With Spring right around the corner, we can’t help but think of all of the delicious vegetables and herbs that are just waiting to spring up in our backyard gardens. For the millions of people who don’t have access to the type of land it takes to grow a bountiful vegetable crop all summer, the Urban Garden gives you a chance to sprout organic produce in a small space.

City dwellers who don’t have the luxury of vast expanses of green space in which to grow veggies typically resign themselves to buying organic produce in the grocery store or growing only the essentials in pots on balconies. A company called The Urban Garden wants to help everyone realize the dream of growing fresh, organic food at home, even if space is tight. Their products are designed to grow the maximum amount of plants in a minimal amount of space.

All of the Urban Garden products consist of compact raised beds. The layered designs help urban gardeners squeeze a large amount of usable ground out of a remarkably small footprint. The boxes even feature “seed holes,” or small openings where single-stem plants can grow horizontally out of the front of the box setup. Weeds aren’t a problem, and the boxes are happy being placed just about anywhere with a southern exposure to the sun.

Available in four different configurations – from the single-level raised bed to the six-level, 54-plant original setup – the Urban Garden is flexible enough to meet the needs of just about every gardener. Even if you think you have a black thumb, the people behind the Urban Garden want you to know that there are plenty of vegetables that require very little skill to grow. For a first-time gardener, choosing easy-to-grow veggies like broccoli, tomatoes and peppers can help you get off to a great start.

While the Urban Garden is an ideal solution for people living in crowded city areas, it’s useful even if you do have yard space to spare. By raising the garden a bit, you eliminate a lot of problems that come with traditional gardening – problems like poor soil quality, overwhelming weeds, and pests (the cedar used in the Urban Garden naturally repels insects) become easily managed with container gardens. And for those of us who prefer organic produce, growing it at home can save an astonishing sum of money over the course of one growing season.

(image via: Popular Mechanics)

There are plenty of resources out there for DIY-ers who prefer the satisfaction of building something rather than the convenience of purchasing it pre-made. If you’re ready to get your hands dirty constructing your own raised vegetable garden, these instructions from Popular Mechanics will get you started. This Squidoo lens about raised bed gardening is very detailed and has step-by-step photos and illustrations to help you through each part of the planning and building process.

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Wouldn’t it be nice to own your own green dream home, made with recycled and natural materials and packed with custom features? Whether you’re an experienced builder or have never picked up a power tool in your life, you can build a natural eco-friendly home with user-friendly, low-cost materials like cob, cordwood, straw and the dirt and wood from your own land. These 7 natural building techniques produce beautiful homes with a small ecological footprint and tons of personality.

Earthships and Hobbit Houses

(images via dominicspics, ECOnscious, Earthship Biotecture)

They seem to be a living part of the very earth itself, often with nothing but a façade and some windows to betray the presence of a home in the hillside. And earth-sheltered homes built partially into the ground come with some incredible benefits, like the ability to absorb and regulate heat from the sun for comfort in all seasons. Earth-sheltered homes can be built entirely underground, bermed (covered with earth on one to three sides) or built into a larger hill with just one side open. Earthships and ‘hobbit houses’ are common forms of earth-sheltered homes.

Earthships are among the most popular types of DIY eco homes around the world, utilizing discarded “junk” like stacks of earth-packed tires, bottles and cans to build custom homes in practically any shape imaginable. While most beginners in this building technique stick to simple designs that are cheap and easier to build, some models are stunningly complex.

(images via: simondale.net)

Among the most famous examples of a ‘hobbit house’ is “A Low Impact Woodland Home”, self-built in Wales for about 1000-1500 man-hours (over four months) and £3000. Creator Simon Dale used stone and wood from the property, straw bales covered in plaster for the walls, and lots of reclaimed and salvaged materials like hardwood flooring, doors and windows. The reciprocal roof, covered in plastic sheeting and mud/turf, is surprisingly easy to build and looks incredible.

Cob

(images via: ziggy fresh)

How can a house made of mud last 500 years? The short answer is, the combination of clay, sand and straw – known as cob – is extremely strong and durable once it dries, and can withstand fire and severe weather as well as practically any other material. This ancient building technique is among the easiest and least expensive ways to build your own sustainable, healthy green home.

