Archive for April 2010
An eco-chic Sprout you can wear or compost
For all you watch fanatics – you know who you are, you compulsively watch the watch shows on ShopNBC until all hours and even more compulsively buy them at the risk of solvency, credit score, marriage and good nutrition – there’s one more to add to the collection: A green watch that’s almost entirely biodegradable.
Meet Sprout Watches, an eco-friendly timepiece constructed from at least 86 percent sustainable materials. Each watch is made with naturally biodegradable materials: corn resin case and caseback, bezel, reflector ring, movement holder and buckle closure, certified organic cotton strap, natural bamboo dial, a mineral crystal and a mercury-free battery.
Even better, the packaging is made from at least 80 percent post-consumer materials and is 100 percent recyclable.
Sinking feeling: The infrastructure challenge of water
Among the usual suspects that make up U.S. infrastructure challenges, including land development, roads, bridges and a host of other transportation needs, add water systems to the list, according to a report released this month by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young.
In fact we are way too profligate with the way we use our water, which will soon turn into a major environmental and infrastructure problem, the report, Infrastructure in 2010: An Investment Imperative, says.
Recyclable Plastiki sailing on plastic sea
A boat made out of more than 12,000 used plastic water bottles is on its way to Sydney, Australia, thus attempting to prove several things: That it can be done; that trash can be useful; and that the huge swath of plastic trash and other debris known as the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch should never happen again.
David de Rothschild’s Plastiki – a 60-foot catamaran made entirely out of recycled plastic bottles – could also launch a new approach to boat-building, without fiberglass.
The Plastiki started on its 12,000 journey from San Francisco to Sydney recently with a goal of drawing attention to the health, or lack thereof, of the world’s oceans. The vessel’s itinerary is bringing it close to Hawaii, the Bikini Atoll, and the Tarawa Islands. Its course will follow the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where floating plastic covers an area twice the size of Texas.
