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The recently held "Greener Gadget" competition turned out to be more of a joke than anything if you ask me.

"Greener Gadgets has partnered with Core77 to seek out design innovations for greener electronics. This design competition will engage established design firms, emerging designers, and design students to come up with new and innovative solutions to address the issues of energy, carbon footprint, health and toxicity, new materials, product lifecycle, and social development."

And when you see a toilet/washing machine combo in the competition line-up, you know things have run a muck. "Wasup" is a conceptual design integrating washing machine with toilette-flush. It suggests a sustainable water consuption by storing the wasted water in toilette-flush tank and reuse it with flushing.

I'm sorry. It might be a fantastic idea but it totally grosses me out.

Another lot of time was focused on recycling cell phones. Which I felt was something we all already knew and were participating in...plus it has nothing to do with building a greener gadget. I hope in years to come this competition is taken a little bit more seriously.

To see all the winners and entries, click here.

Labels: gadget, Green

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| 7:23 AM | 0 comment(s)!

Couple topics on the horizon for Bring Me Up's environmental section. I want to incorporate the whole green theme for St. Patrick's Day but I also wanted to mention the current protest involving kangaroos.

The plan is a scaled-down version of a proposal last year to eradicate about half of the more than 6,000 kangaroos at two military sites in Canberra. Protesters have gathered to stop this, but it's not evident what will happen yet. The plan is to shoot the animals with darts and then euthanize them. The reasoning being that an excessive amount of kangaroos are said to be the reason for the extinction of rare lizards and insects in the area.

Now, I have been trying to figure out who started the "green talk." I mean, when and who and why? Suddenly everything is green. Green cars, green jobs, green architecture, green living...just the other day I heard a commercial about green mortgages! How did that happen and why green? Why can't it be yellow or orange? There is more to the environment than green, but I digress, I cannot find the answer. It's like the chicken and the egg I suppose.

Little things go a long way. I think the most important and the easiest way to be green...is to recycle. From one person to big companies, recycling can make HUGE impacts in our world. Just last month HP announced it is using recycled plastics gathered from water bottles, recycled inkjet cartridges, and other materials to create new ink cartridges made from 100% recyclable plastics. How awesome is that?

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Labels: Green, kangaroo, recycling, wildlife

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| 8:10 PM | 2 comment(s)!

The 12th Annual Winter X Games are making a special effort to go green this year. The initiative is wide-ranging, involving everyone from fans to the staff who work behind the scenes. There's even prizes for fans who separate cans and plastic into recycling bins.

Winter X Games 12 will build on the successful X Games Environmentality (XGE) program to reduce waste through recycling and composting and cut greenhouse gas emissions through the use of alternative fuels.

XGE is also committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and will encourage fans to use biofuel-powered RFTA shuttle buses. Biodiesel, a renewable, nontoxic and biodegradable fuel, also powers snowcats and heavy equipment used at Buttermilk. Use of biodiesel produces fewer emissions than traditional gasoline, helping to combat climate change. Kitchen grease from the staff catering facilities will also be recycled into biodiesel. To further reduce the event's carbon footprint, XGE is also planting a selection of trees on behalf of all athletes participating in Winter X Games 12.

The extreme sporting event is set to continue from now until Sunday, January 27th in Aspen, Colorado.

Labels: Green, X Games

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| 8:51 AM | 0 comment(s)!

Yep, that's right. Big Belly solar-powered trash compaction systems monitor internal trash levels and compact trash to reduce and control collection cycles. Quite frankly, I think that is bloody brilliant!

This trash can system is 100% self-powered on solar energy. "The unit takes up as much space as the "footprint" of an ordinary receptacle—but its capacity is five times greater." FIVE TIMES! I am just amazed at this because I all but jump on top of our trash can to try and fit more in and it only condenses maybe an inch worth.

If you think about this in a grand scheme, you are able to compact trash and therefore worry about only one container of waste during the week until the garbage truck comes. Your overflowing trash will no longer need to be chased down the neighborhood streets after it blows out of the bin. AND the garbage man will have less of a load since everything is compacted which means they will be driving around less. See where I'm going here?

Super cool.

SOURCE

Labels: Green

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| 7:51 AM | 2 comment(s)!

This morning I was scanning the headlines on EcoMoto.org and was interested to see one about orange peels.

A group of University of Guadalajara students were researching essential oils when they discovered that orange peels could be used to make ethanol. Ethanol is used to dilute gasoline in car engines so that less gas is used.

News like this is rather exciting because the more natural resources we find to help make gas greener means the less prices will go up for each item. It also means there will be more ways to create ethanol and dilute gas...therefore minimizing the amount of mass drilling needed!

Hooray!

