Photo: Connect:Homes

Written by Matt Hickman, Mother Nature Network

There’s a new modern green prefab company on the scene gearing up to produce sleek, factory-built homes that no doubt possess a couple of deceiving, shipping container-ish traits including, most notably, an easy-to-transport nature and rectangular form.

But when it comes down to it, these modular beauties are anything but shipping container homes. In fact, the folks at just-launched Los Angeles-based Connect:Homes make a concerted effort to distance their product from the retrofitted shipping container home fad, claiming that “[shipping containers] contain a lot of toxic materials, are very difficult to re-purpose, and really aren’t meant for habitation.”

Founded by architects Jared Levy and Gordon Stott, two expats from industry heavyweight Marmol Radziner Prefab, the mission of Connect:Homes is to “deliver modern homes that are affordable, green, and available wherever your are.” The company is placing a big emphasis on that last aspect, widespread availability, as Connect:Homes will be the first prefab company capable of delivering modular homes completely through the standard intermodal network. That is, the homes can be seamlessly delivered to installation sites virtually anywhere via rail, ship or the industry standard, truck, without any hidden costs or logistical headaches.

What’s more, Connect:Homes’ innovative, patent-pending modular system cuts delivery costs by as much as 90 percent, and the homes are 90 percent completed (the industry standard hover around 50 percent) at the company’s Southern California factory prior to shipping, meaning that less time, energy and resources are wasted during the installation process. Electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems along with exterior and interior finishes and doors and windows are all taken care of, leaving only module-line seaming, utility hookups, and a few other details to be tackled during installation.

Keep up with the Craze: IdeaBox Unveils Energy Efficient Prefab Home

Photo: Connect:Homes

Explains Levy in a press release announcing the launch of Connect:Homes:

“We did not want to be limited by geographic location. There is a growing global demand for affordable green, energy‐efficient homes, but until now there hasn’t been a way to sell homes to national and international markets. Connect:Homes will change that, delivering our homes from factory to doorstep anywhere in the country with the same ease as any other major commodity.”

In terms of geographic location, the lovely renderings released by Connect:Homes prove that the homes look good just about anywhere, from woodland meadows to uber-dramatic hillside perches to suburban lots. The homes themselves will be available in nine different models that range from the 640-square-foot, one-bedroom Connect:2.1 to the Connect:8.4, a 2,560-square-foot abode that spans two levels and includes four bedrooms. In the middle are the Connect:5.2 and Connect:5.3, two- or three-bedroom configurations that measure 1,600 square feet. Prices for the homes start at $145 per square foot/delivered to $165 per square foot/installed.

More: A Prefab Home That’s… Fabulous?

On the green front, all steel-framed Connect:Homes are designed to attain LEED Silver certification out the door, with Gold and Platinum certification — and net-zero energy status — a possibility depending on additional bells and whistles added at the installation site. Standard green features in each home include LED lighting, recycled glass countertops, a high-efficiency water heater, water-conserving fixtures including dual-flush toilets, FSC-certified bamboo flooring, EnergyStar appliances, zero-VOC paints, finishes, and adhesives, a whole-house ventilation system, low-E windows, high levels of insulation, a fully recyclable, heat-deflecting cool roof, exterior wood siding and decking made from FSC-certified cedar, and much more.

Photo: Connect:Homes

Photo: Connect:Homes

Rooftop solar arrays, rainwater catchment systems, a hot water recycling pump, sliding sunscreens, trellises and a few other features are optional upgrades. And, of course, Connect:Homes’ factory building process is a highly efficient, low-waste affair that eliminates the massive amount of construction waste (8,000 pounds!) associated with traditional building by 75 percent. The install process itself is estimated to take less than two months with minimal site disturbance or the need for a massive crane.

Continues Levy:

“Our goal was to give consumers the high quality home that they desired at a price point that they could afford. The conventional building process is inefficient and the prefab industry does not currently deliver on its potential. We knew there must be a better, smarter way to build modern, sustainable homes that people could actually afford.”

Right on. Head on over to the Connect:Homes website for plenty more info, images and a mighty informative breakdown of the process of buying a Connect:Home. And although the company has yet to complete an actual home, a prototype Connect: 2.1 will be on display at Dwell on Design at the LA Convention Center from June 22 – 24. Be sure to check it out if you plan on attending this year. Post-Dwell on Design, the “pop up” home will also be open to the public somewhere in the L.A. area.

