Regular readers of both WebEcoist and WebUrbanist are going to get a double-dose introduction today to the newly-launched Gajitz dot com, a fresh site from the founder of Webist Media. Ecoist fans are familiar with the timeless lists on far-reaching topics that are at the heart of this site. Gajitz, like Dornob (its sibling site focused on design), takes a bit of a different approach, covering more of the latest and greatest discoveries and inventions as well as creative transportation and world-changing vintage and retro tech.

In short: Gajitz brings you most sensational, educational and inspirational content featuring the past, present and future of gadgets, science and technology – from history-shaping photo-edits of centuries gone by to a just-discovered cure for color blindness to self-driving concept cars, space elevators and teleportation devices of the not-too-distant future.

The new site will feature two familiar faces/names: Kurt (often known simply as Urbanist or Ecoist on each of the two Webist sites) and Delana (a long-term veteran author and editor on both sites as well). Like its sibling site Dornob | Design Ideas Daily, Gajitz will be updated multiple times a day with relevant targeted articles on specific subjects – you will be able to sign up for the main site feed as well as following particular topics via main categories and category feeds: Gadgets, Science, Technology, Transportation, Vintage & Retro.

Any time we have news related to new projects within or outside of Webist Media, it is always essential to note how indebted these sites are to the core authors including Angel, Chris, Delana, Mike, Stephanie and Steve, who make this weird and wacky website work Click here to check out Gajitz, and be sure to follow up on Twitter, friend us on Facebook, subscribe to the new RSS feed and spread the word around the interwebs however else you wish. Once again, thanks for reading, sharing your thoughts and lending your support all along the way – you are what keeps us going!

Creatively Weird Green Gadgets & Technology

The green technology industry is booming, and some eco inventions - like a biodegradable coffin coffee table - are just plain weird.

Liquid Technology: 12 Wonderful Water-Powered Designs

In the race to implement clean, green renewable energy, hydro-power is becoming all the rage. Check out these 15 amazing water-powered designs.

Naturally Social: Cool Ways Animals Communicate

From the dialects of the prairie dog to the inaudible rumbles of elephants, animal communication serves many practical purposes, all the while amazing.

(image via: Terraforums)

When two missionaries got lost on the remote Mount Victoria in the central Philippines in 2000, no one could have guessed that their misadventure would lead to the discovery of a bizarre but majestic variety of pitcher plant. The missionaries were rescued after 13 days, and their tales of the strange vegetation they encountered would later lead botanists Alastair Robinson and Volker Heinrich and nature explorer Stewart McPherson back to Mount Victoria on a two-month expedition. The wonders they found there made the journey more than worth their time.

(images via: Wikimedia)

The large pitcher plant that awaited them at 1,600 meters above sea level was a stunning sight. They named it Nepenthes attenboroughii after the famed British broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough. It appears that this particular plant exists only on the summit of Mount Victoria, and there are very few known specimens.

Though the above video is a different type of pitcher plant, it is in the same family as the new species. Unlike plants that kill with poison, pitcher plants catch their prey in their pitcher-shaped leaf appendages; insects and other small animals fall in and can’t escape. Though the pitcher of Nepenthes attenboroughii is large enough to trap mice, rats and other rodents, so far no such instances have been recorded.

Eco-Friendly Meat Meals, Tips & Recipes

Don't want to go vegetarian? Here are some sustainable meat consumption tips for local, organic, grass-fed meat and meals and recipes for the green meat consumer.

Massive Man-made and Natural Holes

Humongous holes can be found scattered across the globe, some geological phenomena and others made by man. Here are the most massive man-made and natural holes to be found on our planet.

Endangered & Strange Plants, Flowers & Trees

From ugly-but-life-saving to extraodinarily-beautiful-but-killer flowers, here are some of the most exotic or endangered plants, flowers, trees and forests in the world.

For many folks, summertime means the opportunity to attend any one of the hundreds of large music festivals held across the globe. But when 50,000 to 100,000 people gather for any purpose, there will undoubtedly be large carbon and resource-use footprints. Recognizing that, several large summer music festivals are pushing the envelope in terms of environmental and sustainability initiatives.

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival – Tennessee, USA

(images via Brookage, Yardena 2009, Bonnaroo; Tim Hurst)

In just seven years, the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival has emerged as the preeminent music festival in the United States. With festival attendance averaging somewhere around 70,000 people per year, festival organizers have had to come up with some unique ways of making a gathering of that size more sustainable. Ranging from massive recycling programs to traffic improvements and water infrastructure overhauls, Bonnaroo continues to push the envelope in large-scale festival organizing.

