Co-designed by Leonard, a solar powered public toilet is all set to be seen on the roads of Portland before 2008 ends. Estimated at about $140,000 (for the prototype) and dubbed as Portland Loo, this portable toilet is very light in weight. Erected out of stainless steel wall panels, the cylindrical bathroom is designed to be five feet wide and eight feet tall. It will sport a sink on the outside and see-through slats down low so police can check for unhealthy or nasty behavior. It will have a hard connection to water and sewer and solar panels to power the light that will come on in the evening and warm the pipes to prevent against freezing. This toilet business will throw its doors open on the 12th of Dec this year.
The farmers of 2010 will have one more reason to bow down to sun and utilize solar energy to the fullest. Though Sun’s abundant energy is uber essential for farmers to grow healthy crop feeds, in the near future, this solar energy will also be used to power a tractor. The Austrian maker, Open Energy, is in the process of launching a solar-powered tractor soon. Fitted with a 26sq m solar panel, these farming vehicles will assist the vegetable and fruit producers for weeding, drilling and also ploughing. The panels are deigned to constantly adjust their position to harness the most of the sun during the whole day. This helps augment the efficiency by 40% and reduce the dependence on direct sunlight.
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These days, we seldom come across a cordless phone that can create ripples in the phoney-world. However the latest Motorola digital cordless phone has managed to shine out with its futuristic design as well eco-features. The green Motorola D10 and D11 range of phones are absolutely user-friendly. It sports the intelligent ‘eco mode,’ which uses less battery power which in turn increases the talk-time. It is also fabricated out of 20% recycled materials to reduce the carbon footprint.
Posted in
Recycle on November 27, 2008
In a bid to reduce their impact on the e-waste landfills, geeks can place their hot cuppa coffee on the green Recycled Circuit Board Coasters. A company named, Revolve, recycles the motherboards (PCBs) into green stylish coasters. Sport your green thumb and concern for environment by buying these geeky yet modish set of four coasters for your work or coffee table. The product site states, ‘The recycled PCBs have a flat finish and have never had components attached to them with any type of solder or glue. Consequently, the heavy metals associated with electronic equipment are not present. Around 95% of the PCBs are green in color, but occasionally we get gold, red and (most rarely), blue. Some boards are single sided with a brown back and green front and others are green both sides.’
Philadelphian designer Brian Kelly intends to explore the relationship between humans and plants by growing greens nourished with urine. He implies that since plants enrich humans with Oxygen and nutrition, we too should enrich them with nitrogen from human’s urine along with the carbon dioxide from the air. To eliminate the need of chemical fertilizers, he shaped up a project, Grow Cycle. It is designed to fit in urban dens too as people excuse from green responsibilities attributing to lack of space. Going by his images, I can write that a valved bottle is used for clean transportation of the urine into the system. Now Brian, how to fill that bottle…..without messing fingers and hands? Ok, once user masters the art, urine collected needs to be diluted with water in a fixed measure to feed the plant. Roll over for lots of illustrative images……
And you thought that priests only pray to God for well being? Allow me to correct this myth. In a move to make Vatican more clean and green, the current leader of the Roman Catholic Church and head of state of Vatican City, Pope Benedict XVI held his first green audience yesterday. About 9,000 attended the green service under the solar roof of Paul VI Hall. In all, 2,400 solar panels on the roof above the Pope’s head converted sun rays into electricity to light and heat the hall.
Posted in
Recycle on November 27, 2008
This Christmas allow Santa to place your gifts at the feet of the 100% eco-friendly X-mas tree. Switch to the latest trend of going green by swapping authentic Xmas trees with the cardboard versions. Designed and developed by Cloud Gate Design LLC, from Chicago, this tree is erected out of recycled corrugated cardboard. You can also opt for ornaments made out of cardboard to decorate it in a true green style. ideal for kids as well as adults, such a eco-friendly version aims to instill the green values even in times of festivities. Claimed to be 100% recyclable, this tree screams out two ideas very clearly – Reuse and Recycle. for $23, it stands 3 feet tall and 3 feet wide. Even the packaging material is absolutely eco-friendly.
Houston residents can give a green wash to their cars at the nation’s first eco-friendly full service car wash. Green Earth Auto Detail is all set to throw its doors open for this green car wash service in the first week of following month. Since water conservation is of prime importance, the task of flushing away 40 to 160 gallons of water per car wash needed to be addressed without delay. Green Earth promises to look into this matter and has come up with an almost water-free car wash. They have formulated a special solution that is safe, non-hazardous and water-based. When sprayed onto the vehicle it simply dissolves the dirt so it can be easily wiped off with a micro fiber cloth and then buffed with another, leaving the vehicle clean, shiny and super smooth to the touch. The only water used in the process is that which is used to mix the solution.
Recently, we featured a solar powered Fusion bag that also played a role of the charger for your doodads. But if that bag didn’t fancy your fashion sense then fret not as here’s a hot solar charger with cool looks. Dubbed, iCharge eco, it is the latest green charger that sports compatibility with a range of portable gizmos. Fitted with solar panels on one side, it can juice up cell phones, MP3s, iPod and gaming consoles too. Though it is prefixed with the ‘i’, this solar charger has no association with the trade mark ‘i’ products or its parent company. A 1,350mAh battery helps to deliver an output of DC5.0-5.5V/600mA.
Posted in
Recycle on November 26, 2008
With thousands of books being bought and read, have you wondered what happens to them after being discarded eventually. Though books don’t pose a hazardous threat to the landfills, it certainly makes sense if we can put them to a better use. Since most of us love to flaunt our collection on a books cabinet or special shelf, the idea of Paperback Partition will appeal to folks with clear eco-sense. Simply collect all the unwanted books and arrange them on a customized cabinet that plays a role of partition. Be it a partition between two rooms or simply a nerdy divider between yours and your colleague’s work table. Book lovers cannot settle on a better application of their old but dear-to-heart paperbacks.
