Our pal Derek "Deek" Diedricksen, of Tiny Yellow House and RelaxShacks.com, sent us a video tour of his 100% indie-produced, "trash-funded" book, Humble Homes, Simple Shacks, Cozy Cottages, Ramshackle Retreats, Funky Forts, and Whatever Else We Could Squeeze in Here. The book is a hoot and an inspiration, crammed with Deek's designs — from practical to pie in the sky — for "micro-houses," small backyard retreats, kid forts, treehouses, and other no-cost/low-cost outbuildings. The emphasis here is on fun and clever use of recycled materials. Deek did all the hand-lettering and the book is obsessively illustrated with wonderfully wacky cartoons and design drawings. As he himself describes it in the video: "A carpal tunnel-inducing barrage of dime store pen sketches."

I used to be heavily involved in zine and small press comics publishing in the 90s and this book captures that same spirit. It's hand-written and drawn, hand-assembled, GBC-bound, and the printing was funded by selling recyclables. It doesn't get more DIY than that. The book sells for $18.95 and you can order it from Derek's website.

We thought this book was a perfect companion for our summer MAKEcation coverage. What a great idea for a family project -- make a backyard retreat, kid fort, or treehouse! So we've asked Deek to do some micro-house project videos for us. Stay tuned for those. In the meantime, we want to give away a signed copy of Humble Homes to one MAKE reader. In the comments below, tell us what sort of backyard retreat, fort, or kids hangout you fancy building, or tell us a story about building forts and treehouses when you were a kid. This Friday, at noon PDT, we'll announce a winner.

Relax Shacks

  More:Another Tiny Yellow HouseIntroducing: the Hickshaw

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I remember wondering years ago if it were possible to design a lamp that you would feed and water like a houseplant. Well, apparently, it is, and designer Mike Thompson has done it. He calls it Latro. There's more info over at Inhabitat:

The lamp is made possible thanks to a recent discovery made by researchers at the universities of Yansei and Stanford. The researchers found that a tiny electrical current can be extracted from algae during photosynthesis. The Latro Lamp features a battery that stores energy generated by the algae throughout the day and a light sensor that controls the lamp's intensity, preventing the algae from becoming malnourished. Thompson believes this discovery could lead to an algae revolution: "As advances in nanotechnology lead to increasingly energy efficient products, plant life such as algae will become attractive sources for tapping energy," he says.

I'm guessing the electrical potential used to charge the battery during the day is generated between the top and bottom of the algal layer and is ultimately due to a gravity-induced concentration gradient of some kind of metabolite in the broth.

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Voltaic (makers solar bags) have a DIY section filled with projects and resources for solar powered goodness - here are couple recent ones I thought were interesting...

Solar trackers can increase power generated by a solar panel by orienting the panel towards the sun throughout the day. This decreases the amount (and cost) of PV required to generate a given amount of power. While we mainly see trackers implemented on utility-scale systems, there has been an explosion of small-scale tracker prototypes online

New DIY Solar Bicycle Rack - Two friends making a cross-country bike trip built out a nice solar bicycle rack. They’re fund raising for cancer research and will be using smart phones to make updates throughout the trip. The kits uses an old backpack shell (free) as the to secure the panels, 3 1.5 Watt 6 Volt solar panels, 1 Mini USB Circuit Box and 1 USB Battery Pack V11.

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One issue of MAKE that has no shortage of practical home projects is MAKE Volume 18, the ReMake: America issue. Featuring everything from making a two-person shovel to building the Garduino geeked-out indoor gardening system, this volume is a gem and my regular go-to gift for friends who are homeowners. For this week's Flashback, we offer Michael Perdriel's off-grid laundry machine how-to. Michael is serious about creating sustainable tools for people in developing countries. Check out the tutorial here and pick up a back issue of Volume 18 over in the Maker Shed. You'll be all the wiser for it.

