London, England (CNN) — Eco-designers are fond of showing us how the future might look but are often guilty of luxuriating in form at the expense of function.  Happily, “Sustainable Futures,” a new exhibition at the London’s Design Museum has steered clear of green frippery favoring instead to focus its attention on a clutch of projects that not only look good, but do good too. From models of Curitiba in Brazil — an environmental role model where recycling and efficient transport were established decades ago — to Masdar, in the United Arab Emirates which is scheduled to be completed in 2016 and is being touted as the world’s first zero-carbon city, a range of city building projects are showcased.

Read More at CNN

“I’m bored!”

Kids on the homestead are less likely than most to voice this familiar complaint, because there’s usually plenty for them to do. But every once in a while it happens. When it does, it’s nice to have some projects up your sleeve.
Here are some fun toys you can make with the stuff you probably already have lying around. Depending on the ages of your children, you can either make these toys yourself, or with your kids – or put an older one in charge of making them for the younger set.

• Dolls: You can make dolls out of nearly anything. They can be as simple as an acorn head with a tiny scrap of fabric wrapped around it for a hood and dress, to very elaborate, like a jointed wooden jumping jack. Rag dolls are a perennial favorite. You can make hair from bits of rovings or scraps of yarn, and clothes from your daughter’s favorite outgrown dresses.
• Rope swing: All you’ll need is a length of sturdy rope and an old tire or short piece of board. Tie the rope to the tire, or drill a hole in the middle of the board, thread the rope through and knot securely on the bottom. Then tie the other end to a strong tree branch. This will keep kids occupied for hours, and is a great activity for kids of mixed ages, as the older ones can push the younger ones on the swing.
• Soda bottle truck: You’ll need a clean plastic bottle, four bottle caps or jar lids, two pieces of stiff wire and a string. Poke holes in the bottle off-center near the top and bottom, and thread the wire through to make axles. Drill holes through the middle of the lids and slip them onto the ends of the axles. Bend the ends of the wires over to keep them on. These are your wheels. Cut a section out of the top part of the truck so it can carry stuff. Fill it with sand, little pebbles, blocks or the like. Tie the string around the bottle neck and let your little guy tug his new truck around!
• Puppet theater: Set a large cardboard box on its side. Cut out the back and cut a rectangular hole in the front. Let your kids decorate it with paints, markers or glitter. Use a couple of old napkins or fabric scraps for curtains. Make puppets out of construction paper and popsicle sticks, or old socks and buttons, or whatever else you have lying around. Then sit back and enjoy the show!

This list is only the beginning. Use your imagination, and you’re sure to come up with a whole toy store’s worth of ideas. Or maybe you already have? We’d love to hear about it – feel free to share your ideas here!

What do you do with your favorite clothes when they get too ratty to pass down? You know the ones – the sweatshirt with the dingy cuffs, the shirt with the ketchup stain on the front, the jeans with gaping holes where the knees used to be.

Sure, you can turn them into rags. But how many rags can you use in a year? And besides, a lot of that fabric is still perfectly good. It seems a shame to throw it away.
Women have been solving the very problem you face by turning old clothes and quilts into scraps for generations. Why not you?

Starting Your Recycled Quilt

All you need to make a quilt besides your fabric is a pair of scissors, needle and thread and some imagination. The simplest quilts are simply large squares of different fabrics sewn together. The squares can be any size, but the bigger they are the less sewing you’ll have to do. Or you can sew smaller pieces together to make larger squares.

Figure out in advance how many squares you’ll need to make the size quilt you want. Make sure you cut your squares 1/4” larger on each side for seam allowance. Then sew them together with a simple running stitch. The easiest way is to sew a bunch of squares together end to end until you’ve completed a row. Then sew another strip, and sew the two rows together. Make sure you pin the strips before sewing so the seams come out even. Continue until your quilt top is done.

Layering and Finishing Your Recycled Quilt

You can buy batting, but if you want to be frugal and recycle, use an old blanket or comforter. You can also use a blanket for the back, or piece together the back just like you did the front. Sandwich the layers together – it helps to tape the backing to the floor at this point – and pin them together. Now you’re ready to quilt them together.

