Last March, we did a post on David de Rothschild’s ambitious plans to sail a boat made entirely of plastic bottles from San Francisco to Sydney Australia. The adventure is aimed at drawing attention to plastic waste- including the Texas-sized swirling mass of plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean.

The boat, dubbed the Plastiki, is ready for its voyage. Here’s an update, via NY Times:

Topside, the layout is simple: an angular igloo provides the only shelter, with six thin bunks softened by six thin cushions. There’s a tiny galley with a sink (in which a bottle of Kombucha was sighted) and a two-burner stove. There’s a tiny desk with room for a laptop, a logbook and a G.P.S. unit. There’s — oddly — a skateboard, as well as several sailing tomes, like “The Log of the ‘Cutty Sark,’ ” by Basil Lubbock.

Power is provided by a small array of solar panels and windmills, and exercise is provided by a stationary bike. Asked how he and his five-member crew might entertain themselves for the planned three-month journey, Mr. de Rothschild said, “sunbathing.” (He later added chess, dominos and, yes, live blogging.)

The hulls’ bottles help absorb many blows from passing waves, but they also deprive the Plastiki of a certain new-boat smell, Mr. de Rothschild said.

“If you were on another boat, it smells of fuel and it smells of that horrible fiberglass and all those other things,” he said. “This doesn’t.”

For more, here’s the full article.

All eyes were fixed on Beijing two years ago as it hosted the Summer Olympics. The opening ceremony alone was enough to demonstrate that China was firing on all cylinders and reveling in the attention. Shanghai now takes center stage, as it prepares for the 2010 World Expo, set to begin on May 1st. This year’s theme, “Better City, Better Life,” will provide the context behind the backdrop of some remarkably innovative new buildings, the first of which was unveiled this week.

The Monaco Pavilion, designed by Naço Architectures, is a 2000 sq ft solar powered building wrapped in an illuminated wave of energy-effficient LED lights.  Naço Architectures describes the structure as “a rock surrounded by the dancing light of a perfect sea”. Inspired, curiously, by the waters of the Mediterranean, the entire building is surrounded by an “undulating high-tech facade” that projects ripples of LED light across its face. The facade is designed to soak up solar energy throughout the day and then burst into light as soon as the sun sets.

Stay tuned for other innovative pavilions expected to be unveiled ahead of the Expo.

[Source: Designboom via Inhabitat]

What’s greener? Buying a new hybrid/EV or picking up an old used car? The answer isn’t quite as straight-forward as you might expect. Of course, in the long-term, replacing fossil fuel-burning, carbon-emitting cars with a fleet of cleaner, greener cars should be our aspiration. But, in the short-term, as Cliff Kuang explains in Fast Company, the “most eco-friendly move of all is to simply use what you have, as long as you can.” In his article, ‘Why Can’t Buildings Changes Clothes, Just Like You Do?,” Kuang is talking about the ‘green building boom,’ but many of the same rules (and question marks) apply.

Kuang suggests, “it really doesn’t make sense to build a brand-new green building, if you can simple retrofit one with a high-performance ’skin.’” And while “new buildings still command all the headlines,” a new trend is emerging, one that recognizes the value (and economy) of minimal interventions.

Innovation is by definition a step forward- new technologies, new ways of doing, seeing, thinking and so on. But sometimes a creative re-imagining of something old makes us love taking a step back. Exhibit A, Il-Gu Cha’s ‘Trace of Time‘ clock- part clock, part zen work of art.  The clock [shown in the above video and pictured left] is made primarily of glass and functions like a dynamic, deadline-conscious dry-erase board. The earlier iteration (as seen in the video) was made of laminated white board. Il-Gu Cha explains (in slightly broken english),

This clock’s basic function is not only to tell the time but also so the user can make a note on the face of the clock. A hand of the clock erase the written messages automatically by using the eraser which is behind the hand. The analog clock shows remaining time to the appointed time more intuitively compared to a digital clock. That is one of the reason why the analog clock exists until today although the digital clock advents.

