Eco-Friendly

How To: Make a bicycle wheel windmill

In this video, you'll learn how to make your very own bicycle wheel windmill. This completely recyclable creation which can easily be made from that old bike that's just been rusty away. Put it to good use and make this great eco-friendly windmill. Step by step you'll learn exactly what to do to make this windmill spin.

How To: Turn your old toilet into a low flow model

Water is an important resource and it needs preservation. Older toilets suck up way more water than necessary, causing both high water bills and pain for the environment. Follow this tutorial, and learn how turn your old toilet into a newer low-flow model.

How To: Make a rocket stove with twigs and solar power

Vavrek shows how to build a twig-powered cooking stove from scratch.This demonstrates a basic portable solar cooker.

How To: Fold an eco-friendly shopping bag into a tiny pouch

Shopping bags are an ecological nightmare, so many modern shoppers use eco-friendly reusable shopping bags. If you have a stash of eco-friendly bags and want to store them more easily, watch this video to learn a novel way to fold these bags that turns them into a tiny pouch, which you could even still use to hold things if you wanted.

How To: Make mini cotton candy for a doll & dollhouse

Use a q-tip (ones for little kids will have a larger base, but are not required). Put a few drops of red food coloring in a glass of water and stir it up as necessary. Dip q-tip in red water, get it nice and saturated. Remove q-tip and let sit overnight. Cut q-tip in half, then take a small rectangle of paper, apply glue from glue stick to one side, then make a small fold from a corner and roll (this may take some work). Use scissors to cut down to the correct size. Next rub q-tip's cotton si...

How To: Ferment bokashi with molasses

Bokashi is a fermented wheat bran used to pickle kitchen food waste to help it compost quicker without foul odors. Watch this how to video to learn how to ferment bokashi with molasses. Use the fermented bokashi to clean the septic system, pickle, or even to compost.

How To: Make your own aquatic tabletop biosphere in a mason jar

Feeling inspired by the incredible Biosphere 2 project? Make your own aquatic biosphere and witness the incredible phenomenon of a self-contained marine ecosystem right on your desk. This is a simple project that won't take more than an afternoon to put together, but could last for years.

How To: Make your own cucumber and papaya soap

Papaya soap can be great for reducing the appearance of scars, but it can sometimes be difficult to find. This tutorial shows you how to make your own papaya cucumber soap at home. All you need is a juicer or blender and some glycerin melt and pour soap.

How To: Make an All-Natural Insect Repellent with Cacao Leaves

Science investigatory projects suck, or at least seem to at first. But you shouldn't let school drag you down. Instead, use your homework assignment as an opportunity to solve a problem you've always been interested in. And it doesn't hurt if the end result is eco-friendly, either.

How To: Make a wind turbine using a ceiling fan

Scott Brown teaches us how to make a wind turbine using a ceiling fan in this video. First, place steel banding around the middle of the ceiling fan base. Now, cross all the combinations of the wires and keep them close together so you don't confuse them. Hook these up to DC terminals so you get around 50 volts on both of them. Hook them parallel so you keep the voltage down to around 50 volts together. Then place the wires into a connector that has a pipe connected to the bottom. This will c...

How To: Take a BIC lighter apart for recycling

For on-the-go lighting of birthday candles (those surprise birthday parties really get you), homemade explosives (because making stuff explode is fun), and cigarettes, a cheapo BIC lighter is a totally awesome fix. But most BIC lighters run out pretty quickly and get tossed without second thought.

How To: Make light using a stepper motor generator

In this tutorial, we learn how to make light using a stepper motor generator. First, take the motor out of an old printer that you don't use anymore. After this, find a few LED lights. You will need to solder the LED lights, then connect them with a soldering iron to the printer motor. Now connect these to a generator, and the light should now shine so that you can see in the dark! This won't use any additional electricity, so you are helping the environment. All of the pieces used to make th...

