A new amazing water and oil proofing agent called UltraTech Ultra-Ever Dry is taking the internet by storm. But the miracle product, which causes goo of all kinds to slip off everything from treated boots to treated bricks, should not be used by the faint of heart. Although it seems that this product really does seal and lock surfaces from oil and water damage, its application involves the evaporation of highly toxic chemicals that could hurt the user if not correctly dealt with.

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Post tags: eco design, green design, oil repellent treatment, sustainable design, Ultra-Ever Dry, UltraTech, water repellent treatment

The designers behind Ski Dubai’s artificial ski slope, Snow World and B01 Arquitectos, have teamed up to improve on their original design with the world’s very first carbon-neutral indoor ski slope in Barcelona. If approved by Barcelona’s City Council, this new Snow World will be a component of the Zona Franca redevelopment project, which aims to transform a neglected industrial complex into a thriving residential area. Both the ski dome and housing area will be powered with renewable energy, while the extreme cooling necessary to maintain an artificial ski slope in a warm country will be achieved by harvesting the byproduct of converting liquefied natural gas back into its gaseous form.

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Post tags: artificial snow, B01 Arquiectos, Barcelona, barcelona ski slope, carbon neutral ski slope, carbon-neutral, eco design, green design, green ski slope, is it green, methane, natural gas, plant waste, renewable energy, Ski Dubai, ski slope, snow world, Solar Power, sustainable design

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", BREEAM, Colchester, Daylighting, eco design, Firstsite Arts Center, Golden Banana, Golden Blunder, green design, is it green, mixed-use development, rafael vinoly, Recycled Materials, sustainable design, UK

Computer giant Apple doesn’t have the best record when it comes to being green. Known for using hazardous materials, dodging questions about sustainability, and contributing to an ever-growing pile of e-waste, the technology giant seems more at odds with nature than its iconic logo would imply. But after digging to the “core” of the matter, we were surprised to find that that Apple might be more eco-friendly than you think. Read on to see how green Apple really is.

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Post tags: apple, apple mac, clean tech, green computers, green computing, green products, green tech, green technology, how green is apple, Steve Jobs

Vegans and vegetarians have been in their kitchen laboratories for years attempting (and sometimes succeeding) to find a suitable substitute for gelatin. Now it seems that a group of scientists just might have done the trick – kind of. Conventional gelatin is made from collagen inside animals’ skin and bones — yes, we know we are ruining your childhood memories — and a group of researchers have managed to replace that animal base with a human one. Their research appears in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

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Post tags: food engineering, gelatin, gelatin substitute, human derived products, human food, jello, jello substitute, jelly, jelly substitute, vegan gelatin, vegan jello, vegan jelly, vegetarian gelatin, vegetarian jello, vegetarian jelly

Read the rest of IS IT GREEN?: The Biodegradable Soft Drink Can

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Post tags: aluminium, aluminum can, beverage, Biodegradable, biodegradable can, can, cans, container, eco design, green beverage container, green design, green materials, green product, green products, green soda can, Greenwashing, Haoshi, PLA, Recycled Materials, sustainable deisgn, sustainable industrial design, tin can

If you’ve been looking for an alternative to eco-unfriendly plastic bags, then the Fabriano waste paper bin is the green solution you’ve been looking for. A project created by Italian designers Riccardo Nannini, Domenico Orefice and Emanuele Pizzolorusso, this clever prototype consists of 50 disposable and biodegradable pleated- recycled paper containers, nested inside one another. Once a “bin” meets full capacity, all you have to do is pull it out, throw it away, and you’ll find yourself with a clean start!

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Post tags: biodegradable paper, compostable design, corrugated recycled paper, disposable bin, green materials, green packaging, green products, is it green, italian design, recycled paper products, recycling / compost

Today is opening day of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, which is being touted as the greenest Olympics ever. But the warm weather and rain of late at one of the venues has forced the organizers to haul in snow via truck and helicopter (because the Winter Olympics don’t really work without snow). Since trucks and helicopters emit a lot of carbon, critics and protesters are calling out the Vancouver Olympics for their somewhat hypocritical measures to save the 17 day event from total meltdown. So we have to ask – are the Olympics still green if they have to artificially boost the snow pack?

