japan eco-slaps us in the head again: giken ecocycle bike storage system
straight from the japanese underground, in the words of eco-hustler:
giken’s ecocycle on ecohookups
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trace the origin of your garment with icebreaker’s baa code
clever alert! icebreaker has a totally rad tracing system for their high-performance outdoor garments called baa code.
all you have to do is type in the code that’s on every icebreaker tag, and it will let you see the living conditions of the high country sheep that produced the merino fiber in your icebreaker garment, meet the farmers who are custodians of the sheep, and follow every step of the supply chain. baavo, icebreaker, baavo!
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their images are pretty stunning too!
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recycle your saran wrap a la ralph rucci at fashion week
ralph rucci, who has been called “america’s great coutourier” is known for keeping things fresh and interesting.
in 2007, models in the show for mr. rucci’s line chado ralph rucci donned heads fully wrapped in saran. the look was futuristic and fun then, but not necessarily something that i would rock on the street.
photo courtesy of ap image
this year, i was tickled clear to see that mr. rucci decided to opt for plastic wrap dos once again, but in a much more practical and sleek way - as a headband!
photos courtesy of ny mag
from the looks of the saran boxes backstage, i don’t think these coifs were created with recycled sheets of wrap, but i’m totally going to try it next time i’m done preserving my bowls of soup.
ready to eliminate saran wrap altogether? use shower caps.
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plan your next vacation on an abandoned oilrig
want to blow your friends away with a trip that makes whalewatching in alaska and waterfall jumping in hawaii seem oh so passe?
check out the oil rig platform resort and spa by morris architects, a project that proposes repurposing abandoned oil rigs in the gulf of mexico into luxurious accommodations for tourists. such a resort would breathe new life into an otherwise stagnant and useless vessel, and the fact that it would be powered by all renewable energy sources makes this a clever solution with an ironic twist.
the oilrig resort is just one of many ecolocations popping up on the green scene.
read about all of the lavish amenities that the rig hotel plans to offer at inhabitat.
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how to recycle one of your totes into a hacked snowboard bag!
what’s a girl to do when she needs a snowboard bag and can only afford to spend $28 a week?
why, hack one, of course!
this army-colored oversized tote that the c.l.a.s.s. eco-materials showroom gave away to guests at their nyc launch party was the perfect size. you can use a similar bag or even sew two small duffel bags together.
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first, i cut away the bottom of the bag to create two extra pieces that would form the sides of the snowboard bag.
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cleo matches my board!
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then, i just sewed the two extra pieces to either side of the remaining portion of the bag, et voila!
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total cost: $0
total energy used: a little to power the sewing machine, but not nearly as much as it would take to make a brand new snowboard bag
other useful hacks:
check yourself before you wreck yourself: how to recycle those padded inserts that come with your bra
turn your plastic bag into a sewing machine cover
need a new laptop bag? make one out of a recycled t shirt!
laid off? recycle your business cards for waste free catharsis
make your old tank tops into reusable totebags/scarves
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check yourself before you wreck yourself: how to recycle those padded inserts that come with your bra
don’t throw them away! if you want to save $7 (approx. cost of a pair of dr. scholl’s inserts), these are a great alternative. total cost: $0
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check yourself before you wreck yourself: save $16 by not buying the neutrogena wave
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green plug develop universal adapter that could solve the phantom power issue
why didn’t anyone think of this before? if you’re a gadget junkie like me, it can be frustrating to have 15 different chargers (most of which look super-similar) rotating on your power strip. to make matters worse, i try to unplug each one after i’m done charging to avoid phantom power drain which can be pretty darn annoying.
luckily, california based company green plug has developed a single universal adapter that enables users to power their laptops, cell phones, and other electronic gear with only one power adapter. this means that we might be able to eliminate the need to create and ship a power adapter with every electronic device. the adapters will also shut off the power supply when a device has finished charging or is turned off, providing further energy savings to consumers as well as being more environmentally friendly.
westinghouse digital electronics has given the thumbs up to this venture and has recently announced its commitment to using the new “smart power” technology.