Just ask “Ziggy”, a resident of the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in  Missouri who built his own cob cottage for just $3,000. Ziggy breaks down the costs, all materials used, time frame and the entire process including lots of photos at his website, “The Year of Mud”.

(images via: eco-sense)

These hand-sculpted homes give the builder practically endless creative opportunities for organic forms, built-ins like bookcases and benches, and even artistic details. But cob houses don’t all have to be free-flowing and eccentric. Take a gander at the Eco Sense house, located in Canada, which wouldn’t look out of place in a suburban neighborhood.

Cordwood

(images via: daycreek, cordwood masonry)

From far away, it looks like stone masonry – but get up close and you’ll see that cordwood buildings are actually made from wood stacked firewood-style, and mortar. Debarked logs ranging from 12 to 36 inches can be arranged into walls either in load-bearing round structures or in combination with post-and-beam framing. Soft woods like cedar and pine are used because they are more stable, with less expansion and contraction. These walls offer both insulation and thermal mass. As with any natural building technique, it’s labor-intensive, but easy enough that practically anyone can do it.

(images via: home-n-stead)

While the mortar typically used for cordwood construction is made from Portland cement, lime and water, some people are beginning to combine cordwood building with cob in place of mortar, as in the owner-built cordwood home above.

Straw Bale

(images via: building with awareness)

“I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!” It seems like straw would be the worst possible material to depend upon for stable shelter, but in fact, straw bale building produces thick walls with excellent insulative qualities and surprising strength. As with cordwood and cob, straw bale walls can be load-bearing or can be combined with post and beam framework as needed to gain building permits.

(images via: solarhaven.org)

The straw bales are stacked on top of a masonry foundation, anchored to each other with wood stakes or bamboo poles, and finished with a breathable earthen or lime stucco that allows the walls to breathe, preventing moisture accumulation in the straw. Straw bale structures have been found to be remarkably fire- and pest-resistant.

Rammed Earth

(images via: rogers rammed earth)

Fireproof, termite-proof, storm resistant, extremely low-maintenance and literally dirt-cheap: all of these qualities make rammed earth an attractive natural DIY option for owner-builders. Popular in hot, dry places like Australia and the American Southwest, rammed earth uses compressed dirt blocks as building bricks. The dirt is often from the home site, typically packed into a wood wall former, and the results are stunning and well suited for modern home designs.

(images via: rammed earth)

While tamping of the earth into bricks can be made easier by a pneumatically-powered tamper, it’s entirely possible – and much cheaper – to get the job done manually. Rammed earth buildings last indefinitely and results in energy-efficient buildings that keep temperature fluctuations to a minimum.

Earthbag Building

(images via: dornob)

Imagine building with earth that you get for free from your own land, but without the intensive labor required to mix cob or compact bricks. Earthbag building has an extremely low learning curve and uses mostly waste materials. Woven polypropylene feedbags (often factory misprints) are filled with dampened soil and compacted from above with manual tampers. They’re held in place by two stands of barbed wire and can be filled in place, eliminating heavy lifting.

(images via: mother earth news, tiny house design)

Earthbags can be an ideal alternative to cob in areas where the soil has a low percentage of clay, and they also make it easy to construct domes and other rounded structures. Earthbag buildings can be bermed with earth to create an “underground” structure that looks like a seamless part of the landscape.

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Signs Of Life

(images via: Inner City Snail and More Intelligent Life)

Famed urban guerrilla artist Banksy is not alone in turning London’s mean streets into evocative canvasses of subversive subculture. Meet Slinkachu, a 30-year-old street artist who’s based in London but has done “work” in a number of large European cities. “In 2008 I started the ‘Inner City Snail’ project, involving the decoration of snails that I find around London. After decoration, the snails are then placed back, free to go about their business in the city.”

(image via: Papersurfer)

Why paint snails? Slinkachu reasons that projects like Inner City Snail can be interpreted in a number of ways – a keystone of art that makes one think. As well, though he can be classified as a street artist, works like Inner City Snail can be seen as satirizing the genre of street art. Society’s relentless desire to appropriate every available inch of the cityscape for advertising, signage and even illegal graffiti is mocked in miniature by these pictorially modified gastropods.

