Greener, Cleaner Dishes… Without Detergent

Dr. Youngblood at work. Via Treehugger.

A water-favoring, anti-oily treated surface. Via Discovery News.

Imagine the possibility of grease and grime being lifted from your dishes with just water. Jeffrey P. Youngblood, an associate professor at Purdue University, and his colleagues are currently in the process of formulating a coating for dinnerware that will eliminate the need for polluting dishwater soap.

This coating, made up of long chains of polymers, is based on perfluorinated end-cap polyethylene glycol amphiphilic macromers that had been polymerised with a variety of comonomer. This eco-friendly alternative to the harsh chemicals of traditional phosphorous soap contains a Teflon-like molecule that repels oil while allowing water to filter through and rinse off surfaces.

Youngblood and team have engineered the polymer chains to have different properties, leading to different cleaning solutions. One causes oil to gather into easier-to-clean beads, and, like other potential methods, simply has the oil “remove itself.”

One may argue that the coating material itself is not very eco-friendly due to the usage of the Teflon-like molecule, but Youngblood states that the elimination of soaps and detergents streaming into our waterways will be more than a good tradeoff for the minimal polymer coating that will run off from treated products.

The next step for Youngblood and his team of researchers is working with plastic substrates, anti-fog products, as well as easy to clean paints.

Via Treehugger. Read on at Discovery News + Chemistry World. Read more on the harmful effects of phosphorous soap at Treehugger.

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Sustainability and Anti-Weapons Initiatives Meet at the London Olympic Stadium

The design proposal for the new 2012 London Olympic Stadium by Populous (formerly HOK Sports) boasts many green building initiatives, not least of which is their use of recycled guns and knives as structural steel. In the last year, the Metropolitan Police have collected more than 52 tonnes of scrap metal from old keys, knives and guns and now it’s being melted down to form the structure of the new stadium!

Sustainability doesn’t stop at the structure, the design also features a host of other environmentally friendly materials such as a façade of hemp.

Furthermore, and possibly most exciting, the entire stadium will be prefab and flat-packed. This construction technique not only significantly reduces the environmental impact of the structure as it is constructed but allows for the entire stadium to be broken down and shipped off to the next host city for reuse. The potential is enormous! Gone are the days of reconstructing massive stadiums every two years for a single use, this new system effectively eliminates wasteful obsolescence.

Currently, talks are underway with Chicago, but London organizers hope that their offer is taken up by whoever wins the games. If the plan goes forward, this would be the largest amount of seats ever moved from one place to the next, and the first time in history that a stadium of this size has been moved.

Via Inhabitat.

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It Tastes Fishy, but It’s Sustainable!

Sun-dried squid bottles. Image via Inventor Spot.

The traditional Ika Tokkuri sake bottles, which are incredibly eco-friendly, are currently going through a revival in Japan. What makes them so green? The Ika Tokkuri bottles are made from squid. The squid skins are stuffed with grains of rice and then sun-dried until it can hold its own form. When using the squid skin bottle, you’ll inevitably get a slight fishy taste. That’s perfectly alright for many though, since this has been said to make the drink smoother and milder. Each bottle can be used 5 to 6 times and (to ensure that nothing goes to waste) can even be eaten afterwards!

Via Inventor Spot and Core77.

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Solé Tiles: An Integrated Solar Solution For Clay Tile Roofing

Solé Power Tiles are electricity-generating “barrel-style” tiles which can be installed in an integrated way with US Tile’s traditional clay tile roofing. The Solé Power Tiles install like a standard tile with no penetrations into the tile itself. The benefit to the consumer or developer is that the solar components are not readily visible.

Solar energy is a renewable alternative to power plants that burn fossil fuels, finite resources that contribute to pollution, global warming, as well as the reliance on imports for our energy security. Photovoltaic (PV) systems convert sunlight into electricity, powering everything from lamps to air conditioners in a residential or commercial building.

