Going Green - SlashGear

‘going green’ Stories

Compleat disposable coffee cup axes the lid, startup set to score big

Chris Burns, Dec 12th 2011 Discuss [7]

Designer Peter Herman has created a concept for the all-paper disposable cup, made for coffee but perfectly viable for other liquids, that is set to blow the lid off of the industry - literally. Currently working for architectural firm Ellenzweig in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and having hacked away at this concept for over two years and a hundred prototypes now, Herman has it down to one single piece of paper. Working with graphic design firm Proverb's Daren Bascome to create the visuals you see printed on the cups here, Herman is prepping his concept for the big time now - speaking with manufacturers and retailers right this minute. Read The Full Story

Emerald Cities Celadon Green Cool Pavement coating is green literally and figuratively

Shane McGlaun, May 31st 2011 Discuss [0]

The summer is here in many areas of the US with temperatures already reaching into the mid to upper 90 range or more. That means in many places around the country the AC is on and people are already looking at ways to keep cool. A green pavement coating called Emerald Cities Celadon Green solar reflective permanent cooling coating has been demonstrated in Phoenix, Arizona. This coating is designed to reduce the temperature of the asphalt in parking lots and on streets on hot days. Read The Full Story

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SlashGear Science Week In Review – April 23rd, 2011

Samia Perkins, Apr 23rd 2011 Discuss [0]

This week in Science, a hybrid car that was green before green was cool, the possible future of solar energy, a couple of interesting concrete concepts, and a whole lot of medical innovations. Oh, and robots. One that takes a licking and keeps on ticking, and others that can go where no man wants to go.

Earth day was this week, so we have featured some green concepts and innovations. We always like seeing more efficient ways of doing things, and a road that powers its own lighting and traffic systems is a great example of that. But first, the world’s first hybrid car.

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How Green is Your iPhone?

Kevin Fubar, Apr 22nd 2011 Discuss [2]

It's Earth Day, right? And I'm a dirty hippie. I think about environmental issues a lot. Like many people I like the sound of birdsong more than car horns. I actually spent half of last year canvassing with Texas Campaign for the Environment. We were fighting to improve electronics recycling throughout my home state. Being the gigantic geek that I am, I spent a lot of time learning as much as possible about these issues. Looking forward over the next twenty years our production/consumption/waste cycles are the place where we can do the most good. Dealing with our waste products, whether in the form of gaseous carbon emissions, land-filled garbage, or industrial waste is our generation's great challenge moving forward into the future. Our friends over at geekaphone released this informative infographic giving you some idea of the scale of this issue as it relates to your iPhone. Read The Full Story

Earth Day Driving Tips from Telenav

Kevin Fubar, Apr 21st 2011 Discuss [3]

Tomorrow is Earth Day. We only get one of this Pale Blue Dot to play on and not everyone can afford to immediately upgrade to a hybrid or electric vehicle, as much as we might like to. So here's some driving facts and some tips about driving greener. And remember, sustainability is also about saving money, and with fuel topping $3.84 a gallon we need all of the help we can get. Hopefully these tips will help you save a few bucks at the pump. Read The Full Story

UN Treaty Would Recognize “Mother Earth’s” Rights

Samia Perkins, Apr 14th 2011 Discuss [4]

Bolivia, which has enacted its own "Law of the Rights of Mother Earth", reflecting the beliefs of the indigenous people of that country, is seeking to bring those principles worldwide with a United Nations treaty. The treaty, in draft at this time, would give Mother Earth the same rights as humans, including rights to life, water and clean air, the right to repair livelihoods affected by human activities, and the right to be free from pollution. \ Read The Full Story

eVolo 2011 Skyscraper Competition

Kevin Fubar, Mar 21st 2011 Discuss [0]

Moving forward into the 21st century is going to take some significant changes in the way we build our cities, both here in the US, and worldwide. eVolo is an architecture and design journal focused on the sustainable designs that are going to drive this whole century. They've been running a skyscraper design competition since 2006. They recently released the results of this year's competition. French architects took home the first and second place prizes. Atelier CMJN's team Julien Combes and Gaël Brulé took home the first place prize for their LO2P. This huge circular structure features biogas producing greenhouses, massive air filtration, and will be built-from-recycled-cars. Yoann Mescam, Paul-Eric Schirr-Bonnans, and Xavier Schirr-Bonnans won the second place for their ingenious Flat Tower dome design. Yheu-Shen Chua from the United Kingdom took home the bronze for his re-imagined Hoover Dam. Read The Full Story

Nokia’s Giant Hamster Wheel at SXSW

Samia Perkins, Mar 17th 2011 Discuss [6]

Nokia has erected a human-sized hamster wheel at SXSW this year, as part of "The Green Zone" at the festival. The wheel can be used for charging any type of mobile device, and will be up through March 20th. It was created by creative agency 1000heads, and inspired by Nokia's campaign "it's not technology, it's what you do with it" from last year (video, complete with hamster, is included below). But our own Vincent Nguyen was not too impressed. Read The Full Story

NYC Leading the Way In Hydrogen Powered Buildings

Samia Perkins, Feb 24th 2011 Discuss [0]

According to a new report on TreeHugger.com, more hydrogen powered buildings have gone up in New York City since 2005 than anywhere else in the world. These include two of the world's largest hydrogen-powered mixed use buildings, and the first residential hydrogen-powered homes. And a residential building is being planned across the Hudson that will be the largest hydrogen powered residential tower in the world. The cost per square foot is not as high as you might think, so hydrogen power (probably in combination with solar) may become increasingly common. Read The Full Story

Solider in Afghanistan Uses Recycled Materials to Make Awesome Action Figures

Samia Perkins, Feb 15th 2011 Discuss [1]

PFC Rupert Valero, stationed at Khandahar, Afghanistan, has been using his spare time to build robots and action figures out of found recycled materials. He uses things like bottle caps, microwavable soup containers, yogurt cups, and even Dr. Scholl's foot powder containers to assemble his creations. In an interview with the blog Another Limited Rebellion, Valero said: "I love to improve 6” super-articulated action figures. I have an engineer’s mentality, so nothing is ever perfect enough. So I am big on tweaking and at time breaking and rebuilding toys. The use of found items is based on what is available to me out here. Slowly, I have amassed more resources like paint and hobby tools. Assemblage has really grown on me to the point I will continue to build from found items." Continue after the cut to see more of his super-fantastic action figures. Read The Full Story

The Umeox Apollo Solar Powered Cell Phone – with Android

Samia Perkins, Feb 14th 2011 Discuss [4]

The latest solar powered cell phone was just announced at Mobile World Congress in Spain, the Umeox Apollo. The phone runs on Android, and would take about 2.5 hours of sunlight for refilling the battery after daily use. This is great news if you want to go camping and not be without your smartphone. The phone is headed for production, but there is no word on when it will actually be available in the US. The phone could also be great for travelling. But for daily use, leaving your phone out in the sun for 2.5 hours at a time probably isn't realistic. More likely, the phone would charge for 10-15 minutes throughout the day in between uses. In the event the phone goes completely dead, it would take up to 17 hours in the sun to charge it back. Read The Full Story

7-11 Japan Opening 100 Green Stores

Samia Perkins, Feb 3rd 2011 Discuss [1]

How can 7-11, with its glaring fluorescent lights, coolers, and Slurpee machines go green? Well, they have had success with a pilot program in Japan, and are now expanding it to 100 new stores, as well as renovating 100 existing stores to the new green model. [caption id="attachment_130709" align="alignnone" width="537" caption="Image © David Oooms"][/caption] Read The Full Story