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Posts Tagged “

Recycling

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styrofoam

The Styrobot Wants to Rule Your Cups and Packaging

There's really nothing great that can be done with Styrofoam other than not produce it in the first place, but in lieu of recycling it or throwing it away, one man and his son, inspired by this artwork, took 5 years worth of Styrofoam packaging and did the next most logical thing—built a giant robot. More »

8:45 AM on Wed Sep 3 2008
By Mark Wilson
4,447 views, 26 comments

Latest by wjousts: @Git Em SteveDave is starlost: Actually, his website claims this is the robot "in his office". Doesn't say whether or more »

cellphones

Green Samsung E200Eco Cellphone is Made With Bioplastic

Samsung's E200 candybar cellphone is being relaunched in an environmentally-friendlier version at Samsung's Olympic sales event. The external case of the phone, in appropriate green color, is made of bioplastic (extracted from plant material like corn) instead of polycarbonate plastic, which reduces the CO2 burden of producing the phone. It's also packaged in an uncoated recycled paper box. "We strive to make more products as green as possible and to proactively set up and expand a phone recycling system" said the president of Samsung telecoms division, and with eco versions of both the W510 and the F267 coming out too, it looks like the company's trying to make a good first step. [Akihabaranews]

4:26 AM on Thu Aug 14 2008
By Kit Eaton
1,760 views, 6 comments

Latest by N/A: and when is biodegrades, it releases methane into the atmosphere as opposed to the CO2 associated with polycarbonate manufacture. Methane is more »

environmental

Sony Ericsson Wins Greenest Electronics Company Award

Congratulations, Sony Ericsson, for winning what was ultimately a barely challenging competition to become the greenest electronics company around. Our favorite Swedish-Japanese conglomerate rose to the top of Greenpeace's Greener Electronics Guide by exceeding Energy Star requirements, making all its models PVC-free and banning the most harmful chemicals from phones launched since January 2008. Unfortunately, it was valedictorian in a class whose scores have plummeted all around. More »

Feature

10:00 PM on Sun Jun 29 2008
By Elaine Chow
8,041 views, 33 comments

Latest by lincch01: the guide to greener electronics requires companies to submit not only data but also hardware for examination by greenpeace... that more »

eco-crazy

22-Year-Old Set To Sail The Mississippi On a Boat Made From Juice Cartons

A 22-year-old British adventurer by the name of Rhys Jones may have made a name for himself as the youngest person to climb the world's seven highest summits, but he may end up being known as the youngest lunatic to ever drown in a juice-carton boat on the Mississippi if his plans for this weekend don't pan out. Actually, the idea was conceived by his father after he received a book about origami. Naturally, his first thought was to build a 12-foot raft with a wooden cabin and a paper hull lined with juice cartons and sail 3,700 miles down one of the most treacherous rivers in the world. More »

7:00 PM on Mon Jun 23 2008
By Sean Fallon
8,359 views, 29 comments

Latest by GadgetPlay: @Futrell: Kilometers, maybe? more »

gas crisis

Origo Develops Recycling System that Turns Car Emissions Into Fuel

The concept has been around for a while, but Origo Industries is planning on being the first company to release a CO2 recycling system that turns your car emissions into fuel. The unit captures CO2 from your car exhaust and stores it until it can be recycled in a home unit that uses algae to produce bio-oil. According to the company, the system could produce as much as 660 gallons of free fuel per year—which sounds too good to be true. We shall find out soon enough as Origo is scheduled to unveil the technology for the first time at this year's Green-Car-Guide Live! in the UK starting on June 12th. [Tradingcharts and Gizmag]

4:00 PM on Thu Jun 5 2008
By Sean Fallon
5,216 views, 29 comments

Latest by superbryant: Now If we could figure out ho to harness all that engergy that is given off as heat our vehicles more »

best buy

Best Buy Testing Free E-Waste Recycling Program (No Catches, So Far)