This think-small washer needs no electricity or running water. By Michael Perdriel

A couple of years ago, I decided to concentrate my design research on devices that would be useful to poor families in developing countries -- easy-to-make tools that address a specific need without disrupting the local economy, culture, or environment.

Here's one of my designs: a manual clothes washer that does a load of laundry in about 20 minutes using no power other than muscle. It's portable, so you can carry or wheel it to a water source, and if you wash with biodegradable soap, the wash water can easily go to a garden afterward.

They're now using the washer in Hyanja, Nepal, where I collaborated on designing a localized version. It's also a neat design if you're living off the grid by choice in an industrialized area, or just conserving water and power.

The washer consists of 3 main components: a container, a net bag, and a lever-driven shaft mechanism held in place by a simple wooden frame. The key component is the net bag, which is designed to hold, squeeze, and agitate the clothes. The middle of the net bag is a wide, open cylinder of flexible mesh netting. End-capping the cylinder above and below are semi-rigid cones made from short plastic pipes strung together with rope. Both cones point upward, so the bottom cone sticks up through the clothes and prevents them from balling together.

While the washer is in operation, the top cone holds fast while the bottom cone is pulled up and down by the shaft, carrying the clothes with it. Each pump of the lever handle pulls the clothes up out of the water, squeezes them out between the nested cones, and releases them back down. The lever's 40" length provides mechanical advantage for easy operation.

You can modify this design to suit both the materials at hand and the skill level of the builder. These instructions show how to build a bare-bones device for less than $50 using materials from any home supply store. You can modify the design to suit available materials and your skill level. A machine of this size can handle only small loads up to 5lbs, but the ones we made in Nepal were larger, and I think that one could be made 2 or 3 times larger and would still be easy to operate. I also built a fancier, wooden version that's towable, with wheels and a barrel-style container.

Read the full tutorial shared with you in our Digital Edition.

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This spherical POP pendant lamp made from soda can pull tabs by Mauricio Affonso is just one of 23 impressive finalists in Inhabitat's second annual Spring Greening creative reuse contest. You can see the others, and vote on your faves, here.

More:Stay tab chain maille tutorialChainmail armor entirely from beer can tabs!Soda tab lampshade"Tabistry," beer and soda can pull-tab creationsAluminum pull tab chair

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Amidst the noise of a bazillion robots and Tesla coils at the 2010 Bay Area Maker Faire, we located a bubble of usable WiFi, and got a nearby power charge to boot. If nothing else here, we want this: The SolarPump Charging Station is a self-contained oasis of free power for laptops, cel phones and even electric bikes. This charging station is one of several designs created by Sol Design Labs of sunny Austin, Texas. No bigger than a bus stop (and way cooler looking), it’s like the ultimate case mod, repurposing a vintage Citgo gas pump and recycled metals for more modern needs. Three large Sanyo solar panels provide power for devices and shade for users, while topping off the internal 24V 100AH battery for nighttime use (with LED lighting) or cloudy days. The end result transcends “green” — the SolarPump is simply appealing at a visceral level, managing to be simultaneously fun, attractive and practical. Did we mention wanting one? We totally want one.

MAKE subscriber Bob Alexander sent us info about his bird house with a 3D webcam inside:

At the this URL, I describe how my bird house with an adjustable 3D web camera works. On the main site, http://bobsbirdblog.com, I post 3D videos (and 2D for those without glasses) of what's happening inside the bird house. Currently, wrens are building a nest.

Bob's Bird Blog

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The latest issue of MAKE, Volume 22, contains an automated chicken coop door opener project, by Alan Graham (Portland, OR). My geek BFF, Jeri Ellsworth, sent me a link to another, clever remote-controlled coop opener, put together by her friend "Slinky." It uses a $5 power drill as the door winch and a Seeduino as the controller. [Thanks, Jeri!]

Slinky

From the pages of MAKE:

MAKE Volume 22, Remote Control Everything Automate your world with remote control. From pet care to power outlets, from toys to telepresence, we'll show you how to add a joystick, push-button, twist-knob, or timer to just about anything. Don't forget, subscribers can always read the digital edition here.

