EcoGeek of the week is a guest column written by Hank Green of EcoGeek. 

A year ago when we saw an article at MAKE: on how to make a fuel cell out of a band aid we knew we had to get in touch with this guy. Gavin D.J. Harper is a frequent contributor to EcoGeek and has written several books in McGraw Hill's "Evil Genius" series.

Most recently, Gavin completed "50 Solar Power Projects for the Evil Genius." The book, filled with projects on how to harness the sun for your own personal gain was forwarded by Willie Nelson and has been sitting on my nightstand for the last few days. We're happy to have Gavin as this week's ecogeek of the week. Read the whole article for a look at our solar-powered future.

Dear EcoGeek,

My parents are always bugging me about computer usage and how the computers are sucking up energy. I want to know what I can do so that my computer doesn't waste so much energy? I totally wanna go green and save the Earth from Global Warming!

- Lukas

Hey Lukas,

You probably won't be surprised to discover that I spend quite a bit of time thinking about this very question. First, you should let your parents to know that your computer, with all of it's amazing opportunities for educational, economic and social advancement, likely uses less power than the light bulbs that share the room with it.

Read the rest of EcoGeek's answer after the jump ...

I just saw a kinda disturbing article on fark.com and wondered what you would think of it. Could walking really be worse of the environment than driving?

Walking to the shops ‘damages planet more than going by car’

Seulswalker,

When I read your question, I assumed that there was no way the article had any credibility... that it was written by an angsty high school student who was sick of people telling him what to do. But I was wrong, and that is scary.

Someone took the results of a scientific study on how inefficient our food production system is, did some really bad math, and then found themselves a glorious headline that would send shock waves throughout the blogosphere. You could call it sensationalism ... I just call it evil.

Read EcoGeek's answer after the jump ...

Lighter Footstep is very pleased to welcome Hank Green, better know as the EcoGeek, to our regular lineup.  EcoGeek.org is one of the sites with which we cooperate most regularly, and Hank's "EcoGeek of the Week" and "Ask the EcoGeek" features will now be appearing here on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We hope you enjoy these columns as much as we do.

When Ron Hochstetler graduated from Purdue with a degree in aviation technology, he didn't know how different his path would be from the other graduates of his class. Though trained to work with the helicopters and jets that we today associate air travel, Ron became fascinated with a different type of craft. An aircraft that "belongs in the sky."

Now, twenty years later, Ron is one of the world's leading experts in "lighter than air" technology. It's an industry that many believe died with the Hindenburg. But Ron makes his case...the golden age of airships may be yet to come. And we're happy to have him as this week's EcoGeek of the Week.

Click to the rest of this article to read the interview

The "Earthrise" image brought home by the crew of Apollo 8 from lunar orbit is arguably the most influential photographs in human history.

They showed a beautiful, almost lonely planet: a deep blue sphere awash in clouds, tiny against the velvet background of space. This view has helped shape the celestial perspective of humanity ever since.

But in 2005, NASA released a new set of Earth images which are proving  as influential. The renderings -- captured in natural color over a three-month period by the Terra and Aqua satellites and their Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS) -- provide the most detailed views of our planet ever captured.

Click through to the article to see these amazing images.