Guest post by Seismologik

Organizers of Occupy Wall Street Sustainability Working group in concert with Eco Station NY are creating a 16,000 sq foot Roof Top Farm in Bushwick Brooklyn, and we need your help.

Bushwick, Brooklyn, is home to a population of 130,000 people, many of whom reside in neighborhoods that have been designated as food deserts.

We assert that access to natural, nutrient dense, real food is a basic human right.

This spring, as an affinity project of the OWS Sustainability movement group, members will collaborate to build, design and farm a 16,000 sq. foot organic Roof Farm, utilizing smart and sustainable permaculture design techniques to grow food which will be supplied to area restaurants, local schools, farmers markets, and CSA's.

There will also be a ‘by donation’ farm to communal dining pantry, planned as a companion project.

In addition to serving the community by providing freshly grown GM free food, we will also be re-skilling individuals who will participate in our volunteer work/learn days.

We have achievable goals ahead of us: to educate under served communities on gardening, farming, nutrition, and the various ways to reclaim control of our food system is just a few of the ideas bubbling to the fore.

Our hopes of creating the change we wish to see in this world will require support from crowdfunders.

The "Farm In The Sky" will be made open source as a  replicable and scaleable model for anyone who wishes to grow their own.

We urge all of you to consider making a modest gift to the first phase of our Spring crowdfunding campaign:

https://www.wepay.com/x2e7mcl/donations/occupy_wall_street_sustainability

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Post originally published on FoodFreedom

Renowned documentarians Gary Hustwit and Jessica Edwards have created a short-film starring a sustainably run Upstate New York landfill.

Gary Hustwit is best known for his film trilogy centered around design which includes the films Helvetica, Objectified and Urbanized. As a designer, I have seen the full trilogy and keep a close eye on Hustwit's projects. Collaborating with Jessica Edwards, who is gaining recognition for her recent film, Seltzer Works, this duo created a 3-minute short showcasing a landfill that is breaking the mold when it comes to waste disposal.

As part of the Focus Forward Film Challenge, "The Landfill" is a short film that gives viewers a quick glimpse behind the scenes at a unique and innovative landfill. Using a special system of composting, recycling and methane capture, the landfill is able to provide energy for 5,000 local homes. The film reminds viewers, that we have to begin seeing solid waste as not just trash but a resource. Watch the full film below.

http://vimeo.com/33313404

Check out more films from the Focus Forward Challenge here, including another waste treatment plant powering homes and one man's fight for safe sanitation.

Project Noah harnesses the power of smart phones to collect ecological data and help preserve global biodiversity one photo at a time.

How does it work? You can download the Project Noah app for free on any iPhone or Android phone. Then, all you have to do is create an account and start snapping photos of local wildlife.

If you're a city dweller like me, I know what you're thinking -- "Who wants to see a bunch of photos of squirrels and caterpillars?"  I downloaded the app to give it a test run and was pleasantly surprised at the wide variety of animals documented. You could spend hours exploring the map and scrolling through photo submissions. Check out the map below – people from all over the world are using Project Noah!

Project Noah was developed in NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP). The project began as an experiment to build a fun, location-based mobile app that encouraged people to reconnect with nature. The name “Noah” was cleverly inspired by Noah’s Ark. The over-arching goal is to create a powerful database that can be used as an educational tool for wildlife awareness and preservation.

The app has certainly garnered a lot of attention since its official launch back in February 2010. It earned a spot in the first Startl Mobile Design Boost and won a $50,000 prize from the “Breakthrough in Mobile Learning” competition by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center. Project Noah even boasts National Geographic as an investor.

The founding members of Project Noah are Yasser Ansari, Martin Ceperley, Peter Horvath, and Bruno Kruse. Collectively, their backgrounds cover a wide range of subjects including molecular biology, photography, software development, and software hacking.

The next time you go on a walk or hike in your neighborhood, use Project Noah to share the creatures you encounter!

Source: Project Noah

An innovative fishing net that allows small, unwanted fish to escape won a contest by RARE Conservation and National Geographic.

The winning entry was developed by Tim McClanahan and co-investigator Avana Johnson. McClanahan and Johnson developed their net through studies in Curaçao and Kenya with the Wildlife Conservation Society.

The above video depicts a fish trap in Curaçao that does not contain escape gaps. The net contains over 20 ornamental fish, including butterfly fish and several damsel fish, that could have escaped if the trap had gaps.

The contest, entitled “Solution Search: Turning the Tide for Coastal Fisheries”, aimed to find solutions to overfishing. McClanahan and Johnson’s winning trap is inexpensive and low-tech, which means it can easily be maintained in developing countries. The unique, geometric net design has strategically placed gaps for juvenile fish to swim out. These gaps reduce unwanted bycatch by 80 percent.

