PicoCool

A woman from Chile makes these stylish boots using recycled plastic bags.

Network: blogs

The recent Muji Award Design Awards feature a number of simple and sustainable products, including the Straw Straw by Yuki Iida, which won the Gold Prize. “Wall art depicting people using straws of wheat to drink from have been discovered from ancient Mesopotamian ruins. Straws of wheat are forms created by nature; they are materials that return to the soil. There’s no waste in either the shape itself, or in its actual existence.”

Network: blogs

The “Arctic Paper” project by Shaz Madani is a project to support environmentally conscious design projects.

Network: twitter

”Florian Dussopt and Julie Girard designed this desk clock that’s powered by one of my favorite early chemistry experiments: the Citrus Clock has zinc and copper electrodes under the lemon halves and through oxidation and electrolysis, powers the clock. I bet it makes your desk smell nice, too.” - MAKE blog.

Network: blogs

Lilly is a little robotic insect. “When powered by the sun she flaps her shiny wings manically. No batteries, no charging, just pop her in a bright spot and she will flutter for you. Made from a meter movement, solar cell, chip, resistor and a couple of capacitors.” At Etsy for $60.

Network: etsy

”Sheep Poo Paper is derived from just where the name implies and is available in a wide range of colors, sizes and thicknesses. It is a viable alternative to tree-based paper, but comes from a renewable, less energy intensive source. Used for everyday paper stock, heavier card stock, envelopes, business cards, post and gift cards and custom orders and designs. The sheep poo that is collected is completely sterilized by boiling and is then beaten into a cellulose pulp. Using traditional techniques, the pulp is formed into sheets and heat pressed into usable paper.” [via jgebbia on Twitter]

Network: twitter

EL&ABE is a sustainable design collaboration between Eleanor Stephens and Anna Garforth. They seek to “work with natural, living materials on a 3D scale, hoping to encourage people to listen to nature’s voice and find inspiration in it.” Their first project is Mossenger, beautiful living “graffiti” words on walls.

Network: blogs

Running the Numbers is a new series by photographer and artists, Chris Jordan. The series “looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books.” The image above depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes. Visit the article for more astounding facts and close-up images. [via jwilson33 on Twitter]

Network: twitter

I couldn’t resist posting this based on the name alone. The MINI E is the new “greenest” MINI to roll out early next year. “Limited to just 500 vehicles to be leased in SoCal, New York, and New Jersey early next year, the E employ a single-speed, 204hp electric motor powered by a lithium-ion battery, offering a 0-62mph time of 8.5 seconds and a driving range of 150 miles.” [via uncrate]

Network: blogs