Wine and gift bags for the holidays

Visit Threadventures Embroidery to find out more about wine and gift bags.

Aptera's Super-MPG Electric Typ-1 e is a cool, environmentally friendly car

Visit Aptera for more information about this really cool car.



The Typ-1 uses a commoditized, 'ruggedized' 3-phase motor controller designed for vehicular applications, and a 3-phase motor made by a company in Southern California. The rear drive suspension, and the drive reduction, are all designed and made by Aptera. Since the Typ-1e (electric) and the Typ-1h (series plug in hybrid) have different battery needs, this may result in different battery manufacturers for the two models. The Typ-1e is designed to use a 10 KWh pack, while the Typ-1h uses a smaller pack. The cycles and DOD are different for both applications. They will announce further information regarding the battery lifespan and warranty policy well before they begin manufacturing the Typ-1 next October.





Diesel or Gasoline? The first prototype, the Mk-0, was a parallel hybrid Diesel and achieved an average of 230 MPG at a steady state of 55 MPH. This was pure Diesel/mechanical drive with no electric assist. Diesel is attractive for its Carnot efficiency and the increased enthalpy of Diesel fuel vs gasoline. However, diesel contains lots of unburned hydrocarbons and NOX compounds, and it's impossible to get a small Diesel engine certified for emissions in California. Therefore, the typ-h uses a small, water-cooled EFI Gasoline engine with closed loop oxygen feedback and catalytic converter. This engine is coupled to a lightweight 12KW starter/generator. It's very clean and quiet.
*All info comes from the Aptera website.

Sweet sorghum as the next great fuel?

Pass the biscuits and fill up the car.... ~Corey



The hardy sweet sorghum plant could be the miracle crop that provides cheap animal feed and fuel without straining the world's food supply or harming the environment, said scientists working on a pilot farming project in India.

"We consider sweet sorghum an ideal 'smart crop' because it produces food as well as fuel," William Dar, Director General of the non-profit International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) said in a statement.

Sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is the world's fifth largest grain crop after rice, corn, wheat and barley.



Read the entire story HERE.

Earthships- Architecture for the Planet

Earthship n. 1. passive solar home made of natural and recycled materials 2. thermal mass construction for temperature stabilization. 3. renewable energy & integrated water systems make the Earthship an off-grid home with little to no utility bills.

Biotecture n. 1. the profession of designing buildings and environments with consideration for their sustainability. 2. A combination of biology and architecture.


"self contained dwellings that will sail on the seas of tomorrow"


". . . the Earthship is probably the model of a sustainable home unrivaled in the modern world."


Earthship Biotecture, based in Taos, NM, USA is a global company offering proven, totally sustainable designs, construction drawings & details, products, educational materials, lectures / presentations, consultation & guidance toward getting people in sustainable housing. From single family to colony / community / city complexes.



Learn more about Earthship homes at Earthship Biotecture.

See videos about the Earthship home on YouTube.

Funky, Interesting Stuff by Bleijh

Electric Car

Giant Downtown

Sandwich Bike


Fruit Bowl

The ideas of Bleijh concepts & design directly relate to the emotions experienced by people during their everyday lives while ; walking, sitting, cycling or driving. Using a Bleijh product is self explanatory.

Visit the Bleijh website

Bamboo, bamboo...All the things to do with bamboo

My friend Chad Schott, of Drumzrguruven, makes his rainsticks and didgeridoos from bamboo. He cleans out the dead plants to keep a garden or a wild patch of it healthy and is fully aware of all the wonderful things it can do. I would love to see it become a greater part of our usage to replace things that don't grow as fast and don't have as much versatility.

~C.S. Webbspun

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This is part of an article from the New York Times. Click on the NYTimes to read the rest of the story.


BAMBOO is a versatile, ancient plant that shows up in creation myths as well as in pots on Manhattan terraces. It comes in clumping varieties that behave themselves and running “timber” types that spread by rhizomes — great for a grove, but not so good when they are planted as a property screen that escapes into a neighbor’s yard.

But it’s that very vigor that has environmentalists hailing bamboo as the new “It” plant for saving the earth.

Bamboo is a workhorse at sequestering carbon dioxide and pumping out oxygen. It is a tough plant that manufactures its own antibacterial compounds and can thrive without pesticides. And its porous fibers make a cloth that breathes and is as soft as silk. In fact, there is such a stampede of fabric designers to China and Japan, where it is farmed and processed — no such industry exists in the United States — that in its May issue, National Geographic predicted that “this upstart fabric may someday compete with King Cotton.”