App Obsession: DIY.org

In an ever-growing tech society, it can be hard to pull the kids away from their video games, iPhones or favorite TV shows and get them in touch with their own creativity. Crafting pulls out that creativity and allows kids to explore what it is that interests them in a fun, hands-on way, but it's not always easy to come up with something that the kids will think is cool. That's why parents and kids alike will love this app from DIY.org.

Why kids love it:

Not only is it an awesome way to keep track of all the crafty projects that they create, it's a way for the kids to show off their talents to other kids and share ideas on future projects. Much like Instagram, the kids can post pictures of what they've made, but they can also post video. DIY.org also created a Skills section that rewards kids with badges for having completed projects under different categories. For example, if the kids are thinking about building a fort, the fort badge challenges them to build it out of three different materials before obtaining the badge. These badges seem like a great way to get excited about making something rather than watching it on TV and it gets the creative juices flowing by making them complete various tasks before becoming a Maker. 

Why parents love it:

12 Exciting Innovations from 2012

2012 was a great year for innovators. From solar soccer to poop power, inventions, innovations, and ideas for changing the world sprouted like daisies. Here's a list of some green technology you might have missed:

1. Recharge from a Distance: Wireless power can be transmitted under roads to electric cars, and rechargeable batteries can get a boost from anywhere in the house.

2. Solar Soccer Ball: The Soccket is a soccer ball that can generate and store energy when it's kicked.

3. Manure into Gold: Manure from cows can be "digested" to make heat, electricity, animal bedding, and fertilizer.

4. Solar Incubator: In poor countries without access to the grid, solar-powered incubators can save infants' lives.

5. Mud-Powered Fuel Cell: Aquatic mud is full of microbes, and a new fuel cell can tap their metabolism for electricity. This could power swimming robots.

App Obsession: Commute Greener!

Whether you live in the spacious, outlying suburbs of Los Angeles or find yourself squeezed in between briefcases and sports coats during rush hour in Manhattan, there's no doubt that every one of us leaves some type of carbon footprint as we travel from home to work. Perhaps the most common is the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the vehicles we drive and the taxis we take. The question is -- how much? We should definitely be conscious of the decisions we make during our commute and how it affects our planet. And with the Commute Greener! app, now we can. But smartphone users beware -- this app isn't only for vehicle or phone owners. Whether you utilize public transportation systems, walk, or ride your bike to and from work or school, this application, which is also available on the web, not only gives you an assessment of how green you are, but how you can continuously reduce your carbon footprint and encourage others to participate in the cause.

Ideal and convenient for spreading awareness about how our everyday decisions affect the earth, Commute Greener is a free application that you can download onto your phone as well as sign up for on the web. After creating an account complete with username and password, Commute Greener helps you track and reduce your carbon footprint in the following ways.

Grand Canyon Trails Mapped by Google Cameras

It's safe to say that Google maps are pretty awesome. They give you directions from destination A to destination B; you can see your house through Google Street View; and this option also enables you to traverse parts of the world from the comfort of your own home or smart phone by offering 360 degree panoramic views of places such as the Swiss Alps or Atlantis Space Shuttle. But it doesn't stop there. While Google Street View has given us the privilege of seeing an array of amazing geography during all hours of the day, they've taken their street level views to another level: allowing us to see the nooks and crannies of the planet unavailable by car or plane. . . beginning with the Grand Canyon.

And why not? As one of the U.S.'s most popular landmarks to visit and see from around the world, the Grand Canyon's depth and mileage are both an awe to witness and explore. But while its trails offer exceptionally beautiful scenery, it is only available to those hikers treading the paths--ones that are typically accessible solely by foot. However, Google's Street View camera is giving us the opportunity to partake in those majestic views by mapping some of the Grand Canyon's most popular trails.

Downsize Your Domain: 3 Simple Habits

Could you live in a 500-square-foot house? If the answer is yes, kudos! For the rest of us, it can be a struggle to consume less energy, buy less stuff, and keep the house clean and green. Fear not. This week, we'll show you how to simplify your life and maximize your space.

3 Simple Habits for a Smaller Footprint

 1. Own less.

Save $1,000 on Solar Panels

Does your rooftop look a little bare? With the Sierra Club's Solar Homes Program, it's easy to install solar panels and join the rooftop revolution.

Over 150 Californians participated in last year's Solar Homes pilot program. The result? It was the carbon equivalent of turning 150 1.5 average vehicle households into homes that were car-free.

Here's how the program works. For every home that goes solar, Sungevity will pay the Sierra Club $750. In addition, Sierra Club members will receive a deal on their solar service plus a $750 cash gift card. Sungevity offers various options to meet every household's financial goals.

If you go solar by October 31, you'll get a $1,000 cash gift card and Sungevity will give $1,000 to the Sierra Club.

What's the Best Way to Recycle Old Cameras?

