I am myself using the visual theme for XP and I must really say that this desktop theme is really beautiful, especially the Gaia icons. If you want you can also get the Gaia theme for the instant-message client Miranda and for the music player Foobar. And you can even enjoy the Gaia theme on your iPhone.

“Climate change and the conservation of our planet is one of the most impartant issues facing us today. Inspired by Live:Earth, a group of Customize.org members tried to find a way of contributing their own part. But how could a website about desktop customization help to combat global warming?

The overwhelming majority of scientists agree that human activity is responsible for changing the climate. Although a majoritiy of co2 emission is produced by industry, private households add significantly to the problem by using multiple fridges, televisions, cars and – last but not least – personal computers. So what can we do to support the movement? With this suite, we want to raise awareness for the issue and remind users of nature and its beauty. To remind you of shutting down your computer at night if you don´t need it. To turn your gadgets off instead of having them on standby. With this voluminous release of skins for Windows XP and OS X we want to bring attention to the topic in the skinning community and hope to make you think more about the issue and your own ecological footprint.

We hope this project will reach a lot of people.”

Just be sure to backup any data before installing the themes, especially before installing the Ux Theme Multi Patcher (which is needed to use the Gaia theme) on your computer. You can never be too careful!

How will our coastal cities look like when the ice melts and causes rising sea levels? How can we take care and give room for the millions of climate change refugees in the future? Well, the Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut might have the answer.

Vincent Callebaut has designed a “floating ecopolis” called Lilypad. Each of these floating cities has room for 50000 people. The city will be able to generate its own energy with the help from several wind turbines, wave power and solar panels. Lilypad will also be able to collect and clean rainwater for daily use around the city.

“Whereas the Netherlands and the United Arabic Emirates « fatten » their beach with billion of euros to build their short-living polders and their protective dams for a decade, the project «Lilypad» deals with a tenable solution to the water rising! Actually, facing the worldwide ecological crisis, this floating Ecopolis has the double objective not only to widen sustainabely in offshore the territories of the most developed countries such as the Monaco principality but above all to grant the housing of future climatic refugees of he next submerged ultra-marine territories such as the Polynesian atolls. New biotechnological prototype of ecologic resilience dedicated to the nomadism and the urban ecology in the sea, Lilypad travels on the water line of the oceans, from the equator to the poles following the marine streams warm ascending of the Gulf Stream or cold descending of the Labrador.”

“It is a true amphibian half aquatic and half terrestrial city, able to accommodate 50,000 inhabitants and inviting the biodiversity to develop its fauna and flora around a central lagoon of soft water collecting and purifying the rain waters. This artificial lagoon is entirely immersed ballasting thus the city. It enables to live in the heart of the subaquatic depths. The multifunctional programming is based on three marinas and three mountains dedicated respectively to the work, the shops and the entertainments. The whole set is covered by a stratum of planted housing in suspended gardens and crossed by a network of streets and alleyways with organic outline. The goal is to create a harmonious coexistence of the couple Human / Nature and to explore new modes of living the sea by building with fluidity collective spaces in proximity, overwhelming spaces of social inclusion suitable to the meeting of all the inhabitants – denizen or foreign-born, recent or old, young or aged people.”

Here at Green Blog we love bikes. They are green, easy and cheap to maintain and will even help you go down in weight.

But of course they also have their downsides. And one of the worst is that they are so easy to steal! But maybe the “Bike Tree” can help keep your bike safer, and even save some space in crowded areas?

The idea is pretty simple. Instead of parking you bike in an ordinary bicycle stand you lift it up in a “tree” away from the ground (see above image). The “tree” has room for five other bikes besides your own.

The control panel includes finger print recognition sensor with some controls for locking/unlocking the bicycle onto the stand. The panel branches out of the trunk at user friendly height.

For locking your bicycle:

1. Place your bicycle in the vertical slots
2. Manually lock the rim
3. Press start
4. Finger print
5. OK/ CANCEL

For releasing bicycle follow the similar path.