Category Archives: Other Stuff
Atlanta will play host to two sparkling new Marriott International hotels, and will be the greenest in the city. The Marriott International chain is sure striving hard to maintain a green face and going more and more environment friendly and eco-friendly by the day. The last time we heard of these green-antics, Marriott provided a $500,000 to support Conservation International’s water conservation program. The two new hotels will be adjacent to one of the world’s busiest U.S. airports and will also house the Georgia International Convention Center. The SpringHill Suites Atlanta Airport Gateway is LEED by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and will be Atlanta’s first LEED Gold hotel. The Atlanta Marriott Gateway on the other hand is applying for a LEED Silver status and will open in August.
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Toto USA is going green, and this time, the plumbing company is taking it to a higher level. By adding UPS’s new carbon-neutral shipping program, Toto will be the first company to take an initiative like this to a global level. And how is that going to happen? This partnership enables the manufacturer to offset carbon emissions that occur due to transportation of small package shipments. The carbon offsets brought help out with reforestation, wastewater treatment, methane destruction, and landfill gas destruction and loads more.
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We’ve seen a solar powered camera strap before that juice up your camera with energy from the sun. Well, here’s yet another strappy-strap that sucks in the power of the sun, this time keeping you entertained on your time outdoors, with music! The Uplink Audio Strap System is a device you can strap on and go on a long jog, listening to your favorite tunes and keeping yourself entertained, all with the help of sun rays. Now this one sure isn’t compact like a usual mp3 player or as light as a headphone. Those are just a few cons to it though.
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Burn that fat and make a light-bulb glow! Now who’d think exercising could help you generate electricity? Here’s yet another reason to make you work out, besides losing those extra pounds and turning yourself into a Greek-God-like-figure. The “Life Fitness Treadmill” by designer Ryan Mather somewhat reminds us of those little wheels that hamsters run in, producing energy in some sci-fi movie. Its not hamsters and little wheels here though. It’s a full fledged treadmill, that you can exercise on and generate power. The energy created is used to power up LED lights and give your room an ambient lighting.
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Who said solar power has no place in the world of fashion and luxury? Well, designers like Diane Von Furstenberg, Tommy Hilfiger, Rogan, Loomstate, Vena Cava sure don’t think the same at least, who created these ELLE/Portable Light Project bags that integrate solar panels. The bags will go on sale on eBay starting July 5. Flip through last month’s ELLE and you’ll stumble across these bags that are sure to make you drool before we say SOLAR! The designers, along with a Boston architect, designed these bags that use a technology termed he Flexible Light and Power pack (FLAP).
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If you live in London and think the air around you to be sparkling clean, hit yourself on your head. You are completely delusional! The city is one of the most polluted in Europe. For the 36th time this year, pollution monitoring equipment in the city displayed some pretty shocking and dangerously high levels. No more than 35 such days are allowed in Britain, and London has crossed that mark by one more polluted day. This breach of EU levels has left the government pink with embarrassment. Just three weeks ago, a final warning was sent to improve the quality of air, and now this.
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The Japanese have planned to go green and reduce their carbon footprints. And how are they planning to execute that? Not solar panels, not wind turbines, not electric cars or anything you’ve heard or read of before. They plan to hit the hay earlier. As a strategy to cut out on carbon emissions, the Japanese will now go to bed, an hour early. So, if your Japanese and watch late night television, its time you switch off your lights and the TV and get some sleep! Known as the Morning Challenge campaign, this strategy was unveiled by the Environment Ministry. If every one in a family goes to bed, and wakes up an hour earlier, a Co2 footprint of around 85kg could be reduced, annually.
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Has your better half been whimpering for a necklace lately? Well, this “necklace” would be a better, though ugly gift for her, taken that it’ll help the environment and her, instead of shining and sparkling. More of a mask than a necklace actually, this one was sculpted out by Brazilian designers Martina Pagura and Pedro Nakazato Andrade. Known as the W/Air, this mask or necklace, whatever you’d like to call it, removes carbon dioxide from the air. That’s not all. If you’d rather shrug it off and plant a tree instead, get a hold of this too. The necklace mask stores this carbon dioxide in a battery-like device, converting it into electricity for use later.
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Chicago now has an LEED-certified hotel to boast about and swell up in pride. The Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza in Chicago has received LEED Gold Certification by the U.S. Green Building Council, in an announcement last week. The building, adjacent to Chicago’s famed Merchandise Mart, has 21 rooms and 20,000 square feet of meeting space and was built originally in 1977. The building has been renovated extensively, with a host of changes and has also installed solar film on many of its windows to reduce solar heat gain.
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The hotel industry is giving itself a deep green shade as the days go by. Soon the holidays and vacations we spend in places like these will be a green affair, with hotels like Marriot International and Ritz-Carlton opting for greener practices. Well here’s yet another green exploit by Ritz-Carlton. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is now offering environmentally-friendly water bottles at its North American hotels and a few select properties in the Caribbean. Ritz-Carlton have hit themselves across the head and have come to realize the pollution they’ve been causing disposing off millions of 16oz plastic bottles every year, made of crude oil with less than 20% sent for recycling.
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