For years environmentalists have wondered why someone doesn’t do something about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Now, it appears Method, a sustainable cleaning products company, has jumped into the challenge with both feet. Method’s new “Ocean Bottle” for hand and dish soap is made from bits of plastic litter found on Hawaiian beaches. Method has been making designer soap for years now, and it was way back in 2006 that they created their first 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastic bottle. Although many said the slowly degrading plastic swirling around in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch couldn’t been reused, Method refused to give up.
Following natural disasters, many survivors find themselves in temporary housing that lack the comforts, privacy, and security of home. “In such harsh conditions, people are more likely to become ill, due to mental stress and exhaustion,” Hikaru Imamura writes. So to provide some succor for displaced victims, the Eindhoven-trained Japanese designer decided to build a kit of necessities whose container (a standard oil drum) could be transformed into a stove. “Warming your body, as well as having access to hot meals, can provide mental encouragement,” he says.
The project began as something quite different, a memorial to those who perished in the Kobe earthquake of 1995. But after Japan suffered a more recent earthquake and tsunami last March, Imamura shifted his focus in a more practical direction. His mother’s experience as a volunteer during that time also informed his conviction that hot water was a vital necessity. His utilitarian response is the Heat Rescue Disaster Recovery set, a readily available oil drum containing a pot, a manual for turning the drum into a wood-burning stove, packages of freeze-dried rice, bottled water, utensils, towels, work gloves, and 200 portions of pre-cooked food--enough provisions, according to Imamura, to sustain 30 people for two days.
The contents of the kits could be tailored to different cultures and locations, and Imamura hopes to develop the idea further with a smaller set for individual families. “Although I used to think up a poetic and unrealistic solution before,” he tells Co.Design, “I realized I should go more realistic direction, even if the idea won’t be super innovative as new design.”
A green label on a single-family home in California provides a market premium compared to a comparable home without the label, according to a new study co-authored by Nils Kok (UC-Berkeley) and Matthew E. Kahn (UCLA). The authors found that a green home label — Energy Star, LEED, GreenPoint Rated — adds an average nine percent price premium, or about $34,800 more than homes without a green label using the average home price of $400,000 in California.
Kok and Kahn studied about 1.6 million homes sold in California from 2007 through 2012. While controlling for variables known to influence home values — location, size, vintage, amenities — the authors claim they were able to isolate the added value, or premium, of green home labels.
In addition, the authors found two interesting points of research relating to the so-called green premium. First, green homes sell for a higher premium in hotter climates. The authors speculate that green labels are valued because homes in these areas cost more money to cool. Second, the premium is positively correlated to geographies with higher registrations of hybrid vehicles. The authors use hybrid registrations as a proxy for environmental ideology and believe the correlation suggests homeowners in these areas value the intangible qualities associated with having a green home.
In other words, “in communities with strong environmental values, residents may see green homes as a point of pride or status symbol,” said Kok in a statement announcing the new study, The Value of Green Labels in the California Housing Market.
Indeed, some of the benefits that homeowners may associate with green homes include: lower utility costs, higher quality of construction, better indoor air comfort, healthier indoor air quality, and proximity to amenities including parks, shops, and mass transit. According to some research, demand for green building materials is expected to reach $70 billion by 2015 and green homes could become roughly 28-39% of the market by 2016.
Snoozebox is poised to take advantage of an alignment of circumstances with the Olympics in London. The company provides temporary lodging in the form of portable, stackable, scalable hotel rooms made with shipping containers. Snoozebox is currently providing about 320 rooms for security personnel at Hainault Forest Country Park from July 14 – August 15, 2012, according to The Financial Times. The portable hotel can be ready within 48 hours of arriving at almost any event or location in the world, and rooms have internet, TV, a personal safe, attached bathrooms, etc.
The base of the Trioh stays plugged into an outlet, so it will be fully charged when you need it.
(Credit:
Trioh)
The words "flashlight" and "beautiful" don't generally occupy the same sentence. But designer Greg Hinzmann wants to change that with the new Trioh, which bears the tagline "world's most beautiful flashlight."
I'm not current enough on flashlight design to say whether the Trioh lives up to such lofty claims, but it's certainly way prettier than the red plastic job I have sitting on the floor next to my bed.
The three-in-one device functions as a rechargeable flashlight with three super-bright LEDs; an emergency light that automatically goes on when the power goes out; and a modern-looking accent light that can sit on an end table in its charging dock looking sleekly unassuming until it has to jump into emergency duty.
The Trioh can be displayed in your living room without ruining the decor.
(Credit:
Trioh)
The Trioh arose from Hinzmann's idea that a better-looking flashlight might be kept out in the open rather than made to hide in closets, toolboxes, and under beds -- and thus would be more accessible should the lights go out. Hinzmann, who has designed products for companies including Nike, H... [Read more]
by: Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine, 2012-07-25 03:38:59 UTC
We've all done it: you toss a piece of trash at a nearby waste basket only to have it ricochet off the edge, forcing you to make that shameful walk to go pick it up and drop it in carefully. You only have your own hand-eye coordination skills to blame, but if you think about it, shouldn't catching trash be the garbage can's job? That certainly seems to be the thought process that led one Japanese inventor to construct a smart trash can that tracks garbage tossed in its general direction and then moves across the floor to catch it... Continue Reading Garbage-seeking waste basket moves to catch any trash thrown at it
by: Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine, 2012-07-25 06:19:33 UTC
As anticipated, the Solar Impulse HB-SIA experimental solar-powered aircraft completed the first ever solar-powered intercontinental roundtrip journey between Europe and Africa today. The roughly 6,000 km (3,728 mile) trip commenced on May 24 and consisted of a total of eight legs averaging 800 km (497 miles) before reaching its conclusion with a landing back where it all began in Payerne, Switzerland at 8:30 pm on July 24, local time. .. Continue Reading Solar Impulse completes first ever solar-powered intercontinental journey
by: mocoloco, 2012-07-24 22:23:22 UTC
Rodrigo Caula has attempted to recapture "that lost feeling of connectedness with our environment" and has set out to build a symbol of his city's metamorphosis.
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-07-05 09:02:10 UTC
The "grasshopper" is a classic shoe that has got cult status. Comfortable to wear and walk in. it main characteristics are excellent quality and low ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-07-04 15:05:37 UTC
Named after a Danish candy – colourful, sugarcoated licorice balls – Pinocchio is a carpet that makes you smile. Pinocchio is handmade in Nepal where ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-07-03 12:00:14 UTC
Palmwood baskets
Palmwood is for Vietnamese woodworkers a great and fast growing wood. It however easily changes shape when it ages. By using thin ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-07-03 06:44:05 UTC
Personally I love the smell of freshly printed books. Yes, I know it's chemicals I smell and that they are unhealthy. But I adapted and switched to ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-07-02 14:20:51 UTC
Most of the books printed and shipped are never sold! That is why it is such a great idea to print books, in publishers quality, on demand, in the ...
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