Wind Power Without the Drawbacks: Aeroturbines

Wind energy is clean and green, but has its critics and its drawbacks, including noise pollution, and the possibility to harm wildlife (birds fly into the turning blades). But, a company from Illinois has come up with a design that seems to have revolutionized the wind turbine industry. Aerotecture International.

From their site: "Aeroturbines are wind turbines designed for urban settings. Invented by University of Illinois industrial design professor, Bil Becker, Aeroturbines are a new development in wind turbine technology. Aeroturbines can be installed on existing rooftops or built into the architecture of new buildings to provide clean renewable electricity at its site of consumption. Aeroturbines are uniquely suited to urban environments because they are:

• Noise and vibration-free
• Safe for birds
• Able to utilize multi-directional and gusting winds
• Self-regulating (no overspeed protection required)
• Low maintenance
• Made from low-cost and readily available materials

The structural features of the Aeroturbine allow for its easy integration into new or existing buildings: the modular/stackable cages are additive and can be mounted in a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal orientation."

These urban wind turbines basically look like a huge helix. They are apparently quiet, can be made safe for the birds, and it seems they are on track to be acceptable for zoning in many major cities due to their unobtrusive design. Check out Aerotecture International. It is the future of wind power.

Nice Bunny Paper Dolls Updated!

A quick note: Nice Bunny has updated their site and added an obvious link to their very awesome Paper Dolls Artist's Series. Its art for the rest of us. Collect them all! Buy other stuff from these amazing artists!

Image credit to Matt Hawkins and Nice Bunny.

Dutch Playgrounds Cage Kids!

Those crazy Dutch designers are at it again... good design is so common in the land of wooden shoes that they need to lock their kids into it to appreciate it! The photo is of playground equipment designed by Carve, a Dutch firm that is rethinking the playground.

One might have a niche if they moved in on the Dutch designers and started designing bad stuff, or just churned out completely "un"designed designs. Carve turns out crazy looking playground furniture, while our "non-designer" could design a pole... stuck in the ground... for kids to run around. BRILLIANT! Bad design becomes good because it is not!

Just kidding. Obviously those Dutch have a culture of looking at solving design problems differently than a lot of the rest of the world.

Anyway, check out Carve, they sincerely have revolutionized the playground. Can't wait for the U.S. playground equipment manufacturers to catch on and start copying these ideas in old growth redwood!

A nod to the Cool Hunter for doing the hard work and bringing this to our attention. Thanks Cool Hunter! You are so cool... cool!

Photo credit to Carve or the Cool Hunter.

Green Resolutions for 2008

Welcome to 2008! I'm going to go the predictable route and make some resolutions for the new year... green resolutions. We'll look back at the end of 2008 and see how I did. I figure if it is a matter of written record, I almost have to stick to some of these!

1. Take shorter showers. Showers usually save more water than a bath, but to add some additional water savings, if I can simply cut the average length of my shower down by 1 minute, it adds up to a savings of approximately $100 over the course of a year! (I heard that on T.V. a bit ago.)
2. Probably the most cliche, over used, over invoked resolution of all... I want to get into better shape. How is this green? I could walk or bike to the store. Save gas. I'll watch less T.V., saving a bit of power. And, best of all, being healthier, saves money for us all because I'll spend less time at the Doctor's office over the course of my life. You don't even want to get me started on the cost of medical treatment in this country!
3. I'll try and catch my car pool more often. Overall, I've been doing a better job of catching my car pool this year, just because gas prices have been so high, (that's right, if it comes to money, I'm all about it.) but I need to hit it 100% of the time. Plain and simple. Save gas.
4. I'd like to start composting table scraps. I have a garden, we throw away a ton of food. Could just as well be fertilizer for my garden and landscape. Less waste in the landfill.
5. My ultimate resolution is to put together a rain water catch system to use for irrigation of my landscaping and garden. Its a bit nerdy, but I'll save more water, and save some cash too... all in the name of saving the planet.
6. I'm going to switch out all the light bulbs in my house with compact fluorescents. Duh!

I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas

Merry Christmas! I've really got the spirit this holiday season, and what better way to pass on the mood than to find some ways to make your Christmas just a bit greener.
1. Ask for gift cards so you can go buy compact fluorescent bulbs for all your lights. I read that if a household replaced all the fixtures in the home with compact fluorescent, they could save from $440 to $1100 over the life of the bulbs. An awesome gift that gives for years!
2. Don't wrap EVERY stinkin' present! But if you absolutely have to, use recycled newspapers (the comics section is great for this), or gift bags that can be reused, or use one part of the gift, like a T-Shirt to "wrap" another part of the gift. Get creative, throw away less wrapping paper and kill fewer trees, a win all around.
3. Use LED Christmas lights, they use 80% less energy than regular lights and last ten years or more! On top of it all, get yourself one of those timers that turn the lights on and off at certain times, like at 3 am when no one is looking at them anyway.
4. The Christmas Tree, what is better real or fake? Real is, but living, in a pot, that you can plant in the spring. (In the interest of full disclosure, I have a fake tree... I know, I'm bad!)
5. Buy your Christmas gifts from local sources... No, I don't mean stores in your town, but rather, from vendors that use locally sourced raw materials. Saves the planet by saving petroleum on reduced shipping costs.

Easy stuff. Easy to do. No compromises. Save the world!

Great Green Collaborations in Furniture

Creative reuse of scrap wood by Scrapile furniture studio in New York. A collaboration between Carlos Salgado and Bart Bettencourt. Scrapile makes use of scrap wood from local woodworking shops that might otherwise throw out these valuable leftovers. Reuse or repurposing is the only true form of recycling.

Jenny Argie and Andrew Thornton's furniture designs for children under the name Argington, feature items that can adjust to grow with your child... sustainable design. Fun and simple furniture for kids. And trying to design something that won't be thrown away with all those disposable diapers is a noble goal and pretty green. Check out their simple Galap Rocker" below.









Photo credit to Argington furniture.

Cool Wooden Toys From the Future

"Yosegi-Mokuzougan, or joined wooden block construction, is a craft skill where combinations of original and unique colors and textures of different kinds of wood are utilized to express artistic patterns."

Takeji (Take-G) Nakagawa has taken this traditional technique and expanded on it, made it 3-D, and made it his own. Drawing from tradition and incorporating what can only be asian pop culture into his toys and sculptures. Check out the take-g toys site. This guy is amazing! Warm and futuristic, two words that normally oppose one another exist simultaneously in his work.

Difficult to purchase if you are not in Japan, hopefully, that will soon be remedied. Most of the site is in Japanese, but the work pretty much speaks for itself.