DVDs vaulted into existence in 1997, a box office year dominated by the likes of Titanic, Good Will Hunting and L.A. Confidential. Since then, more than 10 billion of the movie discs and their bulky plastic packages have shipped to North American retailers alone, according to sales data compiled by the Digital Entertainment Group.

Tons of DVDs go unmeasured by the EPA into the solid waste stream each year, even though they can be recycled through entities like Second Spin (which we wrote about in August of this year). While Netflix, iTunes and Hulu reduce consumer demand for piles …

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Despite a general consumer slump, the eco marketplace is sizzling as stylish shoppers continue seeking earth friendly products. In fact, when it comes to green, demand is up.

That’s why stylish home eco retailer, VivaTerra, has announced a fresh new website design, complete with the latest social-media friendly tools and helpful shopping features. The new site design is bigger for easy reading and selecting, and better, with more ways to view and share products via the most accessible and popular social-media channels. Click to view an …

Tags: decor , eco , green , green shopping , social media , VivaTerra , website

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When the sustainable design movement first started, rolled paper jewelry and gum wrapper bags were plentiful. You have to start somewhere, right? Turn the clock forward to this collection of paper jewelry, created as a collaboration between KEZA and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) students Jenny Lai and Lindsay Perkins.

The RISD designers participated in the collection to help empower women who were formerly sex workers by helping them set up their company and develop skills in making paper jewelry….

Tags: eco , Jenny Lai , Keza , Lindsay Perkins , RISD , Rwanda

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Realizing that most people have a go-to spot for reading, adding Be Sweet’s boucle mohair throw is a cozy addition to any book nook where extra warmth is needed.

Blending fuzzy and nubby with smooth and sleek, we love that it’s fittingly called the Heaven & Hell throw and that it doubles as a shawl if you need to run to the bus stop or head out for groceries.

The company that makes the yarns and the throw is also pretty …

Tags: Be Sweet , mohair throw , Nadine Curtis , organic cotton yarn , Xhosa Tribe

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Kaiser Permanente is prescribing big doses of sustainability in the sixth season of its $50 million Thrive ad campaign.

Two new ads – Emerald Cities and Connected – reinforce the health care provider’s commitment to the planet by dramatically reducing paper use – no small task for an industry long married to countless charts and forms. For most of us, being ordered to “Fill this out” is as rote as, “Hop on the scale,” and just as painful.

The Emerald pitch describes how Kaiser is allowing patients …

Tags: advertising , Allison Janey , American health , care , doctor visits , doctors , e-mail , eco , electronic health records , fuel , gas , green , Health insurance , hopsitals , information , Kaiser Permanente , medicine , paper , patients , prevention , radio , reduce , sustainability , television , thrive , trees

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You gonna eat that? New research says genetically modified crops planted in the wild can change native neighbors’ DNA. So in the future, food activists worry, you might not have a dietary choice. Join the GMO debate.

Tags: agriculture , Automotive High School , crops , environment , farming , food , foodie , GMO , modified , organics , slow food , sustainable

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The casting call went out last January, not to big Hollywood agents but to animal shelters and rescue groups across the country.

Looking for four-legged crooners, black and white, who can get along with others on tour, do the old soft paw on stage, and won’t leap off into the audience when they hear the sound of applause.

Dozens of shelter dogs got the parts for the The 101 Dalmatians Musical including Rascal, a puppy with a broken leg found on the side of the road. Like the others, he has …

Tags: animal cruelty , animals , Broadway , Dalmatians , Disney , dogs , entertainment , family , musicals , pets , rescue dogs , shelters , stage , Styx , theater

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Designer Juliane Camposano in a Rosel shrug

Sustainably-designed knitwear isn’t something new, but really fashion-forward knits are.

Rosel designer Juliane Camposano is one of those trendsetting knitwear lines to watch.

Camposano grew up in Northern Germany, on the North Sea, where knits were commonplace garb. She says an additional influence to create came from her Aunt Rosel, a fashion designer and illustrator for a Berlin fashion house in the 30s.

What really interested me about Camposano (besides the fact that she makes a boogie suit) was that she wanted to design a line …

Tags: berlin , eco-friendly fibers , eco-movement , Juliane Camposano , knitwear , Rosel , sustainably designed

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The other day, I pulled my bicycle up to one of those nouvelle food trucks that are all the rage in these parts and ordered myself a delicious, healthy, organic falafel. While a group of us was standing on the sidewalk devouring our lunches, impromptu conversations among strangers just naturally started. I ended up talking to the guy who ordered just after me. We chatted throughout our lunches before sharing a cordial goodbye.

I thought later: “That was revolutionary. This is not something that happens in a …

Tags: co-ops , community groups , community housing , community resources , community solutions , cooperative housing , coops , home sharing , housing coops , sharing network

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Porcelained out? Carve your niche with an alternative sink for soaking up greener materials like certified teak, bamboo, recycled metal and glass and friendly painted ceramics. You can even experiment with poured concrete with 50% recycled fly ash, as seen in the striking orange basin by Jeremy Levine Design.

Here is a handful of other options we rounded up:

From William Garvey’s Fusion Line of handmade sinks from certified teak grown in the mixed deciduous forests of South Asia….

Tags: aluminum , art , bamboo , basins , bathrooms , ceramic , clay , craft , decor , decorating , design , eco , green , home , house , interiors , luxury , metal , poured concrete , powder rooms , recycled glass , rooms , sinks , sustainable , teak

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