Eco-Vlog

New legislation is awaiting Minnesota’s Governor Tim Waltz’s approval to provide financial support for homeowners who want to transform their yards into bee-friendly gardens in an effort to help save the endangered species. The bill will allocate $900,000 and will cover up to 75 percent of the expenses associated with transitioning outdoor space into a flowering garden that attracts the indigenous and endangered rusty patch bumble bee. Like most bees, the rusty patch bumble bee population is declining rapidly. It is indigenous to North America and can be identified by a rusty-colored patch on the back of the male worker bees ’ back. The species has declined by 87 percent over the last two decades mainly due to habitat loss, climate change and pesticide use. The majority of grasslands and prairies have been destroyed or fragmented so the bees cannot find sufficient nectar and pollen to live and reproduce. Climate change also plays a roll in their place on the Endangered Species Act

Looking for more ways to incorporate an eco-friendly lifestyle into your daily routine? How about when it comes to keeping those pearly whites nice and clean? Maybe it’s time to think twice about the long list of ingredients in your toothpaste and make the switch to a greener alternative. Here is a guide of some of the best and worst eco-friendly toothpaste options, as well as a step-by-step guide for your transition. Baby steps to clean, green teeth Eco-tips blog Paws and Pines recommends a phased approach to switching to eco-toothpaste. Otherwise, the new flavors and textures might leave your mouth feeling strange and unclean– just because it’s something unfair. Try following their recommended steps at your own pace: Related: Looking to make your mornings greener? Try these 7 tips for a sustainable morning routine 1. Look for mainstream and conscious brands that you can find at most stores, like Toms of Maine and Hello Oral. These are mostly vegan , cruelty-free produce

The Philippine Senate passed a new law passed this month requiring all students to plant 10 trees in order to graduate. The program would total about 525 billion trees planted across one generation of students. The “Graduation Legacy for the Environment Act,” championed by Congressman Gary Alejano encourages inter-generational collaboration and responsibility for the future of the environment. The Act encompasses 12 million elementary school graduates, 5 million high school graduates and half a million college graduates every year . Related: English tree planting challenge will help plant 130,000 trees “While we recognize the right of the youth to a balanced and healthy ecology …there is no reason why they cannot be made to contribute in order to ensure that this will be an actual reality,” said Congressman Gary Alejano. Local nonprofits will assist with the implementation of the new legislation by selecting indigenous tree species and site locations. According to the Act, trees

MAD Architects has unveiled a snowflake-shaped design for Terminal 3 of Harbin Taiping International Airport that draws inspiration from the region’s snowy landscape and boasts greater operational efficiency and energy savings as compared to typical terminal architecture . Located in the capital of China’s Heilongjiang Province, the Harbin Taping International Airport is one of the largest transportation hubs in Northeast Asia. The new Terminal 3 will greatly expand the airport’s capacity and cover an area of 3,300 hectares. As with almost all of MAD Architects’ work, the Harbin Taiping International Airport’s Terminal 3 design evokes a futuristic feel with sinuous lines and modern materials. The terminal will consist of ancillary airport facilities, including ground transportation hubs, a hotel, retail and parking lots. The ridges on the roof, which mimic snowdrifts and the gentle slopes of China’s Northern plains, serve as skylights that bathe the interior with natural

Looking for respite from the noise and stress of the big city? Check out these gorgeous shipping container treehouses located in Portugal. Tucked into a dense forest in the northern coastal region of Viana do Castelo, the unique glamping accommodations are comprised of two repurposed shipping containers that have been renovated to provide a truly serene retreat. Located in the northern coastal region of Portugal , Viana do Castelo is known for its amazing beaches as well as its mountainous landscape farther inland. Related: Harbor town in Germany unveils urban-chic hostel made out of repurposed shipping containers The shipping container treehouses have been tucked into a pristine hillside facing a large river that cuts through the forestscape. To minimize their impact on the environment, the architects placed the structures on large metal supports. Guests at the shipping container lodgings can choose from two accommodations. Bungalow T1 is the smallest container, with one be

