The top ten posts of the week, from singing frogs to doing laundry
It was an odd week, like an old hippie edition of TreeHugger with rocket stoves, tiny get-off-the-grid trailers, natural cleansers and washing by hand. The top two posts of the week took me back to my childhood.
10. This stunning micro-car could be the poster child for the Slow Car Movement© RM Auctions
Even the top car post of the week harkened back to an earlier, simpler era when cars were light, cheap and deadly. However a case can be made that perhaps if more cars were like this, we would drive more slowly and more carefully.
9. Small rocket stove makes for an efficient offgrid or camping stove© EcoZoom
This post took off like a rocket, proving once again that TreeHugger readers are looking for real solutions, and that our commenters often know a lot about the subject. When one complained that TreeHugger had an obsession with combustion, others leapt to our defence, noting that rocket stoves are close to the very best in clean burning.
8. Seamly makes super versatile garments from salvaged fabric© Seamly.co
We love transformer furniture, so why not transformer clothing?
It all started with the idea for a garment that could be worn many ways: as a dress, a skirt, a blouse, a wrap. In fact, the Versalette can be worn 30 different ways.
7. Eco-friendly laundry: 11 Low-tech and simple methods for washing clothes more sustainablylemuelinchrist/CC BY 3.0
We're learning all kinds of low tech things about our tech writer Derek, who has spent some time in a tiny home trying to live in a simpler and more sustainable manner.
Some of the ways we dealt with laundry weren't so much about washing clothes, but about needing to wash clothes less often, and to use less energy and water to do so.
6. Composer makes great music using only his bike as an instrument (video)Johnnyrandom/Vimeo/Screen capture
The artist known as Johnnyrandom describes himself as a "sound composer and music designer". He turns everyday objects into musical instruments and builds songs from the various sounds that he extracts from those improved instruments.
This one is entirely on a bike.
5. Why candy racks need to disappear from the supermarket checkoutJeff Adair/CC BY 2.0
It's the rant of the week as Katherine complains about how grocery stores torture children and parents by putting all this candy in their face while waiting in the checkout line. Most of the 44 comments complain that she should just say no. I think 43 of these commenters have never had kids.
Are we perversely trying to build up kids’ self-resistance by exposing them to candy while expecting them to withstand its allure? Imagine how inconsiderate it would be to line the walls of an AA meeting with bottles of booze.
4. Restored vintage COMET Camper is a cost-effective, mobile eco-home (Video)© Mariah Pastell
Here is the first of a twofer of tiny houses that Kim found this week. This one is wonderful, a green retro restoration of a camper trailer Mariah Pastell bought for five hundred bucks.
3. Student designed 70 sq. ft. living pod can be towed with regular car (Video)© REED Green Mountain College
And a more modern version:
Designed and constructed by sixteen students, the OTIS (which stands for Optimal Traveling Independent Space) is an aerodynamic, pod-shaped design, made to be towed on a standard 5 by 8 foot trailer and a four-cylinder vehicle. It has its own rainwater collection system that feeds into the indoor plumbing, in addition to the 120-watt solar panel system to provide electricity. To handle human waste, the OTIS uses a composting toilet.
2. 12 uses for coconut oil on your body and around the house
Saturday Night Live/Screen capture
Some of the uses Katherine finds, from whipped lotion to stain remover, just made me think of Chevy Chase pitching Shimmer on Saturday Night Live, with Dan Ackroyd and Gilda Radner screaming " It's a floor wax! No, it's a dessert topping!" I include it here for your enjoyment.
1. Frogs singing in Malaysian swamp at dusk judged to be 'most beautiful sound in the world'
© Warner Brothers
Similarly, Mike's post on the singing frog just had me humming "Hello My Baby".