Tiny Tags, Tinier Taggers

(image via: Inner City Snail)

Slinkachu selected a number of hardy London snails to become part of Inner City Snail; once “prepared”, they were gently released to continue their slow-motion journey through England’s largest city.

For those who have qualms as to the morality of painting a living creature, Slinkachu stresses that the paint used may be long-lasting but it’s also non-toxic. As he puts it, “No snails were harmed, they just had their homes vandalized”.

Human Es-Cargo

(images via: Kanye Universe City and Inner City Snail)

In his online presentation of Inner City Snails, Slinkachu provides a series of images that quickly zoom out, bringing the small size of the illustrated snails and the intricacy of their designs into perspective. Not only paint is used – tiny plastic figurines are photographed either alongside their hard-shelled co-stars or, in the case above, affixed to them to be a permanent part of the roving exhibit.

Shell Out For Parking Fines

(images via: Inner City Snail)

Sure, snails move slowly but slow enough to attract parking tickets? Sad but true – London’s a big city and it can use all the revenue it can get. Hard to think how the unfortunate snail above is going to pay the fine… and if it doesn’t? Well, there’s always Snail Jail.

The Road Less Traveled, More Painted

(images via: Concrete-Canvas and Quirky Insider)

Slinkachu’s styled snails (and others of their ilk) are a movable feast – for the eyes, at least. Imagine coming across one of the artist’s “models” while enjoying an outdoor work break or simply sitting in one’s garden at home?

(image via: McCrappy)

It’s doubtful anyone could fail to be affected in some manner by any artistically modified snail. Love them or hate them, living artworks like Inner City Snails are certain to move anyone who encounters them… albeit very slowly.

Living Color

(image via: FreakingNews)

Slinkachu hardly has a monopoly on the questionable practice of painting snails. Take the example above, obviously crafted by someone of some talent but who prefers to let their work speak for them. It bears repeating that anyone seeking to emulate Slinkachu by attempting their own series of snail shell artistry should ensure that they use only non-toxic paints.

This Is Sparta?

(image via: Ant Graffiti)

Though it appears by the looks of it to be a semi-skilled work of photo-shoppery, the snail above is more noteworthy for the message than for the medium. “Ant-agonize All Humans”, reads the glammed-up gastropod above, which hails from Sparta, Georgia. Wouldn’t it be cool if there were 300 of them sliming about? Wouldn’t it be even cooler if they decided to invade Athens?

(image via: MaikT)

Painted or not, snail shells are marvels of natural engineering and evolutionary design. Are we humans so arrogant as to think we can improve on a design that can trace its lineage back hundreds of millions of years? Perhaps “improve” isn’t the right word… “complement” works much better.

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Not all of us own land for farming, but even urban dwellers can grow gardens and plants. There are more and more fantastic green living concepts being designed for people who want to try out their green thumb. Here are 15 fantastically futuristic plant growing design concepts.

One Pot, Two Lives

(image credits: Yanko Design)

The planter and fish tank work together to make your fish and your plant healthier. The system works by the fish poo acting as a moist fertilizer for the plant. The filter system helps to maintain neutral PH quality in the water for the fish while extending the watering period by about one week for the plant. One Pot, Two Lives was created by designers Sheng-Zhe Feng and Ling-Yuan Chou.

Urb Garden

(image credits: designawards)

Urb Garden by Xavier Calluaud allows people who do not have space for traditional horizontal gardens to indulge in gardening. Vertical food gardens encourage urban dwellers to grow their own food. It comes with a self-contained drip watering system, keeping the plants hydrated. It was also designed for organic recycling to act as plant fertilization.

PC Green Computing Concept

(image credits: core77)

Designer Luis Luna created this green computer concept design called “O.” The project was inspired by the oxygen and the photosynthesis cycle, trying to reduce the amount of CO2 that computers generate. This CPU is both decorative and meant to encourage a green thinking lifestyle for computer users.

