Sony Europe announced today that it will power its 32 largest sites throughout Europe, large meaning more than 100 employees, entirely from renewable resources. In a press release, Serge Foucher, Executive Vice President of Sony Europe, stated that the company has reduced its Co2 emission from fiscal year 2000 - 2008 by 90%.
The company has [...]
July 2, 2009
100% Renewable Energy For Sony Europe
Milkmuny Recycled Wallet
Hoping to do something about the less than 0.05% of milk and juice cartons in the US that ever end up recycled, Portland industrial designer John Schreiber created Milkmuny, producing highly-functional wallets from the familiar paper cartons we regularly discard. Milkmuny pays local groups seeking to raise funds for the cartons they collect, and after [...]
Eco-friendly Picnic Pack
In a summer season filled with outdoor BBQ’s and picnics in the park, a level of convenience and disposability goes a long way. Unfortunately, for most of us that generally means trash bags overflowing with plastic cups and utensils, paper plates and napkins destined for the dump.
Enter Branch’s Biodegradable Party Kit, an all-in-one package with everything [...]
10 Eco-Innovations From Around The World
Foot Pump Phone Chargers
Festival goers at Glastonbury, in the U.K., can charge their cell-phones through using a standard airbed foot pump, the type normally found all over festival sites. The Orange Gotwind power pump’s turbine is rotated at speeds of up to 2000 rpm from the air flow generated by the foot pump, this turbine [...]
July 1, 2009
The Sputnik Observatory
Artist Jonathan Harris has just announced the release of an interesting project he’s been working on over the last two tears with Sputnik, Inc., a NYC-based nonprofit dedicated to documenting, archiving and disseminating ideas that are shaping contemporary culture. Named Sputnik Observatory, the project is a fascinating collection of inter-connected video interviews with hundreds of leading thinkers in [...]
Chandeliers Made of Hypodermic Needles and Tables Made of Records
Jeff Klarin and Rebecca Johnson make up BUGHOUSE design. The duo creates limited edition furniture (amongst other artistic pursuits) that subvert the traditional expectations placed on functional objects. Upcycling and remixing elements from such diverse areas as pharmacology, DJ culture and the occult, BUGHOUSE makes extremely unique furnishings that give new life to common objects.
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Happiness Objectified: Do Our Things Make us Happy?
There can be no doubt that, from the moment we roll out of bed to the screeching of our alarm (on a clock, on an iPhone, from a radio) until the moment we close our eyes again (having put down our book, our laptop, our TV remote) we are surrounded by more objects, each begging [...]
Shipping Container to Fold-Out Restaurant
We’ve witnessed some innovative re-uses of shipping containers in the past from retail pop-up shops to portable health clinics, but the Müvbox Restaurant located in Montreal’s Old Port is particularly stunning. The website explains the modular design:
Created from an old shipping container powered by solar energy, this concept is a modern-day reinvention of the
old-fashioned canteen [...]
(Pic) 70’s Porsche Motorcycle Concept
Bike Exif has posted an intriguing, obscure motorcycle concept design that Porsche came out with in 1979. The model was created to call attention to the motorcycle’s superiority in energy use, air pollution and traffic space.
Porsche describes the concept:
Comfort, safety and protection from mud and water were prime considerations, not the usual fascination with speed: [...]
Not Your Average Summer Camp
San Francisco based Studio For Urban Projects is putting on a very different kind of summer camp for kids over the next two months. “A Curious Summer” is a series of unique workshops for children between the ages of 7 and 14 that explore a different idea for a week at a time, allowing participants [...]
Pic: Plastic Wrapped Wooden Spoons
When we saw these ‘wooden utensils’ in Anthropologie on 5th Avenue in New York recently, we wondered if the retailer was engaging in a bit of greenwashing. Sure, the bundle of eight knives, forks and spoons may be made from sustainably grown birch but is it really “sustainable” when they wrap it all in non-biodegrable [...]
Pic: Remember… These Come From Trees
This sticker on a paper towel dispenser in a cafe in San Francisco’s Mission reminds the wet-handed that they’re about to use a product made from trees (and therefore they should be considerate). The stickers seem to be part of a “guerrilla public service announcement” orchestrated by Pete Kazanjy, the guy behind TheseComeFromTrees.com. Kazanjy says [...]
Anheuser-Busch Fuels Texan Brewery with Landfill Biogas
In a joint project with Republic Services and Ameresco Services, The Anheuser-Busch brewery in Houston will have its energy demand supplied by more than 55% from biogas. Connected by pipelines with the Macarty Road Landfill, the gas is carried to the facilities to generate steam energy for the brewery’s power plant.
Landfill biogas consists of approx. [...]
June 30, 2009
Bed Stuy Meadow: Transforming a Neighborhood With Flowers
21st Century Plowshare went on a mission this past April to transform the urban landscape of Bed Stuy, Brooklyn. The group set out to plant wildflower seeds on every single patch of abandoned soil within the neighborhood, creating a massive”urban meadow”. We’ll keep an eye out to watch the results of this interesting rewilding project.
[via [...]
America’s Declining Malls
US News and World Report examines some of the contributing factors that have lead to a general decline in many of America’s malls, once the stalwarts of suburban prosperity and convenience. One interesting note from the article is the underlying (and accepted) notion that malls have “natural lifespans,” owing to changes in consumer habits, architecture and [...]






