A 200-year old willow processing company has recently targeted the coffin business, and apparently had great success.

P H Coate & Son’s English Willow Coffins, from Somerset, England,  has started offering dead people an alternative to traditional wooden coffins. Some individuals are just bored by the same old wooden coffins, as if they died and have been buried in them too many times. Anyway, John Parfitt and company say willow is the more popular pick these days, because of it alluring aesthetics (cough!) and environmental reasons.

Willow coffins are hand-crafted by skilled willow basket masters (that explains why they look more like coffin-shaped baskets), using a traditional method, and clients have a selection to pick from. Environmentalist are going to go mad for these babies, but what about those artistic wooden coffins from Ghana, what happens to them?

Photos by Matt Cardy/Getty Images Europe via Zimbio

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Apparently, one of the globe’s biggest polluters has found an environment friendly alternative to plastic keyboards and mice.

Bamboo keyboards and mice are not exactly new on the market, and I’m sure you’ve come across all sorts of wooden peripheral concepts online. Jiangxi Bamboo Technology Development Co. Ltd., the only bamboo peripherals manufacturer in China, says their products have become increasingly popular at a national level, after they’ve been successfully exported to markets in Europe and America.

Production of bamboo keyboards and mice began in 2008, but until early 2009, they’ve only been shipped to foreign countries. But ever since franchised stores opened in Shanghai and Ningbo, China can’t get enough of its environment-friendly peripherals.

Judging from the photos, the Chinese aren’t stopping at just bamboo keyboards and mice, they’re taking it a step further, with bamboo encased LCD displays.

via Gadgetonian (photos by ImagineChina)

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Lolo, a black jaguar, originally from South America, enjoys her first press conference together with her adorable spotted cub. Looking at the first photo, you can see she’s just as surprised as you are.

She’s the mother, so we can’t really pin this abnormality on her being unfaithful. Believe it or not, it’s not the babies spots that are odd, it’s his mother’s pitch-black fur. Most jaguars have brown spots that help them blend better in their environment, but about 6% of them suffer from a genetic condition known as melanism, which causes them to be entirely black.

Lolo and her two-year-old cub live at the Yaduda zoo, in Jordan. The youngster’s father, Falah, was separated, so he wouldn’t hurt the cub. It’s pretty selfish of us humans to keep such extraordinary creatures in depressing conditions, simply for our entertainment.That little beast is adorable, but just thinking about the rest of his life in a zoo, instead of in the jungle, where he belongs, makes me feel depressed.

Photos by REUTERS via Daylife

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Jim Jablon used the skin of a dead alligator to create one of the strangest bikes ever seen on the roads of Florida.

Ironically enough, Jim Jablon’s ‘Gator Bike‘ was created using the skin of an alligator killed by authorities, but it’s now used to raise funds for a wildlife foundation. Alligator are constantly culled, in order to keep their numbers under control, and most of the skins end up pinned up in people’s yards. So Jim thought to put one to good use and get some exposure for his Wildlife Rehabilitation of Hernando (WROH) foundation. That’s basically how the Gator Bike was born.

The Gator Bike took Swedish leather expert Benny Ohrman a full year to complete. The skin and tail come of the bike, but the alligator head is fixed in place and has the speedometer and the rest of the gauges in the back of the head.

Jim Jablon decided to raise money for his foundation by organizing a raffle with the Gator Bike as the prize. A raffle ticket costs $100 and only 1,000 will be sold. The winner of the bike will be selected in May, in Fort Lauderdale.

It’s worth mentioning the Gator Bike comes with a powerful Ultima engine, and over $86,000 to make.

via Daily Mail

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Michael Paul Smith is an expert model builder who uses his talent to recreate different instances of the town he grew up in. Once again, I’d like to point out from the beginning that these photos are not “photoshopped”.

