Eco Island: Isle of Wight Developing England’s Largest Sustainable Community
by: Inhabitat , 2011-11-25 22:20:58 UTC
Off of England’s southern coast, the Isle of Wight is developing the largest sustainability project in the country. By 2020, “Eco Island” will become a net exporter of energy, and residents will see their electricity bills drop by 50%. The island will become a precedent for renewable energy and sustainability practices, and an example of Prime Minister David Cameron’s “Big Society” concept for the UK.
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Post tags: David Cameron, eco design, eco island, England, great britain, green design, green island, isle of wight, renewable energy, sustainable design, sustainable island
The Birth Of An Idea: Ads To Rebrand Girls
by: fast company, 2011-11-24 15:17:39 UTC
Fast Company asked several of the most creative ad agencies in the world to rebrand baby girls. Their mock campaigns recast girls as the No. 1 choice for consumers from China to the U.S.
The Tamagotchi Effect
by: Yanko Design, 2011-11-25 08:03:45 UTC
This clever device, called PowerPlant, gives users a visual (and organic) reward for using less energy at home. Wireless transmitters fitted to the main power and water supplies regulate the amount of water the plant receives- the less energy used, the more regular watering the plant receives! The emotional link people have to the living plant (AKA the Tamagotchi effect) is sure to motivate awareness of their individual carbon footprints and help them track their environmental progress.
As for the device itself, it’s constructed of 80% recycled and reclaimed material.
Designer: Liam Higton-Shirt
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(The Tamagotchi Effect was originally posted on Yanko Design)
A Short-Range Electric Vehicle for $7,000
by: Eco Geek Latest, 2011-11-22 20:36:51 UTC
The StreetScooter is caled an open-source electric vehicle and has been developed to provide an affordable and sustainable option for mobility. The target price for the vehicle is only $7,000, although the batteries would have to be leased separately. The StreetScooter is intended as a Short Distance Vehicle (SDV) with a range of 40 kilometers (about 25 miles). While this doesn't meet every need, it is suitable for many basic transport purposes.
A consortium of 20 different companies has been behind the development of this vehicle concept, which was recently unveiled at the Frankfurt International Auto Show. The design team began with the idea of a vehicle that is intended for primarily short trips, and could then be priced accordingly. While it has a limited range, the Street Scooter has a top speed of 74 miles per hour (120 kph).
The modular approach undertaken by the design team focused on each partner applying their expertise to the area they knew best and having to coordinate only where the different systems interconnected. Production is supposed to begin in Europe in 2013 and then to follow to the United States later on.
The original site is in German, but this link gives a Google translated version that can give you some idea about the project.
via: Slashdot
Clever Teacup Design Means One Less Thing To Clean
by: TreeHugger Design, 2011-11-25 15:37:00 UTC
If you are trying to live with less, this clever design can help.
The Paper Wine Bottle Is Lightweight and Cheap
by: Gadget Lab, 2011-11-22 16:03:20 UTC
Great for the environment, useless for molotov cocktails. What's not to like?
As somebody who has to haul several empty bottles down to the recycling point every day, and then schlep another couple of full wine bottles back up the many stairs to my apartment, I love the idea of UK-based Martin Myerscough’s paper wine bottle.
The bottle consists of a paper outer and a foil-bladder inner, and works like those foil-lined boxes of wine that get harassed mothers through so many afternoons. It also weighs one tenth of the weight of a glass wine bottle — 55 grams vs. 500 grams.
Recycling bottles is fine, but it takes a lot of energy to do, not to mention the transport of full bottles to stores and empties to the recycling plant. Paper is not only greener, but lighter.
Myerscough has already managed to sell a paper milk carton into one of Britain’s biggest supermarket chains, ASDA, so it’s possible that this could actually take off.
The biggest problem might be you, the customer. Wine drinkers like bottles, and even now turn their noses up at clearly superior screw tops and plastic corks.