Kitchen Garden & Moss Bathmat

(image credits: La Chanh Nguyen,La Chanh Nguyen)

Designer La Chanh Nguyen came up with both of these green living concepts. The Kitchen Garden basically grows over the pot holding kitchen utensil and provides a vertical garden. The chef can cut some fresh aromatic herbs as needed. How about a moss bathmat? Moss Carpet utilizes the humidity of the bathroom as well as water dripping off a person to stay watered. It would also provide a very different feeling under your feet than most people experience when stepping out of the shower or tub.

Office Partition & Foot Rest

(image credits: yankodesign)

Having plants in the office is not a new idea, but designers Jinsun and Seonkeum Park have a couple of plant growing concepts that you have doubtfully seen in the office yet. For those of you trapped in the dreaded cubicle, perhaps office life would seem a bit less bleak with a Breathing Partition? They claim it will bring an ever-lasting oasis to an otherwise dull and dreary office environment. Not for you? Then how about a grass foot rest to allow a feeling of nature under your bare feet?

Le Petit Prince

Le Petit Prince was designed by Martin Miklica and was one of the 2009 Electrolux Design Lab Competition winners. This intelligent robotic greenhouse concept was designed to help with future exploration and expanding population on Mars. The four-legged pod can carry and tend to a plant inside its glass container. It also can send wireless communication to other greenhouse robots, allowing them to learn from each other.

Ecohabitare

(image credit: trendsupdates)

If you don’t have the farming land for a garden, surely you have enough space to hang a “picture?” Ecohabitare is a vertical garden designed by Daniele Adamo and Ravel Casela. Made from flat plates manufactured from recycled packages, this portable vertical garden takes 20 minutes a day to harvest and irrigate. The fertilized soil only needs changed once a year when you add new seeds. It requires about 9.8 feet or 3 meters of wall space and is best suitable for growing chives, parsley, tomato, basil, mint, bold, strawberry and rosemary.

Air-conditioning Curtain / Vertical Planter

(image credit: designboom)

This air conditioning curtain concept was designed by Laura Boffi. “Fresco Di Lana” is made from wool and meant to be kept wet via a water pump. The air-conditioning curtain could perhaps be considered swag except it also functions as a vertical garden. The wet wool filters hot air, cooling it as it enters the house. The wet wool provides pockets in which to grow your food, flowers, or plants indoors.

Envi Urban Waste Management

(image credits: behance)

Designer Julien Bergignat created Evni, one of 58 projects that was shortlisted for the 2009 BraunPrize competition. Envi is a foresight urban dustbin, promoting composting from biodegradable waste. The concept design shows the benefits of urban recycling in which the waste turns into compost for the plant it carries.

Refrigerator That Grows Plants

(image credits Yanko Design)

Designer Hanna Sandström worked with Green Fortune & Whirlpool to come up with a refrigerator that will nurture a seed into a plant. It’s meant to grow herbs and organic greens that you might normally purchase. Although still in concept design stage, the system should automatically water and give light to the refrigerator garden. Not possible? Once upon a time, the same thing was said about ice spitting out the refrigerator door. Growing plants in your frig would give garden fresh a whole new meaning.

Ekokook

(image credits Yanko Design)

Designer FALTAZI came up with Ekokook, one of the coolest kitchen concept systems ever invented. You can watch the video below whether you understand French or not and see it in action. Ekokook does it all, from use and re-use of your solid waste, liquid waste, organic waste, oh…and cook too. It has a combo fridge/freezer, steam oven, and two-tier dishwasher. Non-smelly waste is placed into a bin and compacted into briquettes. The double sink collects water that is filtered to be reused on the plants hanging above it. Organic waste is taken care of by earthworms and then further recycled into food for indoor and outdoor plants.

Volksgarden Hydroponics

(image credits: gizmag)

Volksgarden is not a concept design but a reality of an effective hydroponic garden on wheels. It’s a ferris wheel ride for plants, growing up to 80 plants at once, taking 45-50 minutes to complete a rotation, spinning 24/7. The unit only takes up 1/3 of the floor space used by a conventional flat garden. Omega Garden Technology claims Volksgarden yields three to five times the comparable weight per watt average per harvest. This seems like a great way to grow your own food . . . or weed.

