How wonderful would a world without garbage be? While recycling and reusing are amazing buzzwords, implementing them as practices is a tad more challenging. However, it isn’t possible. The town of Kamikatsu in Japan has proved this over the last 15 years with an implementation in 2003 that enforced a rigorous recycling program. Thanks to that effort, today, the town today either composts, recycles or reuses 80 percent of its garbage. The landfill only needs to deal with the remaining amount that is more than manageable. As per the ruling, residents are required to wash and sort anything that is not compostable. Only then will the recycling center accept the trash. Around 34 categories detail out the items that need to be treated.
While great design is a prerequisite in motorcycle purchase decisions, it is also absolutely necessary to ensure that performance doesn’t take a back seat. The Eva electric motorbike manages to marry both worlds and to make it all better, it does so sustainably. The 100 percent electric motorbike is made in Italy. It comes without a gear box in lieu of which, it packs a permanent magnet oil cooled motor that can take it to a range of 200 km and reach speeds of up to 200 kmph. The primary highlight of the motorcycle is the vehicle control unit that continuously manages the battery, electric motor, charger and even the anti-lock braking system. Thanks to the powerful electric motor that produces 70 kW of power and 170 Nm of torque, riding an electric bike has never been less cumbersome.
Where the faithful gather is where hope and faith are most prevalent. In its bid to support the protection of endangered animals, the Vatican partnered with Racing Extinction’s film producers to make a bold statement. Racing Extinction is a documentary that sheds light on the possibility of mass loss of species that can be caused by wildlife trade and pollution as well as the darker underbellies of the oil and gas trade business. The Vatican was used to project giant images of the world’s most endangered animals. The light display used St. Peter’s Basilica as the canvas and it attracted thousands of on-lookers.
It’s been a really big year for gaming laptops as we’ve seen the latest and greatest gaming components making their way into laptops, from PC-grade processors to desktop graphics chips and mechanical keyboards. But now Asus have gone one step further and produced the world’s first liquid cooled gaming laptop the Asus ROG GX700, and its looks incredible!
What better way to leverage on the inherent hatred people have towards your diesel cars than selling them electric ones. The diesel-gate scandal has surely scarred Volkswagen’s reputation for good. However, their PR will surely make a recommendation that they work on a clean-up model where they dish out electric vehicles, thus curing the ‘pollutant’ stigma that is pretty deep-etched in the minds of consumers. In fact, Dr. Herbert Diess from the company’s Passenger Cars segment will keynote CES 2016 on January 5. “We welcome Herbert Diess to CES to share Volkswagen’s vision for the future, including the company’s commitment to sustainability,” said Gary Shapiro who represents CES. “We are pleased Volkswagen will use the CES stage to unveil a concept car displaying its latest developments in safe and energy-efficient electric vehicles consistent with VW’s long history of innovation in the driving experience.”
Paris played home to a rather extreme measure by eco-activists. The said activists took over some 600 odd billboards across the city and went on a rampage to protest the indifference by brands and the governing bodies towards the real issues of climate change. The billboards coincide with the UN Climate Change Summit. Brandalism is the group behind the idea of guerilla advertising that manages to get the message and graveness of climate change and its hazards across. Over 80 street artists from across 19 different nations worked with Brandalism to create the ads. “We are taking these spaces back, because we want to challenge the role advertising plays in promoting unsustainable consumerism,” said Joe Elan of Brandalism.
What do we do with all those idle patches of land on the planet that do not serve any particular purpose? Other than turning into storage yards and makeshift markets, they hardly do anything other than take up usable space. Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) went on to finalize a proposal that will convert a 15-mile non-functioning railway line between Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and the Malaysian border into a multipurpose linear park. This could pretty much travel across the nation in one scenic strip. Japan’s Nikken Sekkei won the bid along with Tierra Design and Arup Singapore. The park expanse will accommodate 122 access points, 21 modular platforms and a paved cycling path.
A Vintage Electric e-bike is just what the planet needed. The 2016 Vintage Electric Tracker is a marvel of design and engineering that exemplifies simplicity and convergence of the new and old. For the last couple of years, Vintage Electric has been steadily impressing us with 20th century-based board track racing bike designs fitted around modern electric engines. The 2016 Tracker enters the ring with 15 percent efficiency over last year’s model even with 20 percent more torque produced and a larger 70 watt-hour battery in tow. It can easily cover 35 miles on a single charge and ensure that you have everyone’s eyeballs and double-takes focused in your general direction.
Last year, Akon conceptualized and launched the inspiring Akon Lighting Africa initiative that aimed at bringing solar energy to millions of homes in Africa. It’s been a year now and the project has been a roaring success for the singer with 1 million solar powered street lamps and domestic solar panels installed in over a million households in Africa. His endeavor has enhanced the standard of sustainable living across 14 African nations. To give a further boost to his movement, the program introduced the Solar Academy in Mali’s capital, Bamako, through which African engineers were taught the art of solar power harvesting.
Hasn’t the world always waited for a headline like this? In this day and age where renewable energy is either underutilized or too expensive to generate, we turn to the rich and powerful to fund a population that gives back to the planet. Bill Gates has fronted a coalition with 20 billionaires from across the world to invest more in the research of clean energy. The Breakthrough Energy Coalition will include venture capitalists such as Vinod Khosla, hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, Indian industrialist Mukesh Ambani, Jack Ma of Alibaba and even Mark Zuckerberg.
