Spiral Island: Built on Empty Bottles

Spiral Island may just be the island of the future and not only because it has its own website. Richie Sowa has taken thousands of empty bottles (think water bottles, milk jugs) and put them into big nets, then attached the nets to a platform, then to other platforms. All these platforms are covered in soil and plants, thus making the coolest island ever.

An environmentalist to the core, Sowa is also an artist and a musician. More than just the universal dream of an island retreat, Spiral Island is also his vision for low-impact sustainable living. The next version of the island will be built to withstand more treacherous weather than the first and will also be located in a more sheltered part of Mexico’s waters.

Small Town Fights Big Smoke

Smoking is clearly bad for your health, and it’s bad for the people who happen to be around a smoker too. A small town in Nova Scotia, Canada has made it illegal to smoke while in a car that is transporting children. Wolfville is a community that is turning out to be one of the more progressive ones in Canada, and all the more power to them in their ongoing adventure to make the world better!

Meg McCallum, a spokeswoman for the cancer agency, said the bylaw is part of a societal shift that began years ago when similar bans were placed on airplanes, followed by workplaces, restaurants and bars across much of Canada.

“It’s all about what’s best for children and youth,” she said from Halifax. “This is part of evolving to a culture where being tobacco-free is the norm.”

The law, expected to come into effect June 1, 2008, would prohibit exposing children under 18 to secondhand smoke in a vehicle.

The Hexayurt Project

The Hexayurt Project is looking to house more people more efficiently. This simple housing design maybe able to help the world’s poor.

The Hexayurt is a prize-winning shelter you can build yourself for about $200 (cache). Suitable raw materials include common building materials (insulation boards,) hexacomb cardboard and plastic. You cut six 4′ x 8′ panels in half diagonally to make the roof, and use six more whole panels to form the walls. It takes about two hours. The design (cache) is in the public domain.