Photo by purplekey, under a Creative Commons license

Quote of the Day: Ray Anderson on Flight
“Drawing the metaphor of the early attempts to fly. The man going off of a very high cliff in his airplane, with the wings flapping, and the guys flapping the wings and the wind is in his face, and this poor fool thinks he’s flying, but, in fact, he’s in free fall.”

North Branch Mocha Brownie Soap
Coffee grounds are a natural deodorizer you can between rub your hands to get rid of the pong of garlic, onions, or fish after you’re through preparing the nosh.

Data Storage Just Got Shinier, Sexier
Personal data storage meets personal accoutrement with this heart-shape Swarovski-crystal-encrusted pendant—part of a new line by Philips and Swarovski known as Active Crystals.

How to Hack Your Swiffer
We scoured the Internet landscape to find the best ways of fulfilling Zaccai’s sustainable dream, so you can haul your pre-green Swiffer dust mop out of retirement and back into action picking up cat hair and errant dust motes.

Quote of the Day: Peter Nicholson on Why Design Matters
“Design, whether in the form of fashion, architecture or other discipline, is essential to achieving greater sustainability.”

Wired Interviews Paul Hawken
Wired News chats with environmental economist Paul Hawken about his latest book, how PBS is turning another into a 17-part TV series, and how he is organizing the environmental movement through a collection of wikis.

Make a Recycled Mini Dry Erase Board
If you have five minutes and some dinged CD cases—and we’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t—you can make a yourself a mini dry-erase board.

100-cal Snacks Will Suck Your Wallet Dry
Junk food: enemy of your thighs, now enemy of your pocketbook. Is anyone surprised that 100-calorie portions of Chex Mix and Keebler Deluxe Cookies cost three-and-a-half times more per ounce than their regular-size brethren?

Book Review: Nature Babies
Tara Jon Manning, Zen queen of compassionate and mindful knitting, shows us why we should use yarns as soft and pure as the little tykes who’ll be wearing them.

Gloss for a Cause: The Body Shop Hi-Shine Lip Treatment
New from the Body Shop: a passion-fruit-scented lip-treatment gloss ($11.50) for smearing on your kisser, featuring fair-trade marula oil from Eudafano Women’s cooperative in Namibia.

Power Your TV, Cell Phone, or Laptop by Pedaling
One of the first-prize winners of our TreeHugger/Popular Science/Instructables Go Green contest, this gadgetry wizard shows you how to rig up your bicycle to create a human-powered generator.

Quote of the Day: Ken Midkiff on Water Scarcity
“In just a few short decades, we have depleted our water supply. In the eastern states, which once had an abundance of water, bitter disputes and legal battles have become commonplace over water shortages caused by overappropriation.”

We Are Sailing, Sailing: Aum Totes
We’ve covered a boatload (heh) of bags and totes made from retired sails in our day, but the Circles and Stripes AUM (Alternate Use Materials) totes by Vancouver-based Red Flag Design blow their competition clear out of the water.

If Global Warming Never Happened
College must make you, like, smart or something. One man-about-campus, at least, has his head screwed on straight.

Natural Light Gives You Smartypants
Let there be light, indeed: Glendale Middle School’s new $16 million building will be harnessing the power of the sun to supercharge its students’ neurons.

Etsy Clean & Green Trunk Show
Etsy’s Clean and Green Guild—a ragtag band of eco-friendly soap, bath and body products, makeup, and fragrance geniuses—will be hosting a trunk show on August 31, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Etsy Labs in Brooklyn, Noo Yawk.

Now Endangered: Hedgehog, House Sparrow
Pity the legacies of Enid Blyton, Beatrix Potter, and Kenneth Grahame; we can almost hear them rolling over in their graves (which scares the beejeezus out of us).

Build a Geodesic Greenhouse
Keep your plants in fighting shape, even after the first frost sets, with a geodesic-dome greenhouse of your very own. And raise a homegrown cantaloupe to Buckminster Fuller while you’re at it.

Happy Trails: Cycling Holidays Take Off
More Brits are coming home tanned, toned, and saddle-sore, according to a report indicating a surge in cycling holidays.

Greenbelts’ Recycled Leather Cuffs, Collars
Seattle artist and child wrangler Shannon Ritscher retools used leather belts into mean-looking biker cuffs and rhinestone-encrusted studded collars for both humans and non-humans alike.