Labels: ethanol, gas, Green

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| 7:42 AM | 0 comment(s)!

Yay! I am so excited to hear that solar panels are soon going to be far more affordable. Seems like an odd thing to be giddy over, but I know this will help a lot of people run their homes more energy efficient which means they will save money while also helping the environment.

Folks at Colorado State University are playing a huge role in figuring out how to make it easier for everyone to participate in helping their world at a lesser cost.

Professor W.S. Sampath and his research group at the Materials Engineering Laboratory at Colorado State have developed a manufacturing technology to efficiently produce photovoltaic solar cells, which can be one of the most affordable and efficient energy sources of the future.

The college has also recently made a commitment to using wind power for energy. They will be running 20 buildings on campus with wind power. This will save them $4,700 a year in utility costs!

I hope more schools begin to follow suit with Colorado State.

Labels: colorado, energy efficiency, environment, Green, solar energy, wind energy

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| 8:44 AM | 2 comment(s)!

And the label will say "Future Friendly."

And the tagline is "Future Friendly is about living today, with tomorrow in mind."

So far the participating brands are Ariel, Lenor, Fairy and Flash. So far this is completely based in the UK, but I'm sure it will spread over here to the states soon enough. At least I hope we take the intiative.

I would definitely look for the future friendly mark on my products. If I see one with and one without I could be persuaded to change what I buy. I think this is a great idea. Like any cause, when I see something with the pink ribbon for breast cancer, I am more prone to buying that product than if it didn't have the ribbon. I suppose it makes me feel like I'm doing a small part in helping a big problem. =o)

So look for the Future Friendly logo if you wish to buy products that save energy and water or reduce waste.

Labels: energy, environment, future friendly, Green

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| 8:52 AM | 0 comment(s)!

Well duh.

But I don't think this is something I'd have at home. I do think this would be perfect for the office though. This umbrella pot would definitely beat throwing a soggy umbrella on the floor under my desk.

I wonder how it works exactly though. I mean, how much water is involved in that little pot part. Do I need to do the umbrella shake first?

Spied on MoCo Loco's site.

Labels: Green, plant, water conservation

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| 8:00 AM | 0 comment(s)!

The Center for ReSource Conservation has been around for over 30 years (in one form or another) educating people about energy technology. It has only been during the last 5 years they have branched out and begun working within four realms: Water, Waste, Energy, and Green Building.

In May of 2007 they released an article to the press titled, "Spring greening: 50 simple ways to be environmentally responsible." The article includes tips such as, "Water before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m. to prevent evaporation." Helpful green tips like that are important to share because a lot of people honestly just don't know why or what to do to "be green."

They are also responsible for installing solar hot water systems in low income housing units around Boulder, Colorado, their home base. On Sunday, September 30, 2007, they will be presenting The Boulder Tour of Solar and Green Built Homes. If you can make it out there you should check it out to "see first-hand that solar and green built homes are comfortable, practical, reliable, and affordable." It's all part of Solar Week in Boulder.

Labels: energy, environment, Green

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| 7:37 AM | 0 comment(s)!

Grow Green News is a news service that works like a forum to update you about all things "Green." For the most part everyone contributes to the site so it's like a community of sorts.

They realize that the "key in fighting global warming is spreading the green message and hope that this news service will do just that."

You'll find articles and be able to submit articles in categories such as, alternative energy, climate change, daily green tips, science & technology and theories. One of the popular pages at the moment is "Newest Alternative Energy - Portugal's Wave Power Plant." So you are going to constantly be updated on the latest news around the world.

There are plenty of posts about things you can do yourself to help the environment. Whether you intend to turn your car into a hydrogen car or use solar power to run a device that will keep you cool in your car. Heck, if it suits your fancy there is even a post about building your own green house.

Posted just yesterday is some interesting news about developers in California making solar roofing a standard item. And see that is the very thing that needs to consistently happen everywhere, so I applaud their intiative and efforts.

Sponsored post.

Labels: Green

Written by:

| 12:16 PM | 0 comment(s)!

Sierra Club rules and one of the many reasons why is because they will e-mail you daily with tips on living green. Who can turn down daily e-mails with ideas for living well and doing good? Certainly not me.

Here are the two most recent tips.

1. If it's time to buy a new clothes washer, consider a front-loading machine. They use one-third to one-half the water and less soap than top-loaders, and they're gentler on clothes too.

2. Food travels an average of 1,500 to 2,000 miles to reach our plates -- but not if you buy it from one of the more than 1,200 small U.S. farms that offer fresh produce "subscriptions." Find one near you at foodroutes.org.

Labels: Green, Sierra Club

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| 9:58 AM | 1 comment(s)!