Earth Day: Easy, Beautiful Ways Designers Can Love the Planet, Today and Every Day
Love your Planet; it is Earth Day! We talk about what architects can do to lessen the impact of buildings on neighborhoods, cities, and our planet.
2016 Chicago Recycling Rules: UPDATED JANUARY 2016
There are new (and tighter) 2016 Chicago Recycling guidelines debuting this week. The city has announced that its planning to slap orange REJECT stickers on blue bins that violate the new regs – especially if they contain items in plastic bags – so read up on the new rules to ensure that your recycling makes…
Design for Deconstruction: Architects should Plan for Less Waste
Nearly every building ends up in the landfill eventually. Designers need to challenge ourselves not just to reuse materials but make sure they are reusable.
Recycling Building Sites: Brownfield Development
What is Brownfield Development?
Another One Bites the Dust: the Tiny Tragedy of Teardowns in Chicago Neighborhoods
Walking to work this morning I noted yet another pile of construction debris on the foundation of a former house just around the corner from moss HQ. Seeing an old house demolished always seems like a small tragedy. It’s true; some older buildings certainly HAVE outlived their useful lifespan, are in poor repair or structurally unsound. Sometimes the…
That’s Garbage: Talking Trash About Waste Generation
The USA generates 251 million tons of trash a year – that is 42 times more than the Great Pyramid at Giza. Where does it come from … and go?
Friday Favorites: Financial Incentives to Recycle
Traveling across the U.S., one encounters subtle (and sometimes glaring) cultural differences between cities. We all fall under the great American umbrella, which makes some of these differences a bit more difficult to put into words. Of course, read any comments section on a travel article dedicated to someone’s hometown, (*ahem*) and you’ll find a blood…
Friday Favorites: Minimalism blogs, great posts
Less can be more. Or it can be less. There are extremes: hoarders; or the guy who owns 15 things. But there is also balance. Regardless, while a walk-in closet is some people’s idea of delightful, for me it dredges up memories of my forever unkempt floor, (although to be honest, I would still love a…
Friday Favorites: The Eco Media Player, Seven Year Pen and Recyclable Headphones
Starting today, we’ll be posting things we like every friday. They’ll range from amazing dishes to jars of pickles to cleaning products to eye-catching graphics. One thing you can be sure of is that they’ll all relate to our principal passions: food, beer/wine, and all things green, sustainable and design-y. This week’s edition includes items…