I don’t care if you’ve created the most eco-friendly, carbon neutral, animal-friendly product on the planet, if there’s a cheaper alternative made with the most environmental unfriendly process known to man, people are still going to buy it. Case in point- these Paper Pens. Each one is made from a single page of used A4 paper, so when it runs dry, save for the ink cartridge, the pen can be recycled. However, at ~$5.85(€4) each, it’s hard not to just opt for an entire box of BICS instead. No matter how many puppies were used in their creation.
Update: According to further research it turns out BIC pens are NOT made from puppies. Sorry for any confusion.
The Salvage Stool from New Zealand’s designtree is a fantastic example of upcycling, re-purposing broken wooden chairs into someplace to sit again. But while the 3-legged design ensures it’s never going to wobble, I’m fairly pessimistic that anyone is ever going to get it perfectly level when mixing and matching chair legs. The seat is made from 100% recycled, shot-blasted aluminum with three holes for the legs which are secured with stainless steel bolts. And from what I can tell the Salvage Stool is available for sale and includes 3 pre-sized legs in random patterns and colors, but if you decide to do it yourself I suspect you’ll end up sawing your legs down to little nubs before you ever get the whole thing level.
Besides not looking like creepy limbless LEGO minifigs, these stainless steel double walled S’well bottles keep 17 ounces of hot beverage hot, or cold beverage cold, and are free from all the chemicals and toxins that plastic bottles have been associated with. They’re designed to look and feel like a classic water/pop bottle though, which also means they’ll easily fit in cupholders, bags etc. And on top of it all, every S’well purchase helps support the WaterAid organization which creates programs that improve access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in poor communities around the world. $35, available in a wide variety of colors.
LED-based lightbulbs are superior to incandescent and even CFL bulbs when it comes to energy efficiency and overall eco-friendliness, but they’re not a perfect alternative, at least not yet. In order to produce the equivalent amount of light as other bulbs, they use a cluster of small LEDs to boost the overall luminosity. But apparently those clusters create multiple shadows, and a projected silhouette (when the bulbs are shining on a wall for example) that’s not as aesthetically pleasing as incandescents or CFLs. Not exactly a huge issue plaguing most consumers given LED bulbs are still considerably more expensive than the alternatives, but apparently enough of one for Panasonic to dedicate some R&D dollars to improving their design.
What they came up with is a new LED bulb that features a single core resulting in cleaner shadows and more aesthetically pleasing silhouettes. Something I’m sure most consumers will demand one day. As far as I can tell they still use a multiple LED technique on the inside, they’re just being brought together in a new way that improves their overall performance. Like most LED bulbs the One-Core uses about 50% less power than a CFL, but apparently they also use about 15% less power than a traditional LED bulb, so the improvements are win-win all around. They’ll be available starting April 21 in two versions, with more options including different color temperatures and dispersion types coming later on.
It’s probably not going to get the job done if you spent your day wallowing around in a pigsty, but for reasonably soiled garments, this washing machine from Russell Hobbs has a ‘super rapid’ mode that can clean an entire load in just 12 minutes! The secret is apparently a twin jet system which blasts the load with water and detergent at the same time using two separate nozzles.
Not only does it apparently offer a better wash, but it can also reduce water usage by 15%. And since it’s running less, it also reduces energy consumption by 30%. That equates to saving the average family about 212,415 gallons of water over a lifetime, and 2 years and 4 months of time spent waiting for the washer to finish. That’s time that can be better spent living life and dirtying more laundry! ~$400(£247) for the 7kg model pictured above, and ~$520(£320) for a 9kg model.
They might not be the best accessory for really long bike trips, but if you only cycle to get to work or around the city, Blackburn’s FLEA bike lights will save you from ever having to replace batteries again. They come with a small USB dongle that attaches to any standard USB port, and once again thanks to the power of magnets you simply need to dock either the front or back light to charge them up.
On a single charge the front light, which spits out 40 lumens thanks to a set of 4 super-bright white LEDs, will run for 3 hours steady, or up to 5 hours flashing. While the back light with its 4 super-bright red LEDs will keep on keeping on for 6 hours steady and up to 12 hours flashing. In addition, an extra set of LEDs hidden under the logo on top of the lights will glow green, orange or red indicating their current charge level. ~$30 for the front and rear lights, sold separately.
I’m having a little trouble seeing why the Laundry Pod is better than just hand washing a couple of garments in your bathroom sink, but as an alternative to using a washing machine when you don’t have enough laundry for a full load, I guess it has merit. If you’ve ever used a salad spinner you pretty much get the idea of how the Laundry Pod works, and except for a larger capacity and a handy drainage tube, I don’t really see a difference between them.
The Laundry Pod can handle up to 6 garments at a time, presumably a mix of larger and smaller items, and once you’ve filled it with water and detergent you simply have to turn a crank on top for 2 to 3 minutes to clean a single load. The same process is done for rinsing, minus the detergent, and then once again for the ‘drying’ mode which is really just for wringing out as much water as you can before hanging them to dry. It’s probably a lot more useful when camping or traveling as a means to clean clothes between visits to a laundromat, and is expected to be available sometime in the late Spring.
What a difference a weekend can make. I came across this mobile power unit last week and kind of put it on the back burner, but after the events that have unfolded in Japan over just the past few days it seems like it could be one of the most useful tools for many parts of the country. Created by OS, a Japanese company with an expertise in retractable projector screens, the GSR-110B uses flexible solar cells developed by Fuji Electric Systems to create a mobile power unit that can be deployed in just seconds.
At just 3kg the GSR-110B is lightweight and easy to transport, but thanks to its retractable solar panel it can be set up anywhere, providing up to 40W off power in the right weather conditions. (16W directly from the solar panel itself, plus an additional 24W from the unit’s built-in rechargeable battery.) That’s enough juice to keep a netbook running for about two hours, and is definitely enough to charge a mobile phone. But if you need even more power, two of the units can be connected together for a combined output of 80W when needed. The GSR-110B started shipping back in January, and sells for ~$730 (¥60,000).
Eco-friendly reusable water bottles seem to be the preferred way to stay hydrated while saving the planet these days, but if you miss the simple pleasures of drinking out of a can, rest assured you haven’t been forgotten. Dig out those foam can cozies again because these Eco Cans are some of the first reusable cans on the market.
While it might look like a regular soda can, instead of aluminum they’re made from a biodegradable corn starch-like material called PLA. And while it’s safer for the environment when disposed of, these cans are designed to be used again and again. They’re actually double-wall insulated so they keep cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot, are microwave and dishwasher-friendly and even have a pop-up lid that looks just like a soda can ring pull. Though the top does screw off making it far easier to fill. Available from Firebox.com for ~$21 (£12.99).
Related Tags: Eco-friendly, Office
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