The major problem with biofuel production is that it often takes over land used to grow food crops – take palm oil, for example. But that’s thinking terrestrially…and we live on a planet that is two-thirds sea water. As reported by The Energy Roadmap, algae biofuel production is currently ramping up – so could this be the answer to the biofuel question?

The cities of tomorrow will not only have to meet our functional needs and make the most of clean energy-saving technologies – they’ll have to deeply satisfy us as well. The Nurture vs. Nature issue is a permanently controversial one, but it’s a fact that we thrive in surroundings that send the right emotional and cognitive messages to us. Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point) has a new book out on this very topic, and Jamie Waugh has the details over at Dwell. (For further reading, British author Alain de Botton also tackles this subject in The Architecture of Happiness).

The new President-Elect is going to be a busy man for the next few weeks. How will he pack everything in? By getting the most from his health and fitness routine, for starters. To feel even more inspired by Mr. Obama, have a read of this Men’s Health article on the lessons we can learn from how he manages his day.

The season of giving green is almost upon us – and Daily Green has a whole Santa’s Grotto of Christmas gift suggestions (including my favourite gadget, the Hymini).

Stretching before exercise is vital if you don’t want to end up hobbling around for the next week. The problem is that many people do it all wrong – even the athletes. Static stretching (where you hold a stretch for 20-30 seconds) can actually decrease muscular strength, as Gretchen Reynolds writes in the New York Times Play magazine.

Feeling lost with the incredible number of green sites out there? What you need is a map. Design Sprout has a list of 50 must-visit online destinations for the conscientious blogger. But which one to choose first? Oh dear.

You’ll remember Luanne’s article on the proposal to name a wastewater treatment facility after the current President of the United States. (It’s the sort of story that sticks in the mind). Now this bizarre tale of anger and effluent has drawn to a close – the voters have spoken. Read the results over at SF Weekly.

Explore your spirituality online (and practice like your hair is on fire). This is nowhere near as crazy as it sounds, and it’s the suggestion of social media big wig (or rather, mullet) Gwen Bell. So, what are you waiting for?

Grafitti. It’s creative – thumbs up – but it’s also usually potty-mouthed and offensive: thumbs down. What’s needed is something nicer…and here it is. When the law isn’t looking, out come the knitting needles. If you have a spare 500 hours, why not make a tree cozy where you live?

And finally, a breakthrough that could turn back the clock for extinct animals. After managing to clone mice from bodies frozen for 6 years, Japanese scientists have tentatively announced that it may be possible to grow new animals from frozen yet damaged cells – theoretically opening the way for the return, via cloning, of the mammoth. Truly astonishing.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Image: alexdecarvalho

Starre Vartan, founder and editor of the green lifestyle website Eco Chick, is one of our favorite go-to girls for sustainable practices. She offers a wealth of information and presents her knowledge in a fun, practical way. Starre has recently taken her duties one step further to create a book of tips called The Eco Chick Guide to Life: How to be Fabulously Green. Inside, she walks us through ways to be ecologically smart without sacrificing style and happiness. We caught up with Starre from her home in Connecticut to dish about the book. Here’s what she had to say.

EcoSalon: What inspired you to translate the information on your site into a book? (Don’t worry, greenies – it’s printed on recycled paper.)

Starre Vartan: I really wanted to write something that was a companion to my site, which is for young women who want something cool and accessible. My blog is all about being current and following trends, but I was constantly getting questions about the basics – what is a sustainable fabric? What kinds of cleaning products can I use without breaking the bank? The book answers these questions and isn’t about ‘news’ like the blog is.

ES: You dedicated this book to your grandmother, the original Eco Chick. Did she bestow her traditional green ways upon you? Was she your inspiration for creating Eco Chick?

SV: My grandmother was the major inspiration for the book. She raised me in the Hudson Valley of New York, where I grew up growing and eating organic veggies from our gigantic garden, enjoying meat and eggs from a farm about two miles from my house, and using only non-toxic cleaning products. Being a kid, I thought all these things were normal.

It was only later that I realized she consciously made these choices both because she was attuned to preserving her local environment and because she believed that conservation made sense for a sustainable world.

ES: We love the “My Green Shopping Basket” lists at the end of each section, in which you suggest specific products/services for each topic. Have you really tried them all?

SV: I’ve definitely tried pretty much all of them, or my friends have, sometimes both! I’ve been an official greenie (writing about environmental science and sustainable living topics) for about nine years now, and was raised in a very open, progressive way, so some of these companies – Kiss My Face, Nature’s Gate, Morningstar Farms, The Body Shop, Under the Canopy, Patagonia – have been part of my life for many, many years now.

