So far we’ve seen many examples of kitchen utensils being repurposed into customized, low-tech and eco-friendly objects – but these gorgeous colander light shades by New York-based designer Nadia Belalia bring a special steampunk sensibility. Inspired by the “abundance and rawness” of industrial material in the New York, she created the series of lighting fixtures which combine the strength of metal with soft oval forms. Belalia’s lamps are currently on display at this year’s ICFF in New York.
Many great minds at companies like Google and Tesla have been laboring towards creating a self-driving car system. Millions of dollars have gone into the research, resulting in expensive prototypes and costly components. Nineteen-year-old Romanian student Ionut Budisteanu took the top prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for developing an autonomous system that would only cost $4,000 and safely guide a car through the streets.
Photo by Ritu Raj Konwar via IDMC
A new report released last week by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) shows that a whopping 32.4 million people were forced to flee their homes last year, and 98% of that displacement was due to climate and weather related events. While displacement occurred disproportionately in Asia and Africa, rich countries were also affected – and there were particularly high numbers in the U.S.
Ballroom Luminoso, a new public artwork by Joe O’Connell + Blessing Hancock, was recently installed in a freeway underpass in San Antonio, TX. Composed of six brilliantly lit, color-changing chandeliers, the sculptures are clad in recycled bike parts gleaned from bike co-ops and collectives across the country. Through their use of materials and refined forms, the piece melds grandeur with a sense of neighborhood rejuvenation.
+ Joe O’Connell + Blessing Hancock
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Reclamation Etchworks creates modern day spirit decanters for your home bar by upcycling bottles collected in local San Francisco restaurants. With the help of an entire community of bartenders they were able to amass an inventory of empty bottles to repurpose and provide with a permanent ‘shelf life’. They’re available on Kickstarter only until June – so strike while the iron is hot and help launch a new sustainable design business today!
Two supermarkets are making lemonade out of lemons the green way—by converting their spoiled food into energy. Grocery chains Ralphs and Food 4 Less (both part of the Kroger Co.) have joined forces with FEED Resource Recovery to make use of the rotten and expired foods that their markets don’t sell. Any food that can’t be sold or donated will be transformed into energy to help run their distribution center in Compton.
Photo via Shutterstock
Where there are million of animals, there are millions of tons of waste. In a clever solution to a major waste disposal problem, Australian researchers have found a way to convert 1.4 million tons of Chinese pig excrement into fertilizer and a source of alternative energy. The project, which is operated by the Adelaide, Australia Cooperate Research Centre For Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC CARE), has won a national science award for its solution for pig waste in China.
There are utilitarian lamps that emit light and do nothing more, and then there are lamps that make you want to sit back in your favorite armchair and relax with a book and a hot cup of tea. Secto lamps fall into the latter category. Designed by architect Seppo Koho for the Finnish company Secto Design, these wooden lamps, which have been handcrafted from birch by local cabinet makers, have a modern form, but they also have a classic, timeless quality.
One of the top urban gardening solutions to debut at ICFF this year is the modular KiGA by Hurbz Vegetable Spirit. Designed as a kitchen garden for urban homes, the four different modules can be configured two ways — either lining a wall or grouped together in a cluster. The four-level garden brings the benefit fresh vegetables and herbs to any household with ease and style, to fit any space.
While not everyone can become a full-time climate activist, it is still possible to contribute to the battle against global warming. Researchers from Arizona State University have created an online computer game called Ventus that serves as a repository that maps the world’s CO2 emissions from power plants. Led by Kevin Gurney, the program allows those living near generation sites to enter the name and location of the facilities along with how much and what type of fuel is used, the amount of electricity generated, and overall CO2 released into the atmosphere.
