Medical-membrane technology was used by Dr. Yuichi Mori to grow agricultural crops with minimized water and soil consumption which he presented at TEDx. Seeing this “hydromembrane”, a gel plastic wrap looking material interestingly enough supports plant growth so that they are safe for consumption.
A video of Dr. Mori with the Imec membrane and cress that grew from it can be seen here:
The ZenRobotics Recycler currently separates Metal, Wood and Stone from mixed construction and demolition debris. The separator received the Global Cleantech Cluster Association’s Later Stage Award for Best in Waste Management at the end of 2013 and ZenRobotics Ltd. is working on increasing the features of this product. Separating mixed construction and demolition debris is important because currently people perform their arduous task and their labor could be use very effectively elsewhere in waste facilities. Not only does this take a dangerous and tedious task off of the hands of waste facility employees, but this robot even improves recovery rates and sorting efficiency.
Jaakko Särelä, CEO of ZenRobotics, says that ““It is already clear that clean technology will develop to a globally significant business sector. What is now needed is a national strategy for the development of environmental technology”. The minimum amount of reclaimed debris that the sorter can reclaim annually is 12,000 tons with the potential to sort up to 60,000 tons. In addition, the sorter little energy, and only costs $1.36/hour to operate.
Source: https://mygreenhalo.wordpress.com/
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This is a common way to demolish tall buildings
This is the before and after image of Taisei Corporation’s Ecologoligal Reproduction System (Tecorep)
A Japanese company has a revolutionary approach to demolishing tall buildings that reuses as much as possible, doesn’t disrupt the surroundings (in contract to the common demolishing method which involves blowing the building up), and is much more eco-friendly; this reduces the carbon footprint by 85%!
Taisei Corporation is the genius behind this method and it developed the Ecologoligal Reproduction System (Tecorep) that demolished the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka in a quiet and eco-friendly way that was previously unheard of. Time lapse videos of this process shows: the hotel shrinking as a crane inside of the hotel places interior debris outside of the building meanwhile a temporary floor gets built so that the crane that recycles energy from lowering the debris can get lowered and the process can be repeated until the hotel is significantly lowered.
This video shows someone from Taisei Corporation standing in front of the hotel, there is footage inside of the demolition and footage from the quiet outside so that you can see the building shrink. This is definitely a must see if you haven’t yet. Please tell us what you think @wastetracking on Twitter.
Bill Nye Did a Reddit #AMA (ask me anything) on Tuesday along with two others to talk about Jupiter’s moon Europa which might have had, or might still have extraterrestrial life! Bill fans have been talking all week about his inspiring answers, the way that he got them interested in science as youngsters, Europa and much anticipated new Bill shows that he hinted at!
The entire AMA conversation is here:
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2arlx5/i_am_bill_nye_the_science_guy_and_ceo_of_the/
Bill tells hilarious jokes, like this one:
And really sheds light on how important it is to discover more about Mars.
Bill also let people know what he’s been up to lately. Bill is the CEO of the Planetary Society, he’s talked about having another Science Guy show, his new book that comes out in November, and many more highlights that can be seen here:
Bill is a beloved teacher who’s series lives strong in classrooms. We’re eager to see what Europa has up its sleeve.
Source: http://www.themarysue.com/bill-nye-europa-ama/
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Kornit launched two awesome products in 2005 and the reason that they are so noteworthy is because they were the first printers to offer a direct to garment printing in a much more eco-friendly way than traditional textile production.
There are initiatives from groups such as Greenpeace’s Detox which look into the environmental ethicacy of fabrics and their production process. Kornit manufactures their own textile printing ink which is 100% non-toxic, organic, vegan-friendly and safe for infants and young children. Kornit’s system doesn’t require any pre-treatment of the fabrics like cotton, satin, leather, synthetic leather, linen, microfiber, silk and other fabrics that their technology can print on.
The traditional method of dying fabrics using a lot of water that gets contaminated and wasted as a result. Kornit’s technology prints on fabric in a dry process so that less water is wasted.
In this video you can see for yourself how awesome their digital prints turnout and it is also easy to imagine how much safer this work environment is for employees too!
Source: http://jewishbusinessnews.com/2014/07/15/israels-kornit-offers-green-fabric-printing/
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Harley-Davidson announced a new, super-fast, sleek electric motorcycle that is soon to go into production.
( Electric Engine on LiveWire )
Handmade demonstration models of Harley-Davidson’s first electric motorcycle, LiveWire, were shown in New York at an invitation-only event. Harley’s research facility is in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin and it’s designed to go from 0 to 60 in less than four seconds.
( LiveWire on the road )
From a business perspective, it has been said that there is almost zero market for a full-sized electric bike, so one common thought is that Harley has the marketing power to create demand for full-sized electric bikes. Not only is Harley going to generate some demand, they will also work to lower costs, build charging stations, and to improve technology that will in-turn, help all of the players in the market. In 2012 Harley sold 260,000 bikes, and Zero Motorcycles, the top seller of full-sized, high-powered electric bikes sold only 2,400 electric bikes in 2013.
