Every once in awhile, the billions of dollars dedicated towards U.S. military spending do some actual good. Case in point: this new bacteria-based water treatment unit, developed by researchers at Sam
Many of us have been to the gym and wondered why the exercise equipment isn’t hooked up to generate electricity and feed it back into the grid. At long last a company in Florida called ReRev has
One of our favorite publications, GOOD magazine, has just joined forces with PRE and Studio X to launch a design competition to rebuild Haiti. The contest comes at a time when Haiti needs it the most, and
Researchers have recently discovered that a commonly used sealant found on our parking lots, driveways and sidewalks is actually a harmful carcinogen. What’s even worse is that we pick up little
Our hearts reach out to the people of Haiti who are trying to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of this week’s horrific earthquake. The country still has an incredibly long road ahead of them
Doctors and scientists have long been using metals to replace broken bones, but new research from scientists in Italy shows that wood can be transformed into a more effective material that is very similar
The Rockefeller Foundation just awarded the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City $600,000 to make its 2007 Design for the Other 90% exhibition into an ongoing series. Inhabitat reported
For anyone unfamiliar with hearing aids, know that they require a great deal of two things: money and batteries. Luckily, one humanitarian project aims to make the medical devices much cheaper and more
Contact lenses have long been a godsend for people who want to ditch their glasses, and now a new, color-changing type of lens could make life a thousand times easier for diabetics. Up until recently,
Kenya’s camels recently started sporting some unusual apparel: eco-friendly refrigerators! Some of the African country’s camels are carrying the solar-powered mini fridges on their backs as
New homeowners in Florida, Louisiana and Virginia are being forced out of their homes because of toxic indoor air quality. The culprit -toxic drywall from China. Tests are revealing that the toxic drywall
Land mines are currently strewn throughout 87 of the world’s countries, and each year they cause 15,000-20,000 new casualties, the vast majority of which are inflicted upon civilians. Sifting
Is there anything the iPhone can’t do? Researchers at NASA’s Homeland Security Cell-All program have brought the latest mind-boggling application to Apple’s phone in the form of a
Combining methods for urban farming with design thinking, MetaboliCity is a design-research project by Loop.pH that explores how designers can help create models for sustainable urban food creation. Set
Danish design consultancy Index: recently announced the winners of the 2009 Index:Award, an international design competition that highlights the scale of the problems we face globally, while rewarding
Here at Inhabitat, we can’t stress enough the fact that materials alone do not make something sustainable. In fact, we consider many products made of typically non-eco-friendly materials like
You know those SIGG aluminum water bottles that eco-geeks carry around with them as a protest against plastic bottles? Well apparently, SIGG bottles manufactured before August of last year contain BPA in
Atmospheric Water Systems of San Luis Obispo has released their Dewpointe® Atmospheric Generator, a device that taps humidity in the air to provide a steady source of clean drinking water. The unit is
Animal therapy is nothing new in the medical community–it’s been proven to aid in mental and social stimulation among sick and elderly patients–but can a robotic animal actually improve
Throughout April, we have been covering a number of design events and trends that seem to increasingly capture the public’s attention. We like that being green doesn’t mean being crunchy.
As populations in developing nations increase alongside global pollution and the spread of water-borne illnesses, the need for clean and efficient water filtration has never been more urgent. Recently,
Proving once again that the best ideas are often the simplest, 21-year-old student/inventor/entrepreneur Emily Cummins has designed a brilliant portable solar-powered refrigerator that works based upon
Household cleaning is a murky area for consumers who want to be environmentally conscious. Of course we can assume that reusing cloth rags for cleaning is greener than buying paper towels, but household
If you ever listened to the old radio show “The Shadow”, you know that the central caped crusader had a legion of agents, who all kept in communication with him using sparkling rings. Though
Some of the most interesting examples of green innovation are those that transform the environmentally unkind into a beacon of eco-friendly sophistication. Such was the challenge dealt to Bligh Voller
We’ve all heard that growing food for ourselves is good for the planet as well as the soul, but between finding the space and then remediating the soil, growing an edible garden can go from being a
Situated in Victoria, British Columbia, Dockside Green is a burgeoning community that has set its sights on becoming the first LEED Platinum community in the world. Its initial phase of development was
Building off the success of the Lifestraw Personal water filtration device, Vestergaard Frandsen’s new Lifestraw Family system provides 15,000 liters of clean drinking water to one household. And
There’s a lot of talk about indoor air quality and VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) these days, and if you’ve been paying attention, you may know that paint can play a large part in
In 1988, Simon Berry, Chief Executive of ruralnet|uk was working as a development worker in remote north east of Zambia, conscious that while he could buy a bottle of Coke anywhere, 1 in every 5 children