[Source: ilgucha, via: Engadget]

In the 1960s (Jetsons-era television), the prevailing view of the 21st century was that we’d all be waited on by robots. Robot butlers were a sure thing. As sure as flying cars. I don’t mean to complain, but here we are a full ten years into the 21st century and I have neither a robot butler nor a flying car. Even the robots we do have seem to require us to actually do something. For example, FuRo Robotics‘ Wireless Intelligent Networked Device (WIND) allows operators (that is, humans) to control robotic devices through the use of a wearable harness. The harness detects and tracks the movement of the wearer, translating it into commands for a remotely controlled machine that mimics human action. Great! So, in order for the robot to pour me a beer, I have to pretend to amble over to the fridge and mime the actions of opening and pouring?

I’m kidding- sort of- and actually love to see this type of step forward. It just looks like the first step towards having a robot suit, as worn by Col Quaritch (Stephen Lang) in Avatar, pictured below, rather than a step towards Rosie.

[via PSFK, DVICE]

Your fridge is cramping your eco-style, I’m afraid. Anyway you cut it, the fridge uses more energy than any of your other household appliances. There have been considerable improvements, of course- to qualify for EPA’s Energy Star, a new fridge must now use at least 20% less energy than federal regulations allow for a new model with comparable specs. And if you’ve had your fridge since Clinton’s first term, a) time to upgrade, b) you should know that current models that are Energy Star qualified use 50 percent less energy than models made before 1993.

But energy consumption is also tied to how we use these appliances. How many of us- and this might be mostly a male thing- stand in front of an open fridge surveying the food/beverage options? I, for one, am guilty as charged. As soon as I’m confronted by the array of tupperware possibilities…I’m a deer in headlights.

For food wafflers and energy wasters, I submit the Window Refridgerator, designed by Yoon Jung Kim and Jong Rok Lee. The concept is brilliant- whether or not it’s possible is another question. The concept uses clear glass, opaque glass and a rotating container system inside, where molecules in polymer are activated by electricity. For more, click here.

[Source: Yanko Design]

Now that Apple has unveiled it’s iPad- a name that has already inspired no shortage of ridicule- the long wait for the “game-changing e-reader” is over. We’re wondering where the next breakthrough will come. Perhaps in the form of a product like Light Blue Optic’s Light Touch [pictured here], a portable computer that turns any surface into a touchscreen.

Reaction to the iPad in the blogsphere seems a bit muted, despite claims by Steve Jobs that it represents “our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price.” Tech blogger Robert Scoble tweeted “On a scale of 1 to 10, did iPad meet your hype expectations? My expectations were 10. iPad showed up with a 8.7. My mind was not blown.” He followed up with, “Of course compared to Microsoft at CES, which I would have scored a 4.9, an 8.7 is pretty damn good.” After it’s official unveiling, Apple put out the first video on the device which has us convinced. That video is below.

The Light Touch, not surprisingly, has received less fanfare, but we think it could provide a similar glimpse at tomorrow’s computer. Using a process called holographic laser projection, a clear projected interface is created that users can interact with as they would any other device. It could also spell a greener direction for the industry- making use of existing surfaces. We’ll be following this with interest.

Now, here’s that video from Apple.

[Source: HuffPo, Chris Pirillo, Technabob]

Science can enhance our experience of art- have you seen Avatar?- but it can also inform our understanding of it. For example, Information Design, pioneered by Edward Tufte and others in the 1970s and particularly en vogue these days, is a medium of processing info graphically. We recently stumbled across this example, Charting The Beatles, an exploration of Beatles music through infographics. And, as fans of both (the band and infographics), we thought we’d share.

more…

With Apple set to unveil its “new device” later this month, can we say now that the e-reader’s day has come? The Amazon Kindle, the Sony Reader, even Barnes & Noble’s Nook have all set the stage, but one has to imagine Apple’s contribution to the medium could be a tipping point, especially if rumors about an Apple-NY Times partnership prove true. In the meantime, though, we’ll gawk at another new type of e-reader, LG’s flexible e-paper. To be honest, we can’t decide if this is a brilliant idea or a quirky curiosity, but give LG some props for what really could be revolutionary technology. The flexible e-paper, designed to mimic the look and feel of a traditional newspaper, features a 19-inch-wide display at a thickness of 0.3 millimeters – about the size of five sheets of paper.

