mixed it.
This tutorial shows you how to make spell packets. It's designed for NERO, but many larps use the same rules. All you need is a square of natural fiber cloth (like cotton), some birdseed (or rice or crushed walnut shells or any biodegradable matter) and a rubber band.
Learn how to wrap your presents in Furoshiki (cloth) to avoid using wrapping paper. Unlike wrapping paper (which usually can't be recycled) Furoshiki can be used again and again. With the economy the way it is, now is a good time to recycle and reuse, instead of wasting throw ...more
Join Molly de Vries and pick up some new holiday tricks with a green conscience. She shows us how to make a festive fabric garland from attractive scraps, then shows a furoshiki fabric gift wrapping technique. Molly is a sustainable textiles maven and creator of Ambatalia "The ...more
Fans do a pretty good job of cooling you down in the summer but sometimes only an air conditioning can do the job right. In this tutorial, SuChin Pak and Daniel Sieberg demonstrate how to make a homemade air conditioning system with a fan, coil and ice water. Save the environm ...more
Looking for a simple way to go green? How about some indoor house plants? Watch this video tutorial to learn how to make good plant choices for cleaner air inside your house.
here is a great housekeeping trick that everyone will love. Clean your coffee maker using environmentally safe, inexpensive, common household ingredients. Watch this how to video and learn how to clean a coffee maker with vinegar, salt and baking soda.
Watch this video to learn how to make a cranberry and popcorn garland. It's a beautiful decoration made of natural ingredients, and after the holidays it can be placed outside for the birds to enjoy!
Patti Moreno the Garden Girl shows how to grow an environmentally friendly, low maintenance, drought and insect resistant Eco-Lawn, a blend of 7 Fescue grasses for shady, rocky, and sandy soils. Prepare the bare ground by raking debris. Spread the seed, and then water the seed ...more
If you are in desperate need to clean your toilet, don't rush to the store just yet. What you might need to clean it, is probably already in your home. Most of the toilet cleaners out on the market contain harmful, toxic chemicals that are inhaled during the cleaning process. ...more
If you've just ran out of all purpose cleaner, hold on to your waller for just a couple of minutes. Most of the all purpose cleaners, or any cleaner for that matter, contains chemicals that can be harmful for you and others. Not only that, but it produces more trash that can e ...more
We'd never tell you not to recycle plastic water bottles, but there are other ways to reduce and reuse these commonly consumed products. And when we say "other ways," we mean ways that you've never even thought about. For instance, you can fill up a plastic water bottle, inse ...more
Do you do last minute cramming before you go to the dentist? No, I don't mean reading up on orthodontia in hopes of having an intellectual conversation about crowns with your dentist (how you can talk at all with all those tools in your mouth is beyond me, though dentists alwa ...more
In order to make your own personal lubricant out of flaxseeds, you will need the following ingredients: 2 1/2 tablespoons. of flaxseeds, 2 cups of water, and a pot. You can find flaxseeds in health food store. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add flaxseeds. Allow them to boil ...more
If you having a hard time using your Eco friendly gas can with a green twist lock or locking spout, when used incorrectly gas can spill all over your hands. This video will show you how to properly use one of these new style gas cans so that it doesn't leak and spill gas all ...more
Graffiti even Grandma would approve of (ok, for some of you maybe that's a turn off...). How about... graffiti that is good for the environment and you (non-toxic), as well as preservative of the past (architecture, etc). Artist Jesse Graves came up with the idea of creating ...more
Okay, this is one of the coolest eco-friendly projects we've ever seen. If weaving plastic bags into a reusable tote bag is not your thing, then maybe this is. Check out the video to learn how to build a paper turntable made entirely out of reused materials. It's chic, very i ...more
This low impact woodland home in Wales is the cream of the crop. The woodland home was built entirely of natural materials, and best of all - only took 4 months and $5000 to complete. The design is ingenious, dug into a hillside for low visual impact and strong shelter. Straw ...more
Science investigatory projects suck, or at least seem to at first. But you shouldn't let school drag you down. Instead, use your homework assignment as an opportunity to solve a problem you've always been interested in. And it doesn't hurt if the end result is eco-friendly, ei ...more
These paper design projects make perfect kid's activities, or an activity for the whole family. These eco-friendly ornaments are made from recycled scrap strips. When you're done, you can hang them to decorate your home!
One of the easiest and cheapest ways to craft jewelry is out of paper! In this tutorial, learn how to make fun bracelets and necklaces with paper 'beads'. This eco-friendly project is best for kids that are a little bit older, and can be worn by anyone! So the next time you ne ...more
Renewable fashion is a part of living a green and eco-friendly lifestyle. Instead of getting rid of old clothes and going out to buy something new, recycle things you don't like anymore into something you can use. This fashion how-to video shows a way of revamping a t-shirt in ...more
Watch this video tutorial to find out how to turn unwanted magazines into practical, creative drink coasters. These coasters last surprisingly long and are easy to make! This crafty project is eco-friendly, and reduces waste in your home. Check out this how-to video and find o ...more
In this tutorial, Michelle shows us how to make a lovely and functional wire bowl out of the spiral wire spines of old notebooks. This is a great eco-friendly project for the summertime, when the kids are done with their school notebooks. This bowl can be used to hold fruit or ...more
The EcoJet. No, it's not a economy-sized jet engine aircraft. It's Jay Leno's version of an eco-friendly car. A very, very fast eco-friendly car. Jay Leno's Garage, with the help of Ed Welburn at GM, has built the EcoJet, a sleek, powerful monster-of-a-car that runs off envir ...more
If you're a habitual knitter, then you probably go through spools of yarn faster than you can buy them. And while rolls of yarn aren't all too expensive, purchasing many of them frequently does take its toll on your wallet. So why not opt for a cheaper and more eco-friendly ap ...more
A group of New Zealand students have designed the ultimate green addition for eco-friendly living: a "clip-on" Plant Room. The Plant Room is a small cubic room that bolts to the exterior of a building, allowing extra space for the typical cramped city dweller. The space is in ...more
Cyclists and unknowing vehicle participants "collaborated" on a public guerilla graffiti art piece in Berlin this last week. Abitare reports: "A group of cyclists dumped 13 gallons of paint on the road at Berlin’s busy Rosenthaler Platz, creating a series of colorful lines a ...more
This gardening tutorial teaches you how to create a successful terrarium for kids of any age. This how to video covers the major points of making a terrarium and I give you lots of alternative methods. Learn how to select a kid-friendly container, select plants, make the terra ...more
Sputnik, Apollo and the Space Race. If you watched the State of the Union address last night, you probably heard President Barack Obama mention those three things. The Space Race was an informal bout between the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States (USA) over the ascenda ...more
It appears there are endless things you can do with Coke. The Nokia Coke-powered phone is not in production, but certainly an interesting idea. Designed by Daizi Zheng, the Coke phone is an eco-friendly solution to charging your cell. Zheng's proposition: This is a client p ...more