Grow your own fish...

Why is this so special?

It's just some tomatoes, right?

Wait a minute...tomatoes and fish?

Holy Tommy Chong, it's a Farm Fountain!

Aquaponic Concept:

Fish swim in water > Fish poop in water > Poopy water becomes toxic for fish, so it is cycled into plants > Nutrient rich water is loved and absorbed by plants > Plant-filtered water is then safe for fish and circulated back into the water > Wash, rinse, repeat.

Awesome.

Would you buy one? You don't need to. They want you to build your own, going so far as to provide you with step-by-step instructions.

Start drinking that soda!

From their website:

Farm Fountain is an experiment in local, sustainable agriculture and recycling. It utilizes 2-liter plastic soda bottles as planters and continuously recycles the water in the system to create a symbiotic relationship between edible plants, fish and humans. The work creates an indoor healthy environment that also provides oxygen and light to the humans working and moving through the space. The sound of water trickling through the plant containers creates a peaceful, relaxing waterfall. The Koi and Tilapia fish that are part of this project also provide a focus for relaxed viewing.

The plants we are currently growing include lettuces, cilantro, mint, basil, tomatoes, chives, parsley, mizuna, watercress and tatsoi. The Tilapia fish in this work are also edible and are a variety that have been farmed for thousands of years in the Nile delta.

Cal Academy Cool Roof...

The California Academy of Sciences is currently working on a rebuilding project, with emphasis being placed on the Academy's scientific research and its role in protecting life on earth.


As a natural history museum, the Academy felt it imperative to incorporate as much organic material into the construction and application. The result is one of the coolest green roofs I've seen in a while, planted entirely with wild greenery indigenous to California.

Below are windows on the Morrison Planetarium roof. The windows will let in natural lighting for the aquarium tanks, while the rest of the dome will be a living roof covered in plants. It's not often you get good construction shot, but the Academy is documenting their construction from start to finish. It will be a fun project to keep an eye on.




Even cooler (pardon the pun) is the wall insulation, fabricated using recycled denim blue jeans.

Their involvement is pretty inspiring. Check out their Climate Change Blog if you have time.