The bendiness (we’re not sure if that’s how the Korean designers are describing this, by the way) is made possible thanks to a display panel arranged on metal foil instead of glass substrate. Additionally, the gate drive IC has been placed on the panel, instead of on the side of the panel, providing greater…bendiness.

LG also points to the “green” implications of having a device that looks and feels like a paper but doesn’t exact a heavy toll on the environment. The book and newspaper industries were responsible for harvesting about 125 million trees in 2008. As Sarah Parsons writes in her piece for Inhabitat, beyond “publishing’s role in deforestation, paper processing creates significant amounts of wastewater and a huge carbon footprint, so it’s clear that consumers need some kind of eco alternative. We couldn’t find figures on the e-paper’s power consumption, but we’re guessing that so long as it’s sturdy and doesn’t require a ton of power, it may be a better option than traditional printed media.”

The e-paper is due, apparently, later this year.

[Sources: Inhabitat, DigitalTrends, DVICE]

One of our favorite books is Adam Morgan’s Eating The Big Fish: How Challenger Brands Can Compete Against Brand Leaders. In the book, Morgan explores examples of how certain companies have successfully challenged larger competitors by redefining the marketing rules that guide their industry, innovating new approaches to drawing in customers. One of the brands that Morgan holds up as a model ‘challenger brand’ is Apple. For Steve Jobs and company, the approach was not to try to compete with the IBMs of the world on equal footing but to redefine how a computer company viewed itself. For Jobs, his company was not in the computer business, it was in the business of “changing the world.” Jobs and others, like Jonathan Ive, the senior director of Apple’s Industrial Design group, changed the vocabulary they used in describing their goals and accomplishments. When they unveiled the iMac in May of 1998, for example, Jobs announced “Today we brought romance and innovation back into the industry.”

Romance and innovation? Changing the world? In the twelve years since the iMac was released, Apple has not only changed and challenged its own industry, it’s hard to describe into which industry Apple now falls. With iTunes, iPods, iPhones, iChat,…Apple is changing countless industries. Just consider, for example, what Apple has done to (and for) the music industry. Even its long-rumored (and soon to be unveiled) Tablet, about which we still know fairly little, is expected to change the way we read.

A diagram from an Apple patent application describes an electronics controller that can optimize how power is delivered to multiple home devices using home wiring to send power and data. (Credit: Patently Apple)

So, perhaps its not surprising to hear that Apple is now looking to home energy as the next frontier of ‘changing the world.’ Patently Apple reported last week that Apple has applied for two patents that would help people manage their home energy systems by optimizing how power is supplied to various electronics, including computer, peripherals and devices such as iPods. The patents were filed late last spring.

As Martin LaMonica explains on CNET,

The two patent applications describe a hardware device that controls the amount of power supplied to different electronics. Data between devices would be shared over a building’s existing wiring, using the HomePlug Powerline Alliance’s communications protocol. The patent applications also include drawings of outlets and junction boxes that incorporate “power-enabled data ports.”

One patent application called “Intelligent Power Monitoring” says that the system would allow people to reduce energy use by giving them tools to better control how connected devices are powered.

The second patent application, titled an “Intelligent Power-enabled Communications Port,” describes a system that would parse out the amount of power to different electronics in an efficient manner.

Apple is not the first to leap into the “Smart Meter” race- we’ve profiled the efforts of a number of companies on this blog- but, with its track record, we expect Apple to bring its unique blend of romance and innovation and, as it tends to do, change the world. Stay tuned.

