Buy a sex toy, plant a tree

If you forgot to celebrate Earth Day this past Sunday, Black Label is giving you until May 31st — from now until then, this online sex toy retailer with a fabulous no-phthalates policy (which stocks only items from our favorite quality manufacturers, like Lelo, Fun Factory, and We-Vibe) says they’re committing to planting a tree for every rechargeable sex toy they sell. They’ve already made their operation 100% carbon neutral by voluntarily purchasing Voluntary Carbon Units (VCU) to offset the greenhouse gas emissions their company produces, but they’ve also partnered with Carbon Neutral to take that a step further:

Foraging for food in downtown Seattle

Foraging, or gathering edibles from wild plants, is something you do in rural or undeveloped places, right? Hardly a solution for urbanites looking for fresh food (unless you plan to eat a lot of dandelions). Well, not exactly: we’ve already seen how food justice advocates in Syracuse, New York have planned a forest garden just for such activity. In Seattle, community activists are planning something similar, but much bigger: when complete, the Beacon Food Forest will cover seven acres smack dab in the middle of the city, and be open to all.

Eco-fashion hits the runway in Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa? It may take you a second to place that city name, but, yes, it’s the capital of Ethiopia. Not exactly Paris, Milan, or New York, but the Hub of Africa Fashion Week event this week is a testament not only to Africa’s growing recognition of itself as a world economic force, and also to the idea that the continent is ground zero for many global environmental challenges. This week’s show incorporates both notions with its focus on eco-fashion.

Earth Day – uh! What is it good for?

Of course, the next line of Edwin Starr’s iconic anti-war anthem is “Absolutely nothing.” If you take a look at the incoming press releases I’ve received for the past month or so, you might conclude that’s an appropriate judgment for the current manifestation of Earth Day: brands and companies have latched onto it as their opportunity to show their commitment to the environment. If that “commitment” doesn’t involve addressing a company’s main environmental impact, well, you know, look the other way, and take one of these reusable shopping bags with our logo on it.

Green tech finds: the Earth Week edition

Thinking about gardening this weekend for Earth Day? Or disposing of that old computer responsibly? We’ve got information you’ll want as you celebrate the planet this week.

Need to relocate your garden into a sunny spot?: Or have an older relative who loves to garden, but has trouble bending over to dig in the dirt? The Garden on Wheels (above) works in both of these situations – it’s also a great solution for the urbanite with limited gardening space. (via Treehugger)

Earth Week Activity: Take a walk (like the rest of the world!)

It’s Earth Week again, and, more and more, we treat this event as a sort of green New Year’s Day: what changes can I make to benefit the natural environment? For many of us Americans, the answer could be as simple as “take a walk.”

It turns out that Americans walk less than the citizens of any other industrialized nation. Unless we live in dense urban centers, we drive to work, drive to the store, and often even drive to places to, well, take a walk. Despite this being the most natural of activities, we design it out of our daily lives: how many suburban subdivisions have sidewalks, much less stores, restaurants, and other destinations within walking distance. Shoot, we even speed it up when we have to do it: think of the moving walkways in airports.