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Kenya-based maker Babamzungu designed and built this proof of concept one-stage anaerobic digester to convert waste organic material into useful methane gas. Anarobic digesters work by placing organic material in an oxygen-free environment, where naturally occurring microorganisms digest the matter and turn it into methane and carbon dioxide. The gas can then be burned as a fuel. While this design isn't the most efficient, the goal of his project is to create an affordable design that can be built using readily available parts. Looks great! [via afrigadget]

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There is no end to the awesome innovations that will be on display at this year's Maker Faire Bay Area, the world's largest DIY festival, taking place at the San Mateo Fairgrounds on May 22nd and 23rd. One of the new green energy projects to be on display (and in use!) is Austin-based Sol Design Lab's SolarPump Electric Charging Station, pictured above at this year's Coachella Music Festival. We caught up with Beth Ferguson, Sol Design Lab's founding director, designer, educator for a seven-question interview. Here's what Beth had to say.

1. Tell us about the project you're bringing to Maker Faire. The SolarPump Electric Charging Station is an urban intervention; it is designed to help people re-imagine the future of transportation by showcasing solar electric charging stations as part of the future for carbon-free cities, leaving gas mobility as a thing of the past. Imagine turning the corner and instead of your local gas station and convenience store, people are playing music and charging their electric bicycles and cellphones at a solar-powered charging station, while lounging in the shade of the solar roof on furniture made from recycled street signs.

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"Maker Mig" sent us news of this little act of maker-y kindness, done in support of GOOD magazine's Neighbor Day. We asked, if people did anything in support of this event, to let us know, so Miguel let us know of this trashcan repair:

A couple of months ago, my neighbor was upset that the recycling truck slammed her trashcan down and broke the plastic hinges that held the wheels in place. This is quite a problem for people. The cans sit in the sun and then get slammed around by the recycling trucks and always end up breaking. They get replaced for 60-100 bucks a pop, depending on the size. My neighbor said she was upset that she was going to have to pay 60 bucks for a new one.

For Neighbor Day (which is also my birthday this year), I decided to take care of it for her. With a few hose clamps, screws, and some plywood, I fashioned a fix. From the photo, you can see that the wheels where originally held on by the plastic and you can see how they're broken. So far, this has held pretty well and no complaints from the city! She offered to pay me for the time but I said no big deal and let it go.

It's not a very impressive project, and yet, it shows how you can fix things rather than get new ones!

Maker Mig

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DumpsterWorld is a website devoted to the time-honored geek tradition of dumpster diving. There are tips, a forum, classifieds and, of course, a FAQ.

There's many reasons that perfectly good things go in the garbage. One of the biggest reasons is business practice. Remember that businesses are there to make profit. Goods that are overproduced, don't sell, need repair, or take too much space and maintainence, are unprofitable to keep. It can also be unprofitable to sell them below cost or give them away free, so they go to waste. Wasting goods helps retailers profit if people might otherwise pay for new ones, and producers profit when more get made.

[Via beyond the beyond]

[Photo: ilja (Community Commons)]

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My friend Matt Silver showed me the quick and dirty urban camouflage iPad case he made out of an old composition notebook cover and a scrap of non-slip rug padding. This has to be the coolest iPad case I've seen to date. Not only is it extremely simple, low-cost, and recycled, but it has that great warn-in feeling.

More:Flashback: U-G-L-Y Your BikeJimmie's uglified cameraFlashback: Urban Camouflage

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Our coverage of glass-cutting continues to inspire inventive upcycling makers to dream up ways of improving the cutting process through various rolly jigs. Here, Adrian ("awalleigh" on Flickr) was inspired by Ben Light's rolling pin rig to create one out of skateboard parts.

Awalleigh's photostream

More:Glass-cutting rig from rolling pinsHow-To: Cut a wine bottle in 30 secondsMake: Projects - Bottle cuttingRecycled beer bottle tumblers

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Inspired by one of our postings on glass bottle cutting, Ben Light, of B.Light Design, created this cool bottle cutting jig using two rolling pins.

