An average family uses 4,000 kWh of energy a year. Low Impact Man (Steven Vroman from Gent, Belgium) makes his families ecological footprint as small as possible: 1kWh a day. He bought a new fridge, washes full loads and threw out the micro-wave and iron. A cell phone, stereo, laptops and even a beamer are still cherished by Low Impact Man. Now he needs an appropriate superhero suit.
Sure you needed that shirt… Clothes that never leave your closet can be taken to Upperwarehouse where you’ll swap for other classy clothing. ‘It’s a social thing, saves money and your misfits don’t fly to Africa to be sorted and sent to Eastern countries.’ WATT sustainable dance club hosts a party to which you wear your newly exchanged dress. You might meet the ex-owner!
Light and sound can make or break your concentration. Leafs, the adaptive ceiling lighting by Hugo Nagtzaam, adjusts to our work. Focus? Leafs nearby turn to light your desk as others dim. Discussion? The whole ceiling becomes vibrant. ‘The lights watch their neigbour and do or do not adjust to the group, simular to the co-workers beneath.’
Energy saving lamps do not have a nice form, nor give a nice light. ‘It’s just a tube that you can form in any desired way, but nobody uses it,’ says designer Lotte van Laatum to new found friend Jeanne Tan, ‘All these disadvantages have been solved’. Watt’s new shows Lotte’s preferred shape including shade. Now let other designers use this freedom of form.
What happened to the fuel cell powered motorbike ENV? The worlds first production bike that rides on hydrogen by British Intelligent Energy was a feast for the eye and lungs. Last words were about certification in the UK, but now all sites are down. Did a silent engine die a silent death?
Although the products of Ikea are well thought through, after some time the design often falls out of style. Ikea hacking gives Billy and Hakan a second life by adding some style of your own. Platform21 and my favorite commissioner Bright magazine are holding a contest for the best flatpack hack. Competition is high! Winner will showcase on the Montreal Design Biennale.
It’s a luminous idea to power a light by using mud. ‘To focus on the technique, the lamp is transparant and has the form of a simple householdlamp,’ says Design Academy graduate Marieke Staps. Although a splash of water a month is enough, the soil lamp is not the sustainable energy we’re waiting for. Earth batteries use copper and zink.
Richard Hutten was asked by museum Boijmans van Beuningen to redo their offices. He took a look and met the horror of all architects: modular panel ceiling. To loose the dull and bring the outside in, he made silicon leaves that stick with a magnet, that later featured in Milan. You can’t let leaves be: “They turn up even in my own house.” Buy 50 for €25 at Gispen .
60 trucks a day dump their shit in the power plant Delta that opened yesterday. This one third of daily chickenshit produce in The Netherlands powers 90.000 households, or 270 million kWh. This makes the centra the worlds largest biomass plant. The process produces just as much carbon dioxide as distributing the manure in the field, so you could call it CO2 neutral energy.
Better than cotton, nettles use less water and pesticides. Although the Dutch company Brennels sells fashion online made from bamboo, wood and corn, nettle fabric is their biggest find. The weeds are grown in a 120 acre polder, where everyone is free to feel that the fashion feels soft and does not sting.
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