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Posts Tagged “

Environment

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environment

Glasgow Considering Installing Giant 'Solar Lily Pads' in the River Clyde

Scottish architecture firm ZM Architecture has come up with a way to deliver more renewable energy to Glasgow: solar panel lily pads. Yep, they want to populate the River Clyde with a series of gigantic solar islands that'll soak up the rays all day long, sending electricity to the grid while also acting as an aesthetically-pleasing attraction. Initially an entry in the International Design Awards "Land and Sea" competition where it took first prize, the Glasgow city council is now considering testing out a small run of the solar lily pads in the river. [BBC via Inhabitat]

1:13 PM on Mon May 12 2008
By Adam Frucci
2,718 views, 39 comments

Latest by theoldwolf: In Glasgow? I'll give them ten minutes before they're either nicked, vandalised or both. Even if they were too far out to reach easily from the shore, I can guarantee that some wily local kids and/or Glasgow Uni students would devise more »

hippie dwelling

Myhab Recyclable Concert Dwellings Now Available For You to Do Horrible, Horrible Things In

We first came across the Myhab festival dwelling last year when designer James Dunlop was in the process of developing the concept. Now it appears that the Myhab is open for business in the UK. The customizable units are made from recycled plastic and waterproof cardboard and include foam mattresses, temperature insulation and a lockbox to store your valuable herbs possessions.
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7:00 PM on Fri May 9 2008
By Sean Fallon
8,317 views, 21 comments

Latest by Solidsky: lol, i've already started my list of pranks to pull on Myhab users.... more »

fuzzywuzzymodo

One "Horsepower" Vehicle is a Slap in the Muzzle

Once upon a time horses were the kings of the open trail. The best horses were treated like royalty and their riders were worshiped for their skill. Unfortunately, those days are over. The Naturmobil pictured here was was built by Abdolhadi Mirhejazi of Dubai and it is powered by a single horse walking on a treadmill, encased in a plastic prison like some sort of common hamster. When the horse gets tired, a battery kicks in to power the vehicle along with the lights and the electrical system.

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5:00 PM on Mon May 5 2008
By Sean Fallon
8,985 views, 26 comments

Latest by med: @nutbastard: lol Yeah I suppose it depends on whether we're talking about Clydesdales or shetlands. Motivation is clearly a factor here. more »

nanomaterials

Group Sues EPA For Not Regulating Nano-Silver Pollution

Those nano-silver socks you've been using to soak up the rank of your athlete's foot—not only are they leaching poisons into fish habitats every time you wash them, their effects on your own blood stream could be just as bad; but the EPA's not doing anything about it. Fed up by government inaction, a consumer safety group is now suing the EPA for failing to regulate nanomaterials. More »

5:30 PM on Sun May 4 2008
By Elaine Chow
5,503 views, 24 comments

question of the day

Question of the Day: Leave Your Computer On Or Turn It Off?

Eco-friendly is the a word thrown around a lot these days, and an ever-increasing number of people are going out of their way to conserve power. Combine that with a desire to increase the longevity of our hardware and you have the basis for a question that has been floating around forever: do you leave your computer on or turn it off when not in use? More »

7:00 PM on Wed Apr 30 2008
By Sean Fallon
52,997 views, 154 comments

Latest by null: Comment on Question My PC is liquid cooled so I turn it off at night, I'd hate to wake up to a flaming puddle... more »

architecture

Weathly, Anonymous Treehugger Buys Eco-House For $15 Million

If you had $15 million to spend on a home, would you choose to drop that cash on this concept home set to be built in a Cotswold nature reserve? Apparently that is just what an anonymous buyer did recently, making the "Orchid House" the UK's most expensive country home—and it won't be completed for three years. For that money the buyer (rumored to be in the entertainment industry) will get a home shaped like a bee orchid that should produce more energy that it consumes thanks to an underground pump and geothermal heating. Great, so the house will pay for itself in about a 1,000 years. Additional pic after the break. More »

7:50 PM on Tue Apr 29 2008
By Sean Fallon
12,084 views, 39 comments

Latest by iomatic: @Ubik2501: Very nice reference. wagers on World of Starcraft as the next big MMOG? more »

gadgets

Manodo Display Makes You OCD About Your Home Energy Usage

If you enjoy observing and controlling the minutiae of your daily life, down to how much CO2 your last shower emitted, consider moving to Sweden and taking part in the Manodo project. Nordic start-up Manodo has created the ultimate smart home gadget, which tells you everything you'll ever want to know (and maybe some things you don't) about the resources you're consuming. More »

