Design and Architecture
World’s fastest wind-powered car – the Greenbird
Wind power is slowly finding a role in our sustainable future – and the possibilities are endless! The United States doubled their wind-power facilities in 2008, now creating over 25,000 MW of wind-generated electricity each year. But the potential of the wind as a renewable energy source reaches much further than typical wind farms – check out these innovative wind-powered creations…
Last week, we featured 10 projects that reuse and recycle plastic bottles – this week, we’re looking at some amazing things created with reused cardboard. From bridges and bikes to furniture and homes, cardboard is becoming a preferred material for innovative recyclable products. We’ve even included a few cardboard reuse projects you can make at home!
Image by fhemerick
Plastic bottles are produced, consumed, and trashed each and every day. Of the 28 billion bottles of water bought by Americans each year, more than 22 billion sit in landfills. Only 13% of our plastic bottles are recycled.
Those statistics on plastic bottles don’t include the ones that have been rescued for amazing reuse projects! We’ve discovered more than 340,000 plastic bottles in the creations below – from chic plastic vests to floating islands, the possibilities for reusing bottles are endless …
Robotics are quickly becoming a normal part of our everyday life. There are cleaning robots, military and space assistants, and medical robotics; some look like odd machines while others strangely resemble humans and animals. Whatever form they may take, robotics will play a big role in our future as well as sustainability. Take a look at these ecobots and the tasks they are designed to perform….
Prefab homes are great – but recycled buildings are even better! Whether it’s a new construction from rescued garbage or or a creative conversion of an existing structure, these recycled buildings are minimizing waste and improving the planet. They’re also creatively awesome examples of how unique green architecture can be!
Although some eco-boats are powered by human fat and others by animal fat, more traditional “fuels” that are clean and green include solar and wind, or both – abundant resources on the open water. Turning a dirty, yet nature-dependent past-time into one that has low- to no-impact is a challenge, but new technologies are making dreams of green boating a near reality.
Green transport and sustainable fuel alternatives have come a long way in the past decade – but the auto industry still has a long way to go. In the meantime, there are plenty of creative individuals coming up with their own way to make their driving a little eco-friendlier. From fat and feces to liquor and sawdust, there are some weird alternative fuel sources currently powering cars around the world…
There’s always something new in the realm of indoor and outdoor lighting. Though we’ve featured many spectacular lighting innovations in the past, here are some more for your viewing pleasure – everything from illuminated umbrellas to soy fat lightbulbs to cell phone-controlled street lights.