Fuji Rock Festival – Japan

(images via chalky lives; tallkev)

The Fuji Rock Festival aims to be “The cleanest festival in the world”. And with a billing like that, festival organizers have their work cut out for them. Held in the last weekend of July on the slopes of the Naeba Ski Resort, Fuji Rock hosts approximately 100,000 music fans. With recyling numbers unmatched anywhere on the festival circuit, and considering the size of the event, festival organizers have done a commendable job keeping the whole site virtually spotless. Organizers also claim Fuji Rock to be carbon neutral by investing in carbon offsets.

Telluride Bluegrass Festival – Colorado, USA

(images via Rob Lee)

Set in a high-altitude box canyon in southwestern Colorado, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival has emphasized a sustainability ethic since its inception 36 years ago. Held every year in mid to late June, the festival attracts dedicated “festivarians” of all ages. One of the cleaner festivals you will ever attend, Telluride also prohibits the use of cars in town over the course of the week (unless you are a resident or have obtained one of the few passes made available to visitors).

Glastonbury Festival – Glastonbury, UK

(images via Matt Cardy; wonker)

Every year the Glastonbury Festival employs a team of 1,200 volunteers – who work for four, six hour shifts for a festival ticket, sorting up to 2,000 tons of solid waste generated during the festival. The recycling of all the cans, plates, cups, plastics and food waste produced by 140,000 festival attendees begins at the outset of the festival, in the last weekend of June, but the complete clean-up of the festival site can take until August.

10,000 Lakes Festival – Minnesota, USA

(images via 10KLF)

Music. Nature. Euphoria. The 10,000 Lakes Festival (also known by its shorthand name, 10KLF) this year will begin on July 22 and run through July 25. The grounds at Soo Pass Ranch are used only 2 weeks out of every year, allowing the abundant Minnesota plant and wildlife to thrive there. Festival efforts to reduce solid waste last year resulted in 79 tons less waste in the local landfill, including capturing over 50 tons of recycling.

ROTHBURY Festival – Michigan, USA

(images via Jeff Kravitz; Tim Hurst; Michael Weintraub)

Bursting onto the scene in 2008, the ROTHBURY Festival in Michigan, held over the Fourth of July holiday quickly established itself as a major player in the U.S. festival circuit. But beyond building a star-studded lineup of entertainers, ROTHBURY organizers have also made sustainability a central theme of the event, organizing a Think Tank with key leaders and thinkers in the environmental movement. In its inaugural year, ROTHBURY’s aggressive solid waste efforts were impressive, but festival organizers hope to improve upon their 2008 showing with stepped-up recycling efforts and more volunteers to help that goal along.

Bestival – Isle of Whight, UK

(images via iJammin; I’mClaude)

Because of its island setting, Bestival faces a unique set of sustainability problems. Festival organizers have clearly stated environmental goals, including: to promote the use of public transport and car sharing; to source local produce and services as much as possible; to reduce energy usage while increasing the use of more alternative energy sources, and; to reduce waste and to utilize the island’s waste facilities as best they can. Bestival is held on the second weekend in September.

High Sierra Music Festival – California, USA

(images via High Sierra Music Festival; Blurt)

Another festival that competes for your Fourth of July business is the High Sierra Music Festival held annually in Quincy, California.  Greening programs at the festival include a “Green Ticket” which adds a carbon offset to the price of your ticket; aggressive recycling and solid waste collection efforts, and; a competition for the greenest campsite.

The Burning Man Project – Nevada, USA

(images via  Tristan Savatier; Savatier)

Though not exactly a music festival, this list would not be complete without a mention of the annual Burning Man Project in the desert of Southern California. No, the burning of the man itself is not a low-carbon activity. But, by and large, the festival’s environmental and self-reliance ethics are promoted throughout the festival community. The Burning Man event has always asked participants to Pack-it-In/Pack-it-out. “This is not a convenience society,” say festival organizers. “There is no daily garbage pick up, and there never, ever will be.”

Coachella – California, USA

(images via rieh; Coachella)

Although a relative newcomer on the festival circuit, Coachella Fest organizers have already received praise for their recycling, carpooling and other sustainability efforts. In particular, carpoolers have the opportunity to win lifetime festival tickets. For those folks who need to charge their cellphones, charging stations powered by bicycles have been a hit since their inception in 2007.

Today's Top Global Environemental Issues

What is our world coming to? Here is a brief overview of environmental problems, challenges and potential solutions we are confronted with today.

