greenUPGRADER » Offbeat

Urban Beautification: Steve Wheen’s Pothole Gardens

Becky Striepe — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:00:17 +0000

Guerrilla gardening is a great way to add some green to a blighted space. Whether we're talking seedbombs or late-night plantings, guerilla gardeners everywhere are doing their parts to make the urban landscape a bit greener.

Steve Wheen takes the idea in a whimsical direction with his pothole gardens. Potholes are an eyesore and sometimes a hazard, but with a little bit of greenery, Wheen turns these blemishes into something straight up beautiful. Not only does he plant greenery and flowers, he transforms potholes into miniature environments!

Here's a video of Wheen talking about his pothole gardens:

I love that he calls them "little moments of happiness." Those bursts of color definitely make me smile!

Have you guys seen (or done!) any creative, cool examples guerrilla gardening? I'd love to hear about them in the comments!

h/t: CRAFT

Spotted: Epic Yarnbomb

Becky Striepe — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:00:46 +0000

You know we love a good yarnbomb around here, and this one that the folks over at Street Art Utopia shared combines yarnbombing with something else close to my heart: bikes! I just discovered this street art site this morning and am slowly becoming obsessed with it. There's so much guerrilla art eye candy!

History of the Yarnbomb

Yarnbombing got its start back in Houston, Texas in 2005 when one savvy crafter, Magda Sayeg and a few of her pals decided to liven up their urban landscape by covering things like lamp posts, street signs, and benches with yarn.

The group was called Knitta Please, and they kept up the yarn bombing goodness until around 2007. Sayeg still yarnbombs, for fun and profit! In 2010, she covered a bus in Mexico City, and is working now on covering the air conditioning ducts at Etsy headquarters.

Since 2005, yarnbombing has caught on all over the world. You can see bursts of knitted color in almost any major city, and there's even an International Yarnbombing Day!

Have you gus spotted an awesome yarnbomb near you? I'd love to hear about it or see a photo!

Rainy Day Project: Walnut Shell Ships

Matt Embrey — Mon, 24 May 2010 11:59:01 +0000

With summer vacation just around the corner here's a fun and simple DIY project you can do with your kids on a rainy day...

Joel Henriques of Made by Joel shows us how to make these little seafaring vessels out of walnut shells, toothpicks, a small piece of paper and a little candle wax. These are perfect for the calm waters of the bathtub or even the raging rivers that form along the street and in the yard during a heavy rain (and you wont feel that bad if one ends up in a storm drain).

If you want to make your diminutive dinghies even more natural, try replacing the toothpick mast with a twig and the paper sail with a leaf!

Checkout the instructions over at Made by Joel.

Low-Impact Board Games Deliver Big Time Fun!

Beth Buczynski — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:35:52 +0000

If you're looking for ways that you can entertain your family and friends without depending on electronic toys and games that come with a high price tag and suck up hundreds of watts of energy every day (even when they're turned off!), you might be surprised to learn that board games are becoming popular all over again.

Natural Home reports that "board game purchases were up 23 percent in 2000, and since then world events and tumultuous economic times have boosted their popularity." Families that are striving to return to a simpler, more sustainable lifestyle are drawn to the imaginative play that board games encourage, as well as the opportunity to engage each other in an activity that promotes eye contact instead of staring at a screen.

You might also be surprised to learn that several of the most beloved games are already being made in an eco-friendly fashion, no greenwashing required.

Many of the Chinese Checkers sets that you might find in a thrift store or discount store are still made from recycled paperboard with recycled glass marbles, just like they were in the 1930's. And did you know that U.S. Playing Cards, the world’s largest manufacturer of playing cards, uses certified sustainably harvested wood, Georgia clay, corn syrup, and cornstarch to make the classic Bicycle deck that has been a best-seller for 100 years? It's true. And the company even recycles all of its scrap!

If you like the idea of trying out lesser known board games, there are plenty of exotic options available from fair-trade retailers like Ten Thousand Villages and Novica.com, which both sell beautiful wooden board games complete with stone, wood, and clay playing pieces that have been handcrafted. A portion of the sale of these games is reinvested in the artisans and their communities.

MindWare offers a four-person version of mancala, a well-loved African game, as well as several other board games, made from sustainably grown rubberwood with glass “pebbles.” Rose and Pentagram Design uses industry scrap and thrift shop finds to produce one-of-a-kind game sets and tables embellished with elaborate Celtic art (Natural Home).

For the very motivated (or creative!), there's no reason why you can't also make your own board games from materials found around the house. Cardboard boxes, paper squares, pebbles, golf tees, egg cartons and beans can all be used to craft custom versions of popular games like checkers and chess.

Happy Gaming!

(Image credit: Flickr Creative Commons - viZZZual.com)

Sunday Funnies: The Elaborate Global Warming Hoax

LiveOAK Staff — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:45:29 +0000

Don't underestimate the downright diabolical patients and planning us treehuggers are capable of...

Ok, I know it's Monday now but I haven't gone to bed yet so it still feels like Sunday. Enjoy!

via The Atlantic Journal-Constitution

Sunday Funnies: What If It’s All a Hoax?

LiveOAK Staff — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:20:30 +0000

Here's a funny little comic about a topic that is now laughing matter...

So? What if it's a big hoax? What are the catastrophic consequences of taking action to curb carbon emissions that we are going to regret?

Energy Independence, renewable energy sources, preserving the rainforests, sustainability, creating new jobs, more livable cities, less pollution, clean water, clean air, healthy children...

I can't go on, it's just too terrible!

via The Fun Times Guide to Green Living via @TwilightEarth

Sunday Funnies: Commie Vegetables, Polar Relations & Styles by Stiles

LiveOAK Staff — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 19:17:55 +0000

Here's a round-up of the funniest things in the blogitat this week...

Treehumper takes a look at the White House's new farmers market in "I’m not sayin Obama’s a Nazi, just that his Commie vegetables are going to kill your grandma."

Is it a creative way to cut the deficit or are CSAs (Communist Supported Agriculture) the first step in the Obama administration's evil plans to destroy this country?

This cartoon from Eco-Chick shows how global warming and the melting ice caps are weighing on this Polar Bear couple's relationship.

I'm no Dr. Phil but I suspect that "climate change" is just an excuse for some underlying communication problems

"Styles by Stiles" is Julia Styles's new satirical eco-friendly clothing line that boasts some green garbs name after some of her movies like "10 Shirts I Love About You." In this example of creative reuse Julia took 10 vintage shirts and made 1 new cool shirt. My personal favorite is "Save the Last Shants," this trendy design will liberate you from the conventions of fashion. via Ecorazzi