I bet virtually all of you reading this post have a 5-10 year old child that you are looking to buy a gift for this holiday season. Whether you're a parent or an honorary "auntie" to your friends' kid, there is a child in this world to whom you want to show your love. If you are reading this post, I'm willing to bet you are also in love with all of the beauty of our home, Planet Earth. How to marry these two loves you ask? More...

-Sara Johnson, Sustainable Business Accounts Manager

Halloween can generate a lot of unnecessary waste and unsustainable behavior between the temporary decorations, cheap costumes, candy wrappers and parties.  Here are a few actions I've taken this week to make my Halloween festivities a little greener. More...

Community based classes are a great way to learn a new skill from another citizen at low cost. We've picked out the upcoming classes most relevant to eco-minded Twin Cities dwellers.

SUSTAINABILITY
Permaculture Research Institute
Plastering Strawbale Benches Help use clay plaster to finish the benches at the community garden. August 8 Free, RSVP
Permaculture Systems Workshop Participants must have completed the Intro to Permaculture Workshop or equivalent. Learn to manage organic matter, raise chickens, and capture water in a tour of the Welch Permaculture Gardens. A potluck follows, participants are also welcome to bring family and camp. August 29 $75 non-member
Gardening with Insects This 3 part lecture series will cover pest management, habitat, and attracting beneficial insects. $20 per lecture non-member

ARTS
Northern Clay Center
Hot Heat, Cold Treats Learn to craft a vessel from clay. $45 for 2 people August 8. Other classes offered are Beginner Pottery,  Ceramics 101, Dinnerware, The Anatomy of Japanese Pottery,  and more all offered in 10 week blocks. Cost: $250-$300 More...

Artist Helen Nodding creates tiny, hidden worlds among the loose bricks and sidewalk splits that are usually taken as signs of decay in our cities. With a change in scale, the nooks and crannies becomes destinations. See a world tucked beneath a floor and a wall crack turned countryside on her website Stories from Space. More...

Looking for a way to decorate your patio wall or a patch of ground? With a little coaching and watering, grow moss into shapes such as a poem, an eco statement, or animals.

Full instructions are on Instructables.

Image credit: Flickr/aaron13251 More...

Eco roofs, and their more visible cousins vertical gardens, are inspiring pieces of architecture which are usually difficult to view, since getting on top of a building is often prohibited or just a hassle. The California Academy of Sciences roof, pictured above, makes it a little easier to take in the benefits and beauty of rooftop greenery. Here is an entire photo gallery devoted to eco roofs of the world, and here is a Flickr pool.

Image Credit: Arex/CreativeCommons More...

Have you ever wondered what your neighborhood is doing to reduce its environmental impact? How about using a scavenger hunt to find out? We were surprised to find a home with solar panels that we'd never noticed right around the corner, but couldn't uncover a single rain barrel. Think you can photograph everything on this list? More...

On Art Mondays we bring you innovative, inspiring examples of artists working with and for the environment.

Sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor creates cement figures from models--including students and a BBC presenter-- and then places them underwater as artificial reefs, where sea sponges and worms can collect on the hard surface and attract fish and other underwater residents searching for a stable home. Check out the images of the works changing over time, it's both eerie and beautiful how the sea overtakes the forms.
One more image after the jump. All images courtesy Jason deCaires Taylor. More...

Are you ready for more sun and more fun in the great outdoors? So are we. To launch into summer, we're sending our June newsletter soon with free printable coupons for outdoor recreation and reminders of all the great deals in our book.

If you aren't signed up yet, enter your email in the box at upper right. We only send newsletters monthly.

Here's a sampling to get you interested. This Tizzi bathing suit by Kelly B is 65% bamboo and 25% organic cotton (with 8% spandex), and USA made. Order online ($130) from Nimli.

Image via Nimli. More...