Move over plastic and aluminum — the headphones of the future may be built from fungus and biosynthetic spider silk. Helsinki-based multidisciplinary design studio Aivan recently unveiled Korvaa, the world’s first headphones made exclusively from microbially grown materials. Created using synbio (short for “synthetic biology,” an interdisciplinary branch of biology and engineering), Korvaa is the first physical implementation of the technology and marks a potential shift away from a fossil fuel-based economy and toward a more sustainable, circular “bioeconomy.” Aivan designers created the Korvaa in collaboration with synbio scientists, industrial designers, artists and filmmakers. The team chose headphones as their first physical implementation of synbio technology because of its compact form and incorporation of different material properties, from hard surfaces to mesh fabric. The name Korvaa originates from Finnish, in which the noun “Korva” means ear and the verb “Korv

You've heard of the many benefits of yoga but don't know how to start? If you're new to yoga, you might have this misconception in your head that yoga poses are hard to attain. You might also worry about coordinating the beautiful art of inhaling and exhaling while you're practicing certain poses. Well, it's not yoga that's difficult. It's just your obsessing mind. And, therefore, take a deep breath, clear your mind of any resistance and expectations and start off reading this article with a free mind. Yoga is comprised of 300 poses and it's definitely not easy to be able to master all of them. If you're randomly picking up a complex one while leaving the simplest one behind, it might seem impossible. Thus, start by choosing the simplest ones, keep yourself regular with the practice, and let your body adapt to the increasing difficulty levels of yoga poses with the steady flow. Give yourself enough time to master the basics and challenge yourself wi

We hope you like the products we recommend. Just so you are aware, Freshome may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. When you think about it, the kitchen has more potential for waste than any other area in the home. It’s where the majority of your appliances run. It’s where you cook and generate food waste. And it’s where you run water almost constantly, between the faucet, the dishwasher and any icemakers. So if you want to have a more eco-friendly home, the place to start is in making a sustainable kitchen. As far as costs go, you could be looking at hundreds to thousands of dollars if it’s time to get more sustainable appliances. Or simple measures like labeling food by date so it doesn’t go bad can be basically free. Planning and implementing more sustainable measures in your kitchen can also take as little as a weekend. So whether you’re ready for a complete appliance overhaul or looking for easier ways to be less wasteful, below are some tips for a sustainable

We hope you like the products we recommend. Just so you are aware, Freshome may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. One hallmark of traditional zen spaces is that they tend to be dominated by neutral and earthy colors, especially beiges and browns. More contemporary zen styles may veer towards white and black color schemes. Since zen is all about relaxation, the soothing tones of neutral colors typically dominate. Zen also makes use of natural textures like rock gardens, stonework and natural bamboo, which all feature soothing neutral colors. But what if you like a relaxing zen sensibility and bold color? It turns out the two can fit together just fine. Take a look below to check out how to work with the colorful zen trend. Natural textures can have some bold colorings, as you can see in the Bartram Coral Sculpture . Image courtesy of Wayfair . Colorful natural textures As mentioned above, zen is all about natural textures , meaning the color scheme will tend

If I were given the chance to relive my childhood, I wouldn’t take it. For the most part, those were times I’d rather forget. I didn’t get along well in school, and family life was less than ideal. About the only thing I liked about the seventies and eighties was the rock ‘n’ roll music. As a kid growing up in Miami, I had an Asian look about me, even though I was of Hispanic descent. Many of the kids in school asked me if I was Chinese; some called me a stupid chink; and a few just beat me up. Things at home weren’t much easier. My parents divorced when I was in grade school. I lived with my mom and three sisters (all older and bigger than me). There were the usual sibling rivalries. So, at school I got beat up by the boys, and at home I got beat up by the girls. I hardly had any friends. Anybody I associated with was just as much a misfit as I was. I spent most of my free time either with my head in a book or riding my bike around the neighborhood. High school was torture. I was