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Museum-quality passive house sells in Cleveland
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Californians recycled over 16 billion beverage containers last year, including water, soda and juice bottles. Photo: Flickr

California might be the most populous state in the country at nearly 38 million people, but it’s high recycling rates are still staggering.

According to CalRecycle’s Biannual Report of Beverage Container Sales, Returns, Redemption, and Recycling Rates, released last week, Californians recycled over 16 billion beverage containers in 2011.

The recycling rate stayed basically flat from the year before, but the California recycling program recovers one-fifth of all beverage containers that are recycled in the U.S. annually, Susan Collins, executive director of the Container Recycling Institute, tells Resource Recycling.

California’s recycling program made about $300 million last year recovering recyclable scrap – a much needed economic boost to a state that just reported a $16 billion deficit.

Check Out: 7 Ways to Make Money by Going Green

In the first half of the year, the state’s overall recycling rate was 86 percent. The second half of the year saw a drop in recycling to 79 percent. The year end drop, CalRecycle says, is a trend they see annually. That brings 2011’s overall recycling rate to 82 percent.

For a detailed rundown of California’s 2011 recycling rates by container type, view the full report. (PDF)

Related: San Fran Turns Transit Tickets into Trees

Rooftops make perfect homes for container gardens. So, if you're lucky enough to have rooftop access, make the most of it! Photo: Flickr/New Brunswick Tourism | Tourisme Nouveau-Brunswick

Taking part in the grow-your-own-food movement is not only a satisfying way to commune with Mother Nature but can also save you money and reduce your carbon footprint. Fresh-from-the-vine produce also tends to be tastier and better for your bod, especially when compared to supermarket picks that travel an average of 1,500 miles before arriving on your dinner table.

But if you live in an apartment, don’t have a yard or are otherwise limited by space constraints, growing your own food can seem next to impossible. Have no fear, aspiring locavore! Container gardening opens up a whole new world for the yardless gardener, where fruits and veggies flourish in everything from recycled coffee cans and milk containers to hanging baskets and window boxes. Check out Earth911′s quick and easy guide to container gardening, and enjoy a bountiful harvest no matter how little space you have.

1. Pick your produce

Virtually anything that can be grown in a garden can also be grown in a container. But most beginners underestimate the space needed to support fully-grown plants. So, be conscious of the space you have available when selecting your crops, and make sure to select a crop variety that is suited for containers.

If you live in a home or apartment with a small yard or patio, you can grow just about anything your heart desires, including large plants like tomatoes, eggplant, broccoli and squash. But be careful how many plants and seeds you buy. Each large plant will require its own container, at least 12-inches in diameter, to grow properly. Our advice: Purchase the containers first, and organize them on your yard or patio to give yourself an idea of how your “garden” will look. Ditch any extra containers that make the space too crowded.

Apartment-dwellers with a small balcony or fire escape can grow a veritable cornucopia of crops in medium-sized containers, including beets, carrots, onions and Swiss chard.

Get Creative: Grow Your Own Mushrooms with Coffee Grounds

If you don’t have any outdoor areas at all, stick to plants that can be grown in hanging baskets, such as cucumbers, peas and cherry tomatoes, and set up a few small containers along interior window sills and table tops. Spinach and lettuce both thrive in small pots, along with herbs like basil, chives, dill and thyme.

No matter how much space you have available, window boxes can provide a perfect supplement for your container garden. Both attractive and functional, window boxes make perfect homes for plants that require little to moderate root space. Units that hold 1 gallon of soil work best for cucumber (one plant), carrots (up to three plants) and green onion (up to five plants), while 2-gallon window planters can yield green beans, broccoli and turnips, according to the Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

For more tips on choosing the right crops for your container garden, check out these container gardening guides from the gardening gurus at the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and Cornell Cooperative Extension.

NEXT: Setting up your garden

Photo: Shutterstock

13 billion pounds of paper towels are used in the U.S. every year. If all Americans used one less paper towel a day, 571,230,000 pounds of paper would be spared over the course of the year. One man has a simple strategy to make it happen.

Joe Smith, former District Attorney for Oregon’s Umatilla County and former chair of the Oregon Democratic Party, unleashed these statistics during March’s TEDxConcordiaUPortland event in one of the most straight-forward TEDx talks we’ve ever stumbled upon.

