When looking at the Interactive Museum of the History of Lugo from an aerial perspective, an intriguing landscape filled with wonderment greets the eye. Designed by architecture firm, Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos, the museum has been created to respect the natural landscape and to consume minimal energy. To preserve the leafy surrounds, much of the museum has been built underground. By creating an underground space, the thermal inertia of the earth naturally cools the museum and any traffic to the museum is also housed in an underground carpark, thus reducing the wear and tear on the lush landscape. Above ground, the rustic, weathered-steel cylinders that jut from the grass are reminiscent of the industrial zone that once stood in the area. Outdoor exhibits are encased in a metal skin that has been designed to be fitted with energy-efficient solar panels.

For environmental pioneer David Suzuki, a call to leadership marks an invitation for local and global community members to join a quest for sustainability. Encouraging society to strive to find a harmonious balance between seafood consumption and environmental stewardship, the David Suzuki Foundation puts the future first: “If we care about ourselves and our children and grandchildren, we must look beyond our immediate surroundings and do all we can to care for the oceans.” As Australians gear up to welcome the season of long summer days spent peeling fresh prawns, and beachside barbecue feasts brimming with freshly caught fish – now is the time to consider the sustainable nature of our seafood purchases. Promoting mindful consumer practices, the Australian Marine Conservation Society has developed its online Sustainable Seafood Guide, which divides Australian seafood into ‘better choices’, ‘think twice before buying’ and ‘steer clear’.

When a container of juice becomes empty, the bottle is still perfectly capable of holding juice, or any liquid for that matter. The trouble for juice bottles is that there are few opportunities for the bottle to be refilled and, as such, the bottle is generally thrown straight into the recycling pile. With the goal to change the way people approach grocery shopping, in.gredients aims to be the first zero-waste and package-free supermarket in the United States. Similar to the concept of taking your own eco-friendly shopping bags to the shops, the in.gredients philosophy is simple – customers bring their own containers from home and stock them with local, seasonal, organic produce. The environmental stewards, as they call themselves, say this ethos of negating the need for packaging in the first place is the next step in the precycling trend.

If you have ever stumbled across a wind-power documentary whilst mindlessly flicking through the television channels, you will have seen the images of wind-powered farms – large fields filled with rows and rows of turbines designed to generate energy from the wind. While these large fields of turbines can generate a great deal of energy, clearing large expanses of land in the middle of nowhere is not the most efficient way of harnessing wind power. The Power Flower, on the other hand, cleverly captures energy from the wind in urban settings. The shape and form of Power Flower means it will not look out of place in a backyard, park or beside a footpath, and its close proximity to energy-consuming buildings makes the energy harvesting process much more effective. This means that domestic households can now access wind power the same way they do solar power. Just like all good trees and flowers, the Power Flower helps clean the air, and in return it doesn’t even ask for a drink of water in return.

via GOOD Magazine.  We Patch, is one of a dozen new websites designed to connect wannabe gardeners with landowners who have available garden space. Let’s say you have an unused space that might make a good pumpkin patch, you offer it up on the website. If you’re a gardener without a garden, you can find available space—and contact the landowner. Sometimes, it leads to a rendezvous and a handshake agreement. Other times, gardeners and landowners spell out exactly how they’ll share produce and labor from a shared plot of land.

I feel like this idea linking social networking and greenspace could be expanded to take care of and be used in public spaces and parks too.  It would be interesting to trial.  Recently the idea of turning some of New Farm Park back to its farming roots has been flagged with me, and if anyone is interested in this idea, please contact me.