ES: You talk about sharing eco-friendly practices with family, friends, and colleagues. Do you believe this will help convert others around us to going green?

SV: It’s ONLY by talking to each other that habits change on a large scale. Doing things in a bubble with like-minded people is comfortable and reassuring, but ‘ghettoizing’ a sustainable lifestyle will not lead to change; only consensus, collaboration, and compromise (not to mention creativity!) will.

ES: This guide is so comprehensive and the perfect carry-along resource. Are there plans for additional books in the future?

SV: I’m working on a more literary endeavor based on a project I started as part of the thesis for my MFA (in nonfiction writing) from Columbia. It’s about the five senses and humanity’s relationship with the environment; basically how modernization and mechanization have changed the way we understand the world. I’m using the lenses of history, culture and science, including many scientific studies, to look at how we have fundamentally changed the way we live so rapidly; and how that has negative (disconnection from the natural world) and positive (the Internet!) impacts.

ES: Thanks for stopping by, Starre! We’re eagerly awaiting your next project.

Editor’s note: To learn more about Starre, visit Eco Chick. You can also hear her talking green fashion at GreenTalkRadio. And be sure to check out her book. Go on, shoo!

This week in the fashion blogosphere, be sure to check out:

Fashion Pulse has a terrific interview with fashion subversive – jewelry and lighting designer and painter – Justin Giunta.

Comfortable, cute, artisan-made Mary Janes? They exist. Read up and check out at Barking Dog Shoes.

Fashion Fille blogs her recent penny-saving shoe trip to Payless – what is with all the booties around this season? Don’t miss our favorite booties (eco, of course).

Image: maxedaperture

We aren’t even in winter and the spring fashion lines are rolling out. Check out Viktor and Rolf’s line and get the Fashion Tribes analysis.

In NYC? Love Project Runway? Don’t miss this special show.

Sara, your editor, here. Something I have neglected to share with everyone is that I frequently spend time hanging out with some really terrific fashion bloggers talking design and style (well, “hanging out” in the digital sense). I’m going to share some links from these ladies that I think you’ll enjoy. Now, I’m the greenie of the bunch, so while the links I’m sharing from my blogging pals are not always green, they do offer interesting trends, looks, and creative insights. I’ll suggest a green alternative when appropriate, but I thought it would be fun to give you a little peek into the percolator.

The stylish Sarah-Jean of the Fashionable Housewife wants you all to know about a contest to win a piece of jewelry you’ll cherish: a simple and elegant infinity twist necklace. Though it’s not recycled, it’s a versatile piece that converts from necklace to bracelet, doubling your possibilities.

Stylista Yuli of My It Things wants to get us all trying out the latest trend: colorblock clothing. She has some great looks to share. For an eco colorblock choice, I recommend this striking dress by Viridis.

Lesley of Fashion Tribes is a girl after my own heart – she blurs the line between decor and fashion in such an inspired way. I don’t watch much television so I haven’t seen Gossip Girl, but I love how Lesley translates a chic apartment into great wardrobe ideas.

At Fashion Pulse you can get an advanced look at the Spring 2009 Collection from Zac Posen. Love him or hate him (hey, at least he’s designed a Sigg bottle), he’s one of the young leaders in fashion right now. What do you think?

The fashion-addicted and always unique Fashion Fille has just written her 100th post. Check it out! Some interesting personal musings on fashion and style at the intersection of blogging.

Now, dear reader, if you’re new to reading blogs, you’re in for a good time. The great thing about a blog is that you can comment on posts, which is sort of like gossiping around the water cooler only without the weird guy who picks his ear trying to crash the conversation. Remember the frustration of hunting around websites for an email address to ask a question? These days you just type right onto the page and a conversation is born. In fact, I hope you’ll go visit all these bloggers and say hello, right now. How often does an editor actually ask you to leave her page? Scoot!

Image: maxedaperture

When you’re searching online for a good green deal, where do you go first?

The two behemoths of the online classifieds world are Craigslist and eBay. Their continent-cracking size isn’t always a good thing – sifting out the eco-friendly from the not-so-much can turn into one of the labors of Hercules. Luckily these sites have corners that are greening up nicely, such as eBay’s World of Good – but in the main, you’re on your own.

Alternatives? Here are a couple we’ve spotted.

