Emily Cummins is an inventor with a focus on helping the environment. This wouldn't be so unique if it wasn't for the fact that she is only 21, and has been inventing since the age of four when her grandad gave her a hammer.

Starting by taking things apart and rebuilding them with her grandad - who she describes as an 'inspiration' - in his shed, Emily progressed and won a barrage of awards and competitions at school for inventions such as a toothpaste dispenser that minimises waste, which she came up with at just 15 years old. She went on to become Cosmopolitan's Ultimate Save-The-Planet Pioneer in 2008.

Currently in her 3rd year of university at Leeds, she studies part time so she can work on her inventions, and dedicate time to inspiring young people.

Emily's best known invention is the sustainable fridge, (pictured with her) which she also produced at school, and is set to change lives in the third world, as it is used to hold medicines. Emily is currently working on a second generation version that is intended for commercial use.

Emily believes that all new inventions should be green. She says "This concept - to maintain the quality while neutralising the damage to the environment - must be extended to all the other appliances we can't seem to function without such as TVs, cookers, dishwashers, computers, even cars."

"Just like Trevor Baylis's wind-up radio, the key is to creating quality green alternatives to the items which people have come to rely on."

If you think you have a great idea for a green invention, she suggests you check out N powers 'Bright Ideas competition' on their website, where you can also check out some great tips for getting more energy efficient.

For the time being, this red carpet shot is the only image anyone's likely to see of the Pitt-Jolie twins. But since the birth, a frenzied paparazzi scramble for first pictures of newborn Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline has taken place, with talk of sums of money so phenomenal that a figure has not yet been released. One thing we can be sure of, however, is that the socielly conscientious couple will be donating the money to an as yet undisclosed charity.

Brad and Ange are already well known for their charitable work, and this is not the first time that Jolie -- a goodwill ambassador to the UN Refugee Agency has sold baby photos in exchange for hefty donations to the projects she supports.

[Via Ecorazzi]

It's surrounded by 192 acres of organic farm and countryside, comes equipped with a composting toilet, has its central heating provided by a woodchip burner and has its own kitchen garden providing fresh fruit and veg for the lucky residents. So who does live in a house like this? (and rent it out at a cost of £600 to £1000 per week). Read on after the jump to find out...

Related: Whose green ride: which celeb drives this car?

Those Earth Day ripples are still spreading as green gadgets continue to be all the rage. Unlike other Bluetooth headsets, this one's not very stylish. However, the Iqua Sun wireless Bluetooth headset is the *first* solar powered headset that can be charged both indoors and out. So if the thought of never using an electrical power source to charge your portable earpiece again appeals to you then this would be perfect.

The Iqua Sun is compatible with a wide variety of phones, it features 200 hours standby time and 9 hours of talk time. It also supports VOIP applications. All you need is the solar powered charger table and you'll never need to use electricity to charge your mobile devices ever again.
Better still, you may never encounter those irritating days when your Bluetooth headset runs out of battery.

It's currently available from Orange Accessories for £39.99.

[via Chip Chick]

For more eco-friendly gadgets click here

If -- like many of us bloggers -- you find it difficult to remove yourself from the spod box for even half an hour, this idea will be as a personal challenge as it is an environmental gesture.

The brains behind Carbon Rally have calculated that the electricity required to keep a PC running overnight generates up to 51 lbs of CO2 every month, and the combined energy wasted by consumer electronics in standby mode is as high as 10% of all residential power consumption in developed countries.

TV presenter and former model Alexa Chung is hoping to blow the lid on the controversial world of sweatshop workers in a brand new reality programme for Channel 4.

In the 'reality TV' show, Alexa will investigate the conditions that factory workers in Asia, who get paid as little as 15p an hour, work under by setting up her own sweatshop right in the heart of London's Covent Garden. I can't help thinking of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's mock-up intensive chicken farm here, and wonder how realistic the conditions will be...

Using characteristically gloomy language, Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has warned governments that the world will "never wake from the nightmare of climate change” unless new structures are put in place.

His call for action, which specifically targeted the European Union, comes as Friends of the Earth's Big Ask campaign launches a Europe wide campaign against climate change. In a statement, Yorke said that “by committing to annual cuts in our emissions at a national and European level we can play our part in tackling climate change, and set an example for the rest of world to follow." [Via Gigwise]

Selfridges' Oxford street store will play host to ‘The World of Stella’ this February, showcasing eco-fashionista Stella McCartney’s complete clothing and beauty lines throughout the department store.

You’ll be able to browse through her Care organic beauty collection, the Stella McCartney line of clothes, shoes and accessories, the Adidas by Stella McCartney sportswear line, the luggage collection with Le Sportsac and the much anticipated Stella McCartney lingerie collection and denim collection in collaboration with Notify.

[Via Catwalk Queen]

It's not been a good week for Al Gore. First the spammers hit; now it seems that those lovely people at PETA are out to get him, too. They're branding Gore a hypocrite for continuing to eat meat while campaigning for action on climate change, and they're doing it in true PETA style: yesterday a flock of mansized poultry congregated outside parliament holding placards calling Gore a 'chicken' for not going veggie, and PETA's blog tells the rest of the story here.

Of course, whether or not Gore renounces hamburgers is unlikely to have any individual effect, but you'd think he might want to set an example, particularly after the UN revealed that meat farming produces almost 40 percent more greenhouse gases than the entire global transport system. Yet Gore has remained uncharacteristically shtum on the issue of going veggie, despite initial gentle persuasion from PETA (they initially cooked him a 'faux fried chicken' dinner to coax him into making the switch) before reverting to type and launching headlong into the familiar animal-suited humiliation-antics they seem to love so much.

Former US Vice-President Al Gore is writing a book called The Path to Survival which will be a sequel to his 2006 Oscar-winning film An Inconvenient Truth. The book will follow on from the film, which was a hard-hitting documentary about the reality of climate change, and cover solutions to the potential catastrophes for mankind which may befall as a result of increasingly unpredictable weather patterns and global warming.

The book will be published by Rodale Books, Gore’s usual publisher and the largest independent book publisher in the US, next year on Earth Day, 22nd April. Guardian]

I'm not sure if we should be amused or horrified that one of the best-known green female icons is a cartoon character, but there's no denying that Lisa Simpson is a great role model for young girls with a passion for the planet. OK, so it does get her ridiculed by her own family, bullied at school and ignored by most of her home town, but we know that Lisa's always right in the end, and if we'd just listen to her words of wisdom, everything will work out OK.

Ever since she started blowing that 'damn saxophone' Lisa has been only too aware that the unwashed masses don't always want to listen, but she doesn't let that put her off. A strict vegetarian from childhood (a woman after my own heart) and self-confessed nerd, she spends her playtime studiously reading up on how to save the planet and never tires of trying to educate her often reluctant family and peers.