of course in order for green plug to succeed with their vision, other electronics companies must cooperate. the word on the street is that many of them believe that not including a new charger with each product will somehow lower the buyer’s perception when they unbox. i’m not sure about you guys, but i usually cringe when i open a new device and see yet another charger. am i the only one?
on a completely aesthetic aside, how brilliant would it be if green plug collaboed with microworks and incorporated their vine charger design into the universal plug?
read more about green plug at the future of things
pics of vine charger courtesy of spoon & tamago
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snap pics of your directions instead of printing
next time you hopstop or google map directions, save paper by taking a pic of your screen instead of printing them out. you can text them or email them to your phone too!
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lendaround.com: like netflix meets facebook!
lendaround.com, a new web service that allows users to swap dvds with their friends in an organized manner, is the manifestation of the brilliant idea you had 7 months ago while eating cereal in bed but were too lazy to do anything about. the only difference is that tim jackson, the founder of lendaround, wasn’t eating cereal when the idea popped into his mind - he was in africa:
“coming back from rwanda or lesotho and looking around my home, i was struck by how much stuff we all own and take for granted,” he said. wouldn’t it be great if instead of leaving things to gather dust on shelves, we could lend them to our friends?”
tim’s simple idea could not have come at a more appropriate time. not only does lendaround speak to environmentalists and people who are just plain tired of consuming so much junk, it makes sense to those who are looking to save a buck (or $4.99) in a rough economy. by harnessing the power of users’ own dvd libraries, lendaround can offer their service for a song! that means free for anyone who was confused, although plans are underway to extend lendaround’s scope past dvds to include anything from cds to lawnmowers.
besides saving the energy, plastic, labor, money and other resources that go into making a dvd, lendaround saves fuel too. early data shows that about half of lendaround users walk their dvds over to their friends’ places. it’s a lot more conducive to socializing than netflix too. by helping out friends, lenders feel like they are doing something to brighten up someone else’s day.
so what about selection? true, netflix probably has a more expansive collection of titles, but if you’re friends with someone, chances are that you like some of the same movies that they do. and the cool thing is that when someone in your circle gets a new dvd, you can “keep it in the family” as if your shared lendaround library was your virtual media cabinet.
want to try? lendaround’s private beta is currently full, but swyyne readers have priority access! just email swyyne@lendaround.com with a list of your favorite movies to check it out.
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the european union compares our current crisis to a flooded basement in letter to obama - clever…
what i’m going to say next may shock you, but i am putting it out there on the interwebs and will deal with the consequences at a later time. so here goes…
i like europeans. that’s right. you heard me. i like them and i don’t understand why it is considered unamerican to like them. is it because they don’t get fat? i guess that’s a valid reason, but they still pwn us when it comes to the environment.
that being said, i submit for your approval a letter written by european union environment commissioner stavros dimas this week to president obama, asking us to adopt regulations on climate change.
courtesy of green inc.
now that we have a new leader, the whole world is looking at us to either step up to the challenge or run away in denial like we have in the past.
the letter has several noteworthy excerpts. one of them is a rather on-point analogy that alludes to those who say that we need to put environmental concerns on the backburner and focus on nursing our sick, sick financial system back to health:
“If someone’s basement floods and they lose their job on the same day it is certainly an unlucky day. But they would not wait until they found a new job before pumping the basement and fixing the leak. If they did, then not only would they be unemployed, but they would also have a house that is starting to fall apart. Common sense says that the longer you leave a problem unsolved the harder it becomes to find a solution. I am quite sure that even Joe the Plumber would agree with this. Climate change is similar. We know there is a
problem and it would be short-sighted foolishness to not address it immediately.”
right on! mr. dimas - you are like my brother from another mother. and you threw in that little thing about joe the plumber. bravo.
check out the rest of the letter here. a lot of the points that mr. dimas makes may seem like no-brainers, but it’ll be very interesting to see how president obama will respond.
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why is this a site?
swyyne has always been an experiment for me. with all of the other super eco sites out there, i've been feeling like i want to contribute something just a bit different. so for now, here are my random musings.
look for stuff
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