The Fun Green Roundup #4

Another roundup of weird things from the green worldwide web. First up are batteries powered by pee….

No Po Po batteries
Trusty Treehugger has once again found something weird - batteries powered by urine and “other precious bodily fluids”. You can buy them in Japan, and as the writer points out, if they were fitted in an electric car, all you’d need to do was take a lot of water with you on a long journey.

Eco undies
New Consumer magazine reports that underwear company Greenknickers is now certified Fairtrade. It only applies to their cotton knickers although it does have others made from hemp and bamboo.

Who needs a helmet?
Are you a skateboarder? But a greenie too? Try and eco-friendly skateboard! Life Goggles has more here. Then after a few more years practicing you can do this:

Leg power
Why drive when you can walk or use a bike? When driving means exercise with the human hybrid car. Groovy Green reports on a car that is a bit like a a rowing machine for four people. Allegedly it goes 60 miles per hour but from the looks of it I’d be scared stiff going 30mph. Still, I like to see people going to a bit of effort for their daily commute.

Wine glasses are not for wine
Our friend Treehugger has some pictures of an unusual use for old wine glasses - a chandelier. I say old, but they look pretty new so not sure how good these are, eco-wise, but it’s certainly unusual.

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The Fun Green Roundup #3

Some crazy stories this week. I’m really hoping the first one is a joke.

On the hoof
A Dubai comapny is planning to start making buses powered by horses. Yes, you read that right. Horses are put on a conveyor belt in the bus and blah blah. It can’t be real can it? Check out the photo below for yourself - Treehugger has more.

Onion goggles
I thought these were goggles made from onions to begin with which is why I included them here, but atually they’re goggles to stop your eyes watering when you’re cutting onions. I don’t think they’re even made from eco-friendly material so have a look here and then just be a man about it.

Carbon phone
The BBC reports that a British student has invented a way of tracking your carbon footprint using a mobile phone. The Carbon Hero uses a mobile phone to work out what method of transport you’re using and therefore how much carbon dioxide is produced.

Washing your hands in the toilet
Well, sort of. Check this video out which is doing the rounds at the moment. Well with my friends anyway. A nifty little system to help save water but not sure how much ’soaping’ up time there is!

The Fun Green Roundup #2

It’s drinking this week, and not water, but alcohol. Here’s some of the sites in the environmental blogosphere that have written about green beer.

Make your own
I’ve never been tempted to make beer myself, until now after I’ve read about all the stuff that goes into a pint. Green Options has done a brilliant guide to making your own beer.

Drink with others
If you want to meet similar-minded people and share a green pint, check out what Life Goggles had to say here about Green Drinks International.

Drink local
And that doesn’t mean going to the bar closest to you. Unplugged Living has an article on drinking the product of local breweries, cutting down on the miles beer etc it has to travel to reach your throat.

Water
I did say at the beginning this wouldn’t be about water, but you’ll need some after all that drinking. Life Goggles did a guide on drinking water here.

You’re not alone trying to find green beer
Just as I was writing this the other week, it coincided with Labor Day in the US so a few sites wrote about how to get drunk in a green way. Treehugger had some good tips and I particualarly liked Vanessa’s advice at Green as a Thistle with a cracking picture to go with it.

The Fun Green Roundup #1

Life Goggles regularly does a green news round up, but here I thought we’d link to the cooler, funnier or weirder green stories we’ve come across in the last week or so. Let us know if you find any by adding a comment in the box below.

Will Ferrell gets gas
Treehugger reports on how comedian and film star Will Ferrell has been given one of BMW’s first Hydrogen 7 cars. “The Hydrogen 7 doesn’t use a fuel cell, but a normal ICE engine which can run on either hydrogen or gasoline. When running on Hydrogen the only emissions are water vapour. However, there is a long tail-pipe problem as with electric cars, in that producing the hydrogen uses a large amount of energy. In truth, these cars will do little to reduce the emissions of daily transport, but will at least create cleaner air for cyclists and pedestrians.”

Twenty-five of the initial 100 cars produced are being given to celebrities to promote the car.

Mighty mouse
I saw this in a few different places but as I like Groovy Green they can have the credit. A solar powered mouse is in development. How it works a) when your hand is on it, or b) at night, remains to be seen.

Black screen
Usually a black screen on your computer means the screen saver’s on or you’ve switched the plug off. But it turns out that your screen uses less energy when it’s showing black that other colours. Check out Life Goggles’ report on how Google could help reduce energy use.

Good vibrations
According to excellent UK magazine,New Consumer, you can now get that vibrator you’ve had lying about for ages recycled. Maybe one for the adult industry who must get through a fair amount, as I’m not sure how long they last but I can’t imagine vast numbers are thrown away. But I suppose they do wear out and break so this is a better option than adding them to the landfill mountain.

A battery breeze
Once again Groovy Green reports that mobile telcom company Orange have developed a wind powered solar charger for mobile (cell) phones. Ideal for that festival or camping trip - especially as you know as soon as that tent is put up the sun will hide away. Obviously you need wind, but that’s no problem in the UK where it’s being launched.

Women love a green guy
Well according to Nuts magazine they do. And not just this Green Guy where the article was reported.

And finally…
With a slim link to the environment as the product has two uses, comes a table which can be taken apart to become a bat and a shield to fight off home intruders. The pictures have to be seen to be believed and are available over at Spulch. What’s next, a footstool that’s also a riot helmet?

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