How To: Install reflective film on your storm door

Applying a restrictive film on your storm door is a smart and great energy saving method. During the long summer months, if any sunlight hits your storm door, it can not only damage the look of your door, but cause your home to become much hotter than you need it to be.

How To: Make a solar food dehydrator

Rick van Man of Container Gardening For Food details his techniques for making a solar-powered food dehydrator out of such household debris as scrap wood and old pint cans. The finished product looks amazingly professional! Truly a must-watch for any DIY-inclined gardening enthusiast.

How To: Make your lawn more environmentally friendly

Eric with Real World Green explains how to make your lawn more environmentally friendly. First, let your grass go dormant in the summer and don't water it as much. When you mow your lawn, consider using a push reel mower. A mower with a gas engine pollutes more than modern cars do. If you are going to use a gas engine mower, keep the blades sharp for a more efficient job. Use a mulching mower, because yard waste takes up a lot of space in landfills. Consider tearing up some of your lawn and p...

How To: Stack newspapers for recycling with a wagon and string

The best way to get into recycling is make it simple. Recycling newspapers is a great way to start your efforts to go green. It is one of the most common paper products in your home that can be recycled. The hard part is keeping the papers from becoming a big mess while you store them. Bundling the papers and tying them up can be very hard. An easy solution for that problem is to put two pieces of string that are long enough to wrap around the bundle of papers in a wagon. Lay them in the wago...

News: The "White Goat" Eats Office Paper, Spits Out Toilet Paper

A Japanese company called Oriental [JP] has invented an eco-friendly machine that turns office paper into toilet paper. Called the "White Goat", the machine's process is simple: feed it approximately 40 sheets of paper and thirty minutes later it deliver one perfectly constructed roll of toilet paper.

How To: Separate your recycling

Recycling your garbage is noble, and in many places mandatory. But it also can be very confusing. This guide will clear up the rules.

How To: Install a solar powered wireless security camera

Video tutorial showing how to make your own solar-powered wireless security camera using an off-the-shelf solar panel and any wireless webcam. See creator site for more detailed graphics.

How To: Make homemade biodiesel fuel

Making biodiesel is easier than you think, and great for the environment. See for yourself, using inexpensive items available at most grocery stores! You need methanol, vegetable oil and lye. Make homemade biodiesel fuel.

How To: Eradicate Unwanted Junk Mail from the Post Office Forever (Or… Repurpose It!)

Unwanted advertising is everywhere. Annoying pop-up ads, overly loud late night commercials, spam...it never ends. And before spam, there was junk mail. Junk mail is even worse because unlike TV commercials and internet ads, it's physical. You can't just delete or ignore it—and it's an awful waste of paper. So what can you do about it?

How To: Remove Super Glue

If you've ever gotten super glue stuck to your fingers, you know what a pain it can be to get it off again! Don't worry - there's a simple household item you probably already stock that can take care of your super glue super mess!

How To: Construct a solar panel from solar cells in a series

If you want to save money on your electric bill, try building some of these solar panels using solar cells wired in a series. You can save money by using extra glass you or a friend may already own if it isn't being used. Soon you can harness the power of the sun by creating your own solar electricity.

How To: Make the Best Kitchen Multi-purpose Cleaner

Think you have a stain on your stove or countertop that just won't come off? Think again! This simple trick will have your kitchen surfaces gleaming in no time!

How To: Make Safe Homemade Glass Cleaner

Supplies 2 parts water

How To: Make an eco friendly trap for fruit flies with apple cider vinegar

Fruit flies suck, but the fruit fly traps you can get from a hardware store can sometimes be environmentally damaging. Here is how you can make a safe fruit fly trap out of a votive glass, plastic wrap and apple cider vinegar.

How To: Make Cheap Solar Panels from Solar Cells (DIY Energy Savings)

Sputnik, Apollo and the Space Race. If you watched the State of the Union address last night, you probably heard President Barack Obama mention those three things.

