This past week, I spent nearly 12 carbon-intensive hours in the loving hands of Delta Airlines as I flew back and forth from New York City to Los Angeles. I thought that most Delta aircraft were now equipped with WiFi access but I wasn't so lucky on my cross-country flights. So instead of dedicated green home news catch up time, I got a lot of Bravo catch up time and just a wink of sleep. 

 

So this Friday, you'll find me a bit out of the loop after a vacation in Lala-land and ample time spent on airplanes. This is a real session of link wranglin' catch-up? Care to join? 

 

The New York Times tours this years International Contemporary Furniture Fair with Ellen Lupton, curator of contemporary design at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. Among the finds: new furnishings from IKEA, Umbra, and a personal favorite, Kikkerland. 

 

GreenBiz chats with Adam Lowry, the co-founder and of Method about the evolution of laundry detergent at the second annual Greener By Design conference. 

 

Shelteriffic goes shopping at CVS and discovers a new line of off-brand green household products (TP, paper plates, etc.) called Earth Essentials. I've used Earth Essentials 100 percent recycled fiber paper towels before and give 'em an enthusiastic thumbs up. 

 

TreeHugger describes the concept for architect Vincent Callebut's 128-floor vertical farm in NYC, Dragonfly, as a "locavore wet dream."  

 

 

The LA Times gives us a peek into Tiny Houses, a new coffee table book from Rizzoli. All of the compact, efficient homes beautifully captured in the book are under 1,000 square feet. 

 

Jetson Green also thinks small with a post on Dwelling Sheds, small green homes (or cabins) from the Seattle-based company that makes the drool-worthy Modern Sheds. 

 

Inhabitat takes a seat in a super cool chair made from a reclaimed playground slide. 

 

The Wall Street Journal heads outdoors to test out a few "alternative energy" outdoor power tools.

 

Ecofabulous concurs: the Stitched Table from my neighbors at Uhuru Design is "hands down the sexiest band-aid job this planet’s ever seen."

 

The Stranger chronicles the controversy over "Big Red," a 75 year-old western red cedar that's in the middle of a development dispute in Seattle's Roosevelt neighborhood.

 

The Vancouver Sun pays respects to pioneering green architect Arthur Erickson. The Vancouver-based Erickson died this week at the age of 84.

 

Real Simple gets down and dirty with "66 All Natural Cleaning Solutions." 

 

The Guardian travels to Denmark to report on the world's first Active House, a more comfortable, zero-carbon variation of Passive Houses.

 

Sierra Club launches Green Home, an info-packed site that's "dedicated to helping you create a more sustainable home environment." Composting and the benefits of going solar are among the hot topics.

 

Re-Nest provides an excellent, overlooked spring cleaning tip: Fix what's broken. 

 

Image: Vincent Callebut Architects