Crisp Green » Offbeat

A Small New York Landfill Hits The Big Screen

Karen MacKay — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:23:14 +0000

Renowned documentarians Gary Hustwit and Jessica Edwards have created a short-film starring a sustainably run Upstate New York landfill.

Gary Hustwit is best known for his film trilogy centered around design which includes the films Helvetica, Objectified and Urbanized. As a designer, I have seen the full trilogy and keep a close eye on Hustwit's projects. Collaborating with Jessica Edwards, who is gaining recognition for her recent film, Seltzer Works, this duo created a 3-minute short showcasing a landfill that is breaking the mold when it comes to waste disposal.

As part of the Focus Forward Film Challenge, "The Landfill" is a short film that gives viewers a quick glimpse behind the scenes at a unique and innovative landfill. Using a special system of composting, recycling and methane capture, the landfill is able to provide energy for 5,000 local homes. The film reminds viewers, that we have to begin seeing solid waste as not just trash but a resource. Watch the full film below.

Check out more films from the Focus Forward Challenge here, including another waste treatment plant powering homes and one man's fight for safe sanitation.

Green Gift Ideas: Wind Turbine Wall Decals

Krystal Persaud — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:30:17 +0000

Editor's Note: We're getting into the holiday spirit here at Crisp Green, which means helping you find the crispest, greenest, most innovative gifts for all the tech and design geeks on your list! This week we're featuring Gifts That Conserve. See our ideas for Gifts You Can Grow and Gifts You Can Make here. Happy Holidays!

Save energy and money! Hu2Design’s wind turbine wall decals are a clever way to decorate your home with zero effort. The decals not only look cool, but also serve as a reminder to conserve energy and save a few bucks.

How do these stickers conserve energy? Simply having an eye-catching element by your light switches will draw attention to them and remind you to flip them off.

While not always available, Hu2Design’s windmill design also urges its users to strive for cleaner, renewable energy sources. These windmill decals are made from a PVC-free self-adhesive that does not contain chlorine or plasticizers. All decals are designed to be applied to any smooth surface including walls, windows and furniture.

Coolest Things About Windmill Decals: Their quirkiness! Spruce up your home or apartment with these thought provoking decorations. They are designed to remind you to save the juice, but are bound to spark conversation when you have guests over.

Perfect Gift Idea For: Folks with a green conscious who enjoy decorating and home goods. Perhaps you know someone who just moved into a new apartment or house - these decals would make a great holiday or housewarming gift.

How You Can Get One: You can buy the wind turbine wall decals for $18 from Hu2Design’s Etsy Store.

Source: Hu2Design

Industrial Artifacts Repurposed Into Futuristic Art

Beth Buczynski — Wed, 11 May 2011 17:40:30 +0000

What happens when old building are renovated with newer, safer fixtures? A New England collector-turned-artist recycles them into art.

New Hampshire resident David Random has been collecting antique mechanical and architectural parts for years. He loved the shape, detail and utility of typically-ignored fixtures like heating grates, lawn fixtures and kitchen utensils. After a while, he started to notice the some of these items almost seemed like they were meant to be joined together in artistic way.

Antique newel post in original paint, matching meat grinder handles, vintage oil can, 1940s bicycle reflectors, iron hose nozzle, iron wagon wheel hub, wire whisk, antique taillight, and antique barn door pulley.

Missing the care and aesthetic that existed in many designs of the early 1900's, Random decided to combine these complementary pieces together into symbiotic works of art that would serve as an homage to the fantastical way that early designers often imagined future life on earth.

The artist with his work.

So when I design my fancy sculptures, it is with a nod to the early artists who went into space long before any scientist. It is with a flourish and sometimes a whimsical eye. And yes, it is with a tiny, imaginary me on board, hurtling through space thinking, "Now I'm flying in style."

Chrome fire extinguisher, bicycle handle bars, chocolate fountain cascade, 1951 Lincoln hood ornament, wire whisks, vintage hair dryer, radio vacuum tubes, vintage salt shaker, Ford taillight, and smoking stand base.

In creating his pieces, Random says that welding is not an option. "Welding forces together pieces which do not naturally join. I like to use pieces that fit together as if they had been made for each other. That's why these things can take so long to create. In some cases I may wait for a year or more for the right artifact to turn up at an antique shop or flea market."

Multi-layered collage of paper handmade from recycled blue jean pulp with additions of vintage postcard and shredded bubble gum wrappers.

To see more amazing examples of Random's work with industrial artifacts, please visit www.davidrandom.com.

Top Image: Antique clock face mounted in a wooden factory pulley, Victorian ball and claw organ stool feet, Iron barn door pulley, vintage mannequin hand, and antique wooden finial.

Loowatt Toilet Turns Human Poop Into Affordable Power

Beth Buczynski — Tue, 10 May 2011 14:30:12 +0000

With today's high energy prices, there's no sense in flushing a viable source of power down the drain...

CrispGreen readers know that we love talking about human-generated energy, from pedal-powered appliances to clothing that creates electricity, but today's feature takes the concept to an entirely different level.

Loowatt, a cleverly named company from the UK, is testing a revolutionary waterless toilet system that could help create vibrant local economies around waste treatment.

The toilet uses a unique sealing mechanism to package feces and urine into an odorless cartridge, within a biodegradable lining material. The cartridge is emptied once or twice weekly into an anaerobic digester. The digester converts human waste into natural gas and fertilizer, valuable commodities which can be sold and reinvested in the community.