Quote of the Day: Michael Pollan on Eating
“Daily, our eating turns nature into culture, transforming the body of the world into our bodies and minds.”

Sit and Sup: Instant Picnic Wear
Here’s a wee bit of Hump Day absurdity, just for the heck of it—The Spontaneous Picnic Dress, sewn together for a “weird Japanese” competition (of course) and made out of a plastic lobster bib, a kitchen towel, and a festive gingham tablecloth.

Make Your Own Ball Toss-and-Catchers
It’s still summer, at least in this here parts, so enjoy the fresh outdoors as much as you can before Old Man Winter comes a-knockin’.

Foaming Ocean Whips Beachgoers into a Frenzy
Beach-side foam party gone out of control? Not quite. A shoreline north of Sydney, Australia was transformed into the “Cappuccino Coast,” as one journalist put it, with foam swallowing up an entire beach and half the nearby building.

Annals of More Useless Crap We Don’t Need: Neosporin Travel Tote
Most Americans are familiar with Neosporin, that antibiotic salve that keeps sliced-up body parts from rotting off and cluttering the living-room floor.

Make a Solar Thermal Water Heater for Less Than $5
All you need is legal access to a junkyard (or dump) to plunder parts such as the grill on the back of a refrigerator, some wood for the frame, a pane of glass, and a discarded rubber door mat. Yeah, eat your heart out, MacGyver.

Green Your Drive Without a Hybrid
Even if you don’t have a Hybrid, a few simple tips are all you need to give your vehicle’s fuel economy the boost it deserves.

Quote of the Day: William McDonough on the Triple Top Line
“The conventional design criteria is a tripod: Can we profit from it? the company asks. Will the customer find it attractive?”

How Kids Can Make Money, Save the Planet
Hawking candy bars and magazines for your basketball team is so old school. Meet Fundraising 2.0: Kids can get their mitts on some much-needed green, while learning to be more environmentally and socially conscious.

A Picture is Worth … What’s For Supper?
Cynthia Vanderlip, manager of the State of Hawaii’s Kure Atoll Wildlife Sanctuary, cut open the dead body of a fledgling Laysan albatross (nicknamed “Shed Bird”) to find more than half a pound of plastic in its stomach.

Go Tell It on the Mountain
Talk about an end-of-term kiss off: You’ve already heard that the Bush administration is proposing a rule to allow its BFF, the coal industry, the wherewithal to pollute where they want, when they want.

Yoko Ono: I Will Never Ride a Hybrid
We always considered Yoko Ono a tough, kooky old broad—one who undoubtedly marched to the beat of her own drum (as genteelly as we can put it), but cool, nonetheless.

Foodfight! A Farm Bill Showdown
Fresh from the unfalteringly inventive Free Range Studios—the same creative crew that brought us Store Wars and The Meatrix—comes The Farm Bill Food Battle, a funny-bone-tickling short featuring Apple and Snack Cake as they duke it out for supremacy over the Farm Bill.

Eco-Tip: Narrow Your Word Document Margins
Tamara Krinsky has a remarkably simple idea to conserve paper: Set your word document’s margin settings as narrow as possible before you send it to the printer.

How to Upcycle Gift Cards
We all get them—gift cards, that is—simply because it’s the most-convenient present you can give someone you haven’t melded minds with.

Make a Grocery Run with the Cart Bike
A nifty concept if you happen to find a derelict shopping cart gone astray.

Protect Your Treasures With a Sari Jewelery Roll
Treat your baubles with a little TLC, a sure way to extend their longevity, by wrapping them in a soft jewelery roll hand-stitched from salvaged cotton saris and secured with a loop-and-button closure.

EdibleSkincare: Fresh Tomato Skin Cleanser
Tis the season of the tomato: Plump, juicy sacs, in a myriad of ripening red and orange hues, are melting off their vines ready to be crunched, savored, and simmered. But you can also share summer’s rich bounty with your skin.

Quote of the Day: David Suzuki on Genetically Engineered Crops
“We have been told that genetically engineered (GE) material just disperses in nature, but in fact, it is remarkably permanent.”

23 Percent Of Americans Don’t Recycle
Almost one-quarter of American adults don’t recycle, according to a new Harris Poll.

The Dirt on Soil Erosion
Soil erosion runs far deeper than we might think. In fact, we could be looking at a “silent global crisis”—one that is undermining food production and water availability, not to mention responsible for 30 percent of greenhouse gases.

