Cool Hunting

NYC Apple Day
Nothing says autumn like hot apple cider. If you love it as much as we do, this Sunday is your opportunity to kick-start the season with NYC Apple Day, an apple-frenzy street festival held in conjunction with the launch of Go Green LES. You can sample your favorites like apple pie or try more curious dishes like apple sausages, all the while learning tips...

Switchgrass-Derived Bioplastics
Environmental tech company Metabolix recently announced that they have discovered a way to derive large amounts of bioplastic (plastics made from renewable biomass resources) by growing it in switchgrass, a common prairie grass. Their efforts are part of an increasing movement to manufacture alternatives to petroleum-based plastics by making biodegradable plastics out of renewable resources. The company uses the plant to create its own...

Eco Chef Frying Pan
Organic and sustainable foods have firmly positioned themselves in kitchens across the globe. When it comes to green cooking equipment, however, there's plenty of room for improvement. One step in the right direction is the Eco Chef Frying Pan. It's made from 99% recycled aluminum which conducts heat faster than conventional pans, decreasing heating time by 20%. It also features a non-stick surface that...

Cascadia Living Building Challenge and Leader Program
by Russ Lowe Moving beyond the once revolutionary LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) scope of strategies and requirements for building green, Cascadia, the Northwest chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council's Living Building Challenge meets once unimagined sustainability standards in areas of Site, Water, Energy, Materials, Indoor Quality, Beauty and Inspiration and Process and Leadership. Using a guideline of 20 prerequisites, the initiative...

Local River
French designer Mathieu Lehanneur (featured in the recent Design and the Elastic Mind exhibit) has taken the locavore concept to a practical level with his Local River exhibit at Artists Space in Manhattan. The concept is a small aquarium stocked with freshwater fish that feeds off a small vegetable patch. The plants extract nutrients and purifies the water for the fish; similar techniques are...

The Pharos Project
by Russ Lowe Addressing inconsistencies and other challenges in eco-friendly construction, a revolutionary group of like-minded (and large-minded) scientists, architects, engineers, humanitarians and optimists from the U.S. Green Building Council's robust Northwest Chapter, Cascadia, have developed Pharos, a project that might just reshape the Green movement.Its namesake, the island lighthouse of Alexandria, references the guiding beacon that led travelers through unmarked waters in ancient...