By adding boron to carbon while growing nanotubes, researchers from Rice University and Penn State University have developed a Nanosponge that is capable of absorbing oil in water, effectively and repeatedly. Additionally, the material is superhydrophobic and oleophilic, meaning that it has an outstanding ability of floating on the surface of water.
Exhibited on “Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum and Exhibition (2012 MIECF)” held at Macao, China, the “LAUNDRY PURE” is a revolutionary washing system that can laundry without detergent. Once installed on washing machines, the “LAUNDRY PURE” then offers water that includes hydrogen peroxide, oxygen and ozone, which can make your clothes clean even without the aid of detergent.
Eco-friendly and crop-friendly, the new pesticide made by Israeli agriculture scientist Samule Gan-Mor is a combination of edible canola (or rapeseed oil), soybean oil, cottonseed oil and slightly expensive olive oil, and thus it can kill the pests without resulting any health risks to the environment or people. Although it needs several kinds of oil to produce, the pesticide is actually low-cost enough for mass production.
Do you love Tofu, a traditional Chinese food made from soybeans? Many people will nod their heads to that question, I bet. But when talking about the Tofu Bras, some guys may hesitate to say “yes”. Well, never become nervous about new creative things, as they’re usually much better than you’ve ever imagines. From Faerie’s Dance, these bras look quite the same as ordinary bras, but they’re made from discarded soybean casings and thus will facilitate to both your bodies and the environment.
Change, change, almost every day we’re delivering new changes happened in the world. Today’s news comes from Japan, where scientists from Toray Industries have developed samples of the world’s first renewable, bio-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber, which is what polyester is made of. The new creation is durable, coming with all good features as common polyester does while is better and safer to the environment since it is constructed of renewable material.
Based on their observations and researches of carol, scientists from Stanford University have developed a new technology to produce cement by mimicking carol’s action of taking in minerals and CO2 to build its hard exoskeleton. Therefore, during the construction process of the new cement, the material actually absorbs CO2 and dissolves it instead of releasing CO2 as common cements do, so as to benefit to the environments. The new cement is durable too, strong enough to last for a long time.
Though claimed “zero waste” or “no waste”, these earthCell batteries actually are not something decomposing completely in the earth and leaving no footprint to the environment. Instead, they’re introducing to us a new way of selling and using batteries: since the used earthCell batteries can be returned to the company where they may get re-used again, the company and consumers would cooperate to reduce the amount of throw-away batteries, and thus to ensure the environmental friendliness. On the other hand, the earthCell features a good performance of rechargeable, as each pre-charged LSD-NiMH battery can last 30-50% longer than alkalines, even in high-power devices.
With the Christmas Day coming nearer, what’s now popular on the internet isn’t this year’s Christmas tree however, but next year’s Eiffel Tower Tree instead. From June, 2012, about 6,00,000 plants will cover the Eiffel Tower, costing an astonishing £65 million. If the plan goes smoothly, quite soon we’ll see the world’s tallest tree in Paris, which is also expected to absorb more greenhouse gases at that time.
How are we going to live the future? According to Philips, in the next few years we should be using wall-mounted vats of bioluminescent bacteria as night light. That sounds bit of weird? Not exactly. Good news is that you don’t need to pay for the electricity bills any more, but instead you have to feed the bacteria with some household waste (which has been digested by other bacteria to form methane gas) so that the bacteria will provide soft green light at night.
Italy’s largest producer of brushes “Venice” now brings us with its biodegradable brushes and combs made from cellulose acetate that is derived from cotton. Free of dyes, these new brushes appear in a slightly milky transparency, making it nice and comfortable to see. Moreover, the brushes and combs are durable too, featuring a good ability to server you for a long time.
We’re used to walking in cities every day, but have you ever realized that each step you make can produce electricity? The Pavegen Tiles are especially designed for streets, schools, squares that are full of people. The technology can convert the kinetic energy of your steps into electricity and then use it in a variety of applications, such as to power street lamps up, to keep advertisement lamp boxes on, etc. Currently the Pavegen Tiles have been built in some schools, and we hope it would soon appear in many other places of our cities.
Green Mailbox is a wall-mounted mailbox that features a special roof to collect water and irrigate plants automatically. It is a really simple idea but indeed fantastic for those who cares about the environment.