In PV systems, direct current (DC) electricity is produced. Appliances and machinery, however, operate on alternating current (AC). The DC energy produced by the panels is fed into an inverter that converts the DC power into AC power, which then feeds into the main electrical panel that powers a home or business. Any excess generation is fed back into the utility grid. Over a year, as a utility customer, your electricity bill is reduced by the energy you produce.

To learn more visit ustile.com and srsenergy.com.

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Recycled Beverage Containers

Image from iF Material Award 2009

For those of us who are always on the go and cannot live without a cup of coffee every morning, check out these tumblers made of yogurt and ice cream containers! According to Aladdin’s research, it’s difficult to use recycled polypropylene (PP) for direct food contact surfaces but these tumblers passed both FDA and EU safety regulations. You can throw these in the dishwasher and the microwave. The material, eCycle® is engineered for Aladdin’s SUSTAIN® Collecion and featured in iF Material Award 2009.

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Sustainable Urban Agriculture In New York

Sustainable Urban Agriculture from DiscoveryNewsVideo on Vimeo.

The Science Barge is a prototype, sustainable urban farm and environmental education center. It is now docked in downtown Yonkers just North of the Yonkers Pier. This barge is the only fully functioning demonstration of renewable energy supporting sustainable food production in New York City. The Science Barge grows tomatoes, cucumbers, and lettuce with zero net carbon emissions, zero chemical pesticides, and zero runoff.

From May to October 2007 alone, the Science Barge hosted over 3,000 schoolchildren from all five New York boroughs as well as surrounding counties as part of our environmental education program. In addition, over 6,000 adult visitors visited the facility along with press from around the world. The video above describes more about the Barge and its features.

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Bamboozled by Bamboo?

Bamboo has been touted as the new wonder fabric, it is rapidly renewable, requires little or no pesticides, and is soft to the touch. Today consumers can find many “eco-friendly” products that are made from bamboo but can it really be all that sustainable?

Bamboo is a grass that grows up to two meters per week, and is cut and not uprooted when harvested allowing it to grow back quickly. It is extremely hardy and usually requires only rainfall to grow and thus many industries find it quite appealing as a source material. Unfortunately the majority of bamboo is derived from large plantations in China that are highly under-regulated. Many of the plantations were created through the clear cutting of forests, and although usually grown organically, bamboo is very invasive and can choke out native species and greatly affect local ecosystems. To be processed into fiber, a lot of energy is also consumed and toxic chemicals like caustic soda are needed to refine it into a wearable textile. The whole production process needs greater regulation and transparency to ensure its growth and production is more sustainable.

As with most products on the market there are usually trade offs in its production and use, and bamboo is no exception. Bamboo does have some great positive attributes however; It can be made into a variety of textiles that can be as soft as cashmere or as strong and durable as denim. Bamboo is also praised for its UV protection and its anti-microbial properties although further testing is needed to bolster these claims.

There is no doubt that bamboo is a highly versatile material. It can be used successfully not just for textiles but for a variety of other industries as well. For bamboo to truly be a sustainable material however, more attention must be put on its production and how it is harvested and processed. There is no doubt that bamboo can be a great sustainable material, but the hype surrounding it can be detrimental for the real facts to come out.

Visit the Organic Clothing Blog for more info

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International Architect Hits Big with Harvard’s New Student Housing.

Architect Kyu Sung Woo has completed what is considered a great example of what environmentally considered design can do for residential space. His new student housing center for Harvard in Cambridge, MA is not only drop dead gorgeous, it’s designed to achieve a high level of LEED certification. The building is packed with renewable bamboo flooring, considered wall paneling, low VOC finishes, and regionally sourced siding with recycled content. His 115,000 sq ft project is a part of Harvard’s ongoing effort to house 50 percent of their undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students. Kyu Sung Woo is a world renown architect. He has made great achievements, moving towards sustainability and evolutions in architecture. The Ho-Am Prize for the arts was awarded to him recently for $200,000. The award is commonly referred to as Korea’s Nobel Prize and has a 17 year history. Kyu Sung Woo represents the first ever architect who has received this sought-after award.

Below are links to two source articles which talk in detail about Kyu Sung Woo and his career.

worldarchitecturenews.com
archrecord.com

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