The Wicked World of Packaging
by: FEED STOP, 2011-12-10 13:00:00 UTC
From individually wrapped prunes to over-packaged USB drives, excess packaging has become a momentous problem. Required for safety, preservation, and marketing, packaging can be valuable, however excess packaging waste is a growing environmental and societal concern. Pulitzer price winning author Russell Baker once wrote, "The American dream is to turn goods into trash as fast as possible." This could not be truer than in the case of packaging. Emphasis on selling more and cheaper goods has been the ultimate goal of most companies through attractive packaging. Packaging design has been known for ignoring efficiency to create more advertising space or using [...]

TED: Pavan Sukhdev: Put a value on nature! - Pavan Sukhdev (2011)
by: TEDTalks (video), 2011-12-14 16:22:56 UTC
Every day, we use materials from the earth without thinking, for free. But what if we had to pay for their true value: would it make us more careful about what we use and what we waste? Think of Pavan Sukhdev as nature's banker -- assessing the value of the Earth's assets. Eye-opening charts will make you think differently about the cost of air, water, trees ...

Teaching Systems Thinking Helps Create More Sustainable Designers
by: FEED STOP, 2011-12-15 13:00:00 UTC
As I've written before about teaching sustainability in manageable chunks, I took the opportunity this fall 2011 semester to continue to perfect this pedagogy. I allow the students to only focus on one component of the larger sustainability issue (in this case amount of material) and avoid extra complexities initially. This, I find, allows the students to more quickly grasp key principles of designing more responsibly. As the semester unfolds, extra variables are added to the projects (ink, LCA, vendors, etc.) that increase the student vocabulary and methodologies associated with sustainable design. In this rendition of my greener packaging project I [...]

Making Sustainability Measurable
by: Environmental Leader, 2011-12-30 11:21:14 UTC
Leading scientists discuss how to make sustainability measurable.

IQPC Facades Design & Delivery 2012
by: Sustainable Design News, 2011-12-31 13:10:36 UTC
IQPC's 3rd Facades Design & Delivery conference will take place on January 23 - 25, 2012 in New York City, NY.

You will get expert knowledge on innovative materials that top firms are using, hear from cutting edge architects and find out about new developments in energy efficiency technology.



2012 Toyota Prius v: Bigger is better
by: Gizmodo , 2011-12-23 21:00:00 UTC
Although not as big as a full-size minivan, the new Prius v feels substantially more spacious than its hatchback predecessor. Fuel economy is somewhat reduced, but is still excellent.

Originally posted at The Car Tech blog

What Delay? New Light Bulbs Hitting Shelves in 2012
by: Environmental Leader, 2011-12-30 07:13:44 UTC
We’ve been covering the impending 2012 light bulb regulations since they were first voted into law. Earlier this month, however, Congress passed a last-minute budget deal that included a block on enforcement of the standards until October – leaving some to wonder what’s changed. The short answer is “not much.” Originally, the standards would have [...]

Most Read Sustainable Business Stories of 2011
by: Environmental Leader, 2011-12-30 15:07:57 UTC
Every day this week we’ve been looking at a different aspect of environmental and sustainability management and counting down the top stories that grabbed your attention this year. Today we look at the most popular sustainable business stories that didn’t fall into the previous categories of energy management, paper and packaging or finance and reporting. [...]

New technique removes even trace amounts of heavy metals from water
by: Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine, 2011-12-29 00:24:31 UTC

Once released into the environment from industrial sources, trace amounts of heavy metals can remain present in waterways for decades, or even centuries, in concentrations that are still high enough to pose a health risk. While processes do exist for removing larger amounts of heavy metals from water, these do not work on smaller quantities. Now, however, scientists from Rhode Island’s Brown University have combined two existing methods, to create a new one that removes even trace amounts of heavy metal from water... Continue Reading New technique removes even trace amounts of heavy metals from water

Section: ecoGizmo

Tags: Brown University, Eco-friendly, Pollution, Water Conservation

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Leaf-Shaped Lotus Electric Vehicle Charger Doubles as a Solar-Powered LED Streetlight!
by: Inhabitat , 2011-12-30 22:49:48 UTC

Springing up from the ground like a large leaf, the Lotus is a solar-powered electric vehicle charger that doubles as an LED streetlight and a sheltered bench. Perfect for parks and parking areas alike, the Lotus features a 2.8 KW photovoltaic surface, built-in LED lights, and a waterproof Scame electrical outlet that can be used to charge an EV. The solar leaf is designed to be produced in a wide range of eco-friendly paint options, allowing it to blend in with its surrounding environment. Lotus was designed by architect Giancarlo Zema for Bergamo-based LumineXence and it was sponsored by a pool of leading green companies like Solarday, Siderpali, Eurozeta, Nord Zinc, and Scame Parre.

+ Giancarlo Zema

+ LumineXence

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Post tags: electric car, electric vehicle, electric vehicle charger, green design, green transportation, leaf ev charger, leaf-shaped ev charger, leaf-shaped streetlight, led streetlight, Lotus Solar EV Charger, solar streetlight, sustainable design