Nature is where we get most things used in daily life, and thus they’re expected to go back to the nature world once they’re not in use. The “To Be Nature Wood Chopstick” is just a good example that turns the waste into valuable things again. When you’re done with the chopsticks, stick its starch end into the ground, and a seed will come out to grow into a green plant gradually. Don’t believe that? Wait for the concept to turn into real product and you can then try it.
Dogs are naughty boys and girls. They run everywhere, rest everywhere and leave their feces everywhere. Thus we constantly see people pick up bags of poop and then discard them in the bin. So they never realized that the poop can be burned into ash instantly, without leaving any footprint to environment? Well, they should try to end up the trash with this AshPoopie Pet Waste Picker-Upper. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Japanese-based TOTO is possibly the first toilet manufacturer that keeps their product on the move. Its main aim is to promote TOTO’s environmental efforts, by converting human waste into bio-gas fuel. Another good thing about this Toilet Motorcycle is, the TOTO toilet can play music or even communicate with the users. Though the idea is quite amazing, it is bit of crazy to take a toilet everywhere…
Always eco-friendly. Being nice and kind to our earth is not merely the duty of everybody living there but also an important theme of modern designs. This Ready-to-Wear-Away Dress is made of kraft paper while feels soft and comfortable. Moreover, each dress comes with its secret. Due to your body heat and natural wear, the out skin of the dress will disintegrate to reveal a layer with hand-written quotes on it. So cool. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Solar Roadways will soon develop solar parking lots for testing, but their real dream is to build a road system with 12-foot-by-12-foot solar panels rather than traditional asphalt. The panels are embedded with LED lights that displays warnings to drivers, illuminates lanes in dark, and moreover with heating system to prevent snow and ice building up on the road. Of course there’re some problems and troubles, but to build a solar road system is still an awesome idea that makes us dream of a glorious future. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Congratulation that Jake Tyler has found cardboard’s new function and made a vacuum cleaner with the material. As most parts of this vacuum cleaner are finished with cardboard, it is quite convenient for the users to change its components with new ones. Besides, the device is coated with anti-fire material so that it is safe and durable for use. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Jon Salerno’s Habitat Micro Home provides a clever and practical way to expand the area of your living space. It uses a small car docked underneath a 100 square feet house to act as an extra room so that the total reconfigurable space inside the Habitat Micro Home would reach 132 square feet. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Buildings in Moscow used to have a long distance from others so you may easily find large space between offices if you’re wandering in that city. But such space between buildings would not exist too long after Za Bor Architects come up with the Parasite office concept. To be finalized in the future, the office building will be built between two buildings without a base on the ground. It is so interesting. More surprising is the office building will have three floors with an accessible roof area as well. Will that be safe enough? No certain answer is offered by now so we may need to wait to see. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Surprised, ordinary sugar can be used as a sustainable resource to make lamps? But of course you may need other materials when to make a Crystallized Sugar LED Lamp as that of Won Joon Lee’s. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Nordisk Cryobank is one of Europe’s leading sperm banks, and recently they’ve caught more attention than before for their CO2-friendly way to deliver their sperm samples using a bike- a custom designed bike that looks like a huge sperm! [Read the rest of this entry...]
Disposable wooden chopsticks, although deemed to have destroyed a vast amount of trees, are still in great need nowadays. But fortunately we may have the hope to see our forests saved with Chung Ran Hee’s Re-Paper Chopsticks. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Chew Leg Cover is something that can entertain both your dogs and your furniture. It is made of natural rubber, therefore safe enough for your dogs to bite and you needn’t worry about their teeth. Meanwhile, these gadgets would protect your tables and chairs and as a result ensure them always fine legs. Available in creme, fuchsia, purple, brown and turquoise. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Cellphone covers especially designed for iPhone 4 surely need to have their unique characteristics, and these ones are announced to be “the world’s first and only printed iPhone 4 covers made of plants”. Therefore they’re totally friendly, to both the users and the environment. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Let’s start a green journey—never using any kinds of fuel, but simply relying on wind power. Sounds incredible? Not necessarily, because Dirk Gion and Stefan Simmerer have already completed a 5,000km journey with their electric vehicle powered by wind. They built their car with both electricity-generating wind turbines and a kite, which produced enough electricity power for use during their 18-day trip. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Can you believe this, these OAT shoes will biodegrade and sprout trees after you throw them away? If that could become a reality, our shoes would indeed leave no marks to the environment. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Obviously a bridge could do more things than we would ever think of. According to Italian designers Francesco Colarossi, Giovanna Saracino and Luisa Saracino, a bridge is expected to offer electricity energy while still ensuring a convenient transportation. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Waste Folder is a recyclable bin that you can take everywhere, as it usually keeps in a compact size as that of a notebook. But simply unfold it and then you can get a six-compartment garbage suited for any situations. [Read the rest of this entry...]
