Old fishermans shack is reimagined as a dreamy eco retreat

Eco-conscious couple Jamie and Ingrid Kwong have breathed new life into an old fisherman’s shack by transforming the dilapidated structure into a cozy, environmentally-friendly getaway. Located on Pittwater’s Mackerel Beach in New South Wales, Australia, The Little Black Shack is a restorative retreat that offers complete immersion in nature with minimal site impact. The house was reconstructed by hand with recycled materials and lovingly furnished with secondhand items.

Local fishermen originally hand-built the shack around the 1930s. The couple, who lived nearby, had admired the shack for over 20 years and finally jumped at the chance to buy the property when it was put up for sale in 2013. The building was in poor condition with termite-damaged wood, but the couple was undeterred in fixing up the shack and spent the next 18 months with family and an eco-minded builder to completely restore the shack by hand.

“Our aim is to give our guests a relaxing and restorative experience in our sustainable little patch of paradise by giving them everything they need, whilst taking very little from the environment,” the couple explained. “By the end of their stay, our guests tend to take a lot less for granted too. If you want real stars, wildlife, peace, quiet and a place to connect with and appreciate nature and each other, you might want to jump on the old wooden ferry ‘Myra’ and cross Pittwater to Mackerel Beach.”

Related: Decrepit lumberjack shack transformed into a beautiful retreat with minimal site impact

The Little Black Shack was rebuilt with recycled and repurposed materials as part of the owners’ desire to reduce their impact on the environment. Instead of air conditioning, the property relies on natural ventilation and passive heating supplemented with a hand-built, sandstone open fireplace. The paints used throughout the home are all-natural, water-based and VOC-free. Rainwater is also harvested and reused; during times of drought, a desalination system is used to turn salt water into purified fresh water. The couple hopes to take the Little Black Shack completely off the grid in the future. The idyllic retreat is available for rent; for a closer look inside, follow their Instagram.

+ The Little Black Shack

Images by Luisa Brimble

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8 tiny homes built tough for off-grid living

Many people mistake tiny homes for delicate structures that provide a minimal amount of space for simple living. But these modern tiny homes are proving that they can be just as resilient as any traditional home twice their size. Check out eight tiny homes that are built to withstand brutal climates and rugged landscapes while still offering residents the sustainable option of off-grid living.

NestHouse offers charm and energy efficiency

Designed by Jonathan Avery of Tiny House Scotland, the beautiful NestHouse is a sustainable and energy-efficient tiny home. Hidden behind its endearing Scandinavian aesthetics, the home boasts impressive off-grid options like passive ventilation and solar.

Related: This mini caravan with a telescopic roof is the stuff of off-grid dreams

Payette Urban tiny home runs on solar power

TruForm Tiny has made a name for itself by crafting made-to-order tiny homes, and the Payette Urban is one of our favorite models. The tiny home is as big on design and comfort as it is on energy efficiency. The house can utilize solar or wind power, offering residents more flexibility for their energy source.

Father and son build tiny off-grid cabin in Wisconsin

When Bill Yudchitz and his son, Daniel, decided to bond over a tiny home project, they did not realize that the result would be so spectacular. The duo created a contemporary 325-square-foot home designed with minimal impact on the landscape. Installed with various sustainable technologies such as solar lanterns and a rainwater harvesting system, the light-filled home is a great example of tiny house design done right.

$33K hOMe offers off-grid luxury on wheels

It’s not often that a tiny home is considered luxurious, but this house is the exception. Built by Andrew and Gabriella Morrison, hOMe is a 221-square foot tiny house built to go off the grid with solar connections and a composting toilet. The structure can be mounted on a flat-deck trailer, allowing homeowners to tow and set up their homes virtually anywhere.

Tiny flat-packed homes provide affordable housing

Architect Alex Symes developed this flat-pack off-grid home as a solution to expensive city housing. Built with low environmental impact materials, Big World Homes are powered by solar energy and include rainwater harvesting systems. The homes can also increase in size with additional modules.

World’s most active volcano harbors tiny off-grid home

Located at the base of Mauna Loa volcano next to Kilauea, the tiny 450-square-foot Phoenix House — designed by ArtisTree — is a very cool Airbnb rental with some incredible eco-friendly features, such as solar power and a rainwater harvesting system. Built with recycled materials, the home is part of a local regenerative, off-grid community compound.