Home Farming

(image credits: designboom)

Philips design completed a project on how we might eat and source our food in 15-20 years from now. This Home Farming concept is a self-contained farm for growing plants and raising fish. This vertical garden is a step beyond those above as you would also be able to provide meat with your veggies. Below is a video of their design probe looking at the future of food.

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People enjoy watching fish swim. It’s soothing in our otherwise crazy high-speed lifestyles. Fish habitats come in practically every shape and size you can imagine. Some are works of wonder while others are more like WTF were they thinking when they designed that aquarium. These are 31 of those very unique aquariums found around the world.

Want an Aquarium?

(image credits Born Rich,hometone,gizmodo,Sydney Morning Herald,Born Rich)

Fish habitats have come a long way since simple rectangular aquariums or a round bowl. If you want some fish and need an aquarium, the sky is the limit nowadays. . . or perhaps your budget is deciding factor. If you want fish in the kitchen, but not to eat, then there are kitchen table bars for that. Sofas come with aquariums on both sides. There are aquariums to hang on the wall that resemble flat screen TVs. Fish in an iPod? It’s been done. There are even space-age hanging aquariums so your fish habitat will not take up any of your valuable floor space.

glass-art

(image credits: Vanessa Mitrani )

If you have a fondness for glass art yet also want to keep fish as pets, there are dozens of options available for you. These decorative fish tanks by Vanessa Mitrani have organic bubbles that balloon this way and that to provide an environment in which betas can survive. Cleaning is done with a soft sponge and water.

Ice

(image credits doseng)

Want fish but not the mess of cleaning their habitat? Of course, you would not get to enjoy watching the fish swim either in this type of aquarium. The aquarium is made of ice and the fish are frozen inside it.

Strange or Cool?

(image credits gizmodo,Born Rich,gizmodo,novate)

The Spillarium has a waterfall effect to circulate and purify water in the aquarium. It might also keep your fish swimming like crazy to avoid spilling out of the hole and into the ceramic fish’s mouth. If you enjoy watching fish swim, but dislike feeding them and cleaning their tank, you must check out the Aquapict LED Jellyfish Aquarium. It contains three electrified life-like jellyfish, made out of silicone, to seem as if they are swimming. On the lower left, “Swimming Around In Circles” aquarium is only a concept at this point, but was designed for your fishies to feel free. It “loops the fish around in an infinite tunnel of water and glass.” The lower right aquarium is for breeding fish. It plugs into your computer via USB to help you track and monitor optimum breeding conditions.

Fish Fans

(image credits Luxury Housing Trends,Opulent Items,Opulent Items,Elseware Inc)

Nothing new here, but it does show variety in where you can keep your fish. Do you have high stress at work and need a way to relax? The aquarium desk takes keeping fish at work to another level. In fact, you can sooth your stress level while watching fish swim in any room of your house. There are all shapes and sizes of coffee table aquariums. Too dull for you? Then how about keeping your fish in the bathroom sink or in the back of the toilet?

Cruelly Cramped to Free Roam Pipeline

(image credits Collections Etc,xinhuanet,The contaminated)

Apartment living often leads to needing every precious square foot. It seems cruel to keep your fish in a tiny half bubble tank on the wall, but some people like it. Another cruel yet odd aquarium design can be found in a Beijing hotel lobby. The fish survive for only six days before a big flushing and new fish stock replaces the old. The polar opposite of cramped and cruel is the pipeline fish tank that zigs and zags all over a cafe. These fish are free roaming, swimming from one aquarium to another by way of pipelines which connect them.

How To Clean?

(image credits Opulent Items)

The Labyrinth Aquarium is without a doubt very cool. However, with a price tag of $6,500, it seems as if it should come with a person to clean this opulent aquarium. Just the same, it’s pretty neat to look at the fish swimming freely throughout this enitre fish tank.

The Aquarium Phone Booth

(image credits RX thepirata, Benoit Deseille and Benedetto Bufalino,lady_stardust9)

Artists Benoit Deseille and Benedetto Bufalino created this telephone booth aquarium as part of the Lyon Light Festival in France. They stated, “With the advent of the mobile telephone, telephone booths lie unused. We rediscover this glass cage transformed into an aquarium, full of exotically coloured fish; an invitation to escape and travel.”

