Sundance Channel

New Austin grocery store will be packaging-free

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:50:28 +0000

On our kitchen counter, my wife has a set of glass jars designed for storing staples: flour, sugar, coffee, tea, etc. Of course, we have to buy the products that go into those jars at the store, empty them from their packaging, and then either recycle or trash whatever they came in. Wouldn't it be great if we could just take those jars to the store and fill them?

Green tech finds (6/30/11)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 21:21:59 +0000

A car designed by teenagers that gets nearly 2000 mpg, white roofs for New York City, and how your DVR is jacking up your electric bill... this week's green tech finds.

Puma's "clever little bag" is biodegradeable: We mentioned Puma's alternative to the shoe box back in April of 2010; PSFK reports that the bags will also be compostable (or, if you're impatient, they'll dissolve in water in a few minutes). (via Environmental Leader)
The 2000 mpg car? OK, not quite... this design by students at Kingdown School in Warminster, UK got a mere 1,980 mpg. That was more than enough for it to win the Mileage Marathon Challenge at Mallory Park track near Leicester. (via Inhabitat)

Barbie’s dirty secret: rainforest destruction

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:57:47 +0000

Think what you will about Greenpeace and their often aggressive brand of activism... they do know how to create clever, eye-catching campaigns around important environmental issues. Rainforest destruction is a big one for them (as well as most of us), and after tracing the pulp source of packaging for toys from brands like Mattel, Hasbro, Lego, and Disney back to Indonesian rainforests, they did what any responsible organization would: they broke the news to Barbie's longtime companion Ken. You can see the fallout in the video above...

Green tech finds (4/7/11)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 18:23:09 +0000

T-BOX-2010_liteonaward from jiangqian on Vimeo.

We've got mushroom materials this week... plus another upgrade in ENERGY STAR standards, and algae's potential for cleaning up nuclear wastes...

Dell piloting mushroom packaging: I mentioned this development last year... this week, Dell packaging guru Oliver Campbell announced that the company will be piloting use of a mushroom-based packaging materials for shipping products. (Note: Spent a few days in Austin to attend a Dell CAP Day last week... they paid for my trip).
Ford's looking at mushroom-based foam insulation: Yep... a mushroom twofer -- Ford's also considering using Ecovative's material to replace petroleum-based foams used as insulating material in its cars interior elements.

Green tech finds (7/29/10)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:49:58 +0000

Lots of vehicle news this week... from greener AC to electric vehicles for rent. Here are your green tech finds.

A new model for solar cells -- blowfly eyes: A team of researchers at Penn State thinks blowfly corneas could provide a viable model for solar cells (via Discovery News)
Climate-friendly air conditioning for your car: GM plans to roll out a new air conditioning refrigerant in 2013 which performs 99.7% better in terms of greenhouse gas impact than current HFCs. (via Green Tech Pastures)

Paper is the new plastic

Perrin Drumm — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:19:08 +0000

The idea is so simple you have to wonder why no one thought of it before. The simplicity, of course, is part of the genius behind these two design proposals for boxing water instead of bottling it. The depressing reality of the post consumer waste that plastic bottles generate is staggering: of the 60 million plastic bottles thrown away each day in the US alone, only 14% get recycled, meaning 86% lay in a land fill for up to 1,000 years. That's nearly 19 billion bottles a year. Finally, someone is doing something about it.

A tale of two book covers.

Lux Alptraum — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:53:15 +0000

Above, the covers for two erotica anthologies. When MILF Fantasies was released as an ebook by Ravenous Romance earlier this year, it barely sold. Young Studs was made available shortly after, and shot into Ravenous Romance’s top ten. This would be nothing more than a curiosity of sales data, were it not for one essential [...]

Bottled water: can it ever be green?

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:00:17 +0000

Still have bottled water as a regular item on the grocery list? Or just pick up the occasional bottle when you're out? It's so convenient... As you probably know, that convenience comes at an environmental and social price: documentaries such as FLOW and Thirst, organizations such as the Sierra Club and Environmental Defense Fund, and even a few of us lowly bloggers, have reported on the costs created by water's transformation from a freely-available resource to a multi-billion dollar commodity. That bottle of water you buy now contributes to the world's third-largest industry.