9:30 PM on Sun Apr 27 2008
By Elaine Chow
3,667 views, 23 comments

environment

Solar Water Heater Provides Free Hot Showers

The SolarStore is essentially a hot water heater that uses the sun as its energy source. Inflatable from a backpack, this guy will hold up to three full tanks of water and make it nice and toasty for your showering needs. It's a great, cheap alternative to hot water heaters, what with it costing a mere $200, but it'll be pretty much useless to anyone who lives in a climate that gets really cold in the wintertime. But for those in developing nations with the proper conditions, it could be a great choice. [Environmental Graffiti via New Launches]

4:00 PM on Sat Apr 26 2008
By Adam Frucci
6,730 views, 31 comments

Latest by ecobore: c'mon, just run a big loop of black hosepipe and you have the same effect. A friend gets all her kitchen hot water in the evenings by using a hose on her roof. Free heat! more »

environment

The Idiotic Shipping Hall of Shame and a Call to Online Retailers

Yesterday, I asked you guys to send in pictures of examples of wasteful shipping habits from online retailers that you've bought things from. You came through in spades. When you see just one example of Dell sending a flash drive in a box big enough for a laptop you think it's an amusing fluke or a mistake; but when you see this many, you know it's a pattern. Take a look at the Hall of Shame below, and then let's figure out how to change this lousy practice.
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12:32 PM on Wed Apr 23 2008
By Adam Frucci
16,170 views, 105 comments

Latest by perfektskyy: @Adam Frucci Forgive the laziness in not reading all the comments, as this may have been brought up before. I sent the link from the original dell story to a friend of mine that works there as a joke. He says more »

environment

WalMart.com and NewEgg Join Dell in the Irresponsible Shipping Hall of Shame

Yesterday, I showed you how Dell irresponsibly ships tiny flash drives in gigantic boxes, giving the finger to the environment. Well, Dell isn't the only offender when it comes to wasteful shipping habits. Above, reader Paul shows us how WalMart.com decided to ship a flash drive to him. And NewEgg? It's even worse. More »

12:30 PM on Tue Apr 22 2008
By Adam Frucci
26,872 views, 142 comments

Latest by kllngtme: im glad you are putting this out to the public. so many companies are doing this and its really obsurd. kinda gets you angry right? more »

jerks

Dell's Wasteful Shipping Habits Take a Steamy Dump on the Environment

There are few practices as stupid, simple and damaging to the environment as wasteful packing. Take a look at this ludicrous box that Dell used to send a 2GB thumb drive. It's about 100 times too big, and it's not just wasteful because of the cardboard used. I, for one, am sick of seeing crap like this. More »

4:30 PM on Mon Apr 21 2008
By Adam Frucci
13,569 views, 131 comments

Latest by Xenobiologista: @ubergoose: who do you get supplies from? Fisher Scientific shipping to where I am (UW-Madison) usually pads stuff with brown paper or recyclable airbags, and the boxes aren't ridiculously overstuffed unless you order like one thermometer at a time. more »

environment

Three Giant Wind Turbines Turned On at Once at Bahrain World Trade Center

What you're looking at isn't a render or merely a concept of some fanciful building that'll never actually become a reality. No, what you're looking at is an actually photograph of the new Bahrain World Trade Center, a pair of pointy skyscrapers with three propellers with 95 foot diameters between them. And this week, they activated all three turbines at the same time. Now that they're all running, they'll be providing 10-15% of the energy for both towers, which will save loads of money over the years. More »

4:30 PM on Thu Apr 10 2008
By Adam Frucci
14,032 views, 105 comments

Latest by frogpelt: @phreakincool: It's hilarious when people assume that because the person they voted for didn't win that the election was rigged by the mafia or something. Don't you remember that after 9/11 Bush had the highest approval rating in the history of our more »

paper trail

Pencil-Pushing Census Bureau Dumps Portable Tech for Pencils

To our friends at Treehugger, please look away as we report that the Census Bureau is ditching plans to go digital and will return to its sinful pencil-pushing, paper-crazy roots. Originally, the Bureau planned for workers to use 500,000 wireless handheld devices from Harris Corp. as a replacement for the paperwork used to collect information from Americans who do not respond to the census. The $1.3 billion program looked great on, well, paper, but was ultimately derailed by hardware issues and incompetence. More »