You can use a wide running stitch to sew the layers together. But if this is your first quilt I’d recommend tying it, which is much quicker and gives it a homey touch. Just take some yarn, start at the top and take one stitch through all the layers. Come back through the top and cut it so both ends are about 3” long. Finish it off with a square knot. Tie your quilt every 6” or so, hem or bind the edges and you’re done!
Congratulations! You now have a cheery recycled quilt you can keep or give to a friend – and you’ve given new life to a load of old clothes!

Caring for the environment doesn’t always cost money. Your concern for the environment can actually bring you cash. There are ways to earn money by going green without leaving your home.

Going green can refer to engaging in any activity that helps protect the environment. By engaging in green activities, you will not only be able to reduce pollution and the pressure on Mother Earth, but you will also be able to save up on your monthly bills and earn money as well.

You could start by carpooling. This will not only reduce your energy consumption, but will also help you save on gas. If you take the public transportation instead of driving your own car, you can save on maintenance and fuel costs while reducing the carbon dioxide being emitted in the atmosphere (your carbon footprint).

Here are some additional ways you can help the environment and earn money in the process.

Opt for green energy

Instead of relying on the non-sustainable energy from the power company, why not make use of wind or solar energy to power your household? There are people who save up to 80% on their energy bill by using green energy. Some even sell back the excess electricity and earn income in the process. Consult with your local power company to see which renewable energy source you can opt for.

Segregate your garbage

Don’t put all your garbage in one bin. Put your vegetable peels and other waste that can be composted into a different bin, so you can create compost for a natural soil conditioner and fertilizer. Recyclable waste like bottles and plastics should be placed in different bins to be sold to recycling companies later on. In addition to your county recycking program, there are small businesses that buy different types of waste for recycling purposes. Check them out if you want to earn and turn green at the same time.

Sell your old batteries

Some batteries are very toxic. You should never throw them into the trash. If you no longer have a use for them, look for shops that buy old batteries. If your car batteries are no longer working, there are recycling stores that buy old batteries or get them in exchange for a rebate for new batteries.

Energy Rebates

The government often has rebate programs that will pay you to add insulation to your house or convert to wind or solar energy. These programs allow you to earn money over and above the energy savings you will earn in future months.

These are only a few of the many ways you can help protect the environment by reducing waste and consumption and earn some income or benefit in the process. You can be creative and think of other ways you can be green and enterprising. The next time you start making important decision that will require you to use energy or consumer products, ask yourself if there is a way to do this without harming the environment.

Forget ants. Yellow jackets are much more likely to ruin your picnic, especially in late summer when they’re most hungry for sugary food. Here’s a simple wasp trap you can make yourself that will take the sting out of the little buggers’ visits.

1. Get yourself a 2-liter plastic soda bottle. You don’t even need to bother rinsing it out.
2. Cut the top third off the bottle. You should end up with an open wide-mouth piece and a shorter, funnel-like piece.
3. Tape or staple the top piece upside down into the base, so the funnel is pointing down into the container.
4. Fill the bottom of the yellow jacket trap with sugar water, sweet juice or other sweet liquid.

Now your wasp trap is ready to use! The yellow jackets will be attracted to the sugar and fly down into the trap. But it’s almost impossible for them to fly back out of the inverted funnel, and they fall into the liquid and drown.

(Sad, but don’t feel bad. By the end of the summer worker wasps’ days are numbered anyway.)

If you enjoy eating outside where yellow jackets tend to visit you can make a number of these traps and place them strategically near your picnic area. They’ll help keep the pesky little stingers down to a reasonable number.

Are you one of the masses of people who don’t reduce reuse and recycle because figuring it all out is just too discouraging. Which bin is for what? How do you know what’s recyclable and what’s not?

Does your city or town have a recycling program? Click here to search for recycling centers.  If your locality has a center you can slso look for their website or call them up (they’ll be in your phone book’s blue section, the government pages). Ask them to send you information on recycling in your area. They probably have some sort of mailer already set up for just such an inquiry. Most of the time, this mailer includes a creatively designed chart (often color-coded) that makes it easy for you to know what items to recycle and how – whether by memory or by posting the chart up on the refrigerator for quick reference.