How to Go Green: Sustainable Transportation

This article will offer beginning tips for two key areas related to "greening" your transportation, from mass transit to fuel hacks to hypermiling.

10 Iconic Geothermal Hot Spring Designs

Before the days of jetted tubs, spas, and heated pools, the only real place to soak in hot water not in your bath tub was to visit a geothermal hot spring.

Tristan da Cunha: Maximum Isolation

(images via worldstoreblog)

The English-controlled island has the distinction of being the world’s most remote inhabited island.  The rugged, wind-swept landscape is not unlike that oof other islands found in the middle of the Atlantic.  Everyone on the island is a farmer and the land is communally-owned.

Gunkanjima: Island Has-Been

(images via archibase)

This tiny island (less than 1 kilometer in diameter) was once home to a crowded boomtown.  Miners who dug for coal on the island lived nearby in buildings arranged around narrow lanes.  When the mines were stripped of all their coal, workers simply left, leaving everything behind.  Travel is prohibited to Gunkanjima today, but the buildings still remain, eerily intact.

Dubai’s Large-Scale Sand Art

(images via imre solt, dubai architecture,  Alexander Heilner, NASA)

The super-wealthy emirate of Dubai has been the site of some outlandish and brash construction projects.  None of these were as spectacular as The Palm, a man-made island off the coast of the city.  It was shaped by taking sand from the sea floor and placing it in the shape of a gigantic palm tree.

Samosir: A Huge Island within a Huge Island

(images via nasa and caingram)

Samosir Island is located in the middle of Lake Toba, a large lake on the large island of Sumatra, which is part Indonesia.  The island covers as much surface area of the lake as the water does.  But it is the unique culture and idyllic landscapes that truly make this one of the world’s most unique islands.  There are also two small lakes on an island.

Spratly Islands: World’s Most Disputed Islands

(images via US Marines, Borneo Eye, and Sabah Travel Guide)

The Spratly Islands, a chain of atolls in the South China Seas are of great strategical importance.  Troops from Malaysia, the Philipines, Vietnam, Taiwan, and China are stationed on various islands in the chain.  Some islands are claimed by more than one nation.  Nonetheless, some of these thin strips of land are quite beautiful.  Layang Layang, near the Malaysian state of Sabah, is a popular diving spot.

Smallest, Holiest, Wildest Island

(images via painted stork)

Peacock Island is the home of the holy Umananda temple complex.  The island sits is a tiny strip of land in the middle of the wide Brahmaputra River in India’s Assam province.  Aside from the temple, there are plenty of residents, mostly of the avian and mammalian variety.  Because so many people visit Umananda, the animals, like the Gold Langur (pictured) are quite tame and social.

Java: Island of People

(images via flydime)

Java is the world’s most populous island.  With over 125,000 people, the main island of the nation of Indonesia is characterized by mega-cities (Jakarta and Surabaya) and, conversely, lush natural landscape.

Azores: Rugged and Remote

(images via Portugal Travelers, Eschock, Ulrik Sverdrup)

The Azores belong to Portugal, but these islands, which you’ve wondered about if you’ve ever looked at the Atlantic Ocean page in an atlas, are so remote, they might as well be their own country.  Sitting in the middle of the Atlantic, these islands are lush, clean, and beautiful.  Though Portuguese influence remains strong, there are  decidedly unique characteristics in the culture of this isolated place.

Ellesmere: The Freezing Isle

(images via Queens University)

There are places in the world that beat Ellesmere Island when it comes to freezing temps, but this Canadian island, directly to the west of Greenland, is a barren arctic wonderland that is a favorite of geologists and biologists who are studying the natural world in the far north.

Ometepe: Old Island of Fire

(images Mat Honan, moody751, and nasa)

Ometepe is one of the oldest known inhabited islands in the world.  It is a two headed monster (two circles connected by an isthmus) in the middle of Nicaragua’s gigantic Lake Nicaragua.  The island is made up of two volcanoes.  It has a population of nearly 35,000 – mostly farmers taking advantage of the fertile volcanic soil.

10 Amazing Remote Public & Private Islands

The most remote islands on earth, islands in lakes, the smallest islands, islands in cities and other amazing islands.

Strange Fish: 12 Freshwater Aquarium Species

Some of these species fall into the realm of strange animals, while others are extraordinarily colorful or seemingly out of place in a freshwater aquarium.

12 Fantastic Floating Cities and Artificial Islands

Fascinating man-made islands and floating communities including a former fort fit for a Bond villain and a picturesque Pacific garbage dump.

