What Happens to All That Glass?

Ever think of all the potential future uses of that glass bottle or jar you just tossed into the recycling bin? A wide variety of both functional and beautiful products, ranging from Mod Rocks‘ architectural tiles, to Ice Stone’s countertops and flooring material, and even barware made from old or broken car windshields, are now being made from discarded glass. Thanks to its inherent properties, glass is often able to be recycled more frequently than other materials, re-formed into a wide range of different shapes and colors, and is becoming a sought after source material for many design and architectural projects.

Once retrieved from curb-side by municipal or private recycling service, discarded glass is then washed, color sorted and crushed at a recycling facility, at which point, it is ready to be reconstituted. The “cullet”, or crushed glass, is then transported to a particular manufacturing plant, either to be combined with concrete or other material (e.g., Ice Stone), or in its more traditional process, taken back to its viscous state after being mixed with sand, soda ash and limestone, and fed into a furnace for melting - crushed glass actually aids the process by lowering the melting temperature, and making for more stable results. The glass, in viscous state, may then be poured into molds or distributed in another way, resulting in its intended product, such as architectural tiles, drinking glasses, or more commonly, road beds, food containers and beverage bottles. Although perhaps counterintuitive, it’s worth noting that glass always remains in a super-cool liquid state, even when rigid and seemingly stable in the form of a final product.

This process represents a major positive effort in stemming the flow of waste to the landfill, but efforts to implement bottle bills throughout the U.S. (many countries are ahead of us in this regard), as well as enhance those that exist, are still needed. Great things to keep in mind as we all become more committed to recycling (or reusing) as much as we can!

Also, see Glass, How is It Made from the Ecolect Blog

Why does Germany LOVE to Recycle glass? on You Tube

Bamboo or Plastic?

Over the past several years, a trend has emerged, of consumer electronics companies employing counter-intuitive materials like bamboo, as an alternative for their product housings, ranging from Amadana’s popular line of elegant consumer electronics, to Asus‘ upcoming line of laptops and LCD monitors, and even Dell’s recent foray in this direction, with it’s energy-efficient “Mini PC” concept shown at CES 2008. Does this represent a positive revolution in the effort to find alternatives to virgin or toxic materials, or simply a case of jumping on the green material bandwagon without considering the potential short-lived or negative consequences? Certainly, using bamboo means less plastic is used, which is perhaps a step in the right direction, and Asus even claims that its laptops will feature interchangeable (and recyclable) bamboo panels, but there are more things to consider.

As these and other companies increasingly use such materials, it is important for them to ensure that their sources be grown and maintained with the highest standards of sustainability (as natural as it is, bamboo can also be grown through great destruction to forests), while at the same time, develop sensible buy-back programs as well as strive to develop genuine non-toxic alternatives to typical electronic components. Many companies are beginning to see the benefit of adhering to environmentally sensible principals, so there is hope that initial steps like using bamboo, will be combined with the overriding long term mission to design and manufacture the electronics of the future with zero negative effects. An ideal whose time has certainly come.

Who Needs Batteries? (The Simple Genius of Solar Flashlights)

It’s hard to imagine a more complete and practical “green gadget” than a solar-powered LED flashlight made from recycled plastic. Well, at least manufacturers have the solar and LED part down, with the the recycled plastic part hopefully not too far behind, as some company out there incorporates this added benefit to their product line (think Recycline’s toothbrushes and razor handles).

As columnist Thomas Friedman has suggested, for so long, the United States had been considered the leader in technological ingenuity and development, but when it comes to clean technology and its related offspring - including something as straightforward and logical as a solar-powered flashlight - the nation lags behind others. For example, even China, which has recently matched or surpassed the U.S. in terms of its negative environmental impact, is manufacturing solar-powered flashlights and other related energy saving products, and may ironically be poised to surpass the U.S. in the rapid development of green consumer goods. However, once local, State, and Federal governments finally comprehend the enormous benefit that would come from creating a massive green manufacturing sector, including wind, solar, hydrogen (and beyond), these products may be manufactured here, and Friedman will have his wish of the U.S. living up to its potential. With problems ranging from water and food scarcity, to inadequate or non existent energy generation infrastructure, a new wave of designers and social activists are being inspired to develop a range of environmentally progressive products and services to serve various populations, and the solar-powered flashlight represents just the beginning.

