Girl, 10, Builds Green Dream Home

Little kids are the big nudges in the environmental movement these days. Just ask all the grown-ups who began recycling because their sons learned about it at school, or who bought a hybrid car instead of a conventional one because their daughters kept nagging them about their carbon footprint.

Or, you could ask Jennifer Brook, a young British girl who drew a eco-friendly house for a contest run by a local housing developer. Her winning design provided the inspiration for actual houses that will soon be built as part of a community that emphasizes the use of recycled materials and energy saving features in its homes.

Brook, who was 10 when she conceived her "Eco Home of the Future," beat out 70 other children with her design, which was chosen by environmental activist David Bellamy. Her fanciful home featured solar panels, a TV powered by an exercise bike, light switches on the floor that would be activated when people enter and leave a room, and a system for feeding stale bread to birds.