Aquarium Arch

(image credits fish-and-dreams)

Aquariums are pretty much in every design imaginable. This aquarium archway would definitely attract attention in any home, office or business.

3D

(image credits fish-and-dreams)

This project aimed at showing the designer’s capabilities in realizing your ideas and fantasies that go beyond the usual and standard. This 3D bar aquarium is creative and cool, definitely a winner in commanding attention.

Bar with an aquarium dancefloor filled with sharks

(image credits QUA Bottle Lounge)

There are many bars around the world that are built around an aquarium, but not so many where the dance floor is a giant fish tank. In Austin, Texas, this cocktail lounge is called QUA Bottle Lounge. The dance floor is filled with sharks.

Aquadom

(image credits id4,,vagabondish)

The Radisson SAS hotel in Berlin Mitte, has a 25 meter tall elevator encased inside a giant aquarium. It is the largest acrylic glass cylinder aquarium in the world. It holds 900,000 liters of sea water and 56 different fish species. Every day, divers take care of feeding the fish and cleaning inside this massive and unique tank.

Georgia Aquarium

(image credit: textransfer)

The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta is advertised as the “world’s largest aquarium.” It has 100,000 animals of 500 different species. The aquarium holds more than 8.1 million gallons of marine and fresh water. Pictured above is the The Ocean Voyager exhibit tunnel is a 100 foot underwater tunnel which includes the vast majority of the aquarium’s water and almost 100,000 fish. Other aquatic animals are displayed in five different galleries: Georgia Explorer, Tropical Diver, Ocean Voyager, Cold Water Quest, and River Scout.

Dubai Mall Aquarium

Inside the Dubai Mall Aquarium is one of the of the largest tanks in the world and featuring the world’s largest viewing panel at 32.8m wide and 8.3m high. Over time, Dubai Aquarium will have more than 33,000 living animals, representing more than 85 species including over 400 sharks and rays combined.

Kuroshio Sea

The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium is housed within the Ocean Expo Commemorative National Government Park in Okinawa, Japan. It is the world’s second largest aquarium behind the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.

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Overall, more household waste is created in the kitchen than any other room. Food preparation generates organic waste, recyclable trash, and grey water, much of which just enters the waste stream currently. It stands to reason that, if you want to reduce household waste, you would start there.

Industrial design group Faltazi saw a problem with modern kitchens: they hang on to 20th century ideals rather than offering a solution to 21st century problems. So the group decided to create a kitchen system that would operate on four principles: waste management, kitchen health, energy reduction and intelligent storage.

The Ekokook concept starts with more efficient food storage. Rather than the traditional two-compartment fridge/freezer combo, the Ekokook features sections to keep fresh fruits and vegetables fresh longer, encouraging the owners to eat more healthy, natural foods while cutting down on the electricity required to refrigerate food items. The steam oven and two-tier dishwasher help to further reduce the energy consumption in the kitchen.

But what really makes the Ekokook shine is its waste management systems. There are separate systems for solid, liquid and organic waste. Waste water from washing fruits and vegetables is recycled to water houseplants, organic waste is routed to an eco-friendly compost system featuring live earth worms, and recyclable wastes are sorted into their appropriate groups.

A few commonly-used household herbs or vegetables could be grown in the overhead ultraponics chambers, presumably using compost and grey water collected from the other components of the kitchen. The rest of the setup is dedicated to intelligent storage, with some overhead and some lower compartments being arranged to maximize space while allowing for freedom of movement in the ultra-modern, planet-friendly kitchen.

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When we think about the matra Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, the “reuse” part is often overlooked. But an enterprising family in Argentina has reused a huge number of plastic bottles, Tetra Packs and CD cases to make a unique and educational house. Alfredo Santa Cruz and his family built the house (and accompanying play house) themselves using items that would normally end up in the waste stream. Their admirable goal: to remind others that small contributions from everyone can help achieve the common goal of caring for the Earth.

