Ok so a cool $4 million ($US) isn’t quite what most people can afford for a house, but this place is really amazing and worth checking out just for the wow factor.

It’s the sort of house that both myself and my husband would love - me the green aspects and him the techy-gadgets. Although we wouldn’t need as much room or as many bathrooms.

The Wired Home is described as a modernist home in an exclusive enclave of Los Angeles that allows luxury and the environment to live together in harmony.

Sounds pretty cool huh?

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To celebrate 100 issues of ReNew magazine, the Alternative Technology Association is holding free sustainable house open days. The houses will be open this weekend across Australia.

Last year I checked out a few houses in Canberra during Sustainable House Day which gave me loads of ideas and inspiration for my own home. You have to pay to enter the houses during Sustainable House Day so this free event is a great opportunity to get inspired by people who are living the “sustainable dream”.

The weird thing is I will be in Canberra again this weekend so if I get time I will try and check out the house in Mawson. If you are in Sydney, you can visit Michael Mobbs’ house in Chippendale, which was one of the first sustainable houses in the city. Bummer I will miss that one.

Construction of the world’s first global seed bank is underway in one of the most remote places on Earth.

Dug out of frozen rock on Spitsbergen Island near the North Pole, the Svalbard International Seed Vault will house up to 3 million seed varieties when it is finished.

Built by the Norwegian government, the vault is planned to withstand catastrophes such as nuclear war, plant epidemics, natural disasters and climate change.

There are already 1,400 seed banks around the world but many are susceptible to political instability, lack of funds or environmental threats. The vault will back up any seeds that are lost in such circumstances.

The vault will also help protect the planet’s agricultural gene pool as the loss of biological diversity rapidly grows. Of the 7,000 plant species historically used in human diets, less than 150 are now grown in modern agriculture. Of that only 12 plant species represent the major vegetable sources available today.

Installing solar hot water might get a little cheaper. The Federal government has announced households will receive a $1,000 rebate for installing solar hot water systems.

Anyone out there planning to install a system? It would be great to know how much you ended up paying and if that included any state rebates.

Ford plans to make the interior of its cars more environmentally friendly by using a soy based foam.

Most seats are made from a petroleum-based polyol foam. Ford says the soy-based foam is more renewable, takes less energy to produce and cuts carbon dioxide emissions. Read the full story.

During my lunch hour today I viewed the most amazing photography exhibition called Earth from Above, displayed for free and outdoors at Darling Harbour in Sydney.

The images, taken by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, are a series of aerial images focusing on our planet and sustainable development. The images are truly incredible and if you’re in Sydney or passing through Darling Harbour then definitely take a look. The exhibition runs until December 26, 2007.

These days there is a lot of talk about to how to reduce our own personal impact on climate change. And it seems that many people are listening and trying to do just that.

However, I’m not really sure how many of our politicians are really listening or planning to make changes in their policies to help combat climate change.

Luckily, there is a new website called The Big Switch that provides a way to find out where politicians stand on climate change. The site also provides an avenue to politicians to let them know we want action.

You can also sign the pledge to help create a clean energy future for Australia plus find loads of information about reducing your own greenhouse gas emissions, avenues to take further action, ways to contact local climate action groups, discussion forums and climate change news.

The Live Earth concert, which kicks off in Sydney, is just over a day away. It sounds like it will be great with such a fine line up.

I was meant to be attending to cover the concert for a US based blog, but the press pass fell through.

Never mind because Live Earth will be transmitted worldwide by Intelsat and the concert will also be streamed live online through MSN.

Is anyone going? Let us know how it went. David Jeffery over at Oikos has a few spare tickets if you missed out.

One of the gardening weblogs I like to visit is the Daley’s Fruit Tree blog because of its useful gardening articles and videos about growing fruit trees.

The nursery, situated in Kyogle on the far north coast of NSW, has also just launched its fruit tree forum. The forum allows people to share their knowledge about growing fruit trees and upload images.

It already has a range of topics and is open to people from anywhere, not just the North Coast of NSW. So if you are having problems with one of your fruit trees, want to share your knowledge about growing fruit trees, have some good pictures or just want to browse the topics then definitely check out www.daleysfruit.com.au/forum

Thanks to Jerry over at the Sustainable House in Brisbane, I’ve learnt that the Total Environment Centre has released its Safer Solutions website, which aims to help people keep their homes healthy and green.

The site has loads of information about topics such as reducing hazardous chemicals in your home, organic gardening, and greener ways to renovate your home and loads more. Check it out for more information.