(images via graffiti research lab, time, and treehugger)

The development of the graffiti and green movements were anything but parallel.  Sure, both began as outside-the-mainstream subcultures, but the aerosol paint and urban landscapes of the graffiti world were inherently opposite to environmental stewardship.  But new technology and  trends in street art mean that spray paint is not the only tool in the hoodie-wearing artist’s palette.  The result: street art has gone green with its practices and even its philosophy.

Reverse Graffiti

(image via ecomonkey)

British street artist Moose first came up with the idea of reverse graffiti in his hometown of Leeds.  He has since taken his talents to the US.  Reverse graffiti simply involves “cleaning” words and visuals into dirty walls.  Authorities aren’t quite sure what to make of this, as it is not vandalism in the traditional sense.

Laser Tagging

(image via Graffiti Research Lab)

Laser graffiti is a rather new invention.  Utilizing lasers, high powered projectors, and Macintosh computers, artists have been able to reach previously unreachable heights when it comes to tagging.  This impermanent form of graffiti is making headway in Hong Kong, where famed tagger MC Yan has been been laser-painting some of the cities most recognizable structures.

Living Graffiti

(image via inhabitat)

Moss is the new spray paint.  Artists in London, New York and Eastern Europe are using moss, which clings to surfaces and eventually spreads, to make statements about the environment and also to create unique, attention-grabbing, naturally evolving public art.

Reverse Graffiti Goes Corporate

(image via October Online)

Not only are eco-conscious street artists practicing reverse graffiti, some of the world’s biggest corporations are using this new approach to graphic art to put their logo on the street (literally).  Companies like Dirty Street Advertisng are specialists at this form of guerrilla marketing.  If nothing else, this offers reverse-graffiti artists a chance to fund their night jobs.

Masking Tape Art

(image via Melbourne Metblog)

This rather ingenious idea has been around for a while.  Rather than using it as a kind of makeshift stencil, some artists have been using tape to actually make art.  The result is interesting, non-toxic, and easy to clean up.

At the Bus Stop

(images via coolinsights and hanser ciecierski)

German design house Hanser Ciecierski shows that bus-stop art is alive and well with this award winning poster that advertises a conference about the environment in Poland.

This bus stop ad in Singapore used recycled cans are part of the visual.  Unfortunately, the cans on some posters were crushed or taken, a rarity in super-strict Singapore.

Moss Graffiti

(image via inhabitat)

Artist Edina Tokodi used moss to create living graffiti in a trendy Brooklyn neighborhood.  Despite the fact that it is an easily removable form of graffiti, a surprising amount of her work remains in place, untouched by authorities or residents.

Brochures

(image via Bridgitte Schuster)

This invitation card was made by Montreal-based graphic designer Bridgitte Schuster.  The card was made to help advertise a conference about urbanization and the environment that was taking place in Brazil.

Street Art for Pedestrians

(image via fractal enlightenment)

Montreal-based street artist Peter Gibson began painting crosswalks as a way to protest his country’s car culture, which, according to some, has grown at the expense of more traditional means of travel, like walking.  Some of Gibson’s art uses already existing traffic lines as part of the picture.

Street Calligraphy

(image via stay live and keep fresh)

Tsang Tsuo-Chio was the self-proclaimed King of Kowloon.  He claimed that he found documents that prove his family owned a majority of Kowloon prior to the British take-over of Hong Kong.  His work was mainly done in calligraphy-style, not typical spray-paint street art (call him an unintentionally environmentally-friendly graffiti artist).  He was quite famous by the time he died in 2007.

Recycled Art

(images via Good Magazine and  Oregon Live)

Graphic Designer Dylan Royal took recycling in creative directions with his college project entitled How to the a Graphic Designer without Hurting Little Bunnies.

Portland-based SCRAP (School and Community Reuse Action Project) created this ornement out of recycled material and had it hung on the White House Chrsitmas tree last holiday season.

Recycling Gets Violent

(image via Lemon Tree)

This stencil was photographed in Greece.  Anarchists put an ironic twist on the whole “recycling is good” message.  No matter what you think of protests, graffiti and recycling, you have to appreciate the dark humor and irony.

8 Ingeniously Creative Green Product Designs

Some of the newest, most adventurous, mostly creatively practical green product designs floating around studios or stores today.

11 More Disturbingly Creative Ads for the Environment

Some of the most shocking and disturbing ads in recent years have come from talented creative design teams of environmental and activist organizations.