This project started out not as an artistic vision, but as a desire to share a passion for environmental stewardship. The Santa Cruz family believes that each individual should be held responsible for their own impact on the planet, and do whatever they can to reduce that impact. To do their part, the family decided to use waste from their own household and from their friends and neighbors to construct a very visual reminder of how many useful things we simply discard.

The house is located in Puerto Iguazu, near the Iguazu Falls. It’s composed of 1200 PET plastic bottles (walls), 1300 milk and wine Tetra Pack boxes (roof), 140 CD cases (doors and windows), and an additional 320 PET plastic bottles in the furniture. Other recycled materials were used to make the decorations and accessories around the house and playhouse.

(images via: Treehugger)

The family developed their own method for joining the bottles, which they now happily teach to anyone who wishes to learn. They ask for no payment in return, only that hosts help them pay for travel and lodging. The Ecological Bottle House has become a tourist attraction for the Iguazu Falls area, and the family supports the project through donations and selling their artisan items to visitors.

Aside from being a charming and whimsical place to visit, the Ecological Bottle House proves that one doesn’t have to be an architect or have a huge budget to make an impact on the waste stream. This family used nothing more than trash, hard work and their dedication to the environment to complete a project that is inspiring and influencing people from all over South America and the world. For more information on La Casa De Botellas – and information on visiting the structure – take a look at the project’s website.

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The How & Why of Hairless Cats

(images via: OLX, Distractible, Ask Kitteh and Barecats Sphynx)

Hairlessness in cats is caused by a specific recessive gene, which means that the parents of a hairless cat must each carry a copy of the gene for hairlessness that they then pass down to their offspring. Unless genetically hairless “barecats” are bred with either close relatives or other carriers of the gene, expressed hairlessness would remain a rare and occasional occurrence.

(image via: Catfacts)

Sphynx cats are not completely hairless – like “hairless” dogs, elephants and marine mammals they do have some hair but the quantity and length are greatly reduced. Some liken the coat of a Sphynx cat to peach fuzz. Another curious feature of these cats is that, similar to tigers, their skin is pigmented in the same places darker hair would appear. From a distance then, Sphynx cats look like most any other cat… get closer and the difference can be shocking.

Hairless History

(images via: Angelfire Sphynx)

The first documented hairless cats were littermates Nellie and Dick, acquired by a Mr. Shinick of New Mexico in 1903 from some local Pueblo Native Americans. Hairless cats cropped up again in Toronto, Canada in 1966 (giving rise to the name “Canadian Hairless”) and shortly after in Minnesota, USA. As word of these strange cats began to spread, other occurrences were noted around the world and this helped breeders establish a viable line of Sphynx cats that were less susceptible to genetic diseases and disabilities brought about by inbreeding.

(image via: Dare2B-Bare)

It wasn’t until 1985 that The International Cat Association (TICA) accepted the Sphynx into Championship status and in 1987, the honor of Best International Sphynx and TICA Supreme Grand Champion was awarded to Britanya’s Lady Godiva.

Sphynx Cat Characteristics

(images via: Barecats Sphynx, Gorey Details and Free Space Comix)

Sphynx cats are distinctive in other ways besides being, for all intents and purposes, hairless. They have wedge-shaped heads, large ears, and tend to develop pot bellies as they age. They also seek warmth owing to their lack of insulating fur. This may come across as pure affection but it also has a physiological basis.

(image via: Izismile)

Sphynx cats’ skin can also be wrinkly, like that of Chinese Shar Pei dogs but without fur to ameliorate the degree of wrinkliness.

Scaredy Cats?

(images via: Catfacts, The Austin Probe, Eric Maziade and Phil Hodgson)

It’s natural for humans to be drawn to people and animals with big eyes, rounded facial features… babies and the babylike, to be exact. Sphynx cats don’t often conform to the stereotypical “cute” profile due to the lack of fur and its softening, rounding effect.

(image via: Izismile)

In extreme cases, Sphynx cats can appear bat-like, threatening, sinister, even frightening… such as the li’l feller above, whose meow is probably a lot worse than his bite.

Bring On The Kittehs!

(images via: OLX and Purple Slinky)

Odd or not, Sphynx cats can be exceptionally cute – especially as kittens. The younger they are, the rounder their features and the more wrinkly their skin. And, like all domestic cats, Sphynx cat kittens are curious, playful, mild-mannered and affectionate. Did I mention how cute they are?