11:30 AM on Sun Apr 6 2008
By Jack Loftus
3,343 views, 28 comments

Latest by gibson042: @Elvisisdead: Absolutely right, sir! No one could pull off a system of the required complexity for less than $1 billion! more »

gadgets

China's E-Waste Problem Poisons Children, Destroys Cities

Since the 1980s, cities like Guiyu, China, have been taking in electronic waste from other countries for dismantlement and processing. It's great for other countries, but takes a huge toll on the people managing the effort because of the "metal extraction of circuit boards" and "open dumping of waste and ash residue into open water". It's made the well water and ground water of Guiyu undrinkable, and has to be trucked in from other villages. The lead poisoning level in children is 69%. [China-Pix via Crunchgear]

3:00 PM on Fri Apr 4 2008
By Jason Chen
16,875 views, 74 comments

Latest by B: I feel sorry for the poor people given the task of handling all this e-waste. Perhaps this should be a lesson for electronics manufacturers: stop producing such cheap and flimsy devices. Back in the days when most electronics were manufactured more »

design

The Pedal Boat Gets a Solar Powered Boost

They say that inventors should find a need and fill it. I don't know who needs a solar boosted pedal boat, but a design concept for one exists nonetheless. The boat features a center cockpit where up to four passengers can sit, alternating pedaling duties in two-person shifts. When you get tired (which should be after only a few minutes), switching to solar power can help lighten the load. I'm not sure if this concept will ever see the light of day, but in a world filled with non-solar powered pedal boats, it would be a welcome improvement. Video after the break.
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8:30 PM on Tue Mar 25 2008
By Sean Fallon
3,430 views, 9 comments

Latest by MastaFalse: That is the sexiest idea for a cute first date ever. Come awn! more »

water

Colbert: First Vid of Dean Kamen's Miracle Water Distiller

Caught for the first time on video, Segway inventor Dean Kamen presented his Vapor Compression Distiller on last night's Colbert Report. The distiller is a chemical-, membrane-, and filter-free water purifier. Kamen claims the box draws pure drinkable water from oceans, poisons—even a 50-gallon drum of urine. He has reportedly worked on the contraption for five years, but early prototypes were pretty ugly. This one looks ready for mass production, and with enough, Kamen says we could "wipe out 50% of human disease." Good luck with that, Deano, we're behind you all the way. (That other 50% must be a monumental bitch.) [Colbert Nation]

1:30 PM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By Benny Goldman
111,235 views, 95 comments

Latest by hoondo: This is making distilled water. Distilled water is very dangerous to drink for a period. I know there is a lot out there saying stories on both sides, that it is safe and that it isn't. My own view is more »

design

Eco Drop Shower Gives You the Boot For Wasting Water

There has been a lot of emphasis in recent years on conserving water, but we all know that for most people self-regulation is damn near impossible. Enter designer Tommaso Colia and his Eco_Drop Shower. When the shower has decided that you have outstayed your welcome, concentric circles on the floor will rise&mdashmaking things too uncomfortable to continue. I don't know if this concept will ever see the light of day, but I vote for modifying it into a moving wall of spikes. Now that would be effective. Additional pic after the break. More »

9:45 PM on Thu Mar 20 2008
By Sean Fallon
12,024 views, 34 comments

Latest by I_Like_Pie: The real question is...How well does it clean your taint? more »

design

Washup: Toilet and Washing Machine All-in-One (Oh Yes!)

Alright, I get it. Eco-friendly types and people who have small apartments might appreciate a washing machine / toilet hybrid that recycles wasted wash water in the flush tank. It is a good idea, but there is something that is just plain wrong about having your clean clothes so close to the place where you poop—you know what I'm saying? Still, if you are a dude you could entertain yourself by watching the cycle spin while urinating.Nice. It may only be a concept, but I wouldn't be surprised to see this thing popping up in tiny apartments sometime in the near future. [Core77 via Apartment Therapy]

9:15 PM on Thu Mar 20 2008
By Sean Fallon
7,738 views, 55 comments

Latest by Khuluna: Do like. more »