The President of Haley, Matt Levatich said that technology in regards to the electric bikes is expected to improve and that Harley is more interested in the long-term potential than immediate demand. With the increase in sustainability and environmental trends over the years, Levatich explains that these trends are part of the lifestyle and the requirements of riders. Harley’s decision really puts electric motorcycles on the map since no one can tell how big this industry will be or how significant it will be but Harley has the resources to make it humongous.
( Hand-built LiveWire )
( Source: http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140707/LIFE02/407070303/-1/SITEMAP )
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A new Whole Foods opened in Brooklyn, NY and it’s called “Third and 3rd, Brooklyn” which has an awesome green parking lot. The parking lot roof has a lot of solar arrays, the streetlights are solar powered and wind-powered, and there are electric car charging stations as well
In addition to having one of the most efficient parking lots made so far, this Whole Foods offers:
Bike Repair and Parking: Bikes are beloved by Brooklynites and Whole Foods Market, so we want to support people’s ability to maintain and ride them. This form of alternative transportation contributes to a reduced carbon footprint and a healthier lifestyle.
Knife Sharpening: Knife sharpening services from Scott Jennings of X-Calibur Knife & Scissor Sharpening and Christopher Harth ofNYCutlery and products including knives and specially-made Third & 3rd cutting boards.
Vinyl Records and Wrecords by Monkey: A vinyl venue featuring music as well as reclaimed vinyl jewelry and accessories fromWrecords by Monkey, a Brooklyn-based design and lifestyle brand
THE ROOF: Serving a variety of local and seasonal menu items from snacks to salads to entrees, including vegan and vegetarian offerings, as well as 16 beers on tap, The Roof, offers indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the Gowanus Canal, surrounding neighborhoods, and the Manhattan skyline. Hours 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.
YUJI RAMEN: Chef Yuji Haraguchi will serve his praised Japanese mazemen dishes with a twist; including Bacon & Egg, Salmon & Cheese, Miso Roasted Vegetables and Spicy Tuna. The takeout venue will be open for lunch and dinner, seven days a week.
JUICE Etc.: a made-to-order juice bar, offering fresh-pressed fruit and veggie juices and smoothies.
Shopping at Whole Foods is a pleasure, if you can make it out to Brooklyn to see this one let us know what it’s like! You can tag this store with #thirdand3rd and don’t forget, we are @wastetracking on Twitter!
And
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/brooklyn )
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Bloomberg showed glimpses inside the tiny houses that are becoming big with U.S. owners. In this article: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-09/tiny-houses-big-with-u-s-owners-seeking-economic-freedom.html Nina Glinski wrote about how good owners of tiny houses in the U.S. feel about making the decision to downsize their homes in favor of achieving economic freedom.
The article starts with Doug Immel who recently completed his custom-built dream home that has just 164 square feet of living space and saves him a lot of money which he invests for his retirement.
Aldo Lavaggi, a New York folk musician who lives in Hudson Valley built a 105 square foot home on a friend’s farmland in the Berkshires. His humble abode runs on energy from two solar panels and a car battery. Lavaggi “has money to splurge on artisanal break and gourmet cheeses from the local market” and pointed out that “there’s a fallacy of limited options” where people feel that they must have a full-time job, stellar credit or a lot of money to own a house.
This article looks at a lot of different angles regarding owning a house like the “biggest barrier”, zoning restrictions, and the freedom explained above. We hope that you enjoy, and please tell us what you think on Twitter @wastetracking or in the comments here!
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This video shows astronauts playing soccer from the International Space Station (ISS) and astronauts answering fan submitted questions.
You can watch the whole video downlink here:
( Source: http://time.com/2970293/time-space-station-video/ )
Bet you’ve never seen anything like this before…
The new FLEXLAB at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is open for business! It is the world’s first energy use lab that will help builders and manufactures test entire building systems down to the component level on a significant scale. The FLEXLAB’s ribbon cutting ceremony was on July 10, 2014.
Photo by Eric Soladay
According to the FLEXLAB, there is a problem that buildings are designed to be energy efficient, but once they are being used they end up using a lot more energy than was planned. A new study even pointed out that energy efficient buildings sometimes use more than twice the energy than was expected based on their design. This lab offers solutions for people who bring products to test out and want to use all of the lab’s equipment to do so, to people who want to bring their product to test out with their own machinery and equipment.
Current projects involve measuring energy usage for the Genentech building, PG&E and more!
The lab has 4 stations (shown in the video above) to accommodate a variety of testing scenarios including:
1. “Test-drive technologies”
2. “Individual circuits and meters”
3. “Lighting and plug-load elements”
4. “On-site training”
5. “Compression testing”
and more.
Here’s an except from the lab’s website about what they offer:
FLEXLAB is the first test bed in the world that can evaluate the energy efficiency of major building systems, as an integrated system, under real-world conditions. Stakeholders can evaluate energy-efficient building technologies individually or as integrated systems in advance of building projects or retrofits, in order to:
( Source: http://flexlab.lbl.gov/ )
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