Of course, that’s the easy answer – ask the city, they’ll tell ya. So here are some basics that apply in almost every city:

• Paper: All white paper, colored paper, newspaper, and cardboard is recyclable so long as it doesn’t have a coating on it. Some cities recycle milk cartons and T.V. dinner boxes and other paper products with wax coatings, but you’ll have to inquire to find out if yours is one.
• Plastic: Most recyclable plastic bottles have a recycling emblem – a triangle made of three arrows – on the bottom.  Almost all recycling programs acceptt #1 and #2 plastic bottles with small necks.  Many programs accept other types of plastic too.
• Aluminum: Aluminum cans also have an emblem, usually on the side somewhere (near the bottom). All aluminum soda cans and beer cans and all tuna fish containers and the like are recyclable. Just do everyone a favor and rinse them out well.
• Glass: All glass is recyclable, including colored glass, with the exception of some mixed-colored glass, broken glass, windows and mirrors, glass tableware (like drinking glasses), Pyrex, and light bulbs. Ceramic is also non-recyclable.

Place your recycling bins in whatever areas they’ll be used on a regular basis. And if you’re required to separate your recyclables in your area, then have separate bins in your kitchen, office, etc. from the get-go, because separating it later could become a chore you’d sooner avoid. You should make recycling as convenient as possible for yourself, otherwise you may not realistically stick with it. Make recycling as easy and second-nature as throwing out trash, and preserving the earth will become a lifelong habit.

Nothing ruins a happy home, yard, and garden like uninvited guests – by which I mean destructive critters that thwart your efforts to build and maintain a household and home. Worse is that most of the pest-control “solutions” out on the market are toxic not only to the pests but to you and me and our pets and the environment too! What’s a green redneck to do?

Thankfully, there’s a good old fashioned green home remedy for most pest problems just like there are for pretty every other household problem. Here are several of the most commonly useful:

• To make all your plants as pest and disease resistant as possible, grow them to be as strong and hardy as possible. Use good (natural) fertilizers – like your own homemade compost – rich soil, etc. Healthy plants are naturally pest and disease resistant.
• Add to the pest and disease preventing power of your garden by interplanting too – that’s planting all different things together in the same area rather than “monocropping”, where you grow each crop in a separate patch. Since different pests gravitate towards specific plants, it will be hard for any one pest to propagate when its dietary options are so spread out.
• Then, after harvest, rotate your crops – planting different crops in different patches each season. Rotating crops reduces the likelihood of a pest infestation to pass over from one season to the next in any given patch.
• There are also natural pesticides like neem oil and insecticidal soap.  These aren’t as effective as some chemical pesticides, but they will kill bugs without leaving a harmful residue on foods.
• Diatomaceous earth is a dry powder derived from the shells of marine organisms. It can be used to deter and kill crawling pests.

Here are just three green ways to save you money at the grocery store:

Buy Generic
The store brand is still a brand, but it’s better than the name brand for more than just its price. Generic or “store brand” groceries usually have the same ingredients and are made the same way as their brand name counterparts. They’re cheaper not because they’re poorer (or any different at all) in taste, quality, or freshness. They’re cheaper because they have a lower overhead, saving big – for starters – on the advertising costs big brand names eat up. Why pay for a bunch of advertising (an industry far from green) just so you can eat? Ridiculous! Go generic. It’s cheaper, it tastes the same, and you’re not paying a Hollywood crew to film a 30-second Prime Time commercial spot.

Buy Local
Every product’s packaging says where it was grown and/or made. When you buy groceries grown or made anywhere but in your own backyard (your town, county, state) you pay for shipping and transportation. This is bad for the environment because of gas emissions from shipping and transportation. And it’s bad for your local economy because you’re sending your money out of town and out of state – where the jobs may soon not be far behind. Read the label (or the sign above the loose produce) and buy from growers and manufacturers nearest you.

Make a List & Stick to It
This should be rule number one for any shopping trip if you want to save maximum dollars. You’d be amazed (or maybe you wouldn’t) at how much money you spend on items you didn’t intend to buy when you left home or work to go shopping. Those impulse items add up, outing after outing. Make a list before you leave the house and buy only those items on the list. You will save yourself loads of dough doing this. Believe me! (This tip may not sound green, but buying things you don’t really need generates excess energy and uses excess resources.)

A while back a company was making “Barnyard Tea” in actual tea bags. According to sites selling the stuff:

“A Canadian company has devised a method of drying organic manure, preserving the nutrients and removing all odors. Then they package it in standard tea bags. Being made from a blend of cow, chicken, pig and horse manure, it is great for fertilizing house plants, seedlings and transplants.”