Zero-energy retreat has a near-invisible footprint

COULSON architects’ Disappear Retreat stands out for its ability to disappear from sight… and the grid. Built to Passive House Standards, the 83-square-foot mirrored home boasts a near-invisible footprint. According to the architects, the prefabricated retreat was strategically designed for “triple-zero living”: zero energy, zero waste and zero water.

Old-fashioned caravan home is 100% self sustaining

This hand-built caravan tiny home proves that sometimes state-of-the-art technology isn’t needed to get completely off the grid. Built by the father and son team known as The Unknown Craftsmen, the Old Time Caravan is crafted from reclaimed wood and relies on natural light to illuminate the interior.

Images via © Jonathan Avery of Tiny House Scotland; TruForm Tiny; Revelations Architects/Builders; Tiny House Build; Big World Homes and Barton Taylor Photography; ArtisTree; COULSON architects and The Unknown Craftsmen

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Abandoned NYC warehouse is reinvented as LEED Gold-certified apartments

A new apartment complex infused with nature has taken root in New York City’s concrete jungle. Local design firm COOKFOX Architects completed 150 Charles Street, a residence that takes over the abandoned Whitehall warehouse on the Hudson River waterfront. Designed to blend in with the existing urban fabric, the modern building also boasts a low environmental footprint and LEED Gold certification.

Located in the West Village, 150 Charles Street offers 91 residential units — including 10 individual three-story townhouses — on an approximately one-acre lot. Built to incorporate a pre-1960 warehouse, the building preserves the warehouse streetwall and the original material palette of concrete, brick and glass. Greenery is embedded throughout the building from the lush central courtyard to the cascading planted terraces and green rooftops that overlook waterfront views for a total of 30,000 square feet of landscaped space. Dirtworks, PC led 150 Charles Street’s landscape design.

“Incorporating ideas of biophilia — our inherent connection to the environment — access to nature throughout the building is related to themes of prospect (wide, open views) and refuge (safe and protected interior spaces),” COOKFOX Architects wrote. “150 Charles combines the best of the West Village townhouse garden view and the waterfront high-rise river view with cascading terraces designed as a ‘fifth façade.’”

Related: Sneak a peek inside Pacific Park’s first greenery-enveloped residences in COOKFOX’s new video

In addition to abundant greenery that features native and adaptive species, the apartment complex earned its LEED Gold certification with a variety of energy-efficient and resource-saving features. The team reduced construction waste and used locally sourced, recyclable and recycled building materials. The building is wrapped in a highly insulated envelope and fitted with smart building systems to optimize energy use. The units are equipped with Energy Star appliances. Rainwater is harvested and is reused as landscape irrigation. The outdoor air is also filtered for 95 percent particulates.

+ COOKFOX Architects

Images by Frank Oudeman

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American Express to offer credit card created with upcycled ocean plastic

Plastic is part of so many products in our day-to-day lives, from obvious ones like plastic bags to ones you may not often think about, like your plastic credit card. American Express plans to offer the first credit card ever made with ocean plastic in a collaboration with Parley for the Oceans. The company is also committing to reduce single-use plastics in its operations worldwide.

We’re collaborating w/ @parleyxxx to combat marine plastic pollution. Learn abt our plans to introduce an Amex Card made primarily from plastics recovered from the ocean & our journey to reduce single-use plastic globally https://t.co/tAWsHPjWES #AmexLife #KeepItBlue #AmexParley pic.twitter.com/7WdNeGBz3H

— American Express (@AmericanExpress) June 7, 2018

American Express’s ocean plastic card will be manufactured primarily with recovered plastic from coasts and the oceans and is intended to raise awareness of ocean plastic pollution. In a press release, the company said the card is a prototype at the moment, but could be ready for the public in around 12 months.

Related: Adidas unveils a Manchester United jersey created with ocean plastic

Parley’s Avoid, Intercept, Redesign (AIR) philosophy is also inspiring an American Express corporate pledge to “limit single-use plastics, intercept plastic waste and redesign existing materials and plastic products.” American Express provided six steps it will take, including phasing out single-use plastic straws and stirrers for Centurion airport lounges and major offices in about a month, and phasing out single-use plastics for the airport lounges by the end of 2018. It will also undertake annual company-run river and coastal clean-ups. American Express aims to lower virgin plastic in card products, and create what it described as a comprehensive waste reduction strategy to up recycling rates and cut single-use plastic in its operations by the end of 2018. Finally, the company will pursue a zero waste certification by 2025 for its New York City headquarters.

