Sunday afternoon, this used to always be the one time of the week I’d put aside a few hours to dive into the Sunday papers. I guess I still do that but now it’s with a keyboard and a mouse. Not the same but certainly more environmentally friendly. Welcome to Vol 2 of the Green Gazette where I scour the net for a selection of green appetizers for your perusal.

I wanted to lead off with this story that really made me feel positive about the sense of global responsibility that sustainable solutions is generating.  Germany has pledged a 13 year financial commitment to Ecuador of some $650 million to help preserve the South American nation’s remaining rainforest. This (of course) is crucial as the nation has less than 1% of it’s original rainforest remaining. The threat, in this instance is to cease oil development in the region. A double win courtesy of Germany making a giant commitment.

It’s nice to see (and no shock) that a sense of competition is raising the stakes in terms of ambitous green projects throughout the globe. In this instance the US and China are arm wrestling over who might complete the world’s largest solar plant in the coming years. China had pole position until a larger construction was planned for California. Not to be outdone, China (the worlds biggest polluter) has cleared the way to construct an even larger complex. The plant upon completion will provide power to over 3,000,000 Chinese homes. China have made ambitous commitments to CO2 reduction for future generations so one can’t help applaud steps such as these. Nothing like a touch of national ego to drive the environmental cause further forward. More of this please!

Back to Germany for story three and something a little smaller scale but still worthy of course. Take a look at this nifty little urban houseboat named the ‘Schwimmhaus’ (no translation required I’ll assume, if so email me). It not only looks modern and of course floats but it is made entirely from reclaimed wood and sustainable materials. Add on the green roof and you’ve got a buoyant green idea that I confess to liking. As a kid I always wanted to live on a barge and traverse the canals of England….the nearest I got was sometimes helping the lock keeper man the gates. How about a canal comeback? That would be green, you can move tons of material for very low cost and energy use. That’s right we had that with our rail network but insist on moving goods via truck. Time for using what we already have!

I’m going smaller again right  now (bet you thought I couldn’t) and wanted to shine the light on Clementine Art. A novel art company out of Colorado who make a beautiful range of art supplies for children that are eco-friendly in every sense of the word. Please check their site for other products but it’s all about the crayons for me today. (Why…because I tripped on one in the hall last night left there by an art minded youth of the household). The crayons are soy based, come in recycled packaging and I believe shaped like a soybean plant. Though that might be me getting all conceptual.

Thanks for browsing, I’ll be back during the work week.