Hey Mr. Green,

Digital photography has condemned a lot of beautiful film-based equipment to an uncertain fate. It is distressing to think that my two sophisticated SLRs and their associated lenses and paraphernalia could end up in a landfill. Is there any good alternative for this stuff?

—Gary, in Seattle

How sad indeed to see such gorgeous old photo equipment land in a dump with rotten garbage smearing their multiple lenses and oozing into their delicate inner chambers. It's a tragedy for all of us who loved to watch photographers wield their cameras, and later to enjoy the results of their alchemical magic in the haunting light of those mysterious darkrooms.

But take heart. There are a number of possibilities for recycling old film cameras. There are retro photographers who venerate the old equipment, just as there remain arty printers who still set type by hand and music lovers infatuated with old-fashion vinyl records. And there are also recyclers. Here are some suggestions to help find a respectable home for your cameras in their old age:

College: Drop Out or Stay In?

THE CASE FOR DROPPING OUT: Eden Full is saving the world without a degree 

By the time she arrived in Kenya, between her freshman and sophomore years at Princeton, Eden Full had already done the kind of hands-on work that can make a smart, ambitious student wonder whether getting a college degree is all that necessary.

It was the summer of 2010, and she'd come to Africa to test the SunSaluter, a clean-energy device she'd invented in the machine shop in her parents' basement while still in high school. The mechanism rotates solar panels to track the sun by using aluminum and steel strips and heat, rather than electricity, increasing the panels' efficiency by up to 40%.

In the isolated village of Mpala, Full met a woman who owned three solar lanterns but could power only two of them with her standard charger. So Full decided to build a solar charging station for the village and headed to the city of Nanyuki to buy parts. She returned a couple of days later to learn that the woman had been trampled to death by a water buffalo while collecting firewood at night without a light. The woman's husband had taken one of the family's working lanterns, and she'd left the other at home with her children. The third lantern remained uncharged.

"She left two kids behind," Full says. "If I'd gotten there earlier, I could have saved her."

In April 2011, Full learned that she had won a $100,000 Thiel Fellowship, which requires recipients to take a two-year hiatus from college to focus on their projects. She decided to leave Princeton and founded her own company, Roseicollis Technologies, to work on putting the SunSaluter to use in the developing world.

"College will always be there for me whenever I want to go back," says Full, now 20. "But what I'm doing has the potential to impact a lot of people and promote the use of solar. We need that more than anything."

How Green is Your Car's Oil?

How green can a fossil fuel possibly be? The answer lies in how often you change your engine's oil. Many people stick to the 3,000 mile rule when it comes to changing their vehicle's oil. Others change their engine's oil when the oil appears black (fact: it is still doing its job, despite its sooty appearance). The number of miles you can go between oil changes varies; it depends on the make and model of your car. CheckYourNumber.org helps you calculate how often you really need to change your oil. 

Changing your engine oil too frequently does not actually make your engine more efficient or extend its lifespan. In fact, all that does is drain your wallet and hurt the planet. CalRecycle reports that if all motorists in California changed their oil according the manufacturer's directions, 10 million gallons of oil would be saved every year. By taking two minutes (if that) to calculate how many miles you can drive between oil changes, you can reduce your use of fossil fuels, while saving yourself time, and money.

NOTE: CalRecycle's calculations are based on normal driving conditions. The CheckYourNumber.org website lets you know what it defines as normal driving conditions.

READ MORE:

Green Your Car: Improve Your Fuel Efficiency

Gas? Where We/re Going, We Don't Need Gas

Lose the Car, Lose the Weight

--By Laura Hayden/ image courtesy of iStock/tarasov_vl

How Green Is Apple?

UPDATE: After receiving complaints from customers, Apple has rejoined EPEAT. Robert Mansfield, senior vice president of hardware engineering, said in a letter on Apple's website, "We’ve recently heard from many loyal Apple customers who were disappointed to learn that we had removed our products from the EPEAT rating system. I recognize that this was a mistake. Starting today, all eligible Apple products are back on EPEAT."

Too many times, we buy fancy, flashy electronics without properly figuring out what they're made of and how we'll dispose of them when we're finished. The most basic question we should ask is, "is it green?"

Apple products, the popular kids in the electronics world, used to have the green certification from the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool. Apple recently requested that their products be removed from EPEAT's green registry.

EPEAT has a comprehensive rating system that identifies some of the more eco-friendly products on the market. To date, there isn't a computer that gets a perfect score. At the bottom of its list of notebooks is the NCS Magnus RNM 102, which is essentially an indestructible, massive briefcase of a computer made for people working in the dangerous field. The home or the office are not exactly places of maximum utility for this notebook. The NCS Magnus RNM 102 scores 13/27, total. A closer look at the EPEAT registry shows that even the top-scoring products aren't doing as well as they could be.