Green Wall - Parabienta

Parabienta is a living wall of green developed by Japan-based Shimizu Corporation. This relatively low-cost, greening system is light weight and works quite sufficiently as insulation, thus reducing a building's energy costs . Different plants can be used and you can do a variety of designs. Looks pretty cool too, right? For more information visit Tree Hugger

Turning Plastic Bottles into Flowers

Notice the displays in Anthropologie windows lately? Many of them are decorated with ornate, brightly colored flowers made of - plastic bottles. How very creative - love it.

Here's some ideas on how to make your own bouquet, or visit Instructables.com

1. Cut around the bottom grooves

so that you have one piece that looks kinda like a flower.
2. Punch some holes, or use a hot needle to make holes.
Gather some string, fishing line, dental floss, or metal craft rings.
3. String them together and VIOLA! You have an instant wall hanging, doorway curtain, or privacy blinds for your window.
Also, you can also make a hole in the middle of them and insert a LED into each of them for some pretty flower lights!

Some facts about plastic, pulled from earth 911.com:

*Plastic bottles take 700 years to begin composting

*90% of the cost of bottled water is due to the bottle itself

*80% of plastic bottles are not recycled

*38 million plastic bottles go to the dump per year in America from bottled water (not including soda)

*24 million gallons of oil are needed to produce a billion plastic bottles

*The average American consumes 167 bottles of water a year

*Bottling and shipping water is the least energy efficient method ever used to supply water

*Bottled water is the second most popular beverage in the United States