GreenSmart Neogreene: Neoprene Re-invented

Posted on July 2, 2009 by Matt Embrey .

Neoprene is everywhere these days from wetsuits to laptop sleeves. The stretchy, squishy rubber based material is useful and versatile, unfortunately it’s not very earth-friendly. Neoprene (or polychloroprene) is a petroleum based rubber that is treated and bound together with a nasty mix of chemicals & VOCs including Formaldehyde, lead, chlorine and toluene.

Greener Gadgets Highlights - Part 2

Posted on March 4, 2009 by Doug Gunzelmann .

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This past weekend Matt and I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the Greener Gadgets Design Competition. Jill Fehrenbacher and Mike Chino of Inhabitat were great hosts along with Allan Chochinov of Core77. We were thoroughly schooled on the latest in upcoming sustainability concepts, the new wave of design all over the blogosphere, and some hip [...]

Recycled Army Tanks, Bridges, and Subway Cars

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Doug Gunzelmann .

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What can you do with entire army tanks left over from the Vietnam War, NYC subway cars, and entire bridges? Strip ‘em, clean ‘em, and sink ‘em!

Recycled Mattress Furniture: Madam Rubens Collection

Posted on January 17, 2009 by Doug Gunzelmann .

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Living in the city I see discarded mattresses out on the curb every week. They are difficult to recycle, create a large amount of waste, and no one wants to use someone else’s old mattress. Frank Willems has created funky furniture by bending and folding mattress into usable forms.

Rethinking Design: the Splinter Wooden Supercar

Posted on January 6, 2009 by Matt Embrey .

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For over a year now, Joe Harmon and his crew of graduate students from North Carolina State University have been building the Splinter, a “Supercar” made mostly from wood. This car is Joe’s NC State Master’s thesis, a project which he explains is a “scholastic endeavor in which we are simply trying to explore [...]

Howies Care for the Environment Tags

Posted on December 29, 2008 by Doug Gunzelmann .

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Howies created an ad campaign for their winter clothing line catalogue that reflects their values. The oversized tags depict care instructions (like you might find on clothing labels) for rivers, seas, forests, and mountains.

China’s Appetite for America’s Trash is Disappearing

Posted on December 10, 2008 by Doug Gunzelmann .

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As the US economy continues to slow, our demand for Chinese goods diminishes and China’s demand for the world’s recyclables, used to produce some of these goods, has subsequently diminished. Now our trash is stuck on our shores!

One Million Beer Bottles Later and it’s a Buddhist Temple

Posted on October 24, 2008 by Doug Gunzelmann .

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Thai monks from the Sisaket province have used over one million recycled glass bottle to construct their Buddhist temple. Mindfulness is at the center of the Buddhist discipline and the dedication and thoughtfulness required to build everything from the toilets to their crematorium from recycled bottles shows what creativity and elbow grease can accomplish.

Durat Recycled and Recyclable Plastics

Posted on August 16, 2008 by Doug Gunzelmann .

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Durat makes a dynamic and multiuse plastic from recycled plastic that can itself be recycled. Going into the future designers, engineers, and manufacturers need to look further down the line when producing a good. Durat has shown that product end life planning is possible and productive. The lifecycle of a product should be highly considered [...]