No vinyl is used in the wallpapers produced by Mod Green Pod. This company, founded by Lisa and Nancy Mims, uses water-based paints and a water-based varnish to ensure greater durability to the product when in contact with light. And the fabrics they sell are made from certified organic cotton and paints.

Source: Inhabitat

Coconut fiber replaces fern fibers which are in danger of extinction, and is also a very ecologic alternative since its husk is usually discarded. It is renewable and our country has a large production of coconuts. Coquim is the name of a company that produces several types of vases made from coconut fibers, as wells as coasters, placemats and sous plats. Because their website does not make online sales you will have to e-mail the company to order the products.

I also found another product made from coconut fiber—the doormats manufactured by Komeco, available at CompraFácil starting from R$19.90.

Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, is considered to be an example of bad environmental practices. According to researchers, in 300 years, the former inhabitants of the island destroyed six million trees. But… archeologist Chris Stevenson and his team changed the direction of the past. They believe that the local population took their last breath after the arrival of the Europeans, in 1800 AC.

The researcher believes that European diseases caused the death of the islanders. Until now, scientists have claimed that, as was the case with other ancient civilizations—like the Mayans—the Easter islanders died as a result of famine, wars, etc. A consequence of the destruction of the environment.

Stevenson says that, despite the deforestation, islanders had already found sustainable ways to keep living there: by using fertilizers to restore the health of the soil and gardens to protect plants, for instance. They learned that everybody should consume in the same way in order to be able to live in balance. It is possible that even their political relationships changed. After all, no one could afford otherwise.

I saw this news article on Science Daily’s fantastic website—click here to read it in English.

Note: I have ALWAYS wanted to visit Easter Island to see those moai statues with my own eyes—they can be up to ten meters high and weigh tons. To my surprise, I found myself face to face with the big guy in the photo while visiting the British Museum, in London. By the way, read about my encounter with the Rosetta Stone here. It’s better to laugh than to cry.

Pablo Handl and Terra Boa composters

Yesterday, I visited The Hub-SP, and learned that in addition to being a collaborative entrepreneur, Pablo Handl also has a very nice eco-enterprise called Rio-Sol Eco-opportunities. The company was incubated within the Artemisia Foundation, which promotes the construction of social business models; its first product is a composter that can be used in apartments: the Terra Boa.

The system is free and very easy to use at home. Three resistant and stackable plastic boxes transform all of the organic waste by using select earthworms to digest the waste.

Each Terra Boa composter has 1 box to collect the animal fat (with a faucet, at the bottom) and two digestive boxes. The main digestive box has a thin layer of humus and select earthworms that transform the organic waste deposited in the box into good soil, or terra boa in Portuguese. You can lay some dry leaves or shredded paper on top of the organic residues, and close the lid. In another expanded ceramic box, you can add humus and continue the process when the first one is full. The decomposition of this material generates leachate (a liquid byproduct of the decomposition). The leachate is practically and cleanly stored in the collecting box, and can be used to fertilize your plants.

The small set, shown in the photo above, costs R$ 250. It is ideal for families of up to 4 people. Orders can be placed by e-mail.: ecooportunidades [@] gmail.com

This article belongs to Ladybug Brasil. If you have found it on another blog, please, contact me.

It’s agony to make room for all of our pots and pans in our increasingly smaller kitchens. We even store them in the oven.

But here is a much cooler solution that requires very little space. This shelf was specifically designed to hold pots and pans but can be used as a fruit bowl—and an ecologic one, because it is made of bamboo. It costs US$175 at Crate & Barrel.
Read this post at Rodrigo Barba’s Blog: Shelf for pans