How To: Make your own cinnamon peppermint lip gloss or lip plumper

Lip plumpers can sometimes get expensive, but you can make your own at home! A great handmade gift, or just to use for yourself! This shows you how to create your own lip gloss or lip plumper using cinnamon and peppermint oils.

How To: Recycle Your Christmas Tree (Disposing Live Conifers After the Holidays)

Christmas is almost over— all of the presents are unwrapped, all of the prime ribs have been eaten, the whole family's drunk off eggnog— and soon it will be time to forget about Christmas until next year.

News: What's More Eco? Fake or Fir?

Think you're more green by going artificial? Think again. The New York Times reports that the most definitive study shows you would have to use your artificial tree for 20 years before it has less impact on the environment than a real tree.

How To: Stay green this holiday season by reducing your trash

Christmas and the holiday season can generate quite a bit of trash on their own, so what do you do when you want to maintain your green lifestyle over the holidays? This tutorial gives you tips on how to recycle packing material, wrapping paper and even your Christmas tree.

How To: Wrap your holiday gifts using eco friendly materials

Keep your Christmas green! Don't resort to environmentally unfriendly wrapping paper. You can put your gifts in cloth bags or use catalog and magazine pages as your wrapping paper. Or, just use plain brown paper bags and decorate them as your wrapping paper!

How To: Fold a plastic shopping bag in on itself for easy storage

Many Americans save all of the plastic bags that they take home from stores. They get used sometimes, but mostly they just accumulate in some corner of the kitchen until there are so many that you are FORCED to throw some away. If you have this problem, watch this video to learn how to fold plastic shopping bags in on themselves into a tiny package that takes up less room and is easier to grab than a balled-up bag.

How To: Make a DIY trash can out of newspapers

Recycling things isn't nearly as efficient a means of conserving resources as reusing your waste material in it's current form. Enter this video. It will teach you how to make an awesome little trash can / waste paper basket out of perhaps the most appropriate material of all: old newspapers!

How To: Make a green, recycled centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table

Want to have a green Thanksgiving this year? You can make a classy, lovely Thanksgiving centerpiece with your children out of recycled materials! This project uses empty glass soda bottles, a few paints, flowers and some old jewelry or colored beads.

How To: Go green in your vegetable garden with biodegradable pots and other tips

Are you an avid gardener who tends to your plans on a daily basis? Then before you step foot outside the door today, check out this video to learn a plethora of tips for going green with your gardening.

How To: Make cheap and safe handmade laundry soap

When it comes to staying safe, we all know that dish detergents, spray cleaners, and any sort of bleaching cleaners are bad for our health, since they distribute potentially cancer-causing toxins into the air.

How To: Recycle cans and make decorative candle votives

In this video, we learn how to recycle cans and make decorative candle votives. First, you will use a straight edge to remove any paper from the top of the can. Then, use the straight edge to cut parallel holes in the bottom of the can. Grab sharp scissors and continue to cut the holes from the bottom all the way up to the top of the can. After this, use scissors to help pry the folds up and into the air for a cute design. Make sure not to use your hands to pry these up, as the edges will be ...

How To: Install a dual flush toilet kit

In this tutorial, we learn how to install a dual flush toilet kit. First, grab the directions from the box that the toilet came in and read them! After this, you will take the lid off the tank of the toilet. Then, install the flusher into the tank of the toilet after removing the flapper and the chain. Continue to install the kit according to the directions and secure it inside the tank. When finished, place the top of the toilet back on the tank and then turn the water back on. Test this out...

How To: Make a homemade compost tumbler

In this tutorial, we learn how to make a homemade compost tumbler. Find a large barrel and mount it on a wood frame. You can use recycled materials, like an old pickle barrel if you can find one. There should be an axle in the middle of the wooden posts that runs through the tumbler as well. There should be a pipe in the middle bottom of the barrel to run air through, that will exit through the top where the handles are at. The aeration system will help your compost work properly, so you can ...