BoGo Light

Earthtorch

Eclipse Solar Powered Flashlights

Flock Browser: Eco-Edition

Here’s a neat idea. Imagine surfing the web and helping the environment at the same time, without having to change your behavior. A new web browser called ‘Flock‘ allows you to do just that. After downloading it, each time you search the web using the browser, Flock earns a little bit of money from the search engines. With this edition of the browser, 10% of proceeds will go to an environmental charity voted on by Flock users.

In addition, the homepage is set to green.alltop.com, a collection of eco-related blogs that includes yours truly, blog.ecolect.net.

Thanks for the tip, Guy K.!

Flock Browser: Eco-Edition

The Speed of Sustainability: Milan

Although I was not entirely impressed by the sustainability, greenergy design, and ecomade exhibitions at the Milan Furniture fair, I must say that the city does have a few things in order. Their public transportation is fantastic.  They have a subway spread out across the entire city, and if they dont run close enough to home there are also busses and trams that run frequently all over the streets. In addition to public transit, those who do drive love their small cars. Although in most cases its an economical decision, they still see no need for the excessive Hummer-style consumerism.  It is rare to see a luxery sedan let alone a SUV!

One of the most exciting things I stumbled upon was an installation of a glorified MiniCooper. It was placed inside a chamber of woven plastic cords with serene music playing and was guarded by some very friendly cops. We had to pose and take some photos.



The other car that they love is the Smart Car. Now, I may sound silly because I haven’t been to Europe since the release of the Smart Car, but they are everywhere! I think it is wonderful. People of all shapes and sizes fit into these little things to transport themselves and a partner across town. “Why use more when this is all we need?” said one driver to me.



Finally this is a photo of a favorite of mine- a new little Fiat. Que Bella (the car, not me of course)!

Greenergy Design Exhibition: Milan Design Week

There were a few exhibitions I was elated to see and experience while in Milan during the Salone Mobile. One was the Greenergy Design Exhibition. This exhibition seemed to be a rather big deal about town as it received a particularly large amount of exposure and press. It was even advertised in the window-fronts of the giant department store across from the world famous Duomo (right at the heart of the city and the tourist shopping district).  When standing in front of these ads in the windows that were ironically juxtopposed with Dior Homme cologne ads and Louis Vuitton purse ads, I was approached by a few tourists asking where to find this exhibition. I had not visited the exhibition yet but was sure it was something to be excited about, so I eagerly gave out a map and directions to inquiring enthusiasts.

The exhibition was on the south-east side of the city center.  It was in a large open courtyard area of a museum exhibition space and crowded with people on the bright sunny afternoon I visited.  Despite the press and pleasing atmosphere, people (including myself) seemed to be rather disappointed with the overall event.

Granted I can not read Italian that well and may have missed a few important points about certain pieces in the exhibition, i felt as though the curator might have missed the point behind green energy and our high hopes for the future.  One of the first peices you see when you enter the couryard is the one that makes the most sense.  It is public outdoor bench with “sprouting leaves” coming out the center.  Atop these leaves are solar panels and on the underside- LED lights.  This installation is designed for an outdoor public space to self sustain itself, and attract seaters at night my illuminating the bech with the energy made by the sun during the day.  The next few peices that began to strike my confusion were environment installations.  One was a meditation chamber (pictured below right) you walked into that was meant to be a clean escape from the polluted everyday.  It was equiped with small air purifiers in each corner releasing aroma-therapeutic essences of green tea and cypress.  Also in the space were rocks, a small wave/ripple pool, and puffy seats to sit on, relax, and reflect.  This stood out to me as a reaction to a lack of green energy or a sustainable environment, but not a solution.

