$3 Emergency Solar Radio

Another DIY from Instructables by Joshua Zimmerman, a $3 emergency solar radio. This is one of a zillion altoid tin DIY projects that's easy to make yet functional. It's portable, cheap, and solar powered. Everything you want your emergency radio to be and more. Plus, you can buy the solar cells and other parts straight from Joshua Zimmerman's site, BrownDogGadgets.com for super cheap. 

>>$3 Emergency Solar Radio

How to: Turn a playing card into a solar charger

Here's another sweet little project from Instructables by sfrayne, a solar powered charger for AA batteries using a playing card. I'm guessing you have at least one device in your house that's draining your wallet from using batteries, so this is a perfect project that allows you to recharge and reuse those suckers and save some money. In addition to being one less thing you have to plug into your wall and jack up your electric bill, it's probably cheaper to make 5 of these solar powered chargers than the crappiest outlet charger.

>>Turn a playing card into a solar charger for AA batteries

How to: Emergency butter candle

This is a really cool, easy project that only requires a stick of butter, toilet paper, and a toothpick. Chances are you have all of these materials in your house, which also makes it the perfect emergency "how to." It doesn't require stocking up on random materials that can only be used in a real emergency situation, and it's super simple and easy to remember. Which isn't to say you shouldn't stock up on emergency supplies, but how cool is it to have an almost ready to go candle from the butter in your fridge? And if your completely out of toilet paper, you might have a more serious emergency than the power being out.

Shocking investigation from PETA: Chinese fur farms

While this video doesn't exactly fall into the category of sustainable, organic living, (or the opposite) it sure as hell ain't pretty. This appalling video exposes the horrendous acts committed by the fur trade in China, and it's absolutely sick. Although I don't believe there's anything quite this bad in the United States, this probably compares to what livestock farms and slaughter houses do to animals every day, which definitely is not sustainable, organic or just plain humane . In either case, this is animal cruelty at it's worst and if you have any moral decency in your body, you will not be buying any fur product whatsoever after watching this video.