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Post tags: 2010 olympics, carbon emissions, emissions, olympics, snow, Sustainability, vancouver, Vancouver Olympics

Launched in 2001, Method was conceived by two former roommates to offer eco-friendly, safe and effective home cleaning products. Out to prove that being green is cool, chief brand architect,” Eric Ryan and “chief greenskeeper,” Adam Lowry, created a line of products in attractive, modern packaging that they refer to as “recyclable plastic art” — worthy of being left out on bathroom and kitchen counters. In the past, with Clorox Greenworks, we’ve argued that efficacy is important even when it comes to cleaning products, so we have to ask: Is Method truly green or does it hide behind cool packaging that attracts mainstream popularity?

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Post tags: eco cleaning, eco friendly cleaning, green cleaning supplies, household cleaning products, method cleaning, natural home cleaning

McDonald’s is a fast food chain rife with contradictions. The restaurant ships in food from all over the world on carbon-intensive planes and trucks, while simultaneously installing electric vehicle plug-in stations at a “green” branch of the chain. PETA accuses McDonald’s of treating animals cruelly while the company brags about using sustainably-farmed meat. So which is it? Can McDonald’s actually claim any green cred?

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Post tags: chargepoint, corporate responsibility, fast food, leed building fast food restaurants, mcdonalds, soya moratorium, supply chain, Sustainability

It’s easy enough to dismiss oil and gas company claims of sustainability as out of hand, but what happens when a respected outside source asserts green claims? That’s what happened recently with ExxonMobil, which was named the Green Company of the Year in this month’s issue of Forbes Magazine. The business magazine claims that ExxonMobil’s big liquified natural gas investments in Qatar save millions of gallons of oil from being burned and stop millions of tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the air. But is that enough to make ExxonMobil a truly green company?

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Post tags: exxonmobil, gasoline, lng, methane natural gas, rex tillerson

Launched in January of 2008, Clorox’s line of natural cleaning products, Green Works, currently holds more than a 40% share of the natural home cleaning market. The first year success of their product single-handedly grew the natural cleaning product market by more than 80% in one year by selling Green Works through their current distribution chain in more than 24,000 stores alongside their regular household cleaning products. However the question remains, is Green Works truly green? Critics argue that since no industry standard definitions currently exist for natural cleaners, Green Works is simply deeming itself green against its own standards – a dangerous trend to set. Read on to find out more.


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Post tags: Clorox, green works, is it green, Natural Cleaning Products

Green labels abound for seafood, coffee, fair-trade, organic products and more, but we have yet to come across one unifying label that allows us to compare apples to oranges in terms of sustainability. Now it looks like Wal-Mart, may be changing that with the recent announcement of their ‘Sustainability Index.’ Their grand plan could help consumers choose products not only based on their cost and features, but also based on their environmental impact. But is Wal-Mart really turning over a green leaf – and can the benefits of this new system help outweigh the mega-corporation’s questionable environmental reputation as the world’s largest retailer?

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Post tags: green products, INDEX, product index, retailer, sustainability index, sustainable retailer, wal-mart, walmart

Shortly after Al Gore debuted An Inconvenient Truth the general public started giving a damn about climate change — at least superficially. And in a massive wave of effort to show off our new enviro-consciousness, every apartment, townhouse and megamansion from Norway to New Zealand swapped their incandescent light bulbs for more energy efficient CFLs, or compact fluorescent lamps. Watt for watt, there’s no question whether or not CFLs save energy as compared to their predecessors. But with the concerns of toxic mercury and the recent developments in LED technology, CFLs may not be the smartest choice for long-term sustainability. Read on for our in-depth report!

Read the rest of IS IT GREEN?: The Compact Fluorescent Light

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Post tags: cfl, compact fluorescent lamps, energy efficient lighting, green design, green Interiors, is it green, sustainable design