OK, so this particular skyscraper hasn't been built yet but the images we've seen of the Bionic Arch are very impressive.

Taichung in Taiwan is in dire need to reduce the city's carbon and as part of the 'Taichung Active Gateway City' Vincent Callebaut has put together a proposal that is an architectural gem - a green gem.

With its vertical gardens and living facades the Arch is almost like a vertical park, and will receive all of its electricity from bio, solar and wind energy sources. It will have zero emissions so will help towards achieving the city's carbon reduction plans.

To go with the Bionic Arch Callebaut has also proposed to create green living quarters nearby for sustainable urban communities to prosper in.

I love the Shard that is currently being built in London, but can we also get a Bionic Arch please?

We do like to keep on top of our recycling here in the Hippyshopper office - as well as at home - and are currently drooling over the Ovetto egg shaped eco recycling bin!

It might not help with all your recycling needs but Ovetto's multi-compartment design makes is egg-tra simple to separate your plastics from your cardboard from your glass.

It's designed by award-winning architect and designer Gianluca Soldi to help people dispose of their waste in a fashionable manner.

Made from recycled polypropylene, the Ovetto is available in white, black or aluminium grey and a variety of customised colour panels of your choice so that your fashionable and eco selves don't have to fight it out.

The recycling egg can be bought at various retailers, but we stumbled across it on Bouf.com where it is currently available for £155.48.

We love this energy-saving lightbulb called Plumen 001. It picked up prize for Design of the Year at the Brit Insurance Awards 2011 last week, and since then we've been wanting to decorate our offices with it.

Created by designer Samuel Wilkinson and product design Hulger, the Plumen 001 uses 80% less energy and lasts eight times longer than an incandescent bulb. Not to mention it looks great!

The Design Museum in London, which organizes the award, said the Plumen is "imaginatively sculpted" and possesses a "beautiful silhouette and organic form".

We want!

Via designtaxi.com

Seen from a distance, you'd be forgiven for thinking this stylish storage system was an original piece of '60s minimalist furniture, or bought from an expensive, quirky furniture store. But no: it's upcycling at its most basic, made by simply placing old drawers from a disused dresser found on freecycle on top of each other after giving them a lick of paint and some new lining.

The result is just so funky it makes me want to go home right now and start tearing chests of drawers from the walls and messing around with them. Visit the owner's blog, Crafty Nest to see some inspiring 'before and after' shots.

Related: Repurposed home #3: kitchen | Repurposed home #2: Funky and functional furniture | Repurposed home #1: lighting

Houses don't get much greener than this: a former sheep shed, Black Sheep House on the Isle of Harris was renovated to its current glory by Christine and Pete Hope, who have turned it into the ultimate getaway.

With a 'living' roof, the house blends so perfectly into the scenery that it cannot be seen in aerial photographs. And the good news is, you can visit it as part of your eco friendly holiday in the UK if you've got between £700 and £1,100 a week to spare. With its truly breathtaking views and a Japanese soak tub I can't imagine anywhere better to escape the city [Via Kits and Mortar]

Ever been so hungry you wanted to wolf down the bowl and cutlery along with a delicious meal? Well, now you can because as Japanese inventor has come up with a set of edible crockery with matching chopsticks.

The edible tablewear by Rice Design, which is surely the greenst form of 'disposable' crockery out there, is baked from traditional sailor's hardtack--a simple dough of flour, water, and salt. The bowls and chopsticks are shelf-stable for several months as long as they are kept dry. Just make sure you don't nibble on the chopsticks too much during your meal!

I've heard CFL bulbs described as looking 'a bit like ice creams' before, so being a big kid, I was delighted to see that a designer has taken this analogy a step further to make these mouth-wateringly cute ice cream cone lamp fittings -- specially for use with the eco-friendly bulbs!

Available in white or realistic honeycomb beige, the 'whippy' lampholders are just gorgeous, and would add a fun and surreal twist to any room. They come complete with cable and UK electrical fittings, and are available to order online. £35 at Mixco Boutique.

