Twist Freedom DX
www.giant-bicycles.com
Commuting to work by bicycle is enticing. Not only is the practice environmentally sound, it's healthy exercise and saves on gasoline and public-transit fares....[More]
HYBRID BIKE
Twist Freedom DX www.giant-bicycles.com
Commuting to work by bicycle is enticing. Not only is the practice environmentally sound, it's healthy exercise and saves on gasoline and public-transit fares. But unless your office has a shower, showing up as a sweaty mess can make a cycling commute problematic. That's why the relatively new product category of electric-assist bicycles makes a lot of sense, especially if you face hilly terrain; batteries add a little power boost to each pedal stroke, making the entire trip easier.
Giant's Twist Freedom DX urban cruiser is a notable addition to the market. The DX incorporates a battery-powered electric motor in the front wheel hub that almost seamlessly supplements your leg muscles to “smooth out” your ride. The Taiwanese company's Hybrid Cycling Technology is based on a torque sensor in the pedal crank that gauges how much pressure the rider exerts with each stroke. Software algorithms in the DX's computer take these force data and convert them on the fly into synchronized power-transmission commands for the quiet motor. The goal is to help you maintain nearly steady (and easy) exertion no matter what road you decide to take. Power is provided by
a pair of four-pound lithium-ion battery packs that lock in neatly over the rear wheel. A full recharge via a standard home electrical outlet takes a maximum of six hours.
The DX's suggested retail price is about $2,000. The bike is available from Giant's 20 top retailers around the U.S.
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TOILET PAPER
Marcal Sunrise
http://www.marcalpaper.com
For years Marcal has sold some of the most inexpensive paper products on the market....[More]
TOILET PAPER
Marcal Sunrise http://www.marcalpaper.com
For years Marcal has sold some of the most inexpensive paper products on the market. Part of the reason is because much of the stock is made from low-grade recycled paper. It turns out that the recycled content of the company's toilet paper has been rated as among the highest of all brands. Realizing what it's been sitting on, so to speak, Marcal has recently introduced a Sunrise line of toilet paper, paper towels and tissues as being
"100 percent premium recycled." But its regular products can save money and the earth, too. Prices vary by product and store.
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WATER-POWERED CLOCK
Bedol
http://www.bedolwhatsnext.com
Why should your home's electrical timepieces drag on the environment by pulling current from some utility or by wearing down batteries that are notorious for leaching caustic chemicals into landfills?...[More]
WATER-POWERED CLOCK
Bedol http://www.bedolwhatsnext.com
Why should your home's electrical timepieces drag on the environment by pulling current from some utility or by wearing down batteries that are notorious for leaching caustic chemicals into landfills? In August, Bedol began offering an alternative: its water-powered clock. The digital bedside model, about five inches across, has a reservoir that you fill with water. Then you add a dash of salt to the reservoir, which starts a chemical reaction with a set of electrodes that creates current. Salt has to be added once a week or so. Available in several colors. $16.
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REUSABLE TOTES
Acme Bags
http://www.reusablebags.com
Paper or plastic? It's nice to be given a choice at the store, but both types of bag waste materials and energy and add to refuse, even if they are recycled....[More]
REUSABLE TOTES
Acme Bags http://www.reusablebags.com
Paper or plastic? It's nice to be given a choice at the store, but both types of bag waste materials and energy and add to refuse, even if they are recycled. A reusable bag is much more eco-friendly. The trick is remembering to bring the thing into the store with you, which many well-intentioned shoppers admit to forgetting routinely. ACME's reusable totes can help right-minded absentminders. The roomy bags are light and thin yet very strong. Best of all, they fold down so small they can fit in a purse or pocket; memory is no longer needed. Fittingly, the sacks are made from recycled soda bottles. One of our editors also considers them stylish. $6.95; four for $23.85. As an alternative,
consider Flip and Tumble bags.
