Category: Ecological Products

Impact Lab > Ecological Products
Alternative Transportation, Breakthrough Thinking, Ecological Products, Great New Product, Green Friendly, Historical Perspectives, New Viewpoints

Pedal Power Meets Photovoltaics via Solarbike

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Solarbike aims at having electric bikes powered by the sun.

Solarbike specialises in electric conversion kits for bicycles. But the business’s founders, both research scientists at the University of Western Australia, have been working on a way to easily have electric bikes powered by the sun. After some trial and error, which they transparently document, they’ve arrived at reasonably affordable photovoltaic systems that allow electric bike owners to ride like a solar wind…

Continue reading… “Pedal Power Meets Photovoltaics via Solarbike”

Breakthrough Thinking, Ecological Products, Great New Product, Green Friendly, Latest Trend, New Viewpoints

Glue-Free “Creo Shoe Concept” Supports Local Shoemaker

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A new view with a no glue shoe.

From German designer Jennifer Rieker comes a glue-free shoe that challenges mass consumption, via Ecouterre.

Called the “Creo Shoe Concept,” the flat-pack footwear is mailed to you in a vegetable-tanned calf leather envelope — which becomes the inner shoe — with adaptable rubber soles; a pair of footbeds, made out of cork, latex and jute; a pair of shoelaces, and directions for you to put it all together, along with the help of a local shoemaker.

Continue reading… “Glue-Free “Creo Shoe Concept” Supports Local Shoemaker”

Ecological Products, Green Friendly, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News

Latest in Green Burials Involves Freezing Your Corpse Terminator-Style in Liquid Nitrogen

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Freeze drying is one of the greenest ways to go.

There are a lot of ways to deal with a person’s body after he or she is done using it. Their last remains can be buried, burned, put in trees, or donated to science. But one Swedish company has a different approach to sending people off to their final rewards. Freeze drying. Just like the liquid T-1000 in Terminator 2. It turns out to be one of the greenest ways to go.

 

Continue reading… “Latest in Green Burials Involves Freezing Your Corpse Terminator-Style in Liquid Nitrogen”

Alternative Transportation, Breakthrough Thinking, Culture, Ecological Products, Great New Product, Green Friendly, Historical Perspectives, Latest News

Japan to Build 10,000 EV Charging Station/Vending Machine Hybrids by 2012

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Japan has a fascination with vending machines.

Japan is notorious for its fascination with vending machines — as of 2008, there were 5.5 million of them across the nation. And these aren’t merely the candy bar and soda variety, either — Japan has vending machines that sell live crabs, grow lettuce, are covered in moss, and dispense smart cars. And by this time next year, it will have 10,000 vending machines that charge electric cars.

Continue reading… “Japan to Build 10,000 EV Charging Station/Vending Machine Hybrids by 2012”

Breakthrough Thinking, Business, Ecological Products, Green Friendly, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries

Magic Hat Fuels Brewing Process With Beer Waste

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A great step towards sustainable brewing.

There’s a lot that breweries can do—and are doing—to green their facilities. Some are easy, anyone-can-do-this steps like sending spent grains to local farmers. Others are innovative tricks that no one else has tried before. New Belgium probably gets the most attention (not unfairly—it’s truly a leader for sustainable beer) for identifying waste and turning it into a resource. But it’s not the only one. Magic Hat is now capturing wasted energy from the spent grains and turning it right back around to fuel the brewing process.

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Art, Breakthrough Thinking, Ecological Products, Great New Product, New Viewpoints, Plant Life

Bury These Comic Books in the Ground, And They’ll Grow Plants

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Sprout your own super hero plants.

A company called Sprout Home sells superhero comic books that, if you plant them in the ground, grow herbs. Each is sold in a plastic sleeve in mint condition should you choose not to bury yours…

Continue reading… “Bury These Comic Books in the Ground, And They’ll Grow Plants”

Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Ecological Products, Global Warming, Globalism, Green Friendly, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, New Discoveries, New Viewpoints, People Making a Difference

Advances in Producing Hydrogen by Mimicry of Photosynthesis

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Light makes might?

Last time we checked in on Thomas Mallouk’s work applying biomimicry to generate hydrogen, he was reporting about 0.3 percent efficiency. According to his projections, the proof-of-concept device for producing hydrogen using the same trick applied in plants for photosynthesis could eventually reach efficiencies of 10-15%, beating nature’s average of 1 to 3 percent. Mallouk is back at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). So what’s the news on one promising option for generating large quantities of clean fuel for combustion engines or fuel cells?

Continue reading… “Advances in Producing Hydrogen by Mimicry of Photosynthesis”

Breakthrough Thinking, Ecological Products, Great New Product, Green Friendly, New Inventions

Meet the Meguru, the Electric Rickshaw

meguru-rickshaw

Get motivated with the Meguru

Perhaps inspired by the Seinfeld episode where Kramer and Newman try to set up a business using homeless men to pull rickshaws through New York, a Japanese firm has designed an electric rickshaw. Called the “Meguru,” it’s a spin on the traditionally man-powered vehicle that first appeared in Japan at the end of the 19th century and that has since spread around the world.

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Breakthrough Thinking, Ecological Products, Great New Product, Health & Fitness, Historical Perspectives, Hot Issues, Latest News

Zapping Microbes With Electricity Could Cut Chemical Use in Wastewater by 50%

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Changing the face of mining?

The mining industry requires significant amounts of water, and the water used becomes polluted with toxins including arsenic, mercury and sulfates. Typically, the water is cleaned with microbes which do their job by adding or removing electrons from the soup, but they need to be supplemented with chemical additives. But a new process could change that, feeding microbes with electric charges instead, and cutting the need for chemicals by half, or possibly even more…

Continue reading… “Zapping Microbes With Electricity Could Cut Chemical Use in Wastewater by 50%”

Breakthrough Thinking, Ecological Products, Globalism, Health & Fitness, Human Behavior, New Viewpoints, People Making a Difference

Inmates in UK Prison Repair Bikes and Donate Them To African Schoolchildren

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Life-Changing Wheels


Inmates at Gloucester prison in the UK are spending some of their free time (and you have a lot of that in prison) repairing donated bikes which are then shipped by Jole Rider to a partner organisation in Gambia, Africa. Once there, the bikes can change kids lives by allowing them to get to school. Bikes remain school property, with teachers allocating them to the students who need them most. When a child graduates from school, their bike is re-allocated to another child, multiplying the long-term impact of each bike.

Once at least 333 bikes have been refurbished, they are packed in a container and sent to Africa…

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Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.