13 (Even) More Disturbingly Creative Environmental Ads

Activists battle to stop the senseless killing, neglect, torture and abuse of animals through creative and disturbing ad campaigns.

Coal is the undisputed leader in dirty fuel sources. But beyond the issue of global warming/climate change (burning coal is the number one source of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide), coal-fired power plants also release dangerously high levels of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury, arsenic, lead, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons into the atmosphere, creating environmental hazards both near the plants (i.e smog, respiratory complications, fouled water from coal-slurry impoundments), and far from the plants (i.e acid rain, mercury pollution in rivers and oceans, etc.). And that is only the burning of coal, to say nothing of the mining and transportation of it.

Generally speaking, the older the plant, the more polluting it is, but the type of coal burned also plays a significant role determining the amount of CO2, SO2 and other pollutants released into the atmosphere. That said, some coal plants are dirtier than others:

R. Gallagher – Indiana, USA

(image via Bill Alden)

As one of the older plants on this list, Duke Energy’s Gallagher Generating Station is also one of the dirtiest. Located along the banks of the Ohio River in Floyd County, Indiana, Gallagher stores coal fly ash in ponds on the banks of the Ohio River. But the relatively small 600-megawatt Gallagher station made the list mostly because it emits 50,819 tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) annually—a ratio of about 4o pounds per megawatt-hour—the highest of any plant in the United States.

Kraftwerk Niederaussem – Bergheim, Germany

(images via Wikipedia; WWF; davipt)

Owned by Germany’s RWE Niederaussem is consistently one of the largest sources of CO2 in all of Europe. Even though the plant saw its emissions drop by 20 % to 24.9 million tons in 2008, the 3800 megawatt plant burns dirty and inefficient lignite (brown coal). Vast lignite mines in Germany, like the one pictured above, have swallowed entire villages and large swaths of fertile farmland.

Scherer Power Plant – Juliette, Georgia, USA

(image via ©Roy Tenant)

At 27 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, the Robert W. Scherer Power Plant is the single largest point-source of CO2 in the U.S.. Scherer is owned and operated by Georgia Power, which also owns the Bowen Plant. Scherer burns through an average of three train-loads of coal per day – coal hauled in from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, 1,800 miles away. At any given time, BNSF has thirty-six different two-mile long coal trains somewhere on the ten-day roundtrip between Wyoming and Georgia.

Taichung Coal-Fired Power Plant – Lung-Ching, Taiwan

(images via ????B; PoYang_??)

The 4130-megawatt Taichung power station is the world’s biggest CO2 emitter, with over 40 million tons produced in 2008. The CO2 emissions of the Taichung project roughly corresponds to the CO2 emissions of Switzerland.

Belchatow – Belchatow, Poland

(image via wikipedia)

Belchatow is arguably the largest coal-fired power plant in the world. Run by state-owned utility BOT Elektrownia, Belchatow emitted the most CO2 of any EU installation last year, pumping the equivalent of 34 million tons into the atmosphere; making it the second biggest coal-fired source of CO2 in the world.

Kendal Power Station – Mpumbulanga, South Africa

The 4116-megawatt Kendal facility in South Africa is the largest coal-fired power plant in the world. With an annual CO2 emissions of 26.8 millions tons, Kendal is the tenth biggest source of CO2 in the world.

(images via Eskom)

Bowen  – Bowen, Georgia, USA

(image via ERAU; kenny42952)

Along with the Scherer Plant, which is also owned by Georgia Power, Plant Bowen is consistently one of the top three emitters of CO2 in the United States. In addition to the 24 million tons of CO2 it emits annually, Scherer is also one of the bigger sulfur dioxide sources, emitting 206,442 tons of SO2 annually (it should be noted that while the total amount of SO2 produced has a relatively low ratio of 18lb/MWh, as compared to Gallagher’s 40lb/MWh).

Hazelwood – Hazelwood, Victoria, Australia

(images via drive; SACC)

The WWF referred to Hazelwood power station as “the most polluting of all power stations operating in the world’s major industrialised countries.” Scheduled to be decommissioned by 2009 due to the exceedingly high volume of CO2 emissions from burning brown coal, a 2005 decision by the Victorian Government will keep the plant operational until 2031.

Agios Dimitrios – Agios Dimitrios, Greece

(images via M@nthos)

In terms of CO2 per Megawatt-hour produced, the 1595-megawatt Agios Dimitrios power plant in Greece is the dirtiest power plant in Europe. The lignite-burning facility was at the top (or bottom) of WWF’s Dirty Thirty (Europe).

