Flatpack furniture is made from entirely 100% recycled cardboard. This furniture is also called ready-to-assemble furniture or knock down furniture and requires multiple pieces to be assembled to create the product. The latest eco friendly Flatpacks creating a stir are the Loyal Luxe Cat Chalet and the Caboodle.

The first one has interchangeable ornamental decorations, interior textures cardboard carpet and playing balls. The Caboodle is made from 40% recycled cardboard, has peek a boo holes, contoured grooming edges and the option of having children paint or doodle on the outside of the kitty play-zone. Multiple Caboodles can be joint together to create larger structures if required.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is a Mumbai civic body that may soon implement a ‘green tax’ on manufacturers and end users of plastic bags and bottles that do not meet the required grade. Currently plastic bags thinner than 50 microns which are viewed as the chief cause of blocked drains, are banned and the proposal is that thickness and size restrictions be revised.

Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Kerala are examples of Indian states where the blanket ban on plastic carry bags has been successfully implemented. If the proposal goes through there will be amendments made to the Maharashtra Non Biodegradable Garbage Control Ordinance of 2006. It will also empower civic employees to take legal action against distributors, manufactures, suppliers and end users of the banned plastic.

Environmental resources like clean water, air and healthy living conditions are often not equally distributed or shared. Environmental Justice or EJ refers to efforts on to ensure that these resources in terms of their burdens and benefits are spatially distributed equally with groups like people living in developing countries, racial minorities and residents of areas that are economically disadvantaged. Proponents of environmental justice usually work on issues such as the commodification of water, energy, air and land; ineffective governmental regulations and policies; lack of resources and power for certain communities and institutionalised racism to name a few.

Set on the island of Chongming in Shanghai, China, Dongtan was a plan for a new eco city. Scheduled to open with accommodation for 5,000 during the Expo 2010, the launch may be delayed as progress on construction has been slow. The plan is to have an operational, planned city, 1/3 rd the size of Manhattan with a population of 500,000 by 2050.

The eco city will be ecologically friendly; self sufficient in water and energy requirement; have zero emissions transit systems, recycling of all waste and use zero energy building principles. With the Chinese government being committed to the development of eco cities, only time will tell if Dangton, which has received negative publicity due to its delays, will actually see the light of day.

The Native Land Stop Eject exhibition has been on since the 5^th of December 2009. It runs through till the 21^st of February 2010 and has been created by the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain. This two part exhibition focuses on the effects of climate change and globalisation. It specifically looks at dynamics of global human migrations and nomadism. ‘Hear them Speak’ is a film by Raymond Depardon presented as a large video projection capturing those on the brink of exile from their homelands. ‘Exit’ is an installation presenting those who have been uprooted. This installation is a collaboration between artists architects Diller Scofidio +Renfro, Hansen and Kurgan with philosopher Paul Verilio and captures the latter’s theories of speed, acceleration and the development of the ultra city while examining human movement due to socio-political, economic and environmental factors.  Unesco has partnered on this project that is showing at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark.

One Planet Leader is a WWF driven sustainability change programme created to assist companies set business models that are aligned with pressures from the environmental and social front to ensure the stability of their business. The program is offered as an open enrolment program and may also be customised for in house training for organisations. The program focuses on helping companies understand and use effectively opportunities of corporate social responsibilities and sustainability.  Workshops, on line learning and personal tutorials are part of the course. Understanding the urgency of mitigating climate change and environmental degradation, One Planet Leader helps people act to create a more equitable society bound by the limits of the one planet. The full program is a 6 month course followed by 3 months of engagements. The venue for the One Planet Leader program is a former monastery in Zurich named Ittingen Charterhouse.

Oriental is a Japanese company that is known for its environmental friendly products and machine manufacture. Along with Nakabayashi, the leading producer of office products and services, Oriental has invented a unique gadget. A small automatic toilet paper producing machine, named the White Goat. This machine is green as it uses shredded office paper or waste to create the toilet roll. 30 minutes is all the time required to create one roll of toilet paper from 1800 shredded sheets of A4 size paper. The machine however does require 10-15 litres of water every other day to operate smoothly and produce rough but usable toilet roll. The White Goat was revealed recently at the Eco Products trade fair in Tokyo.

Hollywood has its first ever eco friendly night club that aims to minimize and neutralise its impact on the environment named Ecco Ultra Lounge. Frequented by stars and celebrities, this lounge will also be the venue for Discovery Channel’s Planet Green show Alter Eco.

Some of the features that led to this venue being classified as eco friendly are multi coloured, LED lights that are energy efficient; power from green power resources; organic food and beverages; appropriate, high quality insulation; waterless urinals and recycled steel air pressure toilets; free valet for hybrid vehicles; paperless ticketing and reservations; eco friendly cement to create the lounge; carbon offset programs with partner LivClean; low VOC paint; paperless drywall and more in every aspect of the club.

Under The Mango Tree is an Indian social enterprise and an organic certified, ethical company that works within the framework of fair trade principles. The company promotes beekeeping in rural India with a view to increase agricultural productivity and improve livelihoods and incomes while also forming a path way between rural producers and urban consumers.

Farmers across the country are supported and trained in the production and marketing of natural honey with flavours such as wild forest, sweet clover, litchi, desert bloom, mango, sesame and neem to name a few.  The Hive, which is spearheaded by UTMT is dedicated to promoting community based beekeeping. There are about 14 varieties of organic honey and most are regional, flora and season specific.

Plastic caps from shampoo, water, soda, milk and other beverage bottles invariably end up in landfills or in the oceans. Sea creatures mistake these colourful bits of plastic for food and with over 3 million plastic parts floating around in just the North Pacific Ocean that is a lot of detrimental feed alternative for the turtles, penguins, fish and more.

Aveda has initiated a program that offers an alternative solution that re purposes this un-recyclable waste as a base for new packaging. The Caps Recycling Program creates 100% recycled plastic caps for Aveda products from this toxic waste. Caps accepted into the program are those with a threading created with rigid polypropylene plastic and participating schools and communities can take collected caps to Aveda retail stores, salons and spas worldwide.