Deep in the sprawling Peck Estates there is a meandering brook, full of plants, wildlife, and brisk, babbling water. Whenever I grow weary of my toils to better this planet called Earth, I cast my eyes upon this creek, and tears of wonder carve clean trails down my dusty face.

But it’s not “all good in the hood”, as Mister Rogers would say. Over the last month or so, I’ve cleaned out a LOT of litter just from my small part of the creek. The litter has ranged in size from tiny shards of broken glass to a metal chair to a freaking stop sign.

After cleaning all that mess out, me and Tiff decided to make some creek animals out of the junk, since all the trash had come from the creek. What follows may shock and even horrify you. Prepare to look upon the creek creatures.
CLICK THE PICTURES TO SEE A BIGGER PICTURE

Glassy the Turtle

Tiff’s abstract masterpiece.

Turkey Thing

Made from a gen-u-ine 40 bottle (and maybe an old racquetball?).

Glass Frog

If you use your imagination, this pile of reused glass might look remotely like a frog.

Simple Snail

Another Tiff creation. My blurry picture does not do this glass snail justice.

Parrot with Coke Bottle Body

He’s all spirally and mess.

Snake made from Broken Glass

That’s his tongue on the left.

Glass Hell Monkey

Its tail is made from a LipSmackers brush. He is one menacing mamma jamma.

We recycled all the leftover broken glass and old cans and bottles. All in all, it was a good way to reuse some litter, and make some “art” from it. If anyone else has done cleaned up litter from a creek or stream and made something from it, por favor let me know!

This made the front page on Care2, vote for it with all yer might! 

When many people think about a “green” house, they picture a small hut made out of mud where people sit on dirt floors, desperately trying to not use any energy. But by doing some careful planning and designing, and paying about 10% more on construction costs, this family’s home uses 50% less water and a whopping 90% less electricity than a similar-sized “normal” home.Some of the things they did are:

• capturing rainwater and snow melt to flush toilets or water the lawn
• “recycling” heat from hot water to help the water heater
• energy-efficient appliances and light bulbs
• Insano insulation
• install solar panels to get some free electricity

Take a looksie at the video:

If you’re thinking about building a home in the near future, and you’d like to cut the water bill in half and the electricity bill by 90%, then here’s how. I plan on one day following some of the tips in the video to make my house as cheap (and eco-friendly) as possible, while maintaining that normal home look.

Until today, it’s been illegal for North Carolinians to water their lawns with gray water. But it looks like the extended drought and water restrictions have been enough to change lawmakers’ minds. According to the The News and Observer, state officials will “tweak state laws that suggest it’s an illegal practice” to reuse gray water from bathing or washing dishes.

So if you’re trying to conserve water, and you live in North Carolina, feel free to grab a bucket and collect and reuse gray water from washing dishes or bathing or taking a shower (perhaps a Navy shower? Yeah?). Dump it on your yellow, withered stalks of grass, pour it under a brown, crackly bush, or use it to wash yo’ dusty car. Just remember, you can do this with GRAY water, but please don’t reuse BLACK water (water from toilets). That’s still illegal in “The Old North State”.

BBC has an interesting article today about people’s impact on the world’s oceans. Give it a looksie.

One thing I wish they’d done differently is to say exactly what criteria they used for their ratings. Anyhoo, scientists figure this map will be useful for determining what areas of the ocean most desperately need help. These scientists are now in consideration for the prestigious Eco Hero award.

Here in North Carolina we’re in the midst of a good ol’ drought. As my backyard slowly turns into desert, I wonder if there’s a way to clean my car without using water.

Well now there is. It’s called Dri Wash n’ Guard. Apparently, you don’t need to use water with it, which means:

1. You’re saving water (and money)
2. You’re avoiding washing all the oil, dirt, and soap into the environment.

But how well does it really work? What if it’s a rip-off? Luckily, you can get yourself a free sample of Dri Wash n’ Guard here. I’m waiting to test mine out whenever I get it.

Arsenic in water is a big problem in the developing world. It can cause death within 30 minutes. Worse, it is usually odorless and flavorless, so it’s hard for people to detect. Luckily, Dr. Vicki Colvin, a professor of chemistry and chemical and biomolecular engineering at Rice University, has invented a very easy way to produce a “pollution magnet” that will pull arsenic out of water.

How to Make an Arsenic Magnet

Colvin’s process to make an arsenic magnet is very simple and cheap, which is great for developing countries. Here’s how to make an arsenic magnet:

1. Fry a teaspoon of rust in a mixture of oil and lye. This breaks the rust down into nano-sized pieces.
2. Use a magnet to pick up the rust dust.
3. Put rust-covered pollution magnet in water with arsenic.
4. Pull out arsenic.

The system is up to a hundred times more efficient than existing methods, and the simplicity (and cheapness) of its production means that even dirt-poor people can make these arsenic magnets.

Dr. Colvin’s arsenic magnet system could go global as soon as the next five years (if it passes governmental regulations). If her arsenic magnet is mass-produced, it could ease water (and arsenic) worries for millions of people in the developing world. For her invention, I have decided to award her the prestigious EcoJoes Eco-Hero award. Hear hear.

Let’s say you’re about to clean your dishes, and you want to do it in the best way environmentally possible. So do you use your energy-efficient dishwasher, or do wash your dishes by hand? It might seem like a simple question, but man oh man there are a lot of answers (and a lot of other websites which have covered this question, with one result or the other). I’ll try to look at both sides of this surprisingly heated debate.

Water Use

A modern dishwasher will use less water than you would if you hand-washed your dishes. But this is assuming that you hand wash your dishes several times a day instead of leaving them in the sink for a “big wash”, which I always end up doing. This also assumes that you don’t use too much water pre-rinsing the dishes. So basically, it all boils down to efficiency of scale (doing a large load is more efficient than doing many smaller loads of dishes). If you only do large loads and moderate your water use, hand-washing is more efficient. But the smaller your loads are and the more water you use, the bigger the advantage of using a dishwasher.

Energy Use

Most of the energy for washing dishes (whether by hand or by dishwasher) comes from heating up the water (unless you like to wash your dishes with ice-cold water). Obviously, the dishwasher uses some electricity on top of that, so hand-washing wins this battle.

Time

Dishwashers will save you time. Just put in some dishes, turn it on, and walk away. But sometimes you open the dishwasher when it’s done, and some of the pans and dishes are still dirty. The more that happens, the smaller the time advantage that dishwashers have.

Overall Environmental Impact

Hand-washing wins this one. There are phosphate-free soaps available for dishwashing or handwashing, but the energy and materials used to make a dishwasher is considerable. Plus, dishwashers take more energy, sometimes use more water, and sometimes even take more time. So unless you are doing a huge load of dishes (or unless you work in a restaurant), then hand-washing is the way to go. So put on them yellow gloves, fill up a pot with hot, soapy water, and get ready for some good ol’ hand-washing.