Once collected into the digester, which is devoid of oxygen, microorganisms are used to break down the waste and convert it into methane and carbon dioxide gas. That gas can then be burned for fuel, at which point it reverts back to CO2 and water vapor.

Previous attempts at harvesting human waste for power generation have all been directed at the end of the cycle, aka after the waste has been flushed, but the Loowatt system collects waste directly from the toilet, eliminating the need for water or chemicals.

Quick to set up and simple to service and operate, the Loowatt system creates a locally closed loop around human waste management, and becomes a local source of biogas for cooking, electricity, and other applications.

Loowatt was recently awarded a $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations grant from the The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to develop the technology further. If you're interested in testing the Loowatt system at your business or outdoor event, contact the company here.

via Gizmag

New Fords Feature 4.1 Million Pounds of Recycled Carpet

Beth Buczynski — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 17:11:46 +0000

Ford's use of the recycled material will keep 4.1 million pounds of carpet from landfills, the equivalent of nearly 154 football fields.

During 2010, Ford Motor Company began using EcoLon material, a nylon resin made from 100 percent recycled carpet cylinder head covers on engines in some models. The cover is the first automotive product of its kind manufactured from post-consumer recycled nylon and is used in Ford Escape, Fusion, Mustang and F-150.

Last year, use of the material amounted to recycling more than 985,000 yards of carpet and reducing the consumption of more than 430,000 gallons of oil.

"We didn't have to make compromises for this application," said Roy Ford, Ford engine sealing supervisor. "With a fixed raw material cost that delivers cost savings compared to oil, along with the green benefit, this application adds to the ways Ford is minimizing our impact on the environment."

To make the EcoLon material, used nylon carpeting is ground into fiber and recaptures the material through a patented, proprietary process. The resulting product is a high-quality nylon resin, which another company then uses to mold into cylinder head covers through its injection-molding process.

Over the past several years Ford has made a significant effort to increase its use of nonmetal recycled and bio-based materials, including soy foam seat cushions, recycled resins for underbody systems, recycled yarns on seat covers and natural-fiber plastic for interior components.

French Artist Gives Cardboard Recycling A Human Face

Beth Buczynski — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:09:12 +0000

Using an origami-inspired folding technique, a French artist creates illuminating sculptures and masks from discarded toilet-paper rolls and paper.

Fascinated with the texture and potential of paper from a very young age, artist Junior Fritz Jacquet has established himself as a master of a very unconventional medium: toilet-paper rolls and other forms of used cardboard.

On his website, Jacquet writes that he "explores and experiments with folding and crumpling techniques, innovating with his fingers methods still undiscovered to create forms and craft poetic objects, that visually enhance any surrounding."

Some of Jacquet's favorite things to create are masks. Resembling something you might have seen in a Jim Henson or Tim Burton film, these amazing cardboard creations are incredibly expressive.

"This diverse collection of masks, which consists of 40 unique pieces, presents unlimited and fascinating faces of fictional personalities," says Jacquet. After being sculpted by hand out of toilet-paper rolls., the pieces are coated with shellac and different pigments.

But Jacquet understands that the face isn't the only part of the body involved in self-expression. So he's also created the Bonhomme Canelle collection--a series that revolves around the same little man, always in a different position. The figure is made out of one sheet of cardboard and stands upright on a wooden support.

Lest you think that Jacquet is all about the faces, he's also got an amazing collection of illuminated paper sculptures. Bearing a striking resemblance to coral or a sea anemone, these delicate pieces are crumpled, folded and sculpted in a sophisticated way diffusing light charmingly, delicately, yet mysteriously.

Check out Jacquet's website for more examples of his amazing "upcycled" art!

Could Bug-Infested Candy Save The Planet?

Beth Buczynski — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 16:19:44 +0000

Insects are a common food source in the developing world. Will climate change soon force industrialized nations to follow suit?

Raising enough pigs, cows, and chickens to feed a rapidly growing world is taking its toll on the planet. Not only does factory farming contribute to soil depletion and water pollution, it produces a massive amount of greenhouse gases that are speeding up the effects of climate change.

In a recent study published in PLoS ONE suggests that in the future, "insects could serve as an environmentally-friendly alternative for the production of animal protein with respect to GHG and NH₃ emissions."

It's hard to make eating bugs sound appetizing when we've been programmed to assume that they are dirty pests that need to be eliminated.

Hotlix, a California company that claims to be the "original edible insect candy creator" is making headlines by putting worms, crickets, ants and other bugs into outrageous confections that make people cringe with delight.

Among other things, the company offers watermelon, tequila, and orange flavored Worm suckers; ribbon-style toffee-flavored candy with insects and fern trapped inside that's meant to look like fossilized amber; and Cricket Snax in Salt n' Vinegar, Bacon & Cheddar Cheese, and Sour Cream & Onion flavors to satisfy your urge for crunch.

According to the study's lead author, an entomologist from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, 80 percent of the world's population eats insects, yet they are shunned in the cuisine of most developed countries (SciDev.net). Nurturing insects, rather than livestock, as a source of protein could be an easy and affordable way to bolster the global food supply as well as reduce the amount of GHG emissions attributed to agriculture (Care2).

If you'd like to keep bugs in the garden and not between your hamburger buns, it might be time to make more responsible choices about the way you eat, live and play...

Top Image Credit: Flickr - azrainman, Other Images: Hotlix