It's rare we get to write something positive about Best Buy, but here goes! It's testing a free e-waste recycling program in 117 stores in eight states (Update: Here's the detailed list, thanks Loop!). You can bring in two items a day, like computers, monitors, TVs up to 32 inches, etc., even if it didn't originally come from Best Buy. They'll also take away your junk if you have a shiny new thing delivered. Okay, two gripes. More »

12:40 PM on Mon Jun 2 2008
By matt buchanan
8,969 views, 42 comments

Latest by N/A: They are actually going to sell the stuff and make money. Recycling is a big business now. We think its more »

electricity

Electricity Generator Gets Its Power From Waste Heat

Dallas' Southern Methodist University is now recycling energy with one of the first commercial electricity generators that use thermoelectricity—the act of drawing power from waste heat. The machine operates by using heat given off by other processes (such as manufacturing) to boil liquids, which then turn into steam, which then turns an electricity-generating turbine. More »

7:00 PM on Sat May 31 2008
By Elaine Chow
5,678 views, 33 comments

Latest by N/A: This is a great story. I'm associated with a company that does something similar -- Recycled Energy Development (recycled-energy.com). And more »

diy

Transform an Old CD Drive Into a Salami Slicin' Guillotine

The origins of this CD Drive salami slicer are unknown, so there are no details on the build itself. However, it seems that adding a decent blade to an old CD drive could score you a salami slicer that fits in with your geeky lifestyle. You could probably even rig it so that operates automatically off a power supply. Now that is what I call recycling. [justelite via about:blank]

2:30 PM on Wed May 28 2008
By Sean Fallon
4,800 views, 32 comments

Latest by MasterYong: Techno-mohels the world over rejoice! more »

pipe dream

Junk Computers Could Fuel Cars One Day: Holding Breath...Now

You know that crappy computer you have been meaning to toss out? Hold on there, my friend—the next breakthrough vehicle fuel source could be contained within its valuable circuit boards (although most likely not). Scientists in Romania and Turkey have employed a combination of catalysts, high temperatures and chemical filtration to remove toxic chemicals from old computers and other electronic devices, resulting in oils that could be used for fuel or raw materials in other consumer products. More »

8:00 PM on Wed May 14 2008
By Sean Fallon
1,855 views, 28 comments

Latest by brundlefly76: thats a better-than-average graphic and caption ') more »

recycling

CDs Get Into the Groove, Do Music the 45RPM Way

This is a story of a not so environmentally friendly, but rather groovy repurposing idea: reusing CDs as records (remember them?) At the UK's Futuresonic festival last week, a guy named Aleks Kolkowski had his vintage record-cutting machine ready to carve sound tracks into old CDs and DVDs. People simply had to turn up with an old disc and a sound file and he'd "overwrite" the CD with a track ready to be played on a turntable. Neat! I'd have been there asking Aleks for a copy of my first ever record (that'll be the theme to Watership Down— I know, I know) on a crappy old AOL CD I found recently. [Futuresonic via DIYDaily via ] More »

4:22 AM on Fri May 9 2008
By Kit Eaton
4,510 views, 24 comments

Latest by infmom: @ideaman2020: Yes! They had one on one of the upper floors of the Empire State Building in the mid-50s and more »

ecomodo

How to Save The World...One Cellphone at a Time

Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek put together a logical plan of action for bringing cellphone recycling to the U.S. over on his blog. However, it requires the collective effort of all of you to make this happen. The idea is this—if we lobby enough executives in companies responsible for cellphone manufacturing and distribution, asking for a plan of action, eventually some of these people will reply and will publicly pledge to consider it. As an incentive, Ferriss is giving away free stuff to the best responses posted by June 1st? Sounds good to me... but then again, I'm a huge fan of this stuff. Get all the details over at Tim's blog. [Tim Ferriss]

5:20 PM on Tue Apr 29 2008
By Adrian Covert
1,542 views, 3 comments

Latest by N/A: I have about 5 tube TV's sitting in my basement ranging from 19" to 27" and shipping these would not more »

japan

Urban Miners in Japan Find Precious Metals in Discarded Gadgets

China isn't the only nation dismantling used electronics to get at the gold, copper and silver inside. This trend, called "urban mining", is even more profitable in the current market where precious metals are trading close to their all-time high. For example, a ton of ore from a gold mine gives about 5 grams of gold, but a ton of cellphones gives 150 grams of gold. Why would Japan be into this trend? Because their country has few natural resources outside of perverted old dudes, but if they stack up all the cellphones owned by their citizens, they could probably make a pile as big as Mt. Fuji. [Yahoo News]

