Photo of Fairfield University
Photo credit to WalkingGeek
Good news travels in pairs and today we have two stories from two separate universities who have taken the steps to reduce their carbon footprint through various program initiatives. The first green effort comes to us from Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut, which has eliminated trays for their students in their food halls.
Fairfield University
TreeHugger readers have a love/hate relationship with London designer Ross Lovegrove; most loved his solar trees and hated his car on a stick. He is at it again with his Alpine Capsule,
A compact shelter where one may spend the evening admiring the stars and the beautiful surrounding mountain range. It would offer the opportunity of overnight stays within a spectacular 360 degree view.
...
Just don't wax your floors too well before buying into Jonas & Jonas furniture that leans against the wall and has just two legs. They say that "the scratch and shock-resistant body of this furniture is made of high pressure laminate and allows for any kind of strain" but I would be nervous about someone accidentally kicking a leg and having it collapse.
But I do like the minimalist look and it certainly doesn't take up much space. ...
It's All About Incentives, Baby
It's not big mystery: If you have a flat rate for water, people will waste more of it than if they pay in function of how much they use. The same thing also certainly applies to cars. If people paid less insurance if they drove less, that would be an incentive to put fewer miles on their vehicles, thus using less fuel and polluting less. This would also reduce road congestion and accidents.
One company that has understood this is MileMeter from Texas. Read on for more details....
Photo via WhiteAfrican
For how much I love technology, I equally love decidedly un-techy stuff. In fact, the more basic it is while maintaining functionality, the cooler it is. And that is just how I feel about the Togolese bottle opener. ...
Often, really simple ideas work really well. The hot water bottle is a good example. They are back in style in Japan this winter, with promotion on the web and companies like Yutanpo Cuseberry offering attractive, colorful cotton covers with animal themes or vivid polkadot patterns, and ideas for your eco life......
Zoe the black lab loves to follow me around when I go outside; but, she gets bored fast when I go for the firewood (pictured). And, who can blame her? As our readers pointed out in the recent post How Much Wood Would A Tree Hugger Burn, If A Tree Hugger Would Burn Wood the average piece of wood destined for the woodstove gets moved at least 6 times before it catches fire. Split, carry to storage area, stack, put in wagon, etc.
A Greener Way to Vote
John Zimmer, founder and COO of Zimride, an online carpool community, has contacted us to let us know about their Facebook app called "Carpool to the Polls". It allows U.S. voters to find rides on election day so they can go vote, and do while burning as little fuel as possible.
A Greener Way to Vote
John Zimmer, founder and COO of Zimride, an online carpool community, has contacted us to let us know about their Facebook app called "Carpool to the Polls". It allows U.S. voters to find rides on election day so they can go vote, and do while burning as little fuel as possible.
Binary Studios suggest that their Small Energy Efficient Dwelling is like a plant: "As the seedpod protects and nourishes the seed in the initial stages of the embryonic plant, the SEED [pod] equivalently recognizes the social contract of architecture to serve those in need by providing high quality affordable dwelling units to the large population that is typically underserved by the design community."...
We're Glad You're Okay, Nick
Nick Chambers of Gas2 just had a big car accident, and we're glad to learned that he could just walk away with minor injuries. His Toyota Yaris hit a six-foot-high dirt embankment at highway speed and rolled over three times, but Nick "crawled out with no more than a bump on [his] head, seat belt burn, and a massively stiff neck."
In a post that he wrote today, the day of the accident, he had this to say about small car safety......
Data Center "Cable Mess" Al Carbonara
What a tangled web (of data cables) we wired ones have woven in the last 20 years, gratifying our virtual cravings with ever more power, plastic, copper, and greenhouse gas. Brian P. McCann, CMO of OnPATH Technologies spoke with TreeHugger about his company's novel approach to lessening the footprint. Don't be put off with the "virtualization layer" lingo. Brian gets to the heart of the matter in short order.
The wind blew really hard here last night, the streets are covered in a carpet of leaves. It would be a good time to try out Gerard Moliné's Nest House, originally produced by Droog Design and designed for the 2005 Neo-rural exhibition....
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