Pufferfish have inspired a new device that is capable of the highest rate ever of passive solar water purification – according to its creators Xiaohui Xu and colleagues at Princeton University. Based on an advanced hydrogel, the system can rapidly soak up and filter water when cool, and then release clean water when warmed in … Read more
The Lammas Ecovillage is a collective of smallholdings and eco-dwellings in Wales. Residents explore alternative models for living on the land, broadly in line with the Welsh Government’s ‘One Planet Development’ policy. The smallholdings combine traditional farming and building techniques with the latest innovations in environmental design, green technology and permaculture. Construction of “The Hub” … Read more
Hermits clamped their dwellings on to Meteora boulders in Greece. Meteora has been considered a holy place since the Paleolithic, several millennia before Christians were attracted by the area’s majestic boulders. Later, monasticism flourished since Byzantine times, during which at least 24 monasteries were founded and maintained. Today, only six of them are inhabited. Meteora … Read more
Chinmay Pareek of Brzee Studio sent me more information about their natural building projects in India that I recently posted images of here. Brzee Studio is based in Jaipur, India and wants to break the noxious cycle exploiting Mother Earth and support the shift in consciousness needed to heal our alienation from the natural world. … Read more
The walls in Gregory Ferembach’s public housing building are lined with one of nature’s best insulation materials: hemp. “We’re never cold in winter,” Ferembach said in French. “The kids walk around barefoot all the time, or even in their underwear.” It helps that their apartment is on a middle floor, and their building is sandwiched … Read more
The Stoltz Bluff Eco-Retreat is a monolithic cob house that’s completely off-grid. It has a 1-kilowatt solar power system and a backup generator for electricity, a propane radiant in-floor heating system and a Rumford fireplace for heat, and a constructed wetland for natural wastewater treatment. Many cob homes are built with a timber frame structure, … Read more