How to Make Your Own Microwave Popcorn
We now know that chronic exposure to diacetyl, the artificial-flavoring chemical in microwavable popcorn, causes a debilitating and sometimes-fatal lung disease known as bronchiolitis obliterans, or “popcorn lungs.”

Quote of the Day: Paul Roberts on Gas Guzzlers
“Americans were never content with the trend toward smaller, fuel-sipping cars. Many felt the smaller cars unsafe; others simply pined for the Camaros, Mustangs, and other muscular chariots from the automobile’s glory days.”

How to Grow Your Own Loofah
Also spelled luffa, loufa, or loofa, the cylindrical sponge many of us use to slough off dead skin cells in the shower or bath doesn’t come from the ocean, as some might assume, but can actually be grown in your own backyard.

Quote of the Day: Paul Brown on Extinction
“Because of population growth and increasing consumption, concentration of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane in our atmosphere are the highest in human history; as are global temperatures.”

Less is More: Instant Kitchen
Perfect for dorm rooms, big-city hideouts, and tiny hobbit holes: a $44.95 instant kitchen that comprises a time-controlled oven (complete with broiler tray), a four-cup coffee maker with a reusable filter, and a non-stick griddle.

UnTreeHugger: Spice Up Your Carbon Footprint
Now that the erstwhile Spice Girls—Posh, Sporty, Ginger, Baby, and Scary—have announced plans for their globe-trotting reunion tour, we find out that Virgin Records is donating one Lear Jet for each spicy mama and her entourage.

Book Review: 50 Ways to Save Our Oceans
Accompanied by humorous illustrations by Jim Tooney, the creator of Sherman’s Lagoon, 50 ways is packed with practical, effective, yet easy-to-do calls to action for protecting and restoring our seas.

The TH Interview: Brenda Brock of Farmaesthetics
Farmaesthetics’ all-natural skincare line was founded by Brenda Brock, the daughter of a seventh-generation farming family from Texas.

Quote of the Day: Daniel Imhoff on Obesity and the Farm Bill
“As Farm Bill subsidies have lowered prices of commodity crops over the past thirty years, the food industry has invested heavily in an infrastructure that turns cheap materials into highly profitable “value-added” products.”

Is Global Warming Changing Fashion Trends?
Wearing white after Labor Day may not be the crime against fashion it used to be. In fact, with the exception of “heavy winter coats and flimsy sundresses,” says the Wall Street Journal, climate change may have given seasonal dressing the boot all together.

Post-Labor Day: What’s Up, Congress?
With Labor Day behind us, here’s a list of some of the legislation in Congress affecting workers and businesses.

Seattle Councilman Wants Goats Recognized as Pets
Conlin wants to give Seattleites the right to keep miniature goats as pets, a move he bills as one step for sustainability.

More New Jerseyans Digging Compost
An increasing number of New Jersey residents are catching the compost bug, especially when they realize that cutting the amount of household trash in landfills plays a large role in going green.

UnTreeHugger: Onion Goggles
This pair of goggles, which promises no more tears when you chop onions, made us want to cry.

Fall Fashion 07: Twice Shy
We asked Jen McCormack, co-founder and creative director of Vancouver-based Twice Shy, to share some of her favorite picks from the organic apparel company’s fall line.

Picnick: NYC’s New Sustainable Food Stand
Downtown Manhattanites with a case of the lunchtime munchies can mosey down to Battery Park for a bite at Picknick, a new sustainable food kiosk that considers itself a “mini-model of consumer and eco-conscious food service.”

Build a Green-Roofed Dog Veranda
Provide a shaded spot for Fido to chill with his homies in the backyard, while supplying some real estate for a bee- and butterfly-friendly garden.

How to Become a Vegetarian
Vegetarianism is a highly emotionally charged issue, no matter which side of the fence you’re on.

How to Pack an Eco-Friendly School Lunch
U.S. residents, businesses, and institutions produced more than 245 million tons of trash in 2005 alone, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Make Stuff Last, Save a Bundle
Taking care of what you already own—and postponing the bank-account-draining day you’ll have to replace them—makes your money stretch further, which is almost as good as making more.

Multitask with Baking Soda
There’s more to baking soda than unclogging drains and fluffing up cakes and muffins. (Mmm, cakes and muffins.)