“Every second breath we take is created by the oceans,” Parley for the Oceans founder Cyrill Gutsch said in a statement. “Without them, we can’t exist. American Express is creating a symbol of change and inviting their network to shape a blue future, one based on creativity, collaboration and eco-innovation.”

+ American Express

+ Parley for the Oceans

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New study suggests that plastic waste may be transformed into usable energy

A new study from the Earth Engineering Center (EEC|CCNY) at the Grove School of Engineering of the City College of New York suggests that plastic waste can effectively be converted into usable fuel and energy rather than being dumped in a landfill or polluting the ocean. Researchers found that the addition of non-recycled plastics (NRPs) to a chemical recycling process known as gasification results in the production of crude oil-based fuel. It also reduces pollution, both plastic and emissions, in contrast to traditional methods of disposing of plastic waste, such as incineration or dumping.

Plastic is a product derived from crude oil and, as such, contains significant latent energy that can be harnessed using the right technology and technique. “This study demonstrates that because carbon- and hydrogen-rich plastics have high energy content, there is tremendous potential to use technologies like gasification to convert these materials into fuels, chemicals and other products,” study co-author Marco J. Castaldi told Phys.org. As concerns rise over plastic pollution, scientists are looking to reframe plastic as a resource rather than waste. “Plastics have an end-of-life use that will be turning waste into energy, which is something we all need and use,” study co-author Demetra Tsiamis told Phys.org.

Related: UN releases first “state of plastics” report on World Environment Day

Gasification uses air or steam to heat plastic waste. This results in the creation of industrial gas mixtures called synthesis gas, or syngas. This syngas can either be converted into diesel and petrol or burned directly to generate electricity. This process is preferable to incineration of plastic waste because it allows for the storage of potentially usable energy that otherwise would be wasted through incineration. Gasification is also better for air quality, producing much lower levels of sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions.

+ Earth Engineering Center

Via Phys.org

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UN releases first "state of plastics" report on World Environment Day

The United Nations has released its first-ever global plastics report on June 5th, World Environment Day. Well-timed and thematically coordinated, the UN “state of plastics” report debuted for this year’s theme, “Beat Plastic Pollution.” Officially named Single-Use Plastics: A Roadmap for Sustainability, the report documents the efforts of more than 60 countries to fight plastic pollution by implementing bans or taxes on single-use plastic items, concluding that such policies are the most effective means to reduce plastic usage. “The assessment shows that action can be painless and profitable — with huge gains for people and the planet that help avert the costly downstream costs of pollution,” head of UN Environment Erik Solheim wrote in the report. “Plastic isn’t the problem. It’s what we do with it.”

In addition to assessing policy solutions, the report also outlines the current state of plastic recycling and disposal. According to the report, only 9 percent of plastic is recycled, while 79 percent of all plastic ends up in landfills, garbage dumps or in the natural world. Twelve percent is incinerated, resulting in pollutants that enter the atmosphere and affect environmental health. Of particular concern is the use of plastic bags, which often block water ways, provide disease-spreading insects with a place to breed and harm wildlife.

Related: Pilot whale dies in Thailand with more than 17 pounds of plastic in its stomach

Of the countries that have implemented plastic bag bans or taxes, 50 percent were not able to provide data to effectively evaluate the policy impact. Thirty percent of the total countries reported that their policies reduced the use of plastic bags within a year of implementation, while 20 percent said that their policy changes had little effect. This lack of impact may be due to poor enforcement or simply that consumers don’t have access to affordable alternatives. The report highlights the success of Morocco, in which an enforced ban resulted in the seizure of 421 tons of plastic bags and a near-total replacement of plastic bags with fabric. The report recommends that bans and taxes be supplemented with improved waste management, a circular plastic production and consumption model, and financial benefits dispersed to businesses and consumers to encourage the development and adoption of plastic alternatives.

+ UN Environment

Via Ecowatch

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