EcoFlip. Founded by Forrest Kolb and Joseph Paone, it’s a "classifieds community for eco-friendly people". It’s free to post, available in 42 countries, and in addition to adverts for sustainable services and products, there’s a section called "Reuse and Recycle" which presumably works the same way as the fabulous Freecycle. I’m particularly impressed with how you navigate around: first up, you choose your state, then your nearest city, and only then can you access all the listings. Start locally and work outwards – the way it should be.

Planet Thrive’s focus is wellness, and the Ask the Expert and Wellness tabs on the front page lead to an impressive range of personal healthcare resources. The site is the work of writer, photographer and holistic health counselor Julie Genser, and she’s aimed for a very personal community feel right down to shared photo albums. You’ll also find environmentally-focused classifieds galore – from eco-friendly housing to green employment opportunities.

Give them a try, and drop us a comment to tell us what you think!

Image: Darwin Bell

Here are our favorites for starting your week in a green way:

Impulse buying, one of the great eco-curses of our age, just got hi-tech. As ABC News reports, new phone technology allows you to buy clothes the split-second you see them, cutting out all that tedious thinking about whether you need it or not.

Red means Danger – and never more so than in this map of areas of the US that have been offered for leasing by major oil companies. Unsettling.

Eco-friendly Internet search engines? Yes indeed – and there’s 27 of them listed over at Web Ecoist. (If, like me, you’re a touch skeptical, have a read of Blackle’s well-argued explanation).

Totally recycled clothing is a goal that the fashion industry can’t ignore. It looks like the message is getting across – take the 100% recycleable plastic shoes, as made by Melissa (and reported at Feelgood Style). Word is a few of our EcoSalon fashionistas own these chic slippers.

However, let’s hope designers take sustainability a little more seriously than they take functionality.

How’s this for escapism? The stunning Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (Wyoming) has a new eco-boutique, Hotel Terra – and to celebrate, it’s giving away prizes of three days & nights of luxury pampering, complete with (offset) flights to and from Jackson Hole and much more besides. Go here before September 30th to join the competition – good luck! (And if you win, we’d love to hear about it while we grouse about not winning ourselves).

A huge round of applause for Wayne Smallman, who proposes a mobile electronics manifesto for greening up our favourite gadget, over at Blah Blah Technology (actual name; not Mike being lazy). Piezoelectric sensors are a fabulous suggestion for the future of electronics.

And on the subject of dazzling lateral thinking, what about the way asphalt becomes roastingly hot in the midday sun? As EcoGeek reports, researchers have found a way to channel that energy into water pipes. Ingenious.

If you want a forest to be the most effective collector of carbon dioxide it could be….leave it alone. Replanted forests have just a third of the capacity of untouched woodland, suggests a study from the Australian National University.

After writing about sea glass last week, it struck me that the word I was searching for, to describe the opaque finish on freshly retrieved sand-scoured beach glass…was frosted. Like these jewel-tone bottle vases from our sponsor Viva Terra. (I promise to buy a better dictionary).

Have a great week!

Image: Andrew*

Geared toward the MTV demographic, the site brings readers videos and competitions, profiles, celeb news, style features, and more. What do you think about Thread ““ will it be a hit or miss with young hipsters?

Just before you go off and enjoy your hard-earned weekend, we’d like to tell you about these…

Lifehacker is keen for us to save a little money by powering down our computers  – and they recommend using Edison (free, 45mb) or Local Cooling (free, 4mb) to do it.

As Greenthinkers reports, the internet show EPIC FU is going plastic free for a week. (They should check out Envirowoman’s blog. She did it for over a year!)

If we’re really going to slim down our possessions, we need to learn the art of gently letting go. Blog Nosh has a few thoughts they’d like to share with us.

More techno-cleverness. Are you the proud owner of an iPhone or other brand of smartphone? You may want to try out Fuelly, a cunning new way of keeping track of your mileage. (Groovy Green is giving it a run round the block).

Hats in the air for Oregon, which is installing 8,000 square feet of solar panelling to help light the I5 & I205 interchange (spotted by Ecogeek). Let’s hope everywhere else takes note – highway lighting is long overdue an eco-makeover.

Spend money on the green products you love, earn more ecopoints – redeem as shopping vouchers or carbon offsets. Participating products include my favourite chocolate in the world! (Thanks for the link, EcoStreet).

"All you ever need to know about clothes"? Our fashion team might beg to differ – but The Ecologist’s A to Z of Eco Fashion is certainly an impressive list.