[Via Haute*Nature]

Last week, we featured a wonderfully extra-terristrial looking ottoman made from hundreds of surplas flip-flops. Quite a feat of engineering I thought, but it turns out it's far from being a one-off.

UniquEco is a company that does nothing but make stuff out of old beach shoes -- and it turns out you can put them to a surprising number of uses: from jewellery to toys, sculptures and household accessories, they've found some really great ways to re-use the colourful plastic that would otherwise be discarded to damage land and sea.

It's a whopping £349, but isn't it beautiful? Best of all, for this award-winning lamp, which features in London's Design Museum and New York's MOMA collection, Herman Miller insisted on sticking to basic eco-conscious priniciples such as using energy-saving LEDs. The final product is also 95% recyclable and made of 24% post-consumer plus 13% pre-consumer recycled materials.

A proprietary heat distribution system means that the Leaf light is always cool to the touch, and it swivels up to 180 degrees so that it can be used as a soft ambient glow or focussed spotlight. Touch controls are mounted at the base and the intensity of the colour can be adjusted from a cool wash to a warm glow; it'll remember the last setting you used when you turn it off, too. There are five colours available: black, white, red, nickel and polished aluminium.

[via Shiny Shiny]

There are so many awesome recycled decoration ideas coming to life in the run-up to Christmas it's hard to know which to choose, but when I saw this recycled wreath from Biome Lifestyle, I just had to share the cheer...

Look closely, and you'll see that it's made from recycled materials, including waste tin that has been carefully blunted, painted and crafted into leaves and other shapes. All the work was done
by a small co-operative in Africa. The cost of the wreath goes directly to the co-operative which helps local families and artisans. Why not put one on your door this Christmas? It's bound to get comments, giving you a cue to spread the word on this very worthwhile project. £25 from Biome Lifestyle.

All cool visions for the future come out of Japan (self-heating bra anyone?) and it's good to see eco-friendly living is occupying the mind's of some of the country's hottest designers. Treasured Trash is a creative team that makes truly delicious-looking objects of desire out of old bits of stuff. Their latest project is this eco-friendly office concept made of various recycled materials. To find out more about Treasured Trash and what they do, there's a great interview with them here.

This dual-purpose cactus/coffee maker is not for those who want their caffeine fix right now, but it is thoroughly eco-friendly, needs no electricity and relies on sunlight to do its work. Leave the 'plant' in a bright spot, and the sun will gently warm your brew, up to 22 times a day -- and that's quite a few more times than even the most hardened caffeine freaks will tolerate! Once the water is boiled, you can also use the device to keep your drink warm at your desk.

The Amico is still in prototype stage, but I'd certainly like one of these keeping the poor, abandoned mugs on my desk warm this winter! [Via Ecofriend]

Related: Tefal Quick Cup video review | Yay or Nay: The Tefal Quick-Cup kettle

With their clean, neat cuts and simple loom hemp cloth, Turkish company Perma Organik are the modest creators of no-nonsense yet idyllic styles. Case in point: their yoga trousers, which are so elegant and comfortable it seems a waste just to wear them for sun salutes.

As well as creating great clothes, Perma Organik pride themselves on doing it the old fashioned way. Their hemp cloth is organic and made using a traditional hand loom technique by women in small, remote villages in the northern tip of Turkey. “By doing this we try to bring back the ancient technique and support the local community, especially the rural women”, said Gulenay Pema Antep of Perma Organik. Perma Organik are also strong believers in working with respect for the environment and trading fairly - what more can a fashion hungry girl want!

This cute table, featuring a little squirrel running up a tree trunk and a cut-out of an owl, is made from 100% certified sustainable maple plywood and a is coated with a water-based 'varnish'. It comes in a flat pack, but unlike some furniture which can take a degree in joinery to assemble the top of this table simply slots snugly onto the base. It also means you can easily take it apart if you want to store it. It comes in two different heights and several finishes - raw wood, plain clear, dark walnut or it can be made in a custom colour.

These cute little critters are Lilli & Oscar - a 1.3 mega-pixel octopus shaped webcam and a starfish USB port. They have been created by UK based design company United Pepper who produce technology products which are more sustainable and environmentally friendly than traditional components.