RainPerfect: Rainwater Recycling System With a Solar-Powered Pump
by: Inhabitat , 2011-02-23 22:28:12 UTC
Disconnect that garden hose from your faucet! We’ve found a much more eco-friendly alternative that harnesses the power of the sun and the gift of rain to store life-giving water for your plants. RainPerfect is a solar-powered pump system that collects seasonal rainwater in a barrel and then pumps it using a NiMH battery that’s charged by a 3.5 kW solar panel. With 15 feet of wire, the solar panel can soak up the sun on a nearby wall or fence or on the ground, and each charge has the potential to draw up to 100 gallons with a maximum pressure of 13 pounds per square inch.
+ RainPerfect
Via Jetson Green
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Post tags: gardening tools, green gardening tools, RainPerfect, rainwater collection barrels, seasonal rainwater collections, solar powered rain water system, solar-powered pump system, water storage garden
Agua Table Tricks the Eye With Stones Made from Recycled Cardboard
by: Inhabitat , 2011-02-23 23:15:53 UTC
This minimalist table by Brazilian designer Domingos Tótora appears to feature a collection of sandstones below a glass tabletop — but its base has actually been created from recycled cardboard! The resulting Agua Table is easy to move, eco-friendly, and no stones were harmed in its creation!
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Brighton, UK Designers Accord Town Hall Meeting: March 10th, 2011
by: Core77, 2011-02-23 02:25:31 UTC
Join us for the FIRST Designers Accord Town Hall to be held in the UK! Thursday March 10th at the University of Brighton, Brighton.
Come and discuss how we can all take actions to design a more sustainable future together.
6.00-6.15 - Intro
6.15-7.15 - Presentations
7.15-8.00 - Food, wine & break out group discussions
8.00-8.45 - Feedback & action items
Brighton Designers Accord Town Hall
Thursday, March 10th 2011, 6pm
University of Brighton
Grand Parade
Brighton BN2 0JY
Please RSVP, space is limited http://designersaccordbrightonuk.eventbrite.com/
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QuaDror, a New Structural Joint to Build On
by: Core77, 2011-02-23 16:00:00 UTC
Core77 had the opportunity to be invited into Dror Benshetrit's Studios to take a glimpse at QuaDror, his new structural joint. QuaDror is a lap joint construction that provides for limited freedom of movement without the use of a traditional pin. The design is elegant enough to prompt wonderment that it hasn't already been built in the world, even as forgotten carpentry. By superimposing two lap joint frames with miter cuts, Dror makes the formation of a collapsible structure possible. Once a load is applied to the top of the two frames, it spreads out to an optimal angle for load distribution. Dror said that the finished structure could attain the strength of a correspondingly wide concrete or steel structure while using only 20% of the material.
Just unveiled at the Design Indaba conference in Cape Town South Africa, Dror sees a future where his joint could be used in everything from modular housing to wind absorbing highway barriers. As is appropriate for the Indaba conference, QuaDror can also easily be deployed as the basis for emergency housing. Using only the "knuckle" of his joint as a jig allows the fabrication of a strong foundation upon which local sustainable materials (bamboo, wood, etc.) could be used as trusses. Manufacturing the precision high load "knuckles" in steel would make emergency shipping extremely manageable. Further, due to the weight efficiency of his product, even QuaDror made of steel I-beams on a housing scale can be lifted by a few human beings without the need for additional equipment.
Dror plans to release the joint as a shareware license for distressed areas while the aestheticly oriented (and correspondingly wealthier) developed world would need to pay to see it in deployed in contract furniture, or as rapid prototyped shells for lighting. We look forward to QuaDror being unleashed into the world. Check out the below Quadror Video.
QuaDror from Dror on Vimeo.
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Products from waste: NottyPooch's recycled billboard banner wallets & more
by: Core77, 2011-02-23 22:20:00 UTC
Look around you, folks -- somewhere there is material that someone is throwing out, and with a little creativity you can use that material to make objects, not to mention a couple bucks.
Malaysia-based Etsy user NottyPooch has been harvesting billboard banners, those huge pieces of printed vinyl-like material used in short-term advertising, and turning the stuff into "MacBook sleeves, wallets, journals, storage bins, coaster sets" and more. The best part is that once you break the giant banners down into object-sized remnants, there's no longer any discernible trace of whatever products they're shilling -- unfinished words here, a pixelated hint of an image there.
The resultant objects are handmade and graphically one-of-a-kind. "All billboard banners are brushed, washed, cleaned by hand, and carefully selected, measured, and cut into eye catchy pieces before being sewn," explains Notty. Check 'em out here.
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Google Ventures Backs Transphorm's Efficient Power Conversion Technology
by: fast company, 2011-02-23 21:52:06 UTC
Alternative energy sources are a big step on the way to a sustainable power grid, but efficient power conversion is just as important. Enter Transphorm, a startup that emerged from stealth mode this week with $38 million in funding from Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Foundation Capital, and Lux Capital.