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NONSTICK COOKWARE
Xtrema Nano-Glaze
http://www.ceramcor.com
Most "nonstick" pots and pans remain slick during cooking because they are coated with various chemicals, Teflon the most famous among them....[More]
NONSTICK COOKWARE
Xtrema Nano-Glaze http://www.ceramcor.com
Most "nonstick" pots and pans remain slick during cooking because they are coated with various chemicals, Teflon the most famous among them. Some consumers are wary of the coatings, and manufacturers do warn against ingesting the compounds if they start to flake off. Ceramcor's Xtrema Nano-Glaze products have what the company calls a chemical-free, ultrathin ceramic glaze engineered to repel foods and fluids. The black cookware also reportedly heats faster and retains heat longer than metal goods do, saving energy. Individual pieces, which are also microwave-safe, range from $40 to $100.
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DISPOSABLE CUTLERY
Vegware
http://www.vegware.com
Eat your potatoes, using potatoes. Vegware forks, spoons and knives are made from 80 percent potato starch and 20 percent soy oil....[More]
DISPOSABLE CUTLERY
Vegware http://www.vegware.com
Eat your potatoes, using potatoes. Vegware forks, spoons and knives are made from 80 percent potato starch and 20 percent soy oil. (Can you say "spudoon"?) Vegware says the utensils are just as heat-resistant and strong as standard plasticware. They can be washed and reused, but once discarded they biodegrade in 180 days (unlike plasticware made from petroleum, which persists in dumps for years). If you find yourself still hungry after dinner, you can nosh on your knife. Sold online or under the brand name SpudWare in the U.S. Pack of 50, about $6.
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SUEDE JACKETS
Bernardo Green
http://www.bernardofashions.com
Traditional tanning processes produce considerable pollutants. Bernardo's new Green line of women's suede jackets is colored with biodegradable tanning agents and dyes....[More]
SUEDE JACKETS
Bernardo Green http://www.bernardofashions.com
Traditional tanning processes produce considerable pollutants. Bernardo's new Green line of women's suede jackets is colored with biodegradable tanning agents and dyes. Of course, some people object to any clothing or accessories derived from animal skins, but Bernardo notes that its line is made with by-products from Hormel Foods, which raises animals for foodstuffs
according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's "humane" standards.
Bernardo says it also recycles the tanning wastewater within the tannery. The remaining solid waste is converted to fertilizer. (One amusing touch: the big, biodegradable garment tag is impregnated with seeds; stick the tag in the ground and watch the poppies grow.) Several models, from a bomber jacket to a funnel collar design (shown). Check the Web site for retailers.
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YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
I remembered my mother making very handy totes from discarded dresses of my sisters and her sari. They were so trendy, compact and eco-friendly. my observation may be shared by many around. Incidentally, the save earth or responsible utilisation of resources was still not the in thing then.
Eco-friendly products? ... more like cheesy crap. If you are dumb enough to pay 2 grand for a bicycle I guess the rest of the stuff would be appealing.
When science and technology magazines present these fantastic "electric bikes" I wish they would also present real world information about things like "Can It Go Uphill?". I, for example, bike to work often, but my commute involves climbing a 500ft grade on the way back. I would love an electric bike, but everything I've read says those babies can't do hills at all. Until then I'll stick to my $250 -- order of magnitude cheaper -- bio-powered bike.
The water clock would appear to be the age old potato clock, repacked. The salt water serves as the electrolyte for two dissimilar metal electrodes in the water resevoir of the clock. The power comes not from salt, but a chemical reaction that is dissolving one of the electrodes. Somebody should be embarrassed!
Making and transporting salt also consumes energy. A better idea would be to just have two containers with water flowing from a container at top to another at bottom and the kinetic energy used to generate power. The water could be transferred back to top container every week
8. Rich Bergstrom
in reply to spankycraig10:14 AM 10/11/08
There are no nano particles in the ceramic nano glaze that could be compared to asbestos because our glaze is made of inorganic, inert and non reactive minerals. Our ceramic glaze can also withstand thermal temperatures of 2500F. The glaze is made of natural minerals from the earth's crust and our ceramic glaze has been proven to be 100% healthy by three independent worldwide scientific testing laboratories. There is no other cookware manufacturer that has made that claim besides Ceramcor which makes the Xtrema cookware.
Ninth Law When large efforts are made to improve the efficiency with which resources are used, the resulting savings are easily and completely wiped out by the added resource needs that arise as a consequence of modest increases in population.
