Ever wished that you could put in just a bit more insulation in your jacket? That’s the idea behind the really stylish and cool looking Gatherer Jacket by Merrell. The translucent jacket comes as a shell with no insulation, but is equipped with a number of zippers throughout its body where the wearer stuff the jacket with whatever insulation material is on hand. Shredded paper, pine needles, fallen leaves or yesterday’s newspaper - the Gatherer offers endless ways to keep warm with some creative recycling of found objects.

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There’s nothing quite like renewable energy on-the-go, and Voltaic makes solar power a stylish accessory with a hot lineup of solar powered bags to charge your mobile gadgets. We’ve been impressed with Voltaic’s products from the get go, and with their ongoing efforts to amp up the sustainability factor in their bags like boosting the power in their Generator laptop bag and going to 100% post-consumer recycled PET plastic based fabrics. One of our all-time favorite bags is the durable Voltaic Backpack which just may be the ultimate sustainable summertime sidekick and a must have for the eco-geek on the go. And this week, you can win a free Voltaic solar backpack, just for reading Inhabitat!

ENTER TO WIN A FREE VOLTAIC BACKPACK by signing up for Inhabitat here >

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Hey lovely Inhabitat readers!

If you’ve been reading our website over the past week, you may have noticed that we are running a Summer giveaway contest with lots of great prizes to inspire you guys to sign up for our fabulous Inhabitat weekly newsletter. As if receiving our wondrous newsletter weren’t a prize enough in itself, we’re offering some special incentives this week to make signing up with us that much more appealing to you. We’re giving away a free solar power backpack by Voltaic Systems (value $250), some hand-crank LED emergency lanterns from Freeplay (value $45), and some lovely Inhabitat schwag, including our hand-printed organic T-shirts and tote bags (value $40).

The drawing for the grand-prize solar backpack may be random, but you can narrow your odds down to 100% and DEFINITELY win a t-shirt if you sign up for our newsletter right now >

SIGN UP NOW >
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Are traditional bikes a bit too pedestrian for you? Ben Wilson recently unveiled a sleek monocycle at this year’s XXIst Century Man Exhibition in Tokyo. Wilson’s pedal-powered prototype one-ups those tendentious “bi-cycles” with a single center-seated wheel. The elegant nimbus may not provide for the smoothest ride, but it more than makes up for it via its pure awesome appeal.

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Some stunning pictures recently surfaced of Herzog and De Meuron’s latest oeuvre, a £600 million soccer stadium to be constructed in Portsmouth, England. In keeping with their Beijing Bird’s Nest, the venerable Swiss architects have created a striking 36,000 seat stadium that will include an exhibition center, housing, and a park. Envisioned as a shining waterfront beacon, the development will revitalize Horsea Island (a former landfill site) via an abundance of green spaces, a sustainable energy program, and a low-carbon emission scheme.

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We love smart green design competitions here at Inhabitat! Any opportunity to identify and support bold original talent is a mission that we take pretty seriously. Earlier this spring, we were onsite to judge and serve as a sponsor for Project Earth Day, and just this week a design pal gave us a great tip regarding the Chicago based fashion designer, Abigail Glaum-Lathbury, a June 2008 finalist in the Ideablob Design Competition. We wanted to give our reader’s a first-hand opportunity to see and vote on Abigail’s fabulous, eco-friendly fashions. Her label, Elmidae, needs your vote in order to close in on the possibility of winning a $10,000 award!

Read on for details on how you can CAST YOUR VOTE to make this rising design star a key player on the sustainable style circuit>>>

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We love our mass transit art here at Inhabitat, but never envisioned it as something that you could flaunt dangling off your wrist. The Ecoist MTA clutch is a colorful and cute way to navigate city streets in sleek sustainable style. Made from 100% repurposed NYC subway maps, this wristlet clutch is perfect for urban jaunts and lightweight toting. A trash-to-treasure accessory such as this is not only an eco-friendly way to repurpose materials, but also serves as a streamline, incognito way to stash personal belongings!

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In 2005, after graduating from the Institute of Art and Design in Swansea (UK), three Welsh designers founded Si:Su, a beautiful range of womenswear clothing and accessories all made from recycled and reclaimed vintage textiles. Sustainability was woven into the eco chic design philosophy from the start, reflecting shared concerns of Si:Su design trio Helen Stew, Hanneke Van Ryswyk and Rachel Bryan for minimizing waste, as well as the fashion industry’s footprint on the environment. With fresh styles that easily cross seasonal boundaries, Si:Su is defining summer with pretty yet practical designs, gorgeous prints and an undeniably feminine eco-sensibility.

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