Many of the remaining pieces were on the smaller scale like furniture and products. A beautiful, yet not-so-green in my opinion, chair (pictured above left) was designed with a planter at the top to give the sitter the environmental aroma of lavendar.  It is an outdoor chair where one might drink their morning cafe. Upstairs there was an excercise machine that worked the legs via vibration.  The hired promotional team was there to invite participants to try it out.  I didn’t quite understand the relevance to “green” or “energy” except for maybe the fact that it was promoting exercise.

Unfortunately, one interesting piece that I wasn’t able to see as it was being repaired was an installation by LOT-EK (famous for their shipping container prefab dorms and homes). This could have won the installation some merit.

The final piece a visitor passes as they leave was an installation by Phillip Stark called Democratic Ecology. Although the installation didnt speak to me as very powerful in content, the written content was simple and bold.  He stated that more materiality equates to less humanity, and “the first environment friendly step is refusing”.  At the end he says, soon “Everybody shall be a part of the big image. Everybody will be able to produce energy”.

Overall, I was confused why some of these items were chosen for exhibition over many of the interesting alternative energy products introduced to the market in the last year.  I realize it was an exhibition of many Italian and younger designers, but possibly the scope could have been focused a bit more. As we face an era where energy conservation is critical to our vitality, I hope to see educational green energy exhibitions providing us with real solutions for the everyday citizen.

After Earth Day - New York Times Blog

Ecolect’s very own Elizabeth Redmond landed a page in the NY Times today. Her project, PowerLeap, harnesses energy from simply walking. It’s a fascinating project, combining energy, technology, and community to better our planet. Her working prototype will soon debut on the TV series “Big Ideas for a Small Planet” on the Sundance Channel. We’re so proud of you, Elizabeth!

Read the article here.

Thomas Friedman’s Earth Day Lecture at Brown University

For Earth Day, Thomas Friedman, the well author and journalist spoke at Brown University. He joined the New York Times in 1981 as a financial reporter specializing in petroleum industry and economy news and has won the Pulitzer Prize 3 times to date. His work has covered “the Middle East conflict, the end of the cold war, US domestic politics and foreign policy, international economics, and the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat. Today, his foreign affairs column appears two times a weekly in the Times. Friedman’s reporting specifically on sustainability appeared on the Discovery Channel in the documentary titled, “Green: The New Red, White and Blue.”

His lecture focused on outlining the book he’s been working on entitled “Hot, Flat and Crowded.” His first time releasing any public information about the book, and started off by telling the audiece that is we really “go green,” the United States could be the “strongest, most innovative and entrepreneurial country in the world. He also added that we’d be solving a problem that everyone is facing, the issue of becoming sustainable. Friedman declared that 2007 was the “beginning of a new era, marked by a convergence of individual flames that have come together into a fire. It’s a perfect storm between global warming, what I call, global flattening and global population growth.” His theory is that rising temperatures, access to more information and population growth have all created a real awareness of the issue are also seen as a “tipping point,” and people are starting to take action. After years of neglect and expending resources, our current generation with the problems we have today. He made the analogy of our current situation as a society being “a monster truck with the gas pedal stuck.”

Friedman described that we’ve gone from BCE to CE and to now ECE, which is the “Energy Climate Era.” Outlined in his 3 goals to meet the challenges of the Energy Climate Era are, “clean energy, efficiency and an ethic of conservation.” He discussed his skepticism of the “green revolution,” stating that we’re in something more of a “green party” if anything. After doing a Google search for “easy ways to go green.” he found titles such as “10 Ways to Save the Earth and Money in Under a Minute” and “10 Ways to Green Up Your Sex Life: Vegan Condoms and Solar Vibrators.” The real revolution, he say’s will come but you’ll really know it. He made the comparison that the real massive change will occur “like the IT revolution” in the sense that businesses and our economy will “either change or die.”