I know, they look so real, but I assure you they are only miniature models made of “of Gator board, styrene plastic, Sintra [ a light flexible plastic that can be carved, and painted ] plus numerous found objects; such as jewelery pieces, finishing washers and printed material”. They are just 1/24th scale, but by lining them up with the right environment, Michael Paul Smith managed to achieve a “legit” Photoshop effect.

Take a look and be amazed.

Flickr via Digg

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And the best thing is he posts a series of templates on his site, so you can build the same paper models, in the comfort of your own home.

Shunichi Makino, a Japanese designer who loves papercraft, has created a series of mindblowing replicas of spacecrafts and vehicles from famous sci-fi movies like Star-Wars, Star-Trek, Robocop, Iron-Man and more. Photos of every one of them are posted on his websites, together with detailed templates of how to build them.

Mister Makino says designing the elaborate paper models was a lot more difficult than actually building them. Putting the paper cut-outs together is the fun part.

via Gizmowatch

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I know I’ve said “you can turn anything into art”, but I never imagined someone could actually use household dust as material.

Paul Hazelton collects dust and manages to shape it into incredible works of art. The British artist says his affinity for dust might have something to do with his upbringing in a very clean environment. At one point n his life he noticed a layer of dust on a mask and realized he could pick it up. That was the beginning of an extraordinary dust-shaping career.

Paul works with ordinary household dust, which he gathers from furniture, hanging paintings, pictures, but never from vacuum cleaners. He stores the “precious” matter until he’s ready to mould it. Then he wets it, gives it the desired shape and carefully dries it.

It’s a painful process, but the 43-year-old dust artist loves it.

via Metro.co.uk

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A polar bear statue, carved out of a nine-ton block of ice and placed outside Copenhagen climate change conference center, sends a frightening environmental message.

Mark Coreth, the artist behind the Ice Bear Project created the sculpture in the hope of raising awareness to the melting of arctic ice due to increasing temperatures. A huge pool of water and the bronze skeleton of a polar bear is all that will remain as the ice statue gradually melts, revealing the fate of all real life polar bears, unless the global warming issue is addressed.

Coreth is urging all passers-by not only to look at the bear-sculpture, but also to touch it and help it melt, in the hope that more people understand how mankind “contributes” to the melting of the Arctic. Asked when his ice polar bear is going to completely melt, the artists said it is impossible to tell, just like nobody knows how long the Arctic will last.

Photos by XINHUA/ZHANG YUWEI

via People.com.cn

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Believe it or not, there are people out there who still live in caves and the weirdest part of it is, they actually enjoy it.

Curt Sleeper and his entire family have been living inside the cave they’ve appropriately named Caveland, for the last five years. Their unusual story begins back in December 2003, when Curt was searching for a commercial property on eBay and he stumbled across a cave, in the Fetus/Crystal City area, Missouri. I guess it’s true what they say, you can find anything on eBay.

Curt visited the property and fell in love with it on the spot. Where most others may see just an inhospitable environment, he saw a perfect home for his family, so he started working on it right away. The Sleepers used all their savings and inheritance money to build a comfortable house and the result is simply mind-blowing, as you can see in the pics below.

There have been some rough bumps for the sleepers, but the toughest time was at the beginning of 2009, when, due to the economic crisis, they couldn’t refinance their mortgage. Since banks weren’t interested in appraising an odd cave house, Caveland had to be put on sale on eBay, for $300,000. Fortunately, the Sleepers managed to find some long-term financing and they are still living in their unusual home.

via Caveland

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Developed by scientists from Waseda University, Kobian can show emotions, perform tasks and is could be the nurse of tomorrow.

Kobian can express seven human emotions using his entire body. To show happiness this amazing humanoid opens his mouth and eyes wide and raises his arms. When it is sad, Kobian closes its eyelids, bends forward a bit and brings one of its arms to the forehead.

Researchers first presented Kobian in 2008 but back then he could only express emotions using its head. Some people complained its reactions were hard to read, so they constructed a more expressive body. Now this amazing robot recognizes its environment and is able to perform tasks.

Designed to take care of the elderly, Kobian might just be the future of nursing.

