Category Archives: Other Stuff
A green fashion show with clothes made out of eco-friends things called the ‘GreenShows’ kick started with the Brit-designer Gary Harvey. He put on display 22 stunning gowns from recycled material, focusing on vintage garments like Levi’s 501s, ’70s floral print maxi dresses, logo tees, and the pages of the Financial Times. Most of the dresses features were composed of several individual garments like laundry bags, souvenir scarves from around the world, baseball jackets, trench coats, army jackets, t-shirts with slogans, etc.
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Energy efficient windows that work like sun-glasses for our buildings could be the next step to saving energy consumption in the future. These energy efficient windows are currently under the chisel and hammer and are being developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). They will work like self-adjusting sunglasses and will help reduce energy consumption by around 1/8th of that currently being used by buildings. Currently, buildings use around 40% of the energy in U.S. and this reduction of consumption will prove to be a great boon.
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The shutting down of Melbourne’s Southern Star Observation Wheel last year due to cracks and buckling due to heat washed the smiles of many. However, this isn’t the end of the wheel’s life. The decommissioned $100 million wheel will find its use in generating electricity from wind energy and solar energy if all goes as planned by designers. A few thinkers, Buro North, together with photographer Peter Bennetts and Fooch from Squint Opera brainstormed and came up with this innovative idea wherein the observation deck is converted into a windmill powered by solar-sail energy and complete landscaped hubs for a new fleet of steam-powered trams. The base of the windmill will also boast of a garden that will play host to flamingos and street performers.
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Don’t just use your kitchen to chop vegetables, but with the ‘Cocoon’ you can grow your own plants right in the kitchen itself. Made of clay that can absorb water, this cocoon is primarily used to store a few vegetables by your window sill. The very interesting cocoon shape makes it even more organic in appeal. The upper part of the cocoon can be used to cultivate spices and other simpler herbs that are easy to grow in the house. So now add not just color but also life to your kitchen!
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This is not some futuristic robot right out of a game; the LS3 is in fact a walking robot that is being developed by Boston Dynamics, the company that won the $32 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for it. Known as the Legged Squad Support System or LS3, this robotic “mule” will help carry supplies in combat situations over rough terrains and places accessible only on foot. It resembles the Big Dog and Little Dog robots developed by the company. It’s also possible that LS3-like combat robots may eventually draw more on renewable energy like wind and sun than on fossil fuels.
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Irish rockers, U2 have done their part for humanitarian causes earlier and are now looking to save our environment too. The band will go green by raising funds for the Turkish Dora-1 geothermal plant. This will be done by selling Offset Options’ carbon offset credits for $1.89 that will top the concert ticket prices. Purchase these credits and you offset CO2 from travelling to the U2 concert of choice by sending money directly to the Dora-1 project or any other project like this by Offset Options. The band hopes they will rock up $450,000.
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Composting is a process that usually generated quite a bit of heat. The union of the microbes and organic materials leads to a certain type of heating up. Tokyo based architects Bakoko has thought of a unique way to somehow use this heat to warm a small public place like the traditional garden teahouses that are found all over Japan. Tentatively named “Comploo,” Bakoko’s small structure is composed of a series of large, specially shaped compost hoppers arranged in a ring to form an enclosure. A system of sealed ducts runs through each of the bins, and as the air circulates within the walls, the decaying compost warms it. Through a central vent this heated air is released into the structures interiors thereby warming the place up.
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This isn’t just any other wash station; the Plus Wash Station is a second prize winner of the Green Dot Awards. So what makes it so special? Well it is designed to preserve water and save the environment and its ever-depleting natural resources. This doesn’t mean the sink forces you to use dirty water. The water used in the sink flows down to the reservoir below, follows a purification process and is then sent to the closet (toilet) as drain water. This innovative design for you bathroom was designed by Bora Cakilkaya/P-ARCH and is sure to help save gallons of water with its efficient saving systems.
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I prefer smart casuals to a rugged and tattered look. So I prefer washing my jeans once a week, but that in turn means that they have a life shorter than what I would like. So a Brazilian fashion label called TriStar has come up with an innovative idea to help me save my blue jeans in a green way or at least retain a bit of their original color. And if you decide to heed their advice your jeans will go inside cold storage, that too quite literally! The recent denim collection from the label comes with direction to freeze-clean your jeans! The label CEO quotes ‘ After use, just put them inside a plastic or cloth bag and leave them in the freezer for 24 hours to kill the bacteria’.
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The Winter Olympics is going green, literally. Due to the heavy rain s in Vancouver, the snow cover on the mountain slopes is little due to which it is now being referred to as the Spring Olympics. Well, its not just he weather that has the Olympics go green. A few sustainable ideas have been put across and used like the medals made out of recycled circuit boards. These medals were melted from gold, silver and bronze in the boards by a Canadian mining company. The torch will be passed using canoes and electric scooters with zero emissions. On Whistler Mountain that will play host to the athlete’s village, funky bus shelters and benches with body shapes have been constructed. They help us reflect on the fact that exercise and yoga are vital to a healthy human life.
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