Inefficient electric power conversion causes hundreds of terawatts of energy--the equivalent of 318 coal-fired plants--to be lost across the electrical grid each year. It's a problem that costs the U.S. economy $40 billion annually, and drastically cuts down on the usefulness of clean energy sources.
Transphorm wants to virtually eliminate the issue with power modules that can be embedded in any electrical system--including consumer electronics, industrial motor drives, and solar panel inverters--and sold to power-equipment manufacturers. The company claims that its modules slash up to 90% of all electric conversion losses.
Transphorm explains:
Power conversion works via rapidly switching circuits, which enable the
transformation of electricity from one form to another.
Transphorm's efficiency breakthrough comes in the form of a
revolutionary material known as Gallium Nitride, or "GaN," which
switches at far higher frequencies than traditional components.
This superior material, coupled with innovative circuit design, enables
the world's most efficient, most compact, and most cost-effective power
conversion technology.
"Solving the enormous problem of power waste will create immediate, long-term shared value for Transphorm’s customers and investors," said Randy Komisar, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, in a statement. "It was imperative for our firm to get behind Transphorm because it is the first company with a viable, commercial-scale solution to energy losses associated with high-voltage power conversion."
Transphorm is staying mum on most of the details of its technology, but the startup plans to reveal its first product in early March. Stay tuned.
Follow Fast Company on Twitter. Ariel Schwartz can be reached by email.
The Cost of Building a Green Economy? Two Percent of the World's GDP
by: fast company, 2011-02-23 14:58:15 UTC
Investing two percent of the world's GDP could transition the planet from a "brown," unsustainable economy to one that is both low-carbon and resource efficient, according to a UN report released this week.
The
Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication report claims that investing $1.3 trillion each year is the magic number to create new cleantech industries, boost jobs, cut down on CO2 emissions, and increase energy efficiency savings. But is this possible? And if it is, what will it mean in practical terms?
"With 2.5 billion people living on less than $2 a
day and with more than two billion people being added to the global
population by 2050, it is clear that we must continue to develop and
grow our economies," said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, in a statement. "But this development cannot come at the expense of
the very life support systems on land, in the oceans or in our
atmosphere that sustain our economies, and thus, the lives of each and
everyone of us."
In the UN's green economy scenario, a global investment of 2% GDP in agriculture, buildings, energy, fisheries, forests, manufacturing, tourism, transport, water and waste management will stabilize global energy requirements at current levels by 2050 (40% less than the business as usual scenario), cut CO2 emissions by a third, increase global crop yield by 10%, and cut water demand by a fifth.
Under this scenario, humanity treads lightly enough on the Earth to maintain some semblance of sustainability. But convincing world powers to invest so much money in a green economy won't be easy. President Obama and Chinese president Hu Jintao, however, are issuing statements of support for the plan. This isn't surprising--the U.S. has spent $211 billion over the last five years in green sectors, and China has spent $468 billion.
Still, that isn't enough. But as an increasingly wacky climate combines with rising oil prices in the coming years, wealthy countries may finally realize that the greenest investments also look like the wisest.
Follow Fast Company on Twitter. Ariel Schwartz can be reached by email.
Solar-Powered Vaccine Refrigerator Keeps Medicine Cool and Safe
by: Inhabitat , 2011-02-22 16:34:35 UTC
True Energy just unveiled their Vaccine Refrigerator, a solar-powered fridge that is capable of keeping medicine cool and safe without a connection to the grid. This refrigerator would allow medical professionals to carry much-needed vaccines to communities in harsh climates and hard-to-reach locations. In addition to being solar powered, it is so efficient that it can stay cool for ten days straight without a charge.
Read the rest of Solar-Powered Vaccine Refrigerator Keeps Medicine Cool and Safehttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/ohttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=better_feedptions-general.php?page=better_feed
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3D-Printed Skin Could Revolutionize Treatment for Burn Victims
by: Inhabitat , 2011-02-22 17:20:56 UTC
Growing human skin may sound like science-fiction, but scientists from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine are working on a way to do just that. Inspired by conventional printers and their cartridges, the research team believe that they could soon ‘print’ human skin which would transform the lives of wounded soldiers and burn victims.
Read the rest of 3D-Printed Skin Could Revolutionize Treatment for Burn Victimshttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/ohttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=better_feedptions-general.php?page=better_feed
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Armadillo and Co’s Flower Collection Rugs Tread Lightly on the Environment
by: Inhabitat , 2011-02-22 20:45:39 UTC
If you have been looking for a fashionable floor rug that not only suits your décor, but has been produced from natural materials under Fairtrade work conditions, your search may well be over. Australian firm Armadillo&Co designs stunning rugs made from pure wool, jute, cotton and hemp. This month they launched The Flower Collection – a handcrafted woven range of three circular rugs designed around a floral theme and made from soft Bangladeshi hemp.
Read the rest of Armadillo and Co’s Flower Collection Rugs Tread Lightly on the Environmenthttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/ohttp://www.inhabitat.com/wp-admin/options-general.php?page=better_feedptions-general.php?page=better_feed
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