Wine Bottle Cutting Jig

More:How-To: Cut a wine bottle in 30 secondsMake: Projects - Bottle cuttingRecycled beer bottle tumblers

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Photo courtesy Coastal Treated Products Company.

In a discussion in the comments on yesterday's "plastic plywood" post, I mentioned that I was often reluctant to buy plywood and other "new" timber products at the hardware store because I didn't know how to tell if I was buying forest-friendly wood or not. A kindly gent named Hank responded to tell me that it was as simple as looking for the seal of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and supposedly that even the big orange store "is surprisingly good at stocking FSC certified lumber." I haven't verified that last bit for myself, but I did spend a long time googling around yesterday afternoon and satisfied myself that these FSC folks are on the level. That's their "tree with a check mark" seal in the photo, above. Now I know what to look for. And so do you. [Thanks, Hank!]

More:Single-sheet flatpack plywood design competitionMAKE and CRAFT: Now with More Huggable Trees

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Bourne Energy's "militarized" luggable hydroelectric plant measures 3 feet in length and weights around 25 pounds. It can be transported to a water source by one person, then set up either on the surface of the river or, ninjalike, completely submerged.

[I]t is self-contained with its own integrated power, control, cooling and sensor systems. The unit collapses into three major parts which slide into a large backpack. The BPP-2 produces up to 20% more power (600W) and can be set up singularly or in arrays of over 20 kW. The BPP-2, which operates silently with no heat or exhaust emissions, is 40% less visible during operation and can also be bottom mounted to be totally invisible.

[via Wired Science]

More:Power Station Harnesses Sun's RaysConrad Milster's steam power plant @ Pratt InstituteRevolving door in Netherlands train station generates power per revolutionPersonal powerPlant

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Jake von Slatt gives us a video tour of his finished propane and waste oil foundry furnace. I love the lamp post and lights. SO von Slatty!

Final test of Jake von Slatt's Waste Oil Foundry Furnace

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In these photos, you can see the heat transfer happening through a number of roofs in my neighborhood. In a wintery time like we have now, the snow acts as an indicator of your insulation. If you have a full roof of snow, then you're well insulated. If you have spots of bare roof surrounded by snow, then inside the house is an area where it's uninsulated, or poorly insulated. If your roof doesn't hold the snow at all, then it's time to look at your attic insulation. Sunny, South facing roofs will naturally clear faster on clear days, due to the input of solar energy. Any part of your building envelope that transfers heat is spending your money and wasting energy resources.

On some of these roofs, you can see areas of white lines. These are the rafters. The roofing structure is thicker there, and heat isn't transferring as well in those spots. A nearby antique cape, shows that the rafters are 3 or 4 feet apart. That is a big difference from the way it would be framed in modern times with the rafters at 16 inches on center.

One neighborhood house sports a chimney from a woodstove. It seems that the rafter bay where the chimney pierces the roof is totally uninsulated, judging from the lack of snow on that one section of the roof.

On my house, you can see thin spots about two feet from the gutter. That is the place where the studs from the wall meet the rafters. This unusual framing technique seems to have been done to save on materials when building the house. The wall is well insulated, as is the attic. Its just the junction point that is radiating heat.

Before this winter, there were three bare spots on a section of roof over the mudroom in my house. I noticed these spots, and really noticed the cold air flowing from the recessed lights in that room. For a few winters, I put up insulating window plastic over the fixtures to keep the warm in and the cold out. These lights have since been removed and the cavities insulated, there is still a bit of melting in those locations, but nothing like it was.

What can you see by looking at the exterior of the houses around you? Can you see the energy flowing from warm to cold? Does this help you see improvements you can make to your house?

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This is a choice selection of images from the application for U.S. patent 7,631,404, which has since issued to Donald Scruggs of Chino, CA. The title is "Easy inter burial container." [via Neatorama]

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