Photos by AP

via Daily Mail

And it’s not just for show guys, people actually live in it!

Ever since he was a little boy, Simon Dale dreamed of having a house in the countryside. And even though he’s no architect, or even a construction worker, together with his father-in-law and the help of passers-by, Simon managed to build this amazing Hobbit House in just 4 months. Believe it or not this baby only cost around 3,000 pounds to build.

Though it looks absolutely incredible, aesthetics were not Mr. Dale’s primary concerns. He tried to make his dream home as environment-friendly as he possibly could and hopes he set an example for others. Simon Dale and his family actually moved into the Hobbit House, but they are not stopping here. Their next project involves building nine other similar houses in Pembrokeshire, Britain.

For more info check Simon Dale’s official website

Here are a few specifications of the Hobbit House:

”

• Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
• Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
• Frame of oak thinnings (spare wood) from surrounding woodland
• Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally and aesthaetically fantastic and very easy to do
• Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
• Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease
• Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture (compared to cement)
• Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
• Anything you could possibly want is in a rubbish pile somewhere (windows, burner, plumbing, wiring…)
• Woodburner for heating – renewable and locally plentiful
• Flue goes through big stone/plaster lump to retain and slowly release heat
• Fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations
• Skylight in roof lets in natural feeling light
• Solar panels for lighting, music and computing
• Water by gravity from nearby spring
• Compost toilet
• Roof water collects in pond for garden etc.”

The Heidelberg Project began in 1986 when Tyree Guyton and his grandfather Sam Mackey started painting houses in Detroit’s McDougall-Hunt neighborhood, which began to fall apart after the riots of 1967.

Guyton and Mackey painted the abandoned houses in bright colors and decorated them with salvaged items, similar to those used by Bogdan Litniansky for his trash house and garden, transforming it from one of the city’s most dangerous places, into a regular local attraction. The Heidelberg Project attracts over 270,000 tourists every year, making it one of Detroit’s most popular tourist destination.

The Heidelberg outdoor art environment project faced demolition twice since it was started, but Tyree Guyton and his supporters filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Detroit and managed to protect it. This year The Heidelberg Project celebrates its 23rd anniversary.

Tim Burke’s studio gallery – Detroit Industrial Gallery

The Heidelberg Project official site

Are you sad because you can’t afford to buy that Harley-Davidson chopper you’ve always dreamed of? That’s ok, the economic crysis hit us all hard, but don’t worry you can build a fine chopper yourself, like this guy did.

This Chinese dude proves to us all that if you want something really bad you can achieve it. He wanted a motorcycle, but he didn’t have the cash for a new one, so he built it from junk. It may not be the best-looking chopper you’ve ever seen, but it works, and that’s all that matters to this guy.

So if you can’t buy a bike, build it. It’s not easy but  people built greater things, like a home-made submarine, a back-yard rollercoaster and even an Ironman costum.

via POP.PCPOP.COM

Believe it or not the same Russian Greenpeace activist got busted by the police again, just days after the first incident.

If there’s one think I admire about the poor environmental activist who faced the Russian police a few days back, it’s his persistence. The man actually got released by the police andreturned in front of Moscow’s City Hall, tocontinue his protest to Russia building incineration plants.

Sadly for the Greenpeace guy he wasn’t more successful than the first time. The police came and picked him up again, this time in a smaller car, so they made him take out his trash-can costume to fit. Third time’s a charm maybe?

Well Greenpeace is definitely not the most loved organization in Russia.

I don’t know exactly what that adorable human trash can told those guys from the “OMOH“(Russian Police), but one thing is for sure, they didn’t like it. So they decided to throw the poor protester in their van and take him to the gulag (or is it police station these days?), the way police handles peaceful protesters in any other democratic country.

So if you’re a member of Greenpeace and want to raise awareness on pollution and other environment issues, don’t go to Russia. Unless of course you’re going dressed as a Playboy bunny, they love those.

via English Russia