Georgia's eco-island where bats control mosquitoes

Mother Nature Network's Destination of the Week is Little St. Simmons Island, Georgia.

This private island off-grid resort only allows 32 overnight guests.

As one of only two Green Globe 21 Benchmarked properties in the U.S., LSSI’s commitment to low-impact lodging exceeds standard leave-your-bath-towel-on-the-floor-if-you-want-it-laundered practices:

- Three of the guest houses, Tom House, Cedar House and River Lodge, feature geothermal HVAC systems.

- Rain barrels are a common site throughout the island.

- The recycling/composting program is comprehensive.

- You won’t find a single plastic water bottle on the entire island since guests are provided with their own Camelback reusable bottles.

- To keep a somewhat notorious bug population at bay, the island has instituted an eco-friendly, larvicide-based mosquito control program. However, if you’re skittish around bats take heed: There are bat houses in place to help keep the mosquito population in check.

Read the full story: Little St. Simmons Island, Georgia

Photo by Matt Hickman

Recycle old products into travel essentials

MSNBC reports on 10 recyclables that you can reuse during your travels.

For example an egg carton (picture right) can be used to store jewelry. Old nylons can hold together a suitcase or used as a shower exfoliator.

Read the full story: 10 travel essentials you can find in the trash

Picture from Kindergarten Kidz website. This Arizona kindergarten makes crafts out of old containers and bags.

Food recycling mandatory now in SF

NPR reports on the new law in San Francisco that makes recycling food scraps mandatory.

It's the first program of its kind in the nation [that requires all businesses and residences to recycle organic waste], and so far, it's a mandate San Franciscans seem to relish. In fact, many residents and landlords began implementing the law before it took effect, using their city-provided food recycling bins to separate waste.

"It doesn't smell so bad," says Linda Corso, the the Cathedral Hill Plaza apartments manager. "Our trash room doesn't stink like it used to."

That's because none of the wet garbage, the food waste, goes down there anymore, Ms. Corso says. Instead, food scraps go into sealed compost bins that get picked up by the city. Corso says the program has significantly trimmed the building's garbage costs.

"We used to have two bins picked up every day," she says. "Now we're down to one bin every day. So we've cut that in half."

Read the full story: Food recycling law a hit in San Francisco

Photo from Recology

From old flip-flops to art in Kenya

Global Post reports on recycled flip-flops turned into art in Kenya.

Old flip-flops wash up onto Kenya's beaches from all over the world. A company was formed to make this rubbish into saleable art like: "crazily striped rhinos, elephants and lions looking like mini psychedelic safaris."

Read the full story: Turning flip-flops into art

Cars to run on used clothing?

Reuters video reports on bio-fuel made from old clothing.

Swedish engineers have created a chemical process that breaks down cotton and synthetic fabrics into bio-fuel (ethanol and methane) which could fuel vehicles.

The scientists claim that this process uses less energy than extracting from plant sources and "50 percent more ethanol is produced."

Watch the report below:

Plastic waste becomes fashion

Reuters video reports on plastic bag restructuring into fashion handbags in Manila, Philippines.

Watch below:

Vatican to make toys out of x-mas tree

Reuters reports on the Vatican's Christmas tree.

This year the tree is from Austria and over 108 feet (33 meters) tall; the tallest tree ever to grace St Peter's Square.

And this tree will be recycled into children's toys as another way of the Vatican's continuing intentions of going green:

Last summer Ecotravel News noted that the Pope urged Australians to change their lifestyles to help save the environment.

The Vatican has also gone carbon neutral and recently installed solar panels on its roof.

Read the full story: Big Vatican Christmas tree to be recycled into toys

Japanese eco-products

Reuters video reports on the Eco Products expo in Japan.

Innovative recycling technologies for newspaper bricks, eco-toilets, and small solar panels among others were displayed.

Watch below:

Fly to Stockholm, overnight in plane hostel

CNN reports on the old 747 plane that has been turned into a novel hostel at Stockholm's Arlanda airport.

Swedish hostel developer, Oscar Dios, created the Jumbo Hostel (picture above) from an old Transjet Airways Boeing 747:

"'We were looking to expand the [hostel] business but it was more or less impossible to find reasonably priced housing at the airport. And you cannot build a new house and run a hostel because it is too expensive,' he said."

Jumbo hostel will have space for 85 guests (the original configuration had 350 seats) priced from 110 Euros ($150) for a three-person suite to 500 Euros ($700) for the cockpit suite, and is scheduled to open in December 2008.

Read the full story: Airplane hostel prepares for lift-off

County fairs turning green?

The Washington Times reports on the latest trend hitting county and state fairs, no it's not new foods-on-a-stick, it's going green.

But going green at places like the Illinois State Fair so far means using paper cups instead of styrofoam. And the donut vendor who does this "green" act, from a plastic and incandescent light covered trailer no less, is up for the inaugural Green Vendor Award.

The fair did introduce plastic bottle recycling bins last year however they aren't as available as trash bins.

"This year, the [Illinois] state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity set up kiosks throughout the grounds promoting conservation. They have calculators where people can enter numbers to determine their impact on the planet and learn how to minimize it."

California and Washington State are a bit more green at their fairs; where solar panels are used for energy needs and used cooking oil is recycled into biofuel.

Read the full story: County, state fairs strive to go green

Cars made with recycled plastic

The Detroit Free Press reports that car manufacturers are using recycled plastic to help offset rising costs:

"The savings range from a few cents per pound to half the price of new plastic, which accounts for one-third to one-half of the price of many components."

The recycled plastic is mixed with new material to be made into parts such as bumpers, mud guards, or dashboards.

Auto parts can't be made from 100 percent recycled plastic because they won't be strong enough to withstand impact; bumpers for example usually contain 20 percent recycled plastic.

Recycling plastic is also becoming a growing industry. Scott Melton, president of Flint, Michigan recycling plant ACI Plastics, "expects the company's $17 million in sales to grow 20% next year."

Read the full story: To help cut costs, auto industry gives plastics a second life

Kenya slum makes souvenirs out of old paper

Reuters reports on the Kenya slum that makes tourist souvenirs out of waste paper.

Watch their video report below:

Beijing stops migrant recyclers during Olympics

Reuters reports that Beijing has stopped migrant recyclers from doing business during the Olympics.

Beijing leaders claim that the migrant workers, who trade recycling for a living, carry infectious diseases and don't want them to infect visitors to the games.

Watch the report:

From poop to paper, conservation in Thailand

An interesting idea for eco-travel is to visit local businesses that help conserve the environment in unique ways. I recently traveled to Thailand and visited two paper factories who reuse elephant and panda dung to make the paper with. Watch my report below: