Design
These mini villages teach kids the rules of the road
While a bike ride on city streets can be a blast for kids, for parents it can be a worrying affair watching their kids maneuver around cars and through traffic lights. Of course, the best way for kids to learn the rules of the road is through the first-hand experience, but if kids can get that Read More...
You can toss these shoes into the compost once they’re worn out
Look down at your feet. Your shoes might seem innocuous, but they contain lots of forms of plastic, and often leather, giving them their own sizeable carbon footprint. As all companies try to limit their plastic use, shoe manufacturers are trying to design new shoes with lower embedded Read More...
Concrete could be made cheaper, stronger, and greener using old glass
Although glass is thought of as being relatively eco-friendly because it's recyclable, the fact is that a lot of it doesn't get recycled – this is particularly true of small fragments, that are too fiddly to sort. Now, however, scientists are suggesting that glass waste could be used to make Read More...
Prosthetics have never been cheaper thanks to 3D printing
Making a very simple prosthetic arm can cost $1,000 for the materials alone. But that’s all starting to change thanks to new and improved 3D scanning and printing technology, which can shrink the cost to as little as $4. In Guatemala, where some families might earn $50 in a month, one hospital Read More...
This brand is making biodegradable comforters from eucalyptus fibers
You probably don’t think a lot about bed-linen waste, but according to a recent survey, it accounts for 10-million tons of the textile waste that ends up in US landfills. The good news is New York homeware brand Buffy has launched a comforter that uses natural eucalyptus pulp for its case, Read More...
Cleaning and personal care products use lots of plastic. Here’s a solution
When you stop to think about it, much of the cleaning products or personal care products that we’re shipping around the world is water with ingredients mixed in to clean, moisturize, or do whatever you need. Now imagine if we could remove the water and only ship the additive. It could come in Read More...
Can electronics be made naturally? These fungus-based headphones tell us yes
The culture of planned obsolescence in electronics produces a huge amount of toxic waste unlikely to go anywhere but a landfill for the next millennium or so. Nature produces some of the strongest and most versatile substances we’ve ever encountered, so why not use them instead? That’s what Read More...
Animal rights groups have successfully persuaded Prada to ban fur
In a classic case of ‘better late than never’, luxury brand Prada has announced that it will finally ban the use of all fur in future fashion lines. The major fashion company joins a growing list of designers who have been successfully pressured by animal rights advocates to ban fur from their Read More...
A few simple changes can turn your home into a place of serenity
You may live in an apartment or a house, but does it feel like a real home? Do you get a feeling of calmness when you walk through the door? If you don’t, there’s no need to fret. With a few simple changes to the setup of your place, you can turn your living space into a real home that makes Read More...
This high-tech wood reflects sunrays and keeps homes cool
Conventional construction materials used for building our homes are most often inefficient. Cooling our houses during the warm season, for instance, usually requires a staggering amount of energy and associated carbon emissions. In an attempt to find a solution to this, scientists at the University Read More...