Biobased Kidshouse

This playhouse from Dutch consortium BE-Basic is made entirely from natural materials such as agricultural waste, tree bark, and potato peels.

It's completely recyclable and some of the materials used have actually been certified as ‘cradle to cradle’. This means that after their useful life has expired, all the components can be recycled in another product.

Check out the article at Cnet.

I like this very much.

Farmscape

If you're in the Los Angeles area, check these guys out. They will come round to your house and build you your very own urban farm.

Plus on June 8th they posted that they were looking to hire a full-time urban farm consultant..... here.

Kathy Klein's danmalas

 Love it. There are loads more here.

Isabella Rossellini and Burt's Bees

I'm a big fan of Isabella Rossellini and love this educational movie she did for Burt's Bees. If you like this checkout her other animal films at the Sundance website, called Green Porno and Seduce Me....

The Parks of the World

Lovely, lovely, lovely infographics from Mikell Iles.

This is only one image out of many, check the rest out here.

Spacehive

 Crowd funding for public spaces.... Very interesting indeed.

"Spacehive is the world's first funding platform for neighbourhood improvement projects. We make it as easy to fund a new park or playground for your area as buying a book online.

For people with inspiring project ideas, Spacehive allows you to pitch for support and funding from your community. For everyone else it's a refreshingly easy way to transform where you live: just find a project you like and pledge funding. If it gets funded, it gets built!"

Procrastination

My biggest problem. I hope this helps.

 

Via Brainpickings.

The Shape of Green: Aesthetic Imperatives

"Do smarter tools merely make us better at making things worse?"



From an essay by Lance Hosey adapted from his book The Shape of Green, over at Design Observer. I could quote the whole essay but maybe it's just easier to check it out for yourself.... or better yet, buy the book.

The Minister's Treehouse

Don't show this to any kids, because any treehouse you build will never live up to this one......

It's a 100ft structure built in Tennessee by a minister over an 11 year period. It spreads across 7 big trees that grow through the floors and out of the windows. More info here.

Found via Colossal.

OMO and Jooheng Tan

Speechless and a little choked up......... now that's rare.

This is such a wonderful video on the work of an amazing sand artist, JOOHeng Tan and how he developed 3 sand sculptures for OMO washing powder. I love how, towards the end, the kids start to bash them up...

And can I just say..... dirt is good.

The Vegetable Garden

I want this book, if only to sit and touch the pages.

From a french seed company in the late 1800's.... it is just stunning. It's on my wish list as of now........

Found via It's Nice That.

Conan O'Brien quote

Something to teach the kids.....  love it.

Via Swissmiss.

Rejuvenation

While we're talking about American children's TV programs, here's a great movie made for Sesame Street by Studio Nos.

Check out their website, they made a few others along the same theme. Really nice.

Garden of your mind

Wow, I'm a huge fan of Mr. Rogers (as are my kids) and this is really wonderful.

"It’s good to be curious about many things. You can think about things and make-believe. All you have to do is think and they'll grow."

What a great modern homage to a thoughtful and inspiring man.

Kulturpark

Another interesting park project from a whole different angle, an abandoned amusement park in a forest in East Berlin that has been neglected for years.

"In June 2012, Kulturpark will explore the poetics and potential of these recent ruins, building upon the unique energy of Berlin’s urban, social, cultural, and political landscapes.

Kulturpark will:

- Investigate these lands as a site for cultural imagination.
- Connect communities to explore possibilities for shared stories, memories, and ideas.
- Instigate physical, social, and collaborative movement.
- Model responsible forms for creative life and ecology for the 21st Century.
- Propose possibilities for the park as an evolving constellation of our shared past, presence, and future."

Aside from the adult dialogue, what kid is not going to get a thrill when it wonders around the park and comes across two dinosaurs in a field and one of them is dead.......

Helen & Hard

 This Geopark project is doing the rounds and rightfully so. Quite ingenious. Helen & Hard are a Norwegian firm specialising in relational design.

How 'Nature-Deficit Disorder' Is Making Us Fat, Sick, and Depressed

Great interview over at Good with Richard Louv.

"Studies indicate that time spent in nature can stimulate intelligence and creativity, and can be powerful therapy for the toxic stress in our lives, and as prevention for such maladies as obesity, myopia, and depression. It has huge implications for the ability to self-regulate and for attention-deficit disorder. "

Nature Explore - Leadership Institute

If you're in Nebraska at the beginning of July you have to go to "The Outdoor Classroom Project" conference.

It is a ".......... comprehensive four-day Institute for educators, designers and contractors—held at Lied Lodge’s world-class facility, surrounded by the natural beauty of Arbor Day Farm. The Institute will be led by experienced designers and educators from Nature Explore and The Outdoor Classroom Project."

Sounds good to me. 

Quote

 

“It's not that I'm so smart , it's just that I stay with problems longer .”

 

By Albert Einstein.