About 2000 years ago, the great mathematician Archimedes concluded that anything shaped to displace the same amount of water as that of its weight can float on the water. Inspired by that principle, Muzaffer Kocer and Ayca Guven have collaborated with the Water Scale, a measuring device that can read out the weight of the object placed onto the scale plate. It can weigh anything within 1000grams, and it doesn’t cost any energy or result in any pollution- really a green device for household use. [Read the rest of this entry...]
It is reported that every year about 1.3 billion trees worldwide are used to make various types of paper products and nearly every minute a forest that has the size of a football field is destroyed. So what should we do to protect the trees? Recently a designer Sangbyum Kim has created these Melt Tags to take the place of common paper tags on clothes. It will disappear in water, and more importantly the tag can clean your new clothes too. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Creature Industry’s Soft Gang is a new series of toys that would satisfy both the kids and their parents. It is made of light foam, ensuring the kids safe while playing; it also features eco-friendly leatherette, which is easy to for moms to clean and wash. Plus, these toys are multifunctional and you can easily shift them between an animal, a storage device and a sleeping bag. [Read the rest of this entry...]
We can use potatoes to make various dishes, but what about using them to make a rain poncho? The results seem still good. This biodegradable rain poncho here is rightly manufactured with bioplastic derived from over 20 varieties of French potatoes. As a result, it not only protects you users from rain, but also protects the world from pollution. So it is really an eco-friendly design, do you love it too? [Read the rest of this entry...]
The disposable BBQ is a clever alternative to aluminum trays and forks. All its components are combustible, minimizing the operation time and saving your energy. It is also chemical free, leaving no footprints to the environment. So when finished with the picnic, you can simply throw the devices into the fire and therefore to lighten your bags. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Since people in Africa and southern Asia have to walk a long way to get clean water, we may also need to do some hard work before using water so that everybody would truly realize the importance of saving water. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Honestly the Furoshiki Bag 2 is neither a promotion nor a new design, but it does bring back the good tradition of using original cloth bag to carry things. Reusable and eco-friendly, these bags can also keep your things neatly for convenient packing. [Read the rest of this entry...]
With such interesting leaf shirts on, can we humans become Adam and Eve again and then live in a new Garden of Eden? But that’s just what I thought as I saw these shirts. And designer Dave Rittinger actually aimed to embrace ecological consciousness with these “zero footprint shirts”. So do you have in mind? Share them with us. [Read the rest of this entry...]
We’ll never suggest you go to a restaurant that is constructed from bamboo for dinner, because no buildings would be much solider and safer than one that is made from concrete. But the Indonesian Bamboo Restaurant is so extraordinary that we would really like you to have a try. Designed by DSA+s, the restaurant is mainly made from bamboo and coupled together with ijuk, which is a rope made from sugar palm fiber. Concrete is also used for the stair, patio, and house base. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Everybody views the same thing from different angles and product designer Ilvy Jacobs has used unique materials such as crumpled paper and tyvek to create several bags that she believed the most perfect. [Read the rest of this entry...]
Have you ever realized how much biomass energy you’re wasting when throwing rubbish away? Let the trash bag designed by Ahhaproject tell you something: a full bag of rubbish is sufficient enough to boil 100 cups of tea, recharge cellphones 300 times or drive your car 16 miles. You see, even the trash can still do so many things, isn’t that amazing? Something more amazing is that these new trash bags can not only visualize the amount of energy contained, but leave no prints to the environment as they’re completely biodegradable PLA material. [Read the rest of this entry...]