Drax – Selby, Yorkshire and the Humber, UK

(image via TheWritingZone)

Drax provides 7% of the electrical power required by Britain. Drax is actually the most carbon efficient coal-fired power plant in the UK, even though it generates around 1.5 million tons of ash and 22.8 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, which just goes to show, even the cleanest of coal-fired power plants are dirty.

(Article sources: CARMA; WWF; Environmental Integrity Project; EIA)

5 Alternative Ways to Power your Home

Let's look at some of the more obscure forms of alternative energy that you can use to power your home.

Hydroelectric, Tidal & Wave Power Systems

Here are sixteen of the most innovative, creative and cutting edge tidal, wave and hydroelectric power designs currently pushing the alternative energy envelope.

Creative Wind Power Generators & Designs

From low-cost home wind power generators to high-energy wind turbines here are 16 particularly creative, unique and innovative wind power generators and designs.

The mass public has never been as open to the idea of “going green” as it is in 2009. However, this may not have happened were it not for the passionate activism of some key public figures! These “green celebrities” have made it their business to spread the word about helping the environment and seven of them are profiled here.

Al Gore

(Image via Coast Day)

It would be an injustice for anyone but this man to top a list of celebrity environmentalists. The former vice-president’s seminal film “An Inconvenient Truth” opened the floodgates of public awareness on environmental issues, paving the way for Gore to spearhead a number of ambitious ecological projects. Perhaps his most promising such project is “Repower America”, which aims to have America running on 100% clean power within 10 years.

Leonardo DiCaprio

(Image via The Green Miles)

Baby-faced Leonardo DiCaprio has been an outspoken advocate for green policies in the last few years. In addition to flying mostly commercially and driving himself around in a Toyota Prius, DiCaprio lent his celebrity status to producing and narrating the eye-opening green documentary “The 11th Hour.

Robert Redford

(Image via Canada.com)

Some celebrities are content to merely spout some green buzzwords, pressure people to buying hybrids and bask in the self-serving glow of being perceived as a celebrity who cares. Then there’s Robert Redford, who has personally campaigned to protect Utah wilderness, spent 30 years on the board of the Natural Resources Defense Council, and pushed several US mayors to make climate change a priority in their towns and cities. While others “talk the talk”, Redford has been earnestly “walking the walk” since long before it was popular to do so.

George Clooney

(Image via CarGurus.com)

George Clooney’s primary contribution to green celebrity lore was founding OilChange, a campaign aimed at ending America’s dependence on foreign oil. Clooney also owns and operates an electric hybrid car called the Tango (pictured above.)

Pearl Jam

(Image via Wired)

Grunge heavyweights Pearl Jam are quite possibly the first major touring act to assess its actions in terms of impact on the planet. As guitarist Stone Gossard (pictured above, center) explains in a 2006 interview (2:24 into the video), “we’re looking at our supply chains, where our CDs are manufactured, what kind of chemicals go into those, how far they have to fly…doing everything to counteract as much of the bad stuff we do as opposed to the good stuff.” Pearl Jam has also partnered with numerous organizations to help offset the carbon emissions of the estimated 1 million fans driving to and from the band’s concerts.

Ed Begley, Jr.

(Image via Green Patriot)

The host of his own green-themed reality TV show “Living With Ed”, Ed Begley, Jr. is another green celebrity who practices what he preaches. In addition to advocating for green policies on a wide scale, Begley composts his garbage and relies exclusively on thermal and solar energy to power his house. Talk is cheap, but a celebrity who so radically lives what he advocates deserves our sincerest praise!

Ed Norton

(Image via Daily Green)

Best known for his hard-hitting on-screen persona in hit films like “American History X”, Ed Norton is spending a lot of his spare time fighting for solar energy. But instead of merely talking about the benefits of solar, Norton has set up a program called BP Solar Neighbors. The idea is to get other celebrities involved, as each time a celeb buys a solar panel for his or her home, BP donates one to a family in need.

(Catur)day Comes Early: 7 Craziest Celebrity Cats

From toilet trained and seeing-eye to station master and ceiling cats here are some of the strangest celebrity felines to make front pages and prime time around the world.

Today's Top Global Environemental Issues

What is our world coming to? Here is a brief overview of environmental problems, challenges and potential solutions we are confronted with today.

The 10 Most Insidious & Destructive Pollutants on Earth

A detailed, photographed profile of 10 destructive pollutants and how they are harming the environment for us all.