The stuff looks way too much like herb tea for my “taste.” I wonder how many boxes were sold and then used as practical jokes? Move over whoopee cushion.

That failed product has not stopped another company, “Authentic Haven Brand” from selling somewhat larger bags of poop that are designed for the same purpose. These bags are significantly larger, and much less likely to be confused with the kind intended for human consumption. You can even choose between cow manure, horse manure, and alfafa – the latter intended for roses. It looks like some really high-class sh.. stuff too. According to Annie Havens their tea is “pure manure tea. Harvested, sun dried, Eco-hand packaged from the by-product of Haven raised grass fed livestock only.” She goes on to say

“It’s not the manure I am selling as much as it is the purity of the Manure I’m selling! We’re the real Green Deal here. Do you know what the cattle and horses have been fed, that your manure comes from, chances are No! Have they been medicated, wormed, antibiotics fed to them?”

Okay, so it’s not just high class, it’s really green too.

Manure tea, by the way, is an organic plant food. It’s the organic gardener’s version of Miracle Grow. Organic gardeners (and others) use it in the garden and on container plants. It adds good stuff beyond what you get from chemical fertilizers.

You can also make your own manure tea, of course. This is what I recommend (even though Annie makes a good case for knowing what the animals ate). Real rednecks make their manure tea from scratch. Here are two articles that will teach you to do this:

• Bruce Zimmerman’s recipe uses a pillowcase to make large batches of the stuff.
• Willi Galloway suggests that you just dump the manure in a bucket full of water, and then strain it later.

If you don’t want to get your hands dirty, try Annie’s product.

The first building we put up on the piece of land that was to become our homestead was an 8 x 12’ garden shed. It’s a funny-looking garden shed because my husband Dan was feeling lazy. Rather than cutting the plywood sheathing, he built the shed tall enough so that he could just screw the sheets on whole. The extra height and peaked roof made it look like a small house, and allowed just enough room on the inside to install a loft for extra storage.

Which was a very good thing, because we ended up living in that little house for almost two years.

Here’s what happened.

We had decided to build our own earth-sheltered home. We figured we had enough time that first summer to have the slab and poured-concrete walls done and at least the shell of a small house up by the time snow flew.

Ha.

Those of you who have ever built a home know about the Delay Factor. It’s always a good idea to take any project completion estimate and at least double it. You never know what’s going to come up.

In our case we had our share of contractor delays, equipment failures and stormy weather. But it was a health issue that brought the home building to a screeching halt. Dan came down with a bad case of tennis elbow – in both arms. He couldn’t even lift a glass of water without pain.

So…we moved into the garden shed. With two kids. And two dogs. Fortunately, we had foreseen the possibility of having to live there for a few weeks while building the house, so Dan had equipped it with siding, insulation and a south-facing window. An outhouse and solar lighting completed the picture. We soon began to call the tiny dwelling “the Microhouse.”

Yes, we’re crazy.

But you know what? It was an amazing experience. And it really opened our eyes to the advantages of living small.

Not that I’d recommend going quite that small for a family of four, but there’s a lot to say for making do with a small home.

• Small homes are easy to heat. The Microhouse only cost about 80 bucks worth of propane to heat through the winter. Of course the Microhouse was insanely small, but you get the picture – a small home will save you big bucks.

• Small houses are quick to clean. Less housework is a good thing in my book. How about yours?

• Living small is clutter protection. You get very protective of your space. If it’s not something you love and use, it has no place in your house. You’d be amazed how much time is freed up by not having to deal with all that STUFF.

• Small houses are more environmentally friendly. Because of the fuel you don’t burn. And the stuff you don’t buy.

• Small homes bring people together. Those two years in the Microhouse, and a third spent in the 800 sq. ft. house we eventually built, really bonded us as a family. We had no choice but to interact – and to figure out how to settle our differences.

Times change. We ended up moving to a different part of the state for business reasons. Today we live in an old five bedroom home in town. There’s plenty of space, but I tell you…

…sometimes I miss the Microhouse.

Anne Michelsen is co-founder of Marathon Renewable Energy, Inc., specializing in solar hot water systems. You can read more of her work at YourGreenLifestyle.blogspot.com