[Sources: Patently Apple via CNET]

It’s always good to come across a new approach to an old concept. The pizza box, an unwieldy, over-sized nuisance when it comes to squeezing in the recycling bin, has received an innovative makeover. The Environmentally Conscious Organization Inc. has created the ‘Green Box,‘ made from 100% recycled materials. As the above video shows, the perforated lid easily breaks down into serving plates.

The bottom half of the box then transforms into a more compact storage container which, unlike a standard pizza box, will actually fit in your fridge.

Brands in every industry are thinking creatively about ways to reduce waste, promote reuse, improve shipping efficiency. Even within the same industry, different brands are tackling in remarkably disparate ways. But few concepts are as old and tired as the pizza box- can you think of the last time you saw any variation in a pizza box other than simple branding?

The company’s motto is “saving the environment, one pizza box at a time,” but it could well change the pizza industry for the better as well.

[Images from ecoincorporated]

The advent of cell phones has transformed the developing world- where land line infrastructure can’t keep up with demand. India is now the second largest telecom market in the world, not surprising perhaps considering it is the second most populous country in the world (around 1.2 billion people)- but consider this: India had less than 10 million telephones a decade ago. That growth, especially in parts of the world that don’t have reliable access to the electrical grid, makes this green gadget an innovative game-changer. A Mumbai-based company, ideaForge, is touting what it calls the world’s first truly sustainable mobile phone charger, the Roto Charger. By either cranking the handle or rolling the device on any surface, the device allows the user to charge the phone using manpower. [Btw, check out last year's post on the Baylis Eco-Media Player, which uses the same technology to power mp3 players]

The Roto Charger will cost around $7, and one minute of cranking provides three minutes of talktime and about thirty minutes of stand-by time.

[Source: Eco-Gadget, via Technology Review] 

Ford Fusion(Credit: CNET)

It’s a good news, bad news report from Ford. The company has reported strong numbers for its hybrid sales, up 67 percent this year, but the number only represents 2% of the car maker’s overall sales. The bump in hybrid sales comes amidst an overall industry slump of 11 percent.

Ford sold 31,000 hybrid cars through November, more than in any previous year. The Ford Fusion, which was released in March, represents 45% of all Ford hybrid sales for 2009. But as Sebastian Blanco explains on AutoBlogGreen, “this is great, but even in this down year, Ford sold over 1.4 million vehicles so far, making the hybrid portion decidedly tiny (about 2.1 percent).”

While innovative companies like Toyota and Honda have blazed a trail with hybrid technology, US car makers have been slower to stake a claim.

Ford is hedging its bet on future car technology, announcing it will only produce up to 2 million all-electric and gas-electric vehicles over the next 10 years. The car giant says its goal is to make between 10% and 25% of its fleet “electrified” by 2020.

Ford Fusion(Credit: AutoBlogGreen)

With a range that wide, you’d hardly call that a determined leap forward, but Nancy Gioia, Ford’s director of the newly created department of ‘global electrification,’ suggests that Ford will be ready for a plugged-in future. “We’ve finally demonstrated the technology, the life, the durability, the safety (of hybrids)–all of that has reached a comfort zone to make it viable. Now it’s going to be affordability that will drive mass market adoption,” she said.

As we wrote last year, a study by IBM’s Institute for Business Values predicts that by the year 2020 all new cars will be hybrids. Clearly, Ford didn’t get that memo.  It managed to avoid joining GM and Chrysler in the garbage heap and, to be fair, has done some things right recently. But hedging its bet on the technology of tomorrow seems a lost opportunity. Last year, Toyota announced that 100% of its fleet would be hybrid by 2020.