The problems with paper towels are many-fold: they don’t contain significant amounts of fiber for recycling and when they’re dirty or wet, they degrade even further and become non-recyclable. And paper towels soaked in oils, pet or baby waste or other harmful substances should be steered clear of the compost pile.

We’ve come across quite a few paper towel alternatives before – simple terrycloth rags, fancy snapping towel sets and, not to be forgotten, the old wipe-your-hands-on-your-pants trick – but Smith’s strategy is devilishly simple and comes in handy in workplace and other public restrooms.

Fair warning: You’ll most likely never dry your hands again without thinking of this video:

Bridgestone plans to repurpose one old tire for every Bridgestone tire sold in the U.S. Photo: Flickr

You’ve seen the pictures and headlines: Tire dumps go up in flames, releasing toxic chemicals into the air while creating an environmental and aesthetic eyesore.

Bridgestone has seen the problem play out again and again, and that’s why they’re in the process of doing something about it. On Earth Day, the tire manufacturer introduced its newest plan to keep tires out of dumps, even after they’ve blown out or worn down.

The “One Team, One Planet” program will put one tired old tire to reuse for every tire purchased in the U.S. Recovered tires will be turned into new tires, shredded for athletic surfaces and roads and used as added fuel for power plants.

But they aren’t only collecting old tires if another was sold. Partnering with Portland-based River Network, an organization dedicated to protecting rivers and watersheds, Bridgestone allows the public to create its own community clean-up events. To organize a free event in one’s community, interested parties can visit the “One Team, One Planet” clean-up page to request Bridgestone’s presence.

The program is the first of several moves by Bridgestone to reduce its environmental impact. The company has made a pledge to reduce its CO2 emissions by 25 percent before 2020 and has contributed to biodiversity protection by taking special care of Bridgestone-owned land. The manufacturer says its environmental mission is “to help ensure a healthy environment for current and future generations.”

Want to learn how to recycle your tires without buying a new one? Visit Earth911′s Recycling Directory to find a tire recycling solution near you.

More Car Tips: Save $1,347 on Gas This Year

This may look like a tropical rainforest, but it's actually in the middle of the Arizona desert. Thanks to science and a good-old-fashioned love for Mother Nature, Ken Singh turned desert dirt into rich soil for his forest-like farm. Photo: Adrianna Craff, Earth911

Many of us think of composting as a way to control household waste. And while minimizing waste is one significant benefit of composting, gardeners can delight in another perk: Creating nutrient-rich food for plants and soil.

Don’t think compost can really make a difference for low-quality soil? Consider the story of Ken Singh, owner and operator of Singh Farms in Scottsdale, Ariz. When Singh first arrived on his plot in 2002, the soil was typical of Arizona’s deserts: hard, dry and clay-like. He calls the soil “the worst dirt I’ve ever seen.”

To solve the problem, Singh started composting on his farm in 2003 and began replenishing the soils depleted nutrients. Today, the plot is unrecognizable. Pale, sandy dirt is replaced with dark and healthy soil – so soft and moist it literally squishes beneath your feet. Lush forest canopy shades rows of vegetables, fruits and flowers – a stark contrast to the scorched earth surrounding the farm in Arizona’s Valley of the Sun.

So, how did Singh use composting to achieve such stunning results? Earth911 went on a tour of Singh Farms to get the low-down on some of his most successful composting methods and compiled this list of six things you should be doing to get the best quality compost for your home garden.

1. Do the math

Some folks have the notion that composting is only for “tree-hugging hippies,” but there’s actually a great deal of science and – gasp! – math involved in the process.

“What I work on is a carbon-nitrogen ratio, because that’s what makes energy,” Singh says. “If you don’t have that, you’re not cooking compost.”

Basically, the carbon-nitrogen, or C/N, ratio quantifies the amount of green and brown waste in your compost pile. If your compost mix is too low in nitrogen, it will not heat up and your scraps won’t decompose. If your mix has too much nitrogen, it may become too hot, killing compost microorganisms.

Learn More: Cheat Sheet: Composting

While the optimum ratio for your pile will vary based on soil composition, the usual recommended range for C/N ratios is about 30/1, according to Cornell University’s Waste Management Institute. The C/N ratio will decrease during the composting process as carbon is converted into CO2. A 10/1 ratio is typical of finished compost.

Not sure how to gauge the carbon and nitrogen content of your compostable waste? Check out Cornell University’s Waste Management Institute for tips on estimating carbon content.