Me? I have decided to take advantage of a great service in Spanish bodegas (wine stores). You take in an empty plastic bottle of any kind and they’ll fill it straight from the barrel. The wine is good, and both cheaper and lighter than the bottled stuff.
Could a paper wine bottle design really work? [Design Week]
Beautifully Minimal ‘Hidden Radio & Bluetooth Speaker’
by: Gadget Lab, 2011-11-23 12:45:03 UTC
Tiny, and ridiculously simple to use, the HiddenRadio & BlueTooth Speaker could be mistaken for a salt shaker
I’m a sucker for Bluetooth speakers. They make it so easy to play music straight from my iPad or — when my slightly weird friends come to visit — from Android cellphones. No cables, no annoying Wi-Fi AirPlay delays, just simple music. And when the speakers look as good as the HiddenRadio & Bluetooth Speaker, I’m doubly interested.
It’s also dead simple to use. Resembling an oversized cap from a spray-can, you switch it on by twisting the whole thing. The cap spirals up and moves away from the main body, creating more volume inside so the sound volume increases too (up to 80dB).
The HiddenRadio also contains ad AM-FM radio (hence the name), doubles as a speakerphone and has a battery which should last up to 30 hours. It is currently up for funding on Kickstarter, but far from being a brand new project, the designers –John Van Den Nieuwenhuizen and Vitor Santa Maria — have been working on the HiddenRadio speaker for four years.
If you have any kind of mobile device which you use for games, music or movies, you need a portable speaker. And this one looks as good as any. You can either pledge $119 to the Kickstarter project, or wait and pay $175 if and when it goes into production.
Hidden Radio & BlueTooth Speaker [Kickstarter]
Olloclip, An Affordable There-Way iPhone Lens Adapter
by: Gadget Lab, 2011-11-23 13:41:38 UTC
The Olloclip is a cheap-ish set of add-on lenses for the iPhone
If Monday’s $250 iPhone Lens Dial was a little too rich for you, may I suggest taking a look at the Olloclip, an equally capable triple-lens add-on for the iPhone which is cheaper and smaller than the giant, turret-like Lens Dial case.
Olloclip is an aluminum kit consisting of two main parts. The first is an adapter which clips over the top corner of the iPhone, covering the camera. On one side is a fisheye lens adapter, on the other a macro lens. The second part is a small extra wide-angle adapter which clips on top of the macro lens.
The kit comes with lens caps for both ends and a small carrying bag. The beauty of this over separate, magnetically attached lenses is the convenience — no more lost lenses. The advantage over the iPhone Lens Dial is the price, and also the size — the Olloclip is truly pocket-sized.
Compared the the $250 iPhone Lens Dial, the $70 Olloclip seems like a bargain. Maybe it doesn’t have the image quality of the more expensive adapter, but if you’re distorting your photos and sending them out into the world via Instagram, that’s probably a feature, not a bug.
The Olloclip is available now, in black, or red and black.
Olloclip product page [Olloclip via TUAW]
Student-Built 155 MPH Biofuel Truck Breaks World Land Speed Record!
by: Inhabitat , 2011-11-23 23:36:46 UTC
Boise University’s Greenspeed pick-up truck has just broken the world’s biofuel land speed record — all while running solely on vegetable oil! The green powerhouse reached a whopping 155 miles per hour, making history at the El Mirage Dry Lake in Southern California. Headed by Dave Schenker, the student team converted a 1998 Chevrolet S-10 into a supreme vegetable oil guzzling road machine.
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Student-Built 155 MPH Biofuel Truck Breaks World Land Speed Record!
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Post tags: biofuel, Chevrolet S-10, CUmmins straight sixe diesel engine, Dave Schenker, El Mirage Dry Lake, Greenspeed, Team Boise University, vegetable oil run car
3 Obvious Ways Companies Can Flip the Switch and Save Millions
by: Greener Design, 2011-11-23 12:45:36 UTC
Cutting energy use across the enterprise can be so simple, and so cost-effective that it's astounding there is still any of this low-hanging fruit waiting to be plucked. Here are eight case studies showing what's possible.
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