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 then directly drives the small but powerful alternator. A 5 minute phone call will require approximately 1 minute of foot pumping.
Learn more here.

Green Applications
T-Mobile introduces Green Perks, a free downloadable application that delivers exclusive [...]

Earlier this year we took a look at two small cars that emphasize design sensitivity and quality of finish. Both the VW Polo and the Ford Fiesta show the new ways small cars are being reborn as premium automobiles. The trend hasn’t gone unnoticed even at traditional luxury car manufacturers. Aston Martin is preparing a small car concept of its own based on of all things the Toyota iQ.
The “Cygnet” concept represents a creative, environmentally conscious solution, being small, yet with presence – and highly fuel efficient, now combined with the prestige of Aston Martin’s luxury brand ownership.
Aston Martin Chief [...]

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, recently ran a design competition to help bring London’s famous old double-decker Routemaster buses back onto the streets. The original buses got replaced by long bendy single decker ones that fit the UK’s overt health, safety and access guidelines better.

The competition was won with this design from a collaboration between Foster + Partners and Aston Martin. The companies worked together to create a vehicle that was environmentally sensitive and accessible, reinventing a “much-loved symbol of London for the modern era.”
The press release gives some great insight into how the companies approached the design:
After an [...]