We received an email from Marque Cornblatt the other day encouraging us to check out his website, Gomi Style. I decided to pop over for a look and it seemed quite interesting (and fun) so I made sure to earmark it for further investigation.
Cornblatt himself seems to be a colourful (literally – check out his bio page) and interesting individual. According to his bio, he is an artist in San Francisco currently working on his Masters of Fine Arts at SFSU. Here is a bit more from the bio page in case you are curious:
Cornblatt’s robots, machine art and video scuptures have been exhibited at the SF MoMA, San Jose Museum of Art, Downey Museum of Art, and at galleries throughout California and New York. A self described “Promosexual”, Marque has appeared on numerous TV programs and is currently developing a pilot for cable TV called “Gomi Style”, a DIY lifestyle and design show.
Gomi Style seems to center around the idea of building useful and/or aesthetically pleasing creations using ‘waste’ materials – but there seems to be an actual culture built up around the idea. As they point out, Gomi is “more than dumpster diving, it’s a way of life”.
There are some fun YouTube videos posted on the site showing how they’ve put together some of their Gomi goods (such as the cardboard furniture created in the video posted above).
Being keenly interested in waste management myself, I certainly appreciate the idea behind Gomi Style. The fun & entertaining approach they have taken with the videos likely helps to draw in a larger mainstream audience as well.
The most recent edition of the Springwise e-newsletter just arrived in my e-mail inbox, and as per usual I gave it a quick glance to see if there were any interesting ‘eco & sustainability’ entries. Also as per usual, they did not disappoint.
The article that caught my attention this week is entitled: “Sustainable Living, Miniaturized“, and describes a very cool educational model kit that allows children (a ‘big kids’ alike) to build their own mini sustainable home! The kit is made by Thames & Kosmos.
Man oh man do I ever wish they had stuff like this when I was a kid!
Here is a blurb from the Springwise article:
One day, many new full-sized homes may resemble the Power House. The USD 149.95 miniature model from science-kit distributor Thames & Kosmos comes with a working green house, solar panels, a wind mill and a desalinization system. The kit’s aim: teach children what it’s like to live off the grid, and get them (and their parents) to “consider a life without fossil fuel.” To make the experience more realistic, the user manual incorporates a storyline about high-tech pioneers inhabiting a small island who must make use of limited resources to survive. The 70 experiments and 20 building projects that form part of the kit mimic the tasks the kit’s fictional pioneers must perform.
(be sure to check out the original article via the link provided earlier)
Thames & Kosmos also offer a couple interesting looking fuel cell vehicle kits as well – again, very cool stuff!
If your kids have any sort of leaning towards the sciences or technology, be sure to keep Thames & Kosmos in mind for next years Christmas shopping!
Anyone who has read this blog on a regular basis will know that I’m a BIG fan of Canadian artist & environmentalist Franke James.
I now consider her one of my close online ‘eco-friends’ and feel honoured that she has EcoSherpa in her RSS reader (yes – this is a test! haha ) – especially given our sluggish posting schedule in recent months.
I love Franke’s ‘visual essays’, and always write a post whenever a new one is released. Well, she hasn’t released a new essay, but Franke has created a fantastic animated version of her “Green Winter: Will Global Warming be Good for Canada?” piece.
Reading the essays (and looking at the drawings) is a lot of fun, but actually hearing the author read it – not to mention seeing everything in motion – takes it to an entirely new level!
I highly recommend you check out the presentation >>HERE<< (and make sure your sound is on).
Franke created the animated version so that she could effectively present the essay to a group of highschool students - sounds like a great strategy to me (in this era of YouTube and limited attention spans)!
I also highly recommend checking out Franke's latest blog post: Six Tools to Make Climate Change Art which provides a detailed look at her full presentation (the animated video was used at the beginning to capture the students’ attention). Very interesting stuff!
I’m not proud of it, but the fact is I still have not managed to wean myself from the (bad) habit! I have other bad (eco-unfriendly) habits too, but that’s all you’re going to get out of me here!
I think it’s safe to say that even the most environmentally-responsible among us have areas to work on when it comes to greening up our lives. As I’ve learned in the past year (since we started EcoSherpa), the deeper in you go, the more guilt you feel about your shortcomings.
Thankfully there is place we can go to unleash our eco-sins…for all the world to see – and do so without any worry of being judged or criticised!
It’s called True Green Confessions.
Aside from confessing your own sins, you may also find that reading others confessions helps provide some peace of mind. It’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming that all the other ‘greenies’ are way more responsible than you, but a visit to this site is a great reminder of the fact that none of us are perfect.
Some may claim that a site like True Confessions will only serve to foster green laziness. After all, when we think everyone else is way more responsible than us, there is more pressure to clean up our act. Once we realize the ‘truth’, some of that pressure may subside.
Perhaps others would even suggest that the site goes so far as to glorify eco-sins by making it fun to talk about them.