[Sources: CNET, AutoBlogGreen]

When Nissan’s all-electric vehicle, the Leaf, arrives next year, the on-board communication system will help drivers locate charging stations. One of the challenges for the EV market has been the lack of infrastructure that could support widespread use and long distance travel. While efforts are being made to address the infrastructure issue- Better Place, in particular, has raised a remarkable $200+ million and partnered with governments and utilities to develop the necessary infrastructure and technology to make the electric vehicle a viable alternative to conventional (gas-guzzling) cars- the scarcity of charging stations will remain an issue in the near term. The Nissan Leaf may be the necessary stop gap until people like Better Place’s Shai Agassi can raise more money.

The Leaf’s communication module will connect via satellite to Nissan’s global data center. Similar to existing telematics systems, such as GM’s OnStar, the Leaf’s module will display usage, remaining battery life, the location of charging stations and which stations are within range. If the driver sees the battery is low on power, he can put the car into “limp” mode, so it drives at the most-efficient speed to ensure maximum range.

Once at a charging station- at least one that is equipped with high-voltage plugs- the recharge will take as much as 30 minutes, an eternity compared to a conventional fill up. Recharges at home will take 16 hours, based on voltages available in the U.S. or Japan.

Could telematic systems be the answer to the infrastructure question? Nissan is counting on it. “Most people think that the charging infrastructure is the Achilles’ heel of an electric vehicle project. But it’s really not,” says Mark Perry, Nissan’s director of product planning and advanced technology strategy. “We are doing this to address peace of mind. We think people will recharge at home 80 percent of the time. But this lets people feel comfortable with the what-ifs,” he added.

[Source: Technology Review]

Earlier this year, we wrote about how US Air Force Academy cadets were designing more fuel efficient wings for the massive KC-135R air tanker. Meanwhile, the Korean Air Force Academy is doing some innovating of its own, announcing that its cadets have developed a pedal-powered aircraft. Dubbed the Sky Runner, the airplane weighs in under 100 lbs, has a wingspan of roughly 100 feet and is a propeller craft that is to be pedaled during take-off and flight.

During its early test flights, the Sky Runner flew up to 500 feet, which the team apparently accepts is inadequate, but they contend the distances will improve “through systematic pilot training.”

The developers suggest the pilot needs to pedal fast enough to generate roughly 0.3 horsepower to keep the plane flying up to 1.2 miles. That’s some serious pedaling, though, in fairness, no one is quite sure how much power a horse would actually produce on a bicycle.

The Air Force Academy says the project has cost about $290,000 and makes South Korea the world’s fifth country to fly a human-powered aircraft.

[Sources: EcoFriend, Hanopolis]

LA Metro: Promoting Mass Transit from EMBARQ Network on Vimeo.

When Los Angeles Metro set about trying to make Mass Transit more relevant in a car crazy city, it did something no other transit agency in the country has ever done: it created an in-house ad agency to launch an ambitious new rebranding effort. The above video, shot by Emily Calderone and posted by EMBARQ (an organization focused on supporting sustainable transport solutions in cities), details how those efforts are beginning to pay off.

In Eat Big Fish marketing terms, the villains were clear: the stress and expense of owning/operating a car, the inconvenience of getting snared in the web of the city’s absurd traffic, and some of the worst pollution anywhere in the United States. Ads proposed Mass Transit as the hero, the solution to all these stresses. Matt Raymond, the Chief Communications Officer for Metro, tells Embarq that the creative services department’s job was also “to make public transportation cool.” So buses were repainted vibrant fun colors (California Poppy, or, to you and me, orange) and Metro purchased space its playful billboard campaign.

Raymond suggests that the Creative Services division of Metro was instrumental in the success of Measure R, a 1/2 cent sales tax that is expected to generate 40 billion dollars over the next 30 years for improving transit services in LA. To get the 2/3 vote required, Metro convinced the vast majority of Angelinos, most of whom commute by private car, that they should pay for transit out of their own pockets.

In the video, Clayton Lane from Embarq poses an interesting question- if the auto industry spends $20 billion a year promoting their products, what if transit agencies spent a similar amount promoting mass transit? The early successes of LA Metro provide a tantalizing view of that potential and also speak to the power of innovative marketing.

[Source: Embarq]