IBM Researchers Develop Highly Recyclable, Biodegradable Plastic. A mind-boggling 13 billion plastic bottles are tossed in the trash or recycled each year. And while most plastics are recyclable, the resulting materials are limited to "second generation reuse" only--so anything made out of recycled plastics has to be thrown on the landfill pile at the end of it's life. But now researchers from IBM and Stanford say they have solved the problem by developing plastics that can be continuously recycled.
The discovery, published in the American Chemical Society journal Macromolecules, involves the use of organic catalysts instead of the metal oxide and metal hydroxide catalysts typically used in plastic-forming polymers. While metal catalysts degrade the polymers so that the plastic becomes increasingly unrecyclable over time, the organic catalysts stay strong. Another advantage: the organic catalysts are cheap. And eventually, researchers believe that the new, green plastic could be used as drug delivery devices for cancer patients. Parking Canopy Made of Recycled Plastic Bottles Colossal. Sierra Norte de Puebla 4 by ~Montanismo on deviantART. Tristram Stuart: The global food waste scandal.
Birke Baehr: What's wrong with our food system. Knivsflå - Syv Søstre - Geirangerfjorden. Venezuela's Amuay Refinery Under Scrutiny After Deadly Blaze. Videos. Video | Terra Sacra National Geographic en Español. David Guetta - The Alphabeat. Nature by Numbers. Promocional Chignahuapan 2012. Puebla. Beer in the bike lane. 15 houseplants for improving indoor air quality. 10 green fund-raising races in 2010. Bizarre lakes: Boiling Lake. 16 simple ways to reduce plastic waste: Plastic bottles. The 9 nastiest things in your supermarket. 1. "Pink slime" The gross factor: The meat industry likes to call it "lean finely textured beef," but after ABC News ran a story on it, the public just called it what it looks like — pink slime, a mixture of waste meat and fatty parts from higher-quality cuts of beef that have had the fat mechanically removed.
Afterwards, it's treated with ammonia gas to kill Salmonella and E. coli bacteria. Then it gets added to ground beef as a filler. Food microbiologists and meat producers insist that it's safe, but given the public's reaction to the ABC News report, there's an "ick" factor we just can't overcome. The primary producer of pink slime just announced that it's closing three of the plants where pink slime is produced, and Kroger, Safeway, Food Lion, McDonald's and the National School Lunch Program (among others) have all pulled it from their product offerings. 2.
The gross factor: Hankering for a burger? 3. 4. Eat this instead: Look for domestic shrimp. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10 green retro activities making a comeback: Back to basics. Salamander is world's first photosynthetic vertebrate. Scientists have long believed that only plants, algae, some bacteria, and a few invertebrates were capable of taking advantage of photosynthesis, which converts sunlight directly into energy. But now, for the first time, a photosynthetic vertebrate has been found, according to Nature.
The incredible creature is none other than the fairly common spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum). Ironically, the spotted salamander is not a new species for researchers, and it has long been known that the animal's embryos share a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae. That relationship, however, was always assumed to be an outside one, whereby the algae and the salamander work separately toward a fair exchange of resources. It turns out that researchers just weren't looking closely enough. That color usually indicates the presence of chlorophyll, which is the light-absorbing green pigment that makes photosynthesis possible.
15 living fossils: Red panda. 10 ways to repurpose newspaper at home. It seems that these days, newspapers are heading in the same direction as our old friend the dodo. Circulation of all things printed has plummeted. More and more people are turning to the Internet as their source of “culture” and current events (oh, hello there!). Still, there’s something sort of precious about real, in-hand, black and gray newsprint; a graphic puzzle of words on that soft, smudgy paper.
I can’t imagine that it will ever completely disappear. So there will always be newspapers, and thus there will always be need for green disposal of said newspapers. These ideas are actually creative and actually useful and may actually save you some money by replacing something you already use, making them actually eco-friendly. 1. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Or you can just go old school: Fold a paper hat. The Scale of the Universe 2 — Other Languages. Welcome to SaiFou – Inspiring images. 25 Most Beautiful Animals Photography on StumbleUpon. I think the most beautiful pictures are those made in nature. Nothing compares with the expression of a tiger, the majestic flight of an eagle or the strength of a white bear. Below you can see 25 the most beautiful animal photographs that will capture your attention, and were stumbled on StumbleUpon. Ficha General de Área. Clean The World Recycles Soap And Saves Lives. That tiny sliver of soap you leave behind in your hotel shower can cut disease in the developing world by 60%. That tiny sliver of soap you leave behind in your hotel shower can cut disease in the developing world by 60%.
