If you’re reading Inhabitat, you’re no doubt aware of how popular the ‘green’ trend has become. Businesses have finally started to realize that the environmental movement is here to stay, and that there is money to be made in going green
Harvesting wasted energy from unexpected places is one of our favorite topics at Inhabitat, however one of the last places we’d look for a “clean” energy source is the tailpipe of a car. Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas have announced that they are working on a new type of carbon nanotube thermocell that is capable of scavenging wasted energy from a vehicle’s exhaust system at a lower cost than ever before. Read the rest of TAILPIPE POWER: Nanotube Thermocells Harvest Energy From Car Exhaust Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: “clean energy” , alternative energy , green design , green transportation , heat scavenging , renewable energy , sustainable design , tailpipe power , tailpipe thermocell
ATTENTION GREEN SOCCER FANS Nike recently unveiled its new team jerseys for the upcoming World Cup and here’s the kicker (pun intended) – they’re made from discarded plastic bottles ! That’s right, the uniforms, or “kits” in proper soccer speak, are made from melted down bottles from landfills in Japan and Taiwan that have been spun into fabric.
In Apple’s 2010 Supplier Responsibility Report they announced that, among other things, some of their suppliers were found to have hired underage workers. They also uncovered that their suppliers underpaid workers, over-worked workers, improperly disposed of hazardous waste , conducted employee discrimination, and falsified formal records meant to cover up these violations. In a shocking display of transparency Apple released the report which found that one or more violations were found in 60 of the 102 facilities audited
Yesterday, at the Greener Gadgets conference in NYC , prolific industrial designer Yves Béhar unveiled never before seen plans for his “hackable” solar powered electric car . While Béhar and his design studio Fuse Project are not new to transportation design , this next project will be very different from the Mission One electric motorcycle in that it will be designed specifically for the developing world. The idea is that this cute and affordable car will have a standard base frame, but the other components would be almost totally customizable by the end user.
TXU Energy , a large Texas utility company, will lease rooftop solar power systems to their customers in the Dallas area. Homeowners can sign up for the program with TXU and their partner in the project, SolarCity , will design and install the systems. After tax incentives, an owner of a three-to-four bedroom house would owe about $35 a month for a lease, though for $26,000 they could buy the array outright. When leased, SolarCity continues to own the array and performs any maintenance. Currently, the state utility infrastructure company Oncor has funds to offer rebates on about 400 home installations, but SolarCity expects the program to grow quickly over the next five years
Students at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design (ECUAD) designed these pieces of beautiful furniture for Far Coast Coffee’s (Coke’s coffee brand) social areas at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics . The furniture is made entirely out of blue pine wood in an attempt to raise awareness about the mountain pine beetle’s devastating effect on the pine industry. Read the rest of Far Coast Furniture Raises Awareness of the Pine Industry at the Olympics Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: apolo ohno , Coca Cola , Coke , far coast , lindsay vonn , olympics , scuad , vancouver
Images by B.Alter Vancouver gets a medal for being the greenest Olympics; the question is: which one?
ATTENTION ALL ECO-FASHION FANATICS! Regardless of whether or not you’re as gung-ho eco-fashion as we are, it’s incredibly interesting to see the evolution of sustainable fashion from casual wear towards haute-couture.
The 2010 Vancouver Olympics has yet another feather to add to their cap – they now have the greenest neighborhood in the world . Yesterday, Millennium Waters, the Olympic Athlete’s Village located on Southeast False Creek across from the BC Place Stadium, received LEED Platinum Certification for the entire neighborhood as well as LEED Gold status for all of the buildings included.