Next up on the frontline against plastic: Stephanie at Eco Chick. She’s looking at ways to reduce plastic usage in your regular beauty routine (and doesn’t believe it’s possible to go entirely plastic-free: here’s her insightful article on the subject at Earthfirst).

Diet soda is eco-friendlier than the "full-fat" variety, yes? Erm…well, go and have a read of Umbra Fisk’s piece over at Grist. Unless you’re overly-attached to your soda, in which case, have a stiff drink first.

It had to happen. We already have bamboo bicycles and now, it’s time for the fully-working wooden car. And boy, does that Cadillac look gorgeous. (Not entirely sure about the half-and-half car, though). But I have a question – what happens to a wooden car in the rain?

Enjoy your weekend!

Image: jkohen

As usual, we’re overflowing with things to tell you. We just can’t help it! So let’s spill.

Joining the hot debate over biofuels is Frances Cerra Whittelsey over at Alternet’s Environment section: she’s keen to point out the environmental cost of a meat-eating diet. Point taken.

You might have noticed all eyes are on a certain event in China at the moment. What you might not know is that there more than a little green-promoting going on. Grist tells all.

What’s…that? Call Mulder & Scully. Call Orson Welles. Call somebody. No, wait – it’s just a clever display of how adaptable LED lights can be. (Well spotted, Planet Pink ‘n Green).

Now, we know the real reason for the Internet is to show us videos that make us laugh. So drop what you’re doing (it’s not as important) and watch the 10 Funniest Green Viral Videos (via via Huffington Post).

Cool new word of the day: "Culanthropy", coined by Marc Masala in his report over at The Ethicurean on the rise of the Culinary Corps.

With gas and food prices rising, everyone’s tightening their purse strings, as they have done so many times in recent history. But as Donna Freedman ponders at MSN’s Smart Spending, will it sink in this time, or will history "continue to rhyme"?

Now this is more like it. Forget overgrown flip-flops: what we need is garden furniture – as in furniture made out of the garden. Inhabitat has the details, but we saw it here first.

The Green Web Awards 2008 have taken place, the judges have voted – and here are the results. Sponsored by Nigel’s Eco Store. We were happy to see some folks we know made the cut.

Oh dear – and here in the U.K. we thought we were doing so well. As EnviroWonk reports, instead of reducing emissions, we’ve actually been exporting them – and when the carbon-under-the-carpet is taken into account, our emissions rose by 18% this year, despite the British Government claiming otherwise. A point to the greenwashers.

Let’s hope we’re heading for a human-powered future, channelling our frantic to’ing and fro’ing into batteries to power the next generation of gadgets. Mike Steere looks ahead in this illuminating article for CNN, with a killer first line – the perfect antidote to lazy TV-watching. Ladies (and gents), how interested are you in green gadgets and technology? Would you like posts sharing helpful gadgets and techy tweaks to save you money or live greener? Indulge your geeky writer and let me know!

Have a great weekend.

Image: josef.stufer

Since March of this year, we’ve been showing you how you can craft your own sustainable lifestyle (because going green is all aboutdoing it yourself).

Here are a few examples from our array of life-crafting, life-improving tips.

How to …
…make natural pesticides and fungicides for your garden.
…green your SUV.
…get kids to go green.
…make your own soy candles.
…make your own curtains (that don’t look homemade).
…bring the outdoors inside.
…nail cutlery to the wall.
…transform your home into an oasis.
…green an older home.
…reinvent spring cleaning.
…compliment organic wine.
…avoid chlorine off-gassing while you bathe.
…make healthy ice-cream.
…keep basil fresh for a week.
…stay energized all day long.
…give yourself a moment.
…raid your grandmother’s closet.
…layer, organically.

….and much more besides. Don’t believe me? Take a wander back through our categories (Fashion, Lifestyle, Artisan, Decor and Wellness) and see what you’ve missed.

But we’re not the only ones feeling the urge to be the change. Here are some other sites that also feel that life is what you make it.

SuperNaturale
SewGreen
Recycled Crafts
Crafting A Green World
My Recycled Bags

Where do you go when you’re feeling crafty?

Image: Darren Hester

Sara’s shameless plug: Hi, it’s your editor. De-lurk, dear reader, and leave this fabulous writer a comment. (We love chatting.) You can also share this post with friends ““ just click your favorite social bookmark listed below. New reader? Be sure to sign up for the weekly newsletter to win free eco goodies! You can also subscribe to any RSS feed your heart desires.