NEXT: More need-to-know composting tips

Here are five ways the benefits of recycling can hit close to home:

Photo: Shutterstock

1. Creates Green Jobs

Recycling has become a major industry that reaches far beyond your average curbside pickup program. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2010 employment in green goods and services accounted for 3.1 million jobs in the United States. The green job potential grows exponentially the more communities invest in their own recycling efforts.

It’s easy to associate green jobs with what we see most often, such as curbside collection services, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot to do with recycling that goes on behind the scenes.

Once a recyclable material is collected, it usually requires processing to transform it into a valuable material that can be reused. From there, those refined materials get manufactured into new products made from recycled material.

None of these steps can take place without businesses and employees to collect, transport, process and manufacture recovered materials. When put in the context of the numerous types of materials collected, such as glass, plastics, paper and metal, it is easy to see how the potential for green jobs adds up.

Next: More Community Recycling Benefits

Photo: TrashOut

Illegal dumping is a growing problem in the U.S. and abroad. It’s difficult for agencies to keep up with the new dump sites that continue to pop up daily, but now any person with a smartphone can help.

The TrashOut app was developed like the Foursquare of waste reduction. Users can earn badges for reporting illegal dumping sites, taking pictures of waste, confirming dumping sites and cleaning up waste.

Know the Laws: Solid Waste

The app was developed in Slovakia, where over 130 illegal dumps were reported within the first two months of the app launch, according to the site.

TrashOut recently expanded to the Czech Republic and Croatia, and the company plans to expand worldwide. In the United States, the app is available as a free download for iPhone. The Android version is still in development.

The TrashOut app and website feature a Trash Map that shows nearby illegal dumping sites. Slovakia now has 375 reported dumping sites, most of which include user-submitted photos of waste. Dumping sites in the U.S. are still being compiled and verified and aren’t yet shown on the site’s map.

Make the Most out of Waste: 7 Ways to Make Money by Going Green

The site compiles its reports in the statistics column with a breakdown of illegal dumps by type. The leading European dump types are household, plastic, and glass.

By raising awareness of illegal dumping activities, TrashOut plans to assist with global waste reduction.

Here is a video from TrashOut explaining how the app works:

Organic waste is collected at Waste Management's Okeechobee Organics Recycling Facility from 42 Publix grocery stores in South Florida. Photo: Waste Management

This week is International Composting Awareness Week, and it’s the perfect time to reflect on how everyone – from families to major corporations – is taking composting more seriously. According to the EPA, North Americans generate more than 80 million tons of organic waste (food, yard and wood waste) each year, or one third of the total waste stream. And in the United States, approximately a third of municipal solid waste is organic.

This high volume of organic waste can be used as valuable material in lawn and garden supplements – and even renewable energy – through composting. Composting is one more example of how waste can be used as a valuable resource.

This week, we at Waste Management challenge you to get started composting, if you haven’t already. Earth911 offers some great tips for composting in your garden or even in the city. Consider yourself a composting guru? There are always ways to improve your family compost, including composting items you didn’t think were compostable.

According to Forrester research, 41 percent of consumers report an interest in or preference for purchasing from companies they perceive as “sustainable.” Some businesses have made the switch to composting due to this business advantage, and some are even incorporating such “Green” business practices due to customer demand. More and more restaurants, grocery stores and other companies in the food industry are beginning to explore innovations in composting each day.

One company who has launched a composting program, with help from Waste Management, is Whole Foods Market. This grocery store chain captures food and packaging wastes in eight of its Chicago-area stores, converting 80 percent of its waste into soil material for use in landscaping. These Whole Foods stores have recovered and repurposed more than 1,100 tons of food wastes to date, which means that they now divert approximately 90 percent of their waste from landfills.

The food service industry is not the only industry to take notice of composting. In fact, the green retail market, which includes organic composting, has been growing at a rate of 20 percent annually. Many companies, including Garick and Peninsula Compost Company, have emerged to profit from this growth in composting. Here at Waste Management, we’re also building our organic waste recovery facilities and investing in companies like Terrabon and Harvest Power.

Unlike traditional composting companies, Terrabon and Harvest Power are seeking to transform organic waste into renewable energy. This is an exciting new field of waste recovery and renewable energy, and we anticipate we’ll see more similar innovations in the future as companies and individuals continue to make composting a priority.

Eric Myers is director of operations for Waste Management’s Organic Recycling Solutions program.