Clearly we can’t very well tear down all of the world’s old skyscrapers for not being environmentally friendly - that kind of approach would itself be (ironic and) wasteful. At the same time, many of these buildings are projected to last for decades (or centuries) more. So what is the solution for making them green now? One rather clever proposal involves adding an auxiliary environmental layer to the existing structures that could house gardening and natural wind power production spaces.
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Recycling doesn’t have to be limited to helping the environment: it can also be a challenge and opportunity to ingenious designers who work with materials most people would consider waste to create amazing things. Some of the following designs serve multiple purposes: illustrating the material possibilities of what most would consider trash while also maximizing the aesthetic potential of what would otherwise be considered waste objects. Clothes become rugs, airline trolleys become furniture, cardboard becomes bridges and sewage turns into building blocks!

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It is all too easy to get excited about the next big sustainable technology for saving energy or producing non-polluting power - and forget the flaws in many of these ideas. Some of the best projects show smart out-of-the-box thinking but lack feasibility or, in some cases, might do more harm than good. While these ideas may not work at least scientists, politicians and other innovators are beginning to explore alternatives.

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It is no surprise that as land-dwellers we don’t think about the oceans as much as we should given that they cover over 2/3 of the planet. The water bodies of the world may be the key to progress for our species in more ways than one (such as underwater living shown above) and the oceans hold many mysteries yet to be discovered. Still, we are having a profound effect on our waters and need to be mindful of just how powerful our impact can be.

Amsterdam is perhaps a likely place to find proposed innovations in underwater living - a progressive place that continues to face challenges related to rising water levels. Why under the canals specifically? They can be drained, dug down and built into and then simply refilled - there would be no need to uproot existing dwellings to proceed with this process.

A mysterious compound known as chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) may be a key piece in the puzzle of ocean life. This material is thought to be vitally linked to the development and nature of ocean life as well as greenhouse gases and climate changed. This matter is simply the combined refuse from various plants and other debris that mix in the world’s oceans.

“Almost half of the world’s oceans have been seriously affected by over-fishing, pollution and climate change, according to a major study of man’s impact on marine life.” An alarming study shows that as much as 40% of marine life has been “significantly altered” by mankind while only 4% remains essentially untouched.

Except perhaps in the bathroom, do you really need any kind of paper? These days it seems like paper is just an intermediate step or default conclusion - a copy that will eventually be scanned in or a digitally written paper printed out at the end. Still, is paperless the solution to environmental problems or simply wasteful in another way?

Some families are choosing to go entirely paperless though this choice isn’t necessarily a complete fix for the environment: paperless lists, games, educational tools and other devices still require energy to run. Also, with the virtually unlimited supply of information online and in digital form many people don’t think twice about printing out a copy for temporary use and then discarding it.

Also, while paper use is decreasing in many developed countries there are many places in the world where paper use is still on the rise, such as China and South America. Hopefully as paperless approaches become more the norm at work and at home energy efficiency can be increased and the world will begin to adjust to the new technologies without needing to print out unnecessary hard copies.

More at TreeHugger and the New York Times