(image via: Bestiarum Vocabulum)

The more the merrier? It’s not hard to find Sphynx cats cuddling together for warmth, being naked and all. Er, umm, roll the kitty pics!

Pairs Competition

(images via: BabyAssFace, Sphynx & Chi’s and Cats of Australia)

Either owners tend to keep more than one Sphynx cat or photographers just love to capture cat couples in their Kodachrome compositions – or maybe both. It may be that the image of a pair of Sphynx cats looks somehow more friendly, more inviting, more… agreeable.

(image via: Baxterboo)

Double trouble? More like two’s company – and if these felines can get along with each other, weird hairlessness or not, so can we humans. Ya think?

Tats on Cats: Art, Abomination or Both?

(images via: Courier Post Online, The Radical Ant Farm and Terrierman)

It had to happen, of course: someone tempted by the living canvas of a Sphynx cat’s skin decided it called out for a tattoo. Or two. The morality of tattooing animals, pets or not, is a hotly debated topic on which yours truly will not publicly take sides. By exposing you, the reader, to these images of tattooed Sphynx cats, perhaps a wider consensus on this practice can be reached.

(image via: Emptees)

One may wonder how the cats sit still and tolerate being tattooed. In at least some cases, they don’t… they are anesthetized while the “art” is being applied. The King Tut tat depicted above was applied in Russia where the practice is not unknown. Again, it’s arguable whether sedating pets for cosmetic procedures is ethical or not – a pity we can’t ask the cat.

Beauty: More Than Skin Deep

(images via: Got Pets Online, Ann Schaefer and Ganners)

One thing almost everyone can agree on is that Sphynx cats are distinctive-looking enough “as is”; no extra exterior modifications needed. As the images above clearly display, these unique cats display a savage beauty tempered by what appears to be significant intelligence and empathy. Or, maybe it’s just those big round eyes made all the more prominent by the absence of fur.

(image via: Daily Contributor)

The set of images above should do much to raise both the awareness and popularity of Sphynx cats. If THEY can’t keep a straight face, how on earth can you?

(image via: Curious Animals)

Sphynx cats… attractive, repulsive, or a little of both? If you think a Sphynx cat (or two) would help warm up your humble abode, check around for a reliable breeder and feel free to ask questions – for the cats’ sake as much as yours. And speaking of “warm”, keep in mind the fact that Sphynx cats ARE hairless. Keep ‘em comfy and they’ll surely do the same for you.

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The term “seed bombing” has been used since the 1970s when the guerrilla gardening movement got its start. Since then, we’ve seen all sorts of inventive types of seed bombs. The original type was a condom filled with fertilizer, water and wildflower seeds, but most guerrilla gardeners use the entirely-natural kind made of simply mud, compost and seeds. Different recipes abound, but they’re all largely the same idea. So it’s kind of a big thing when someone comes along to redesign the seed bomb concept.

South Korean designer Jin-wook Hwang came up with this design for a completely new kind of seed bomb: one that could be used on a larger scale than the neighborhood-greening ones we’re used to. In his project portfolio, Hwang tells of the inspiration for his idea: “After The 2nd world war, Gale Halvorson, an American pilot, dropped candies in the name of hope for children in Berlin. The seedbomb is the bomb of hope like the candies of Gale Halvorson.” This new seedbomb isn’t meant to replace the neighborhood mud ball; rather, it’s intended for a larger scale.

Meant to be airdropped into arid environments, the seedbomb is actually a vessel carrying smaller seed capsules. When the bomb is released, it falls apart, scattering the seed capsules inside. Each capsule contains a small amount of soil and nutrients along with seeds. For the first stage of the plants’ lives, the seed capsules act as tiny greenhouses, protecting the fledgling plants.

As the plants grow, the seed capsules biodegrade. What’s left is a new crop of plants in an area that was once dry and void of vegetation. Hwang’s vision is to drop his seedbombs into areas where most humans would never think to start a garden. The idea is that by reforesting some of the world’s arid locations, we can improve not only the landscape, but the overall health of the planet.

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