McMansions Make Way for Green Pads

(NEWSER) - Being sensitive to the environment doesn't have to cost a fortune. In fact, the green option is often the most cost-effective one. Scientific American spotlights nine ways of cutting your bills as you save the Earth:

• Shrink your living space. Prefab homes and plans for dwellings as small as 65 square feet are widely available.

Architects, not automakers, have the power to halt global warming

(NEWSER) - With US homes on average twice as large as they were 50 years ago—and, of course, dwarfing those in all other developed countries—rethinking our idea of "home" is as crucial to cutting global warming as switching to a smaller car, says architect Edward Mazria in Fast Company. Half of all greenhouse gas emissions are building-related; residential buildings make up 21% of national energy consumption—almost as much as transportation. More»

Eco-friendly products coming to a bedroom near you

(NEWSER) - If you’re an environmentalist with a strong libido—and hey, who isn’t?—why not try some of these naughty ways of helping the planet? They won’t hurt a bit, unless you ask nicely, the Chicago Tribune promises.

• Vegan Condoms: Most condoms contain the milk protein casein, but a select few are made with no animal byproducts at all. You can see which at vegancondoms.com .

Green innovator gets unfair rap as environmental offender

(NEWSER) - The world's attitude toward China's environmentalism is "hypocritical and decidedly unfair," writes Fred Pearce in Yale Environment 360—this coming from someone who has "literally held my nose at the foul air." Yes, China's "development zeal" has it doing "the bad things that most of the world does," but it's also the world's leader in green innovation, waste recycling, and alternative energy sources. More»

Kids are America's new eco-police

(NEWSER) - They’re watching. No, not surveillance cameras; the growing population of “eco-kids”—children who, lectured on sustainability at school and elsewhere, are pushing green practices at home. They rummage through garbage bins, agitate for hybrid vehicles, and even even turn off the water while parents are brushing their own teeth, the New York Times reports. "He learned it at school," one mom says of her 4-year-old eco-cop. More»