Singapore receives 100 inches of rain each year, making flood control and water supply preservation a big issue. The solution: an elegant, low-level dam, known as the Marina Barrage. The Marina Barrage is the nation’s 15th reservoir, but it is the first in the heart of the city. Conceived by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew nearly two decades ago, the Marina Barrage creates a freshwater reservoir that increases the available supply of water and decreases dependence from imported sources. Together with two other new reservoirs, it has increased Singapore’s water catchment from half to two-thirds of the country’s land area.

 

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Want to help build an enormous maze that's made entirely from books? On July 26th, Brazilian artists Marcos Saboya and Gualter Pupo will begin constructing an enourmouse book maze in the Clore Ballroom at London's Southbank Centre. The maze, which will cover more than 5,000 square feet, will be made from a whopping 250,000 books and its walls will be 13 feet tall. Saboya and Pupo have developed plans for the maze, but they're hoping the public will help them build it, and they've put out a call on Craigslist for volunteers.

 

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Two years ago, the small Hungarian town of Ajka was pummeled with 35 million cubic meters of toxic sludge when a nearby alumina plant reservoir burst. The red-orange mud flowed through the town streets, with waves reaching over six feet high. It took nearly a week to contain the spill that eventually killed 10 people and destroyed countless houses, schools, businesses, and farms. Spanish Artist Palindromo Meszaros recently travelled to the ravaged town and captured some unbelievable images in his latest photo collection titled "The Line."

 

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What if something as simple as an old plastic bottle filled with water could mean the difference between light and darkness? Rudimentary as it may sound, the almost no-cost solution is uplifting the quality of life of thousands of impoverished families in the Philippines who have no access to electricity and use dangerous kerosene lamps indoors. These makeshift solar lamps basically act as skylights, and reflect and amplify the rays of the sun during daylight hours – effectively performing the work of indoor lightbulbs – but without using any electricity at all. The organization behind the installation of the bottle lights, Isang Litrong Liwanag or 1 Liter of Light, was started by Filipino student Illac Diaz just a few years ago but their cause has inspired so many that now they’ve committed to a goal of placing 1,000,000 bottle lights in Filipino households. Read on to see how 1 Liter of Light has energized the people of its country to participate in lighting the way for their own future through this fascinating initiative.

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There has been a lot of debate about the merits of space tourism over the last few years. Some see it as a luxury for the super-rich, others an opportunity to go where only a lucky few have gone before — but one thing that is unavoidable is the environmental impact. With Virgin Galactic officially announcing that next year will see the start of their space tourism flights, we look at the impact of the industry on our planet.

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Winston Howes, green thumb and hopeless romantic, planted 6,000 oak trees in the shape of heart in his South Gloucestershire meadow 15 years ago as a tribute to his late wife, Janet. His stunning memorial was his very own secret garden for years until a hot air balloonist happened to cruise over the land and capture a picture of the giant grassy emblem. “I have my own balloon and am quite a regular flyer — but this was the most amazing sight I have ever seen from the sky,” the pilot, Andy Collet told The Telegraph on Friday. ”It was a perfect heart hidden away from view – you would not know it was there… You can just imagine the love story.”

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A forest of book-bearing trees has sprouted up on the streets of Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin! The program, called Forest Books by BauFachFrau, is part of the BookCrossing book swap club, which brings free books to public spaces around the globe. Neighborhood residents are welcome to leave a book they loved, or take one from the plastic protected hutches cut into the tree trunks.

 

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In New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, Brad Pitt's Make it Right Foundation has been hard at work constructing innovative sustainable housing since 2007, and their latest green home is designed by none other than legendary architect Frank Gehry. The vibrant pink and purple home is a contemporary twist on a long-standing New Orleans architectural tradition; the double-shotgun. Gehry's two-story update provides separate entrances at opposite sides of the building, with 1,000 square foot of usable balcony space for each unit, including rooftop decks topped off with solar panel shading. We stopped by for the unveiling of this groundbreaking home—which is expected to attain LEED Platinum certification—and checked out its extraordinary array of energy-saving and sustainable features.

 

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The Meera House isn't merely a house - it's also a garden, a meadow and a hill where the residents can take in the views and relax. Located in a housing estate on the island of Sentosa adjacent to Singapore, the breezy home, which was designed by Guz Architects, has lush vegetation on every level, including a sweeping green roof that blankets its curvy form.

 

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Design firm Tham & Videgård recently won first place in a design competition hosted by the town of Järfälla, Sweden for this intriguing spiraling tower. The Double Helix tower will be used as an observation deck in the Järfälla. From it, residents of the town will be able to view progress on the Barkarbystaden urban development project as it unfolds just west of Stockholm.

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Before Bloomberg’s proposition for mini apartment units, and before tiny houses gained their sizable fan-base, Israeli artist Absalon was designing these über-efficient 26-square-foot dwellings. Absalon's Cellules, or living cells, are tiny living spaces that provide all the comforts of home in a minuscule area. Many Cellules are currently on display at locations around the world, including the Hamburger Bahnof in Berlin.

 

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Most of us know that a full refrigerator uses less energy than an empty one, because anything’s that denser than air will better store the cold. Opening the door of an empty fridge causes cold air (weighing less than an ounce) to rush out and fall to the floor. Warm air enters. When the door closes, the unit cycles on, and the process repeats. That’s sort of how thermal mass construction works. Beefy Styrofoam and concrete walls on an insulated foundation cut both heating and cooling loads. It’s vastly more efficient to keep a relatively massive structure at a steady temperature than it is to manipulate the air with energy-intensive HVAC systems. Read on for a closer look at this green building strategy!

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We recently stumbled on a site called Superuse which catalogs and promotes the idea of transforming waste into something useful or beautiful. Not all of the ideas on this site are fine art, but they're certainly all great ideas for reusing materials to reduce waste. While we haven't even begun to scratch the surface of all these clever innovations on the site, there are pages upon pages of amazing ideas -- like this reused CD spindle that makes for the perfect instant lunchbox for a bagel sandwich! Simply brilliant. You can see more of our favorite ideas for reuse after the jump!

 

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The Faraday Porteur electric bicycle has finally come to market! Built last year for the Oregon Manifest design competition, the classic cycle may look like a simple bike from the 1940s or 50s, but it’s much more thanks to an electric pedal assist system, hidden battery, and front and rear LED lights that turn on and off automatically.

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San Francisco-based Feldman Architecture creates beautiful and sustainable modern homes using a palette of durable materials like concrete, stone, natural wood, and powder-coated steel. One of the current projects in the firm’s resume of homes is the Walnut Farms Retreat located in the Central Valley of California near the San Andres Fault. Like many of its predecessors, the Walnut Farms Retreat is slated to be certified by the USGBC’s LEED rating system, and as Feldman Architecture’s Principal, Jonathan Feldman, AIA, states, “the client was quick to jump into certification”. The 5700-square-foot project is designed to be carbon neutral with a net-zero solar electrical system, geothermal radiant heating and cooling, a solar hot water system, and rammed earth walls.

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