(source: duncmc)

By now you’ve probably read countless articles about, or at least heard about solar power and wind power, so rather than dwell on the relatively more mainstream forms of alternative energy, let’s look at some that you don’t regularly hear about.

1. Chicken Manure

A €150 million project out of the Netherlands is planning on using a biomass powerplant to simultaneously manage the the excess chicken manure and provide cheap, environment friendly energy to power up to 90,000 homes. The plant will process approximately 440,000 tons of manure and generate 270 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year, making it more than just carbon neutral.

2. Vegetable Oil

A super-efficient system is being developed at Newcastle University in the UK that will burn vegetable oil to generate electricity to power homes. The system has special provisions that minimize wasted energy, optimize energy storage, and can efficiently deal with the fluctuating demand for energy (i.e. releasing energy during peak times, and storing it in the evening or at night).

3. Prius Power

Imagine a storm knocks out your electricity, what do you do? If you happen to own a Prius, you can use the car’s gas engine to power the electric battery, which you can then use to power a 1,200 square foot house. That would be more than enough to keep your lights on, your refrigerator running, and watch some tv while you wait for help.

4. Solar Innovations

While we’re all familiar with social panels, there are many other solar innovations you can use to harness the sun’s power and turn it into energy. Hot roads and parking lots, nanoantennas, and fuel cells are just the beginning.

5. Micro-Hydro

While not applicable to everyone (for obvious reasons), if you’re one of the lucky few who live near a source of running water (or better yet, live on a boat), small water generators or Micro-Hydro turbines are a great source of renewable energy. By using even just one relatively small turbine, you can create non-stop power regardless of weather conditions that often create problems for solar and wind power generators.

Easy DIY Home Energy: 4 Ways to Plant a Solar Tree

Four types of solar tree, from concept to reality, turning solar paneling into works of Art.

Creative Wind Power Generators & Designs

From low-cost home wind power generators to high-energy wind turbines here are 16 particularly creative, unique and innovative wind power generators and designs.

8 Eco-Friendly Examples of Great Green Decor

Here are 8 great and eco-friendly decor choices that are sure to make any home more inviting and comfortable!

The classical natural wonders are huge and hard to miss – vast canyons, giant mountains and the like. Many of the most fantastic natural phenomena, however, are also least easy to spot. Some are incredibly rare while others are located in hard-to-reach parts of the planet. From moving rocks to mammatus clouds and red tides to fire rainbows, here are seven of the most spectacular phenomenal wonders of the natural world.

1) Sailing Stones

(Images via: f8BeThere and Ian Parker)

The mysterious moving stones of the packed-mud desert of Death Valley have been a center of scientific controversy for decades. Rocks weighing up to hundreds of pounds have been known to move up to hundreds of yards at a time. Some scientists have proposed that a combination of strong winds and surface ice account for these movements. However, this theory does not explain evidence of different rocks starting side by side and moving at different rates and in disparate directions. Moreover, the physics calculations do not fully support this theory as wind speeds of hundreds of miles per hour would be needed to move some of the stones.

2) Columnar Basalt

(Images via: Centripetalnotion, Habitas and Strahlen)

When a thick lava flow cools it contracts vertically but cracks perpendicular to its directional flow with remarkable geometric regularity – in most cases forming a regular grid of remarkable hexagonal extrusions that almost appear to be made by man. One of the most famous such examples is the Giant’s Causeway on the coast of Ireland (shown above) though the largest and most widely recognized would be Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. Basalt also forms different but equally fascinating ways when eruptions are exposed to air or water.

3) Blue Holes

(Images via: AEAdvisor, BelizeDiving and ScienceRay)

Blue holes are giant and sudden drops in underwater elevation that get their name from the dark and foreboding blue tone they exhibit when viewed from above in relationship to surrounding waters. They can be hundreds of feet deep and while divers are able to explore some of them they are largely devoid of oxygen that would support sea life due to poor water circulation – leaving them eerily empty. Some blue holes, however, contain ancient fossil remains that have been discovered, preserved in their depths.

4) Red Tides

(Images via: Carleton, CleanWaterNetwork and UMN)

Red tides are also known as algal blooms – sudden influxes of massive amounts of colored single-cell algae that can convert entire areas of an ocean or beach into a blood red color. While some of these can be relatively harmless, others can be harbingers of deadly toxins that cause the deaths of fish, birds and marine mammals. In some cases, even humans have been harmed by red tides though no human exposure are known to have been fatal. While they can be fatal, the constituent phytoplankton in ride tides are not harmful in small numbers.