I don’t personally subscribe to either one of these notions. I think it’s a really cool concept for a website. It’s great to be able to share our woes without any fear of being judged.
Plus, I don’t think it’s meant to be taken too seriously!
Here are some sample confessions, in case you are curious:
“I don’t recycle cans because I am afraid it will attract bugs.”
“I drive a big old Armada and I freaking LOVE IT!”
“I tried giving up toilet paper, but I think the flannel squares I cut out of an old sheet gave me an infection.”
It should be mentioned that not all the confessions are from people who feel guilty about their own eco-shortcomings. There actually seem to be quite a few complaints about others who are perceived as not making enough effort (in the eyes of the person making the confession). I can definitely relate to some of those frustrations too.
Anyway, be sure to check out True Green Confessions, and unload some of that green guilt you’ve been bottling up!
Damien from ViroPop sent us an email not too long ago, letting us know about his new weekly environmental show called ZapRoot.
The video above provides you with a sneak peek of the show! While I’m not sure about the recycled-sex-toy concept , I do think the overall ZapRoot approach has a lot of potential!
I definitely agree that green should be FUN!
Here is some info about ViroPop and ZapRoot in case you are curious:
ViroPop: Environmentalism Made Fun
Okay, let’s get this straight. ViroPop is NOT a new virus-flavored soda. And ZapRoot is not a show about bombarding plants with laser beams.
What is ViroPop then? Well, you could think of it as a salad. It’s green, sure, but also cool, fresh, crisp and tasty. And full of surprises. And good for you.
ViroPop is the first network on the Internet to treat the new environmental pop culture with a sense of irreverent fun. Long dreary powerpoint presentations…be gone! This is the happy Green Revolution.
And ZapRoot is ViroPop’s flagship show.
ZapRoot is a quick weekly zap of usable news that goes straight to the root of some of the most intriguing environmental issues of the day—like what to do with those old plastic dildos you’ve accumulated over the years. ZapRoot has an answer complete with illustrations. The show is produced by independent film maker Sarah Szalavitz and Damien Somerset, a genuine, card-carrying Tree Hugger who has had it up to here with the over earnest, pompous, we’re-all-gonna-die stuff coming out of the Green movement lately. We’re earnest too, but he believes there is a fun pop culture sprouting up all over the green world and we want to celebrate it.
I’ll certainly be interested in checking out future episodes!
For most of my life I’ve been trying to find a way to somehow combine my ‘green’ passions with the entrepreneurial spirit that has burned within. I’m now much closer to realizing this dream than ever before, but there is still much work to be done!
One of the things that definitely keeps my optimism high is the vast number of green businesses that seem to be out there these days. One of the challenges however is trying to keep track of all them, and determining which ones are really green.
Thankfully, someone has taken it upon themselves to creat a blog dedicated solely to the topic – LivePaths.com
Taking a quick look at some of the front page headlines – “Recycle Your Rabbit”, “How to Sell Elephants’ Poo For a Living”, “Keep Your Money in a…License Plate?” – certainly makes me want to read more!
Here is some info from the LivePaths ‘About’ page:
LivePaths blogs about people and companies that make money selling recycled or reused items, provide green services or help us reduce our dependency on non renewable resources. This isn’t “10 Easy Ways To Make Money On The Internet”. We only review real, working businesses, so you can investigate, emulate, learn, partner, do business or simply buy from them to help close the loop.
LivePaths seems to be a pretty new site, but one that certainly holds a lot of promise! I definitely recommend you check this one out!
Last week we received a friendly email from Tim, editor of ‘Commute By Bike‘ – a blog dedicated to the topic of…drumroll please…commuting by bike!
All joking aside, it is a great looking site that seems to be absolutely jam-packed full of useful and interesting bike-related information!
Anyone who is considering trading in their gas-guzzler for a two-wheeler should definitely pop by for a visit. I think you’ll be glad you did.
If you want to learn a little more about bike commuting I highly recommend you check out their series called “Commuting 101. You’ll find 20 articles on a wide range of topics, such as “Riding in the Rain”, “First Aid Kits”, and “Choosing a Bike”.
With a home office I don’t really have much opportunity to ride to work (my commute takes about 10 seconds on foot – when I don’t encounter feline road blocks, that is! lol), but biking in general is definitely a topic close to my heart. In my early twenties I rode my bike from Jasper Alberta to Vancouver BC (in a round about way), and it was a truly life-changing experience!
[Sigh...]
If nothing else, this post should serve as a reminder that I need to get out for some biking while the weather is still nice! We have a beautiful country ‘rail-trail’ about 15 minutes from where we live.
Anyway, before you run off for a spin on your set o’ wheels, be sure to check out Commute By Bike!
As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, one of the great things about having a ‘green’ blog is that it provides me with the opportunity to connect with a lot of great people.
