The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

Nicole Hughes:

Should Drive-Thrus Be Banned?

Eco-Moms Mad About “Greenwash” Barbie

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Andy Kondrat:

Home Depot Will Recycle Your CLF Bulbs for Free

Department of Energy Predicts 50% Energy Increase By 2030

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Jon Popham:

NYC Waterfalls Installation Starts This Week

Capt. John Smith Is Back…and Running for President

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Giulia Rozzi:

Yoga Across the Border

Emile Norman: By His Own Design

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Gina Telaroli:

Silverdocs 08: A Post-Fest Wrap-Up

Human Rights Watch 08: Letter to Anna

You know those CFL bulbs that are all the rage because they last something like eight million times as long as a regular light bulb, and conserve a whole ton of energy at the same time?  Well, it turns out you shouldn’t just toss them once they’re finally burned out, because they contain trace amounts of mercury, a heavy metal (not the Poison kind, the poison kind).   Up until now, recycling centers for CFLs have been scarce, but have included Ikea and True Value Hardware.

But now, good news comes our way as Home Depot, which is the nation’s second-largest retailer, is announcing today that it will take back CFLs in every one of its nearly 2,000 stores.   And it’s free!

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Don’t miss these excellent posts on some very engaging and thoughtful topics - from going green at the office to Julian Beever to dystopian film telling us to take action now. Check out our most popular articles of the week on a variety of subjects, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites.

Katie:

Katoucha’s Body Found: Model Helped African Women Escape Mutiliation

Julian Beever Brings Art to New Orleans Sidewalks

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Nicole:

Heath Ledger Nick Drake Video for “Black Eyed Dog” Hits Web

Top 10 Ways to Go Green in the Office

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Giulia:

Crate & Barrel Goes Green

The Black Comedy Project

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Gina:

Top 10 Dystopian Future Films Telling Us to Take Action Now

Going to “The Edge of Heaven” with Fatih Akin

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Kerry:

Sustainable Songstrees Sue West’s Rural Revival

No Impact Home A Hit At Ecobuild Exhibition

Londoners got a look at a breakthrough in energy efficient home design on Tuesday–an affordable zero-carbon home.  From the Independent:

You can pick up the phone and order one, and in three months you can be living your life without contributing anything from your domestic surroundings to Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions, the manufacturers say. They’re a consortium of green building companies called ruralZED, and they say the house they unveiled at the EcoBuild Exhibition at Earl’s Court in London yesterday is the first truly affordable carbon-neutral home.

The super insulated house”three times more efficient than the average British home–is designed to let its owners live off the grid year-round, according to the Independent. Power to the home’s state-of-the-art energy saving appliances is provided by solar panels on the roof, which heat the water, too.

Bill Dunster, whose architectural firm ZEDfactory designed the home, told the Independent that the house itself “is based around a very strong timber frame, supplied as a flat-pack kit, “a bit like a sofa from Ikea.”

ZEDfactory’s zero-carbon home is, like IKEA furniture, geared toward the thrifty do-it-yourselfer who prizes form and function. It has the potential to popularize no-impact living on a scale that seemed unattainable only a few years back. I just hope it comes with better instructions than your average IKEA desk or dresser.

Find out how you can lower your own home’s impact on the planet at lowimpact.org.