7:00 PM on Mon Apr 28 2008
By Jason Chen
4,235 views, 14 comments

Latest by TheJollyGreenGiant: but let's not talk about the places where asian children have to pick apart at these discard electronics for shitty more »

bioplastics

Bioplastics: Environmentally Unfriendly, Contributing To The Food Crisis

About those bioplastic bags - you know, the ones you've been using to assuage your eco-conscious guilt - turns out not only are they not as green as you think, they could also be partially responsible for the global food crisis. A worldwide effort by bag-heavy industries to replace petroleum-based plastics with plant-based plastics could actually lead to more environmental problems, according to a study by the Guardian UK. More »

8:00 PM on Sat Apr 26 2008
By Elaine Chow
6,242 views, 68 comments

Latest by N/A: While I do feel that a move to bioplastics is a good idea I believe the whole environment situation is more »

flavor country

Pig Urine Plasticware Could Add Some Flavor To Your Meals, Cigarettes

Denmark has a disgusting problem. The waste produced by the country's 20 million pigs is slowly choking the environment—which has prompted a local company named Agroplast to devise a unique solution. Specifically, they have developed a means of processing animal waste (pig urine most notably) and transforming it into plastics that could be used in just about everything—including plastic dinnerware. More »

6:00 PM on Tue Apr 22 2008
By Sean Fallon
5,057 views, 37 comments

Latest by N/A: The original plan - storing the pig waste in silos, IIRC - was abandoned after a controversial american documentary (presumably) more »

cellphones

$20 Disposable Cell Phones Coming to Europe

Phone maker Hop-on Inc. apparently found success at CTIA in Las Vegas with its disposable cell-phone concept, a $20 (13 euros) phone with no LCD screen that can be thrown away or recycled after use. The company said on Thursday that a European distributor has purchased 10,000 of the phones for an initial test run. The phone uses a Texas Instruments chip set and works on the 900/1800 MHz frequency. More »

3:00 PM on Sat Apr 12 2008
By Elaine Chow
16,368 views, 35 comments

Latest by GOKOR: @twoeightnine: If you gotta commit a crime and call people while doing so, or setting it up, use a prepaid, 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
8,527 views, 56 comments

Latest by Khuluna: Do like. more »

eco kitchen

Whirlpool Kitchen is Eco-Friendly, Recycles Heat, Water

This new Whirlpool concept is an attempt to tackle some of the rampant energy and resource wasting that goes on in the average kitchen. How many times have you heated something up in the oven, and then wondered whether anything useful can be done with the spare heat once you've finished cooking? Okay, maybe that's just my eco-guiltiness, but this new concept is designed to be 70% more energy efficient than standard kitchens and 24% cheaper to run. More »

8:03 AM on Mon Mar 17 2008
By Kit Eaton
6,151 views, 13 comments

Latest by N/A: It looks like something that GE industrial designers did about 3 or 4 years ago for NextFest but only painted more »

recycled vase

Facade Vase: Recycle Your Water Bottles as Flower-Holders

The Facade Vase from Orcadesign is a wool slip-on cover that lets you turn an unwanted plastic bottle into a minimalist vase. It's a design that will clearly please eco-friendly types and cheapskates too. We can see the conversations now: "Here you go, honey, I've got you a flower and (glug, glug) a vase!"... "Oh, you cheapskate!" "Ah, that's what you think. Here, use this to cover it." "No." Or something like that anyway. Sadly, just a concept for now. [Orcadesign via Dvice]

12:00 PM on Wed Mar 12 2008
By Kit Eaton
3,241 views, 26 comments

Latest by kyel57: @Git Em SteveDave: The water in the vase would act as a base...you don't see half filled watter bottles tipping more »

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