As the grand prize winners, McClanahan and Johnson received a $20,000 to support its conservation and resource management initiative.

"For too long the conservation community has focused on problems," said Brett Jenks, president and CEO of RARE Conservation. Jenks believes that the contest winners and finalist prove that tangible solutions are out there. Jenks continues, “By sharing their solutions with the world, they are improving conservation everywhere."

This is the first year the contest has taken place and over 100 applications were sent in. To read more about the contest, visit the RARE Conservation website.

Sources: Monga Bay, RARE Conservation, & Solution Search

A Brooklyn-based design firm has built a low-cost shelter, using 100 discarded shipping pallets, ideal for refugee camps.

Live Oak has brought you news about the many possibilities for discarded wood pallets over the past year, from adirondack chairs to vertical gardens.

Now, Brooklyn-based firm I-Beam is taking the concept of reuse a bit further. Made from repurposed shipping pallets, these 250-square-foot shelters are a superb solution for emergency or aid situations. Supplies, including food and medicine, can be shipped to locations using wood pallets which can then be repurposed into homes.

Assembly of the shelters takes less than a week with a five-person team and requires only basic hand tools. Various materials, such as tarps or corrugated roofing can be used as temporary barriers until more permanent and locally sourced options are available to thoroughly cover the walls. According to I-Beam, 84 percent of the world's refugees could be housed with just a year's worth of recycled pallets from the United States.

In addition to an aesthetic appeal, more importantly these shelters are much sturdier and more permanent than the tent and tarp structures most commonly used in refugee camps. On average displaced individuals will live at a refugee camp for seven years, so long term living solutions are much needed.

I-Beam has built prototypes across the US and Europe. They are currently working on housing for camps in Haiti and Pakistan. These homes are also a great solution for anyone looking to downsize to a "tiny house" or possibly as a long-term solution for Occupy Wall Street camps.

Source: FastCo.Design

Editor's Note: We're getting into the holiday spirit here at Crisp Green, which means helping you find the crispest, greenest, most innovative gifts for all the tech and design geeks on your list! This week we're featuring Gifts That Conserve. See our ideas for Gifts You Can Grow and Gifts You Can Make here. Happy Holidays!

Save energy and money! Hu2Design’s wind turbine wall decals are a clever way to decorate your home with zero effort.  The decals not only look cool, but also serve as a reminder to conserve energy and save a few bucks.

How do these stickers conserve energy? Simply having an eye-catching element by your light switches will draw attention to them and remind you to flip them off.

While not always available, Hu2Design’s windmill design also urges its users to strive for cleaner, renewable energy sources. These windmill decals are made from a PVC-free self-adhesive that does not contain chlorine or plasticizers. All decals are designed to be applied to any smooth surface including walls, windows and furniture.

Coolest Things About Windmill Decals: Their quirkiness! Spruce up your home or apartment with these thought provoking decorations. They are designed to remind you to save the juice, but are bound to spark conversation when you have guests over.

Perfect Gift Idea For: Folks with a green conscious who enjoy decorating and home goods. Perhaps you know someone who just moved into a new apartment or house - these decals would make a great holiday or housewarming gift.

How You Can Get One: You can buy the wind turbine wall decals for $18 from Hu2Design’s Etsy Store.

Source: Hu2Design

Today is America Recycles day, a time when every corporation in the world sends out a press release congratulating itself for recycling a fraction of its waste.

As a green website, it's hard to know whether or not to participate in this day. On one hand, celebrating America Recycles Day usually involves sharing tired tips about recycling common products and how much energy we can save if we just all remember not to throw aluminum cans in the trash. On the other hand, encouraging people to recycle is like giving them a free pass to consume as much as they want--as long as they put it in the right receptacle when they're done.

But it's true that for every person that's been dutifully separating their paper, metal, and plastic from the rest of their trash for years, there are five that still think it's more trouble than it's worth. So we're torn.

One thing that's certain is we like smart phone apps, especially when they encourage eco-friendly behaviors. So in honor of America Recycle's Day, and for what it's worth, we're highlighting the "Bin It" app.

With Bin It! players toss plastic bottles into various recycling bins in the face of distracting animals, flashing cameras and tricky breezes. The game then converts the player's successful tosses into the number of recycled t-shirts, sweaters and sleeping bags that can be made from recycled plastics.

Full disclosure: the app was created by Plastics Make it Possible, an initiative sponsored by the plastics industries of the American Chemistry Council. Of course, it's in the ACC's best interest that people keep consuming plastics, regardless of how they're disposed. But it sure makes them seem green to tell you to recycle them, doesn't it?

Let's face it, you've got apps on your phone and they don't all revolve around news or weather. If you're gonna play stupid games while waiting for the dentist, there's nothing wrong with practicing your recycling hook-shot. Just remember that to be really green, you should stop buying those plastic products in the first place.