5) Ice Circles

(Images via Panoramio, CrystalLinks, CropCircleAnswers and DailyMail)

While many see these apparently perfect ice circles as worthy of conspiracy theorizing, scientists generally accept that they are formed by eddies in the water that spin a sizable piece of ice in a circular motion. As a result of this rotation, other pieces of ice and flotsam wear relatively evenly at the edges of the ice until it slowly forms into an essentially ideal circle. Ice circles have been seen with diameters of over 500 feet and can also at times be found in clusters and groups at different sizes as shown above.

6) Mammatus Clouds

(Images via: John Olson and the DNR)

True to their ominous appearance, mammatus clouds are often harbingers of a coming storm or other extreme weather system. Typically composed primarily of ice, they can extend for hundreds of miles in each direction and individual formations can remain visibly static for ten to fifteen minutes at a time. While they may appear foreboding they are merely the messengers – appearing around, before or even after severe weather.

7) Fire Rainbows

(Images via: Lisa Andriani-Gonnelli, Unwired and UMN)

A circumhorizontal fire rainbow arc occurs at a rare confluence of right time and right place for the sun and certain clouds. Crystals within the clouds refract light into the various visible waves of the spectrum but only if they are arrayed correctly relative to the ground below. Due to the rarity with which all of these events happen in conjunction with one another, there are relatively few remarkable photos of this phenomena. (Exceptional thanks to Lisa for her extraordinary image!).

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Welcome to celebrity cats: a whole new kind of personality cult. From the infamous Grim Reaper kitty to the feline made station chief to the wannabe meteorologist cat, the internet is full of humorous tales of cats who seem to think they’re humans – or at least act like them. If you’ve run out of lolcats, here are some of the funniest and strangest stories about cats you’ll ever read. (And here’s hoping you don’t get in trouble like Google did.)

The Grim Reaper

(Images via MSNBC)

Forget Joe Black. Meet Oscar the Cat. This perceptive kitty is so good at predicting death, the workers at the nursing home where Oscar lives call family members when Oscar makes his move. He curls up next to sickly residents, and when he does, it usually means they have only a few hours to live. Four, to be exact. He’s so good, he’s predicted 25 deaths. But he’s not a cuddly type. The two-year-old cat is noted for being aloof and businesslike – doctors and nurses explain that he “seems to take his work very seriously”, making rounds, sniffing and checking on patients routinely. Watch the video here.

The Station Chief

(Image via wikipedia)

Tama the cat is no ordinary feline. She’s station chief of the Kishi train station in Wakayama Prefecture in Japan. It all began when Japan’s Kishigawa Line switched from manned to unmanned stations in 2006 to save money. Local small business owners and employees were selected to greet passengers; except in the case of Kishi, where Tama was made the station master in 2007. Tama’s duty is to greet people. Her salary is cat food. Tama’s sure been good for business: it is estimated that she increased traffic by 10% and added 1.1 billion yen to the local economy. Tama was promoted to super station master in 2008 and is the only female in the company in a managerial position. She has two cat assistants and an office.

Tourist Kitty

(Image via Daily Mail)

A mystery cat nicknamed Macavity routinely hops on the city bus to go to the shops. Reportedly, the blue-and-green-eyed feline’s favorite is the fish and chips shop. He takes the bus 2 to 3 times weekly, getting off at a few different shops, and has been doing so since January 2007. He’s unaccompanied by an owner; he just seems to enjoy taking the bus.

Weather Kitty

(Image via Cat Connection)

A cat recently ventured into the television studios of a German news station with apparent aspirations for the camera – catching the meteorologist quite off guard. After the initial surprise of a cat joining the forecast, the weatherman decided to make the cat feel more comfortable by picking him up and holding him as he delivered the weather report.

Toilet Ninjas of the Interwebs

Many cats are easily trained in the fine art of using the toilet. It’s perhaps fortunate that such a predisposition for toilet use exists in cats; it’s perhaps unfortunate that said cats’ owners choose to put videos of this talent on the internet. Consider yourself warned. Interested in training your cat? Click here.

Libby the Seeing Eye Cat

(Image via sfpnn)

Libby the seeing-eye cat has become quite the web celeb: “Who says cats and dogs can’t get along? Libby serves as the eyes and ears for old Cashew, a 14-year-old blind and deaf Lab. No one taught Libby to guide Cashew to food and water or keep him out of harm’s way; she took it upon herself to care for him and steer him around. They’re inseparable friends.”

Interested in more lovable pet antics? See Tales of Amazing Heroic Pets and The World’s Most Outrageous Pet Houses.

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