Bamboo Walking Stick Flute
various models ranging $29 – $59 at Serenity Bamboo Flutes

This would perhaps make a great present for a musical hiker or perhaps someone who tends to hike in esoteric places like Macchu Picchu,Taj Mahal or maybe to a 90’s reunion of Iron John enthusiasts hiking to a the Drum Circle in the woods. Seriously though, this seems like an awesome walking stick, sturdy,light, and can take the rigors of a vigorous walk. Also made with eco-friendly bamboo. It also has a compass inlaid on the top as well as a strap and rubber tip. The tortoise shell finish is strikingly beautiful and they have other options like hand inked models and they will also customize it with engravings, custom length and other options. I didn’t see any link to hear what they sounded like but they have customer photos of places people travel with their stick flutes.
These flutes can play up to 2 octaves and are tuned to a Major Scale (G).

Looking for an earth friendly way to divide a room? Check out the rollable Bamboo Screen made from eco-friendly bamboo that contains no pesticides or harmful chemicals. Like any good homeowner, you are concerned about what you bring into your house and don’t want something filled with pesticides. This handy screen can partition off part of a room or even hide a computer, wires or something else that you want to keep out of everyone’s eyesight. The earth friendly Bamboo Screen is very sturdy and measures 8 feet in width and 6 feet in height so is perfect for just about every room in your house! Get some privacy in an eco-friendly way with the Bamboo Screen!

$269.00 at Real Goods

Bamboo Compost Pail from Amazon.com
$38.95

Much of our kitchen organic waste could be composted and given back to your garden, house plants and the like. Your yard waste and veggie peelings could be put to a much healthier use than generating methane in some landfill.
This small kitchen bamboo composter has a 3.25-qt capacity, a reasonable size for a typical urban user. Its attractive looks compliments its usefulness. For more info on urban composting see our post on urban kitchen composting.

A complaint occasionally heard about wind turbines is that they produce low-frequency sounds that are disturbing to some people. According to an ariticle in The British Wind Energy Association this is just a myth, but what if you like the sounds that wind can make? An amazing range of artistry and invention exists in the world of wind music making. There is often an eerie quality to the sound, reminiscent of science fiction movies. I like to imagine these wind sounds are the music from the earth gaia herself.

The Plastorgan shown in the above photo fascinates me the most because it’s free, keeps some plastic bottles out of the landfill, encourages people to unleash hidden talent, and makes for more interesting neighborhoods. All you need to do is make one slit of a certain size in the side of a plastic bottle, paint it with a cool design, put the cap on the bottle and glue or somehow fasten the cap to a bamboo pole and stick the pole in your garden or yard – the more the better, with all different sizes of bottles and slits to create a wide range of tones and timbres. Check out the sound of the above grouping here. You can see more samples and info on how to build your own plastic bottle wind organ as well as other kinds of wind organs and harps here. Here is another link in which a few people share their experiences with these plastic wind organs.

If you want something a bit more sophisticated than plastic bottles then your options are wide open. There are many resources available from extremely expensive wind sound sculpture to affordable garden wind harps.

One site, mohicanwindharps.com offers a number of reasonably priced contemporary wind harps as well as the traditional Aeolian Harp, one of the oldest known musical instruments made by the ancient Greeks. You can listen to the sound one of these harps makes here.
more links on wind harps here.
appalachian heritage alliance.org
soundscapes international.com

Funky Laptop Bag $77.00 at getrecycledproducts.com

getrecycledproducts.com offers urban/street wear bags made from recycled billboard canvas. They state “Pattern pieces are cut with consideration for their positioning when constructed but the original billboard image and the approach taken in laying out the cuts ensures no two bags are the same.”

MacPro Laptop 17″ sleeve 90 Swiss francs or $73.87 from recycled Vinyl at freitag.ch

Freitag has an incredible selection of handmade recycled bags, many suitable for laptops. They also have protective sleeves (shown here) specifically made for various mac laptops. Even cooler is an interactive flash program that allows you to “design” and “make” your own bag. (more…)

Bamboo Pintail electric skateboard made from eco-friendly materials

450.00 at Electric Cyclery

A new way to get around town without putting more CO2 in the air. Perhaps won’t work as well for those of us with aging knees and hearts but for the fearless young or young at heart this could be a great way to move with green style. This skateboard has a range of 15 miles before needed a recharge. Goes from 0 to 20 mph in 4 seconds and has an overbuilt torsion truck suspension (in case you are in the know) Take care though, apparently many insurance companies think this might not be the safest way to get around in traffic and won’t cover you if you get in an accident. It uses a Cable connected remote control that offers reliable and precise power and braking control. They have a really tiny video on their site that show it in action.

More Bamboo stuff! Bamboo housing for computer components seem a much cooler alternative the standard earth-unfriendly plastic. You will love the attractiveness and green street cred of bamboo so you will perhaps keep your mouse, keyboard and monitor much longer than normal.

However, the specs for the monitor seem rather modest for the price but should work fine for most people’s needs, the 19″ (largest model) has 1280 x 1024 native resolution. The one drawback is that with this extra green cache comes a catch! £269 (approx $525.00 US dollars ) You are buying a unique item, almost a work of art rather than just a computer part. Check it out at nigelsecostore.com They also have lots of other interesting green office equipment to peruse while you are there.
How can we talk about wooden and bamboo computing without at least a mention of the greenist computer of all – the abacus. This antique vintage model has a gorgeous patina and the beads click in a satisfying manner. If modern industrial society ever comes
to an untimely end – this Chinese Abacus might come in handy, better get one now so you will be up to speed when the lights go out! $100.00 at Asianideas.com Here is a link to a site with all things abacus.

Bamboo Bike from Calffee Design

Various custom models and pricing arrangements

Bamboo make for a comfortable ride and helps to dampen vibrations. Lugs made from hemp or carbon fiber.  Can be used in racing or everyday use.  Hard to think of a more eco-friendly transportation mode.  Here is a interesting article by a Bamboo bike owner at americanBamboo.org Also, here is a good article showing how someone makes his own bamboo bike frames.