Integrating vertical gardening and technology takes on a new spirit as Singapore plans to unveil the awe-striking Supertrees at the Gardens by the Bay on the 29th of June! These extremely beautiful towers standing 164 feet (50 meters) tall incorporate solar technology and the very essence of vertical gardening. With 18 of these Supertrees to be set up, these will also work as air ventilation ducts for nearby conservatories and rainwater collection systems. Sporting tropical plants native to Southeast Asia and all the color and texture you can expect of a structure of this kind, these Supertrees are indeed a fantastic addition to the Singaporean lifestyle.
Tiger Adventures, a bespoke firm that turns normal everyday vehicles into campers, has just pulled the veil off its latest way to hit the outdoors. Called the Siberian Tiger, named after the animal hailed to be the largest cat in the world, this camper uses the back of a Ford F450 and uses a three-point mounting system. And the fact that this one’s powered up by solar energy, with AMG batteries used to store the juice, has left us well pleased indeed!
Sporting a blend of aluminum framing, bamboo flooring and furniture, the camper sports a stainless steel sink, three-burner recessed stove, convection microwave, refrigerator and freezer along with a porcelain toilet, full-length mirror, bamboo vanity, exhaust fan and separate shower area with a modified king bed to top it off. With a 200-watt solar system to power it all, the camper uses LED lighting indoors and is priced at $163,000.
[gizmag]
Retailers around the globe are quickly realizing the need for more environment-friendly business practices and Marks & Spencer has paved the way for the same in the United Kingdom. The retail giant is now the first in the United Kingdom to go carbon neutral and has adopted a bunch of energy efficiency measures to reduce its carbon footprint. Apart from that, the retail chain has also purchased carbon offsets, enabling its stores, offices, warehouses and delivery fleets in the UK and Ireland to reach net-zero! Also, the company has slashed carbon dioxide emissions by 150,000 tons since 2007, imposing green energy tariffs for its stores and warehouses. Electricity purchases are now made from small scale electricity generators, making the Marks & Spencer retail chain an example to look up to!
[inhabitat]
As the Queen celebrates her Diamond Jubilee, a team of lighting-designers and electricians decided to commemorate the memorable day by setting the iconic Tower Bridge in London aglow, in a green and responsible fashion that has left us awe-struck. Using 6,500 feet of energy-efficient LED linear lights, 1,800 LED lamps, 1,000 junction boxes and 16,500 feet of cable GE, the team managed to give the Tower Bridge a glittering diamond-like appearance when the sun goes down. The Tower Bridge will continue to gleam through the weekend as celebrations continue and will be adorned for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The lighting used for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee uses 40% less energy than traditional lighting used earlier for similar occasions.
[gereports]
As computer peripherals get greener by the day, Logitech decided to give buyers a great way to type away in a green and eco-friendly way. Successor to Logitech’s first solar keyboard, the K750, the manufacturer has now unveiled the new Wireless Solar Keyboard K760. Using solar energy to power up via a strip of solar cells on the top of the keyboard, this one hooks on to your PC via Bluetooth, making it compatible with iMacs, iPads or the iPhone too! The keyboard can be paired to three devices at a type and with a simple push of a button users can quickly switch between these. Priced at $79.99, this super-green peripheral works for a good three months on a full charge, without exposure to any light whatsoever!
[cnet]
We’ve seen solar powered lighting fixtures that soak up the sun in the day and light up at night. None of those however have had us this fascinated before. Called the First Light, this beautifully innovative lamp uses its own energy to power up! Here’s how. Using a bunch of gears, cogs and weights, this lamp uses the principal of continuously moving parts to generate energy which in turn is used to power up what we expect to be an LED bulb. The lamp does need winding from time to time, just like those good old key-powered grandfather clocks. It does make for a sufficiently marvellous addition to just about any home however!
The Hong Kong Airport Authority seems adamant to have the celebrated International Airport go green and has recently pledged to turn it into the greenest in the world! The Hong Kong International Airport handles about a 50 million passengers yearly and operates 24 hours a day. With a recent 10% decrease in carbon emissions, the airport had drawn out a 3-year environmental plan to decrease carbon emissions by 2015 which has successfully been met. Now, the airport will further go green, replacing 100,000 lighting units with LEDs and introducing electric passenger transfer cars, with a whole fleet in place by 2017.
Recycling has taken a new form recently with designer Philip Starck’s latest, a chair made from recycled industrial waste! Called the Broom Chair, this piece of furniture will be show off at the ICFF and uses 90% recycled waste from industrial sources. Previously unveiled at the Milan Furniture Fair, this design was conceived for Emeco and uses discarded wood fibres and reclaimed polypropylene. Using these materials to create a plastic-wood composite, Starck managed to create a comfortably elegant piece of furniture that’s as green and eco-friendly as you’d require a chair to be!
Soon, the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn will play home to 10,000 swank new bikes, all part of the Citibikes bike-sharing program scheduled to kick-off in July this year. Funded by Citibank and Mastecard who each paid $41 million and $6.5 million to breathe life into this initiative, these Bixi bikes by Quebec-based PBSC Urban Solutions were designed by Michel Dallaire and are strong enough to bare severe cases of neglect, misuse and vandalism! Sporting a three-speed gear system, a strong and sturdy frame and a bag rack to keep your belongings with nitrogen filled tyres.
There was a time when a playground was a simple iron and plastic affair. Kids would spend countless hours here, away from modern day gadgetry and the like. Now, giving playgrounds a touch of technology, Octavia has come up with a solar-powered swing accessory that turns the simple yet enjoyable swing into a competitive affair. With three different sound games aboard that coax kids to swing higher for rewards, the Son-X is designed to run indefinitely on solar power and can hold up against the elements too! Priced at a steep $625, the accessory seems like an over-priced though energy-efficient addition to the customary playground.
