You could imagine that if Consumer Reports and LEED got together and had a baby; it might look something like GoodGuide.
The Guide currently has close to 80,000 products evaluated in
categories like personal care, food, household chemicals, paper
products, and toys.
So, the idea is, as you are walking down the aisle of your favorite
store, trying to exercise your purchasing power in the most responsible
fashion, you stop in front of the dishwasher detergent to mull over your
choices. You pick up Cascade, your usual brand and scan the barcode
with your iPhone. You find that it gets a respectable rating of 7.1 out
of ten. A perfect 10 for health (no issues), but a more average 5.5 for
environment and a 5.9 for society. Curious, you drill down and see that
it gets dinged o... Read more » |
Core77: Shibuya-based Naruse-Inokama Architects,
comprised of Jun Inokuma and Yuri Naruse, takes wood waste from houses
and turns that into paper. The resultant paper is then formed into a
stack of Post-It-like sticky notes that are in turn shaped like little
houses. (They’re called IE-TAGs
as "ie” is Japanese for "house.”) And as anyone who’s ever seen a thick
book loaded up with Post-It bookmarks can attest, the corners of the
Post-Its get dog-eared like nobody’s business. The resultant mess could
hardly be called aesthetically pleasing.
The house shape of NIA’s sticky notes, on the other hand, get rid of
the corners altogether. I do wonder how they’ll hold up if the book is,
say, thrown into a... Read more »
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CScout: Housing company Tostem has developed a new kind of ecological residence
that takes in more carbon emissions than it produces itself. The
Super-sustainable Model House Next+ Nagaiki Style is set for
commercialization in 2011 and features a photovoltaic system, a solar
heat pump for water heating, and LED and OLED lighting. In particular,
new technology for the home includes a timer to charge up an electric
vehicle at night and a fractal sunshade, which is used on the terrace,
though some details have not been announced. |
Yoxi (YO-see) is a creative
competition and a social game. Teams of problem solvers battle to
deliver the best solutions to social issues. You vote, comment, pledge
and play along online. The winning team gets the funding opportunities
and positioning to make their idea a reality. The more stuff you do, the
more your voice is heard. That way, you play to support great ideas
brought to the real world.
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Triple Pundit: By 2011, KFC claims that the company
will reduce the use of foam by over 60% and total plastic use by 17%.
Part of the push will be an introduction of reusable packaging.
Currently 60% of its restaurants serve some of its sides in colorful
plastic containers—all restaurants will feature them by next year. The
company hopes that customers will reuse, and eventually, recycle, the
containers. KFC touts other benefits as well, such as reduced shipping
cubes, decreased greenhouse gas emissions, and less energy required to
manufacture these spry containers. The finger licking good paper and
cardboard based packaging materials will include more recycled and
postconsumer content, too. |
Springwise: Pest control is a hotly contested topic,
owing largely to the toxicity of the chemicals that are typically
involved. So it’s hard not to take notice when an alternative emerges
that’s not only chemical-free, but based on solar power as well.
Developed by South Korean Eco Solatec,
the Solar Trap uses a BLB lamp to attract mosquitoes, moths, mayflies
and other common pests, and then propel them by fan into an inescapable
netting. Eminently suitable for agricultural settings as well as
recreation areas such as parks and golf courses, the Solar Trap can be
used 8 hours a day after just 5 hours of charging — which takes place on
cloudy days as well as sunny ones. The device generates its own energy,
creating no pollution in the process; it also... Read more » |
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