Fish Lips Recycled Wrapping Paper
While recycled-wrapping-paper options have tended toward the rustic, California-based Fish Lips Paper Designs breaks with tradition to reveal a trove of bold, modern patterns saturated with color.

Fair Indigo Introduces Fair Trade Organic Denim
For its fall collection, Fair Indigo is introducing a line of fair-trade, organic cotton denim togs in four different styles.

Mod Green Pod Sprouts New Fabrics
Fresh from the sister-in-law duo of Mod GreenPod comes an elegant—and intelligent—new line of hand-silkscreened organic-cotton home textiles.

Quote of the Day: Jeff Goodell on Coal
“The coal industry is very good at touting new technology and less good at actually doing anything about it.”

Night Owl Paper Goods’ Wooden Postcards
Electronic missives may be waste-free, but some occasions call for something a little more visceral, with warm or cool intentions conveyed through the indelible strokes of a pen against a tangible surface.

Climate Change Will Break Your Heart
Melting glaciers, driving polar bears onto land, and devouring human flesh apparently weren’t enough for global warming. Doctors now warn that it could also affect your heart.

Regular People, Natural Heroes
Returning to public television for its third season this fall, Natural Heroes is a series of independently produced films that turns the spotlight on people who are actively helping to better their local communities and the global environment.

EcoModa: Chicago’s Sustainable Fashion Showcase, Sept. 27
Part of the Sustainable Convergence ’07 party (for all you hobnobbing types) being hosted by the non-profit Foresight Design Initiative, EcoModa will feature off-the-rack, environmentally forward, one-of-a-kind designer pieces, as well as accessories by Midwest and national designers and manufacturers.

Create a Greener Dorm Room
How geared up is your dorm sweet dorm for this year’s adventures in higher education?

Keri Smith + Little Otsu = Unscheduled Fun
Artist Keri Smith and the San Francisco-based Little Otsu have joined forces to create the Non-Planner Datebook.

Where Corn is King
Curt Ellis, star of the film King Corn, talks about the ubiquity of corn and his forthcoming film.

Fuez Blends Recycled Materials
Fuez, a fledgling company from Portland, Ore., recently introduced four surface-tile products, including one made by fusing concrete with recycled glass.

Honey Bee Mystery Solved?
o where did all the bees go? A group of genetic researchers say they may finally have at least part of the explanation for why honey bees around the United States are dying out in droves.

Coca-Cola to Step Up Recycling, Improve Image
Coke announced on Wednesday that it will open a massive recycling plant in Spartanburg, S.C. next year as part of its long-term goal to recycle or reuse all plastic bottles containing the company’s products sold in the United States.

Forests Buffer Hurricanes’ Wrath
Two fierce storms that recently slammed ashore on the Caribbean coast of Mexico and Central America have demonstrated how important forests and mangrove swamps are in dampening the effect of hurricanes.

GladRags Sampler Pack
It’s said, well, by people who make it their job to crunch these kinds of numbers, that the average woman uses nearly 12,000 disposable tampons and/or pads during her menstruating lifetime.

YogaGurl Turns to Bamboo
Toronto-based YogaGurl dips a foot into sustainable yoga threads with its limited-edition 100 percent organic bamboo tee.

Not Tonight, Dear, I’m Down with Climate Change
Let’s talk about sex, baby. And climate change. Several recent studies have found ties among sex, climate change, and environmental pollution.

Whole Foods & Wild Oats: Done Deal
After a protracted and very public struggle with the Federal Trade Commission over its $565 million purchase of Wild Oats Markets, Whole Foods bought 96.8 percent of its former rival’s outstanding shares at $18.50 per share.

Iceland Calls the Whale Thing Off
The government of Iceland announced last week that it is calling off its controversial whale hunt, not because of political pressure, but due to the lack of demand for whale meat and other whale products.

Flakeshake: An Online Game for Polar Bear Fans
It’s about closing time here on the East Coast, so with mere minutes counting off to the start of the weekend, here’s a simple and kid-friendly online game for you to goof off to.

How to Choose Outdoor Solar-Powered Lights
Not only do solar-powered outdoor lights save energy, but they also save you the hassle of digging ditches, laying wires, and connecting them to an electric grid.

Quote of the Day: Thom Hartmann on Trees for Beef
“According to a 1996 report by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, funded by the World Bank and the United Nations, 72 acres of rainforest are destroyed every minute.”