Especially heart-warming are the rare occasions when I receive an email like this:
Dear Bentley, just wanted to send a little note to let you know that I think your Red Worm Composting blog is just fantastic! I found it via an email that was sent after subscribing to the also fabulous EcoSherpa web site newsletter. Great content with lots of useful info. Passing links along to my friends and looking forward to reading your new posts.
Have a great day!
Cassie Young
“Fantastic” and “fabulous” AND “useful”? OH MY!
Needless to say, Cassie and I became fast friends after I received that little note, and I was very happy to learn that she had a ‘fabulous’ site herself: Veggie Meal Plans
At the time, Cassie was in the middle of moving her site over to a new platform (it used to be a Blogger blog), so I told her to let me know when it was ready to go, so that I could provide her with a ‘shout out’ here at EcoSherpa.
I’m happy to report that the move went smoothly and the new site is up and running without a hitch.
So what exactly is Veggie Meal Plans? Here is some info from the “About Us” page:
Veggie Meal Plans is a personal meal plan blog written, photographed and maintained by me, Cassie Young. My meal plans generally include five dinners along with a grocery list of all ingredients I plan to use for the week. Each meal is followed up with a blog post that includes images and recipes.
All of the food I prepare and post to this site are our actual everyday meals. When I plan our weekly meals and grocery lists for the week, I have a good idea of what ingredients I want to use each night. I don’t, however, always know exactly how each meal is going to come together in terms of quantities or methods used until I’ve actually completed it. This is the reason why recipes are posted after I prepare each meal rather than with the meal plan itself. Sometimes I do have a bit of a map to follow if I’m working from an already existing recipe or have experimented with something similar in the past. Even then, I am often switching things around to suit our personal tastes or scaling things back to simplify the process. When we do sit down to eat, we talk, laugh and enjoy our food and time spent together. To me, that’s what these meals are all about. If you try any of these recipes, I encourage you to also cook to your personal taste preferences, feel free to change the method around and simply enjoy the process and your results!
I love the fact that Cassie provides so much more than just another recipe site (but trust me, it IS worth a visit just for the recipes & pictures alone!!). Far more useful than meal ideas is an actual ‘meal plan’ for a full work week – with all the groceries needed. I also love that the recipes are for the actual meals Cassie is preparing herself each week!
I’m in charge of planning/preparing the meals in our household, and one of the most challenging parts is actually planning a full week (almost never happens) – I definitely need all the help I can get in that department.
We are not vegetarians by any means, but believe me when I say that Cassie’s website is so tantalizing that I’m thinking pretty seriously about adding a LOT more vegetarian meals into our regular rotation!
I noticed one of the recent comments on the site suggested that Cassie should create her own cook book. I couldn’t agree more!
If you happen to be a foodie like me or are just looking for a great vegetarian cooking site, I highly recommend you check out Veggie Meal Plans! I know I’ll be spending a lot more time there myself!
We recently received a friendly e-mail from Daren McLean, Graphics Director for Quantum Shift TV, letting us know about the site and their latest video (which you can watch above).
Things have been really busy lately (as per usual), but I made sure to spend some time on the site this week to see what they are all about. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the site before, but I suspect it ended up on the list of “I’ll have to go back to that one” sites that invariably just end up forgotten.
Anyway, I’m definitey glad Daren got in touch – the site looks to be jam-packed with interesting videos and information! I highly recommend you check it out! (follow the link under the video)
Perhaps you’ll even want to upload your own videos while you’re there.
Here is a little more info from the site:
Quantum Shift TV is an innovative news and entertainment TV station with leading edge technology, citizen journalism, creative and entertaining packaging, and positive, stimulating and inspiring content.
We will highlight the stories of:
Human cooperation and survival
Solutions to combat global warming
The positive impact of aid workers around the world
Perspectives and contributions of philanthropists
Corporate social responsibility progress
Environmental improvements and breakthroughs
And all other stories about those making a positive difference on this planet
We aren’t sugar-coating the news here – on the contrary, we want to talk about the hard-hitting issues of the day too – we just want to offer inspiration and solutions instead of sensationalistic scare tactics and get the public involved in telling their own stories.
I must say I was VERY pleased to recently receive an email from our good friend, Franke James – letting me know that her latest visual essay was ready!
I’ve been eagerly anticipating her latest release, and after reading it I have to say it was definitely worth the wait! I have loved her previous two works, but I’m quite sure this one is my favourite thus far!
It is called To My Future Grandkids in 2020, and takes the form of a letter written to her (currently unborn) grandkids in the year 2020.
It explains her worries and concerns about the state of the world from an environmental perspective, and of course carries with it a very powerful underlying message.
I found this particular piece a wee bit more sobering that the previous two. There was certainly plenty of Franke’s unique (and endearing) humour woven in, but the overall mood seemed to be more sombre – although it did pick up nicely at the end!
One thing is for sure, I think EVERYONE should read this!
So check it out and share it with others!
