Design
This biodegradable plastic alternative comes from a scaly sustainable source
Last month we shared a story about shellfish being used to manufacture compostable food packaging. This week, fish are swimming back into the packaging spotlight with a biodegradable plastic alternative made out of fish skin. MarinaTex, developed by the University of Sussex graduate student Lucy Read More...
Mattel’s colorful card game Uno gets an inclusivity upgrade
Card games are a staple of any summer camp, rainy day, or family pizza night, but for those who are visually impaired, participating in conventional card games can be a challenge. However, Mattel is hoping to change this with alterations to its color-coordinated card game Uno. The company has Read More...
These algae-based clothes photosynthesize while you wear them
Talk about thinking outside the box, a designer by the name of Roya Aghighi has designed clothes from algae that turn carbon dioxide into oxygen via photosynthesis. Named Biogarmentry, the clothes are the proof of concept for a textile made with living, photosynthetic cells. To make the fabric Read More...
How design and disaster can spur climate change resilience
Extreme weather events are forcing cities to re-evaluate their climate preparedness. For densely populated coastal cities, the question has become how, not if, they will prepare for the next disaster. Rebuild by Design, a resiliency initiative that began as a response to Hurricane Sandy, is Read More...
Reversed roles: This major charity is now letting poor kids choose their donors
World Vision, a Christian charity based in Seattle, is one of the largest nonprofits working in global health and development, with more than $1 billion in annual revenues. The group raises money for children with a sponsorship model: Americans browse through folders filled with images of Read More...
This open-source home design might revolutionize the way we build
Keeping the fifth largest city in America running in a hot and arid desert climate is a difficult task, but the city of Phoenix, Arizona has pledged to do so and go carbon neutral and zero-waste. To achieve this, the city held a sustainable home design competition to come up with a single-family Read More...
How hacking the urban landscape can bolster climate resilience
Landscaping is moving away from the days of white picket fences and manicured lawns. We are quickly learning there are smarter, more beneficial, and therefore more beautiful, ways to design landscaping so it works for us, and the environment. This is especially critical in urban areas where Read More...
These sustainable tiles are made from old toilets, and they’re beautiful
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Or, in this case, one man’s toilet is another man’s bathroom tile. Kohler, a prominent manufacturer of plumbing products, is launching into the business of recycled goods by producing bathroom tiles made of discarded clay from the toilet making Read More...
The fix is in: how repairing old stuff helps in the war against planned obsolescence
It can be frustrating to repair something when it costs the same amount to replace it. But that’s how planned obsolescence works. Companies create poor quality products, so you are forced to pay to replace it. This trend has taken over the modern consumer’s life. From clothing to Read More...
How termites, beetles, and frogs are inspiring self-cooling buildings
When we need the most innovative solutions for structural issues, designers often turn to nature and its creatures for inspiration. The latest example of biomimicry comes from Mick Pearce, a Zimbabwean architect, who recently designed and constructed a self-cooling building modeled on the mounds Read More...