A) When resources are used more efficiently, the consequence often is that the "saved" resources are not put aside for the use of future generations, but instead are used immediately to encourage and support larger populations. B) Humans have an enormous compulsion to find an immediate use for all available resources.
Tenth Law The benefits of large efforts to preserve the environment are easily canceled by the added demands on the environment that result from small increases in human population.
Ninth Law When large efforts are made to improve the efficiency with which resources are used, the resulting savings are easily and completely wiped out by the added resource needs that arise as a consequence of modest increases in population.
A) When resources are used more efficiently, the consequence often is that the "saved" resources are not put aside for the use of future generations, but instead are used immediately to encourage and support larger populations. B) Humans have an enormous compulsion to find an immediate use for all available resources.
Tenth Law The benefits of large efforts to preserve the environment are easily canceled by the added demands on the environment that result from small increases in human population.
Blue-Green Acres
Full-size Unmanned Aircraft Flies on Hydrogen Fuel
Recycling Could Replace Mining for U.S. Iron Supply
12 Comments
Add Commentyes, but do they still decompose in 180 days in landfills, where there is no sun or oxygen to accelerate or start the decomposition process?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI remembered my mother making very handy totes from discarded dresses of my sisters and her sari. They were so trendy, compact and eco-friendly. my observation may be shared by many around. Incidentally, the save earth or responsible utilisation of resources was still not the in thing then.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEco-friendly products? ... more like cheesy crap. If you are dumb enough to pay 2 grand for a bicycle I guess the rest of the stuff would be appealing.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhen science and technology magazines present these fantastic "electric bikes" I wish they would also present real world information about things like "Can It Go Uphill?". I, for example, bike to work often, but my commute involves climbing a 500ft grade on the way back. I would love an electric bike, but everything I've read says those babies can't do hills at all. Until then I'll stick to my $250 -- order of magnitude cheaper -- bio-powered bike.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe water clock would appear to be the age old potato clock, repacked. The salt water serves as the electrolyte for two dissimilar metal electrodes in the water resevoir of the clock. The power comes not from salt, but a chemical reaction that is dissolving one of the electrodes. Somebody should be embarrassed!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMaking and transporting salt also consumes energy. A better idea would be to just have two containers with water flowing from a container at top to another at bottom and the kinetic energy used to generate power. The water could be transferred back to top container every week
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisXtrema Nano-Glaze
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this??? didn't SciAm recently have an article about how nanoparticles when ingested can harm you similar to the way asbestos does?
There are no nano particles in the ceramic nano glaze that could be compared to asbestos because our glaze is made of inorganic, inert and non reactive minerals. Our ceramic glaze can also withstand thermal temperatures of 2500F. The glaze is made of natural minerals from the earth's crust and our ceramic glaze has been proven to be 100% healthy by three independent worldwide scientific testing laboratories. There is no other cookware manufacturer that has made that claim besides Ceramcor which makes the Xtrema cookware.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLaws of Ecology:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNinth Law
When large efforts are made to improve the efficiency with which resources are used, the resulting savings are easily and completely wiped out by the added resource needs that arise as a consequence of modest increases in population.
A) When resources are used more efficiently, the consequence often is that the "saved" resources are not put aside for the use of future generations, but instead are used immediately to encourage and support larger populations.
B) Humans have an enormous compulsion to find an immediate use for all available resources.
Tenth Law
The benefits of large efforts to preserve the environment are easily canceled by the added demands on the environment that result from small increases in human population.
Ecology Laws
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNinth Law
When large efforts are made to improve the efficiency with which resources are used, the resulting savings are easily and completely wiped out by the added resource needs that arise as a consequence of modest increases in population.
A) When resources are used more efficiently, the consequence often is that the "saved" resources are not put aside for the use of future generations, but instead are used immediately to encourage and support larger populations.
B) Humans have an enormous compulsion to find an immediate use for all available resources.
Tenth Law
The benefits of large efforts to preserve the environment are easily canceled by the added demands on the environment that result from small increases in human population.
I found a website that sales "green party goods" as cutlery,plates,cups for a great price. its
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswww.MyGreenTable.com
After all, does your Nano Glaze contain nanoparticles (whatever their origin might be) or not? If not, why do you call it Nano? Thank you!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this