Mokugift - Plant a Tree

I stumbled across this site called Mokugift and thought I should write a blog about this really cool idea. It's a basic idea, you log in to the site, pay $1 to send an e-card to someone for any kind of occasion. When the person receives the e-card, they are played an animation of a little bunny who plants a tree. But that's not where the magic is in this wonderful idea. Mokugift has teamed up with Trees for the Future as well as Sustainable Harvest to plant a tree for every donation you make.

The numbers are enormous and the cause is great. They don't just go and plant a tree just anywhere, they focus on tropical areas; "Mokugift plants Cocoa, Coffee, Banana, Orange, Cedar, Teak, Mahogany, Oak, Acacia, Eucalyptus, Laurel, and Leucaena. Overall, hardwood sequester more carbon, whereas softwoods sequester less, but benefit local communities with cash crops and sustainable lifestyles." Looking up the numbers on the Sustainable Harvest site as well as the Trees for the Future site and you can see that with the help of Mokugift these fine organizations are helping in phenomenal ways and have already planted more then 2 million trees.

So this holiday season why not give a gift that also helps the environment and head on over to Mokugift and see what they are all about!

Top 10 LEED Homes

In this post I will highlight the top 10 USGBC LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) homes based on design and efficiency. The LEED hype is in full swing and more and more houses and even large scale condominiums and apartments are popping up all over the nation, this Friday post will showcase some of the top 10 designs. Im a sucker for clean lines and minimal interior design. Now a good interior designer will use native plants and colors that are in tune to the area of the building, but an even better designer will focus on the environmental impact in both building materials and energy costs. I have scoured the internet for some of the nicest LEED qualified homes, I hope you enjoy the images and if you have any suggestions on other LEED qualified homes please drop me a comment or an email and let me know where to find info on them. Have a good weekend everyone!

10. Lexus Hybrid Living, Santa Monica, California
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9. Architecture of Kieren Timberlake
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8. Hi'ilani House, Big Island, Hawaii
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7. Pasadena Eco House, Pasadena, California
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6. Spa Hotel in the Desert, Palm Springs, California
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5. Project7ten, Venice, California
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4. 32nd Street
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3. Margarido House
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2. IT House
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1. The Lucida
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