You probably haven’t spent much time thinking about what happens to complimentary hotel room soap and shampoo once you’ve used it. But Clean The World has. The Orlando based non-profit was created by Shawn Seipler and Paul Till in 2009 in an effort to reduce the waste created by discarded soap and sha mpoo products. But an even loftier goal emerged. By sterilizing and redistributing the recycled soap, they also helped to prevent millions of deaths caused by illnesses related to poor hygiene. Yep, that’s right, simple hand washing is the best defense against disease. Basic hygiene, like hand washing with soap, can significantly reduce the impact of two fatal diseases, acute respiratory infection and diarrheal disease. But Clean The World doesn’t stop there. Three Unique Hotels Made from Recycled Material. 10 Ways to Reuse an Old T-Shirt. Eco-Friendly DIY: Egg Shell Candles.
If you remember our Top 10 Reuse Ideas on Flickr story, you probably recognize this darling candle craft made from old egg shells. Perfect for baby and bridal shower gifts, this clever reuse project repurposes your food waste (along with un-burnable candles from around the house) into a useful and attractive accent that’s sure to draw some attention. Want to give it a try at home? Biologist, crafter and reuse-aholic Thoey (aka EcoMonster) will show you how it’s done. Homepage Image: Thoey/EcoMonster Photo: Thoey/EcoMonster You’ll only need a few basic materials (and the egg shells left over from this morning’s omelette) to complete this adorable candle craft. Supplies Needed: a. B. C. D. E. F. You can probably find most of these materials around the house, but you may want to head to your local crafts store for the candle thermometer and melting pour pot – which will come in handy for candle crafts for years to come.
10 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Buy Reusable. 10 Funky Ways to Reuse Old Magazines. Tip #9: Use the tutorial from Fidgety Fingers to create funky coasters made from magazines. Photo: Fidgety Fingers 9. Colorful coasters Store-bought coasters can be so generic. 10. Ever thought you could create a trash can out of recycled materials? You may also like… Pictures of the day: 3 September 2012. The £10 cardboard bicycle you CAN ride in the rain.
By Mark Prigg Published: 11:15 GMT, 17 September 2012 | Updated: 15:34 GMT, 17 September 2012 A bicycle made of cardboard may seem an unlikely form of transport - but one inventor claims to have developed one that costs just £10 to make. By folding over sheets to double their strength, he claims the machine is durable, waterproof and costs very little to produce. Everything apart from the brakes and chain is cardboard - including the seat. Scroll down for video The £10 cardboard bicycle that could revolutionise third world transport. It is covered with a waterproof resin then painted. That means it could become a cheap form of transport in rural Third World regions as well as being the ultimate green machine. Israeli-based engineer Izhar Gafni now has financial backing from a company called ERB which is an active partner in managing all the business and financial aspects of this project.
Izhar got the idea after he heard about a man who had built a cardboard canoe. 'Not a bicycle.' Transparency - Walk This Way. More Infographics on Good. Design Daily: How to Turn Empty Beer Cans into a Roof - Environment. As emblems of cultural capital, neither aluminum siding nor Natural Light holds much of a premium. But when, in the hands of the biotech worker and chicken-keeper Bill Robb, a collection of empty Natty Lights transforms into a sheet of siding, well, that's a thing of beauty. Check out Robb's step-by-step tutorial on how to repurpose aluminum cans as a roof for a chicken coop. It strikes that perfect balance of DYI initiative, sustainability, and appreciation for reasonably priced domestic beer. Robb notes in the comments that where he lives in Kansas doesn't do much in terms of incentivizing recycling, but I would argue that even if his hometown got up to speed, this sort of upcycling is a far better use of resources.
Image via Core77. Welcome to Earth [HD] The Aurora. 527051_450060675034010_2006709596_n.jpg (704×720) Next In Sustainable Living: Beer Bottle Houses. As people move to more sustainable ways of living, some innovative architects have begun using recycled materials to create more environmentally-friendly habitats. Incredibly, beer bottles have become a primary means of this style of building, with far-ranging benefits including cheap construction, recycling and up-cycling, pollution reduction, natural solar power lighting, and natural insulation. The environment will definitely thank these clever builders for these eco-friendly beer bottle houses: Beer Bottle Houses: Buddhist Temple in Khun Han, Thailand Though drinking is considered a sin in Buddhism, 1.5 million green Heineken and brown Chang beer bottles went into the construction of the Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew temple.
Located in the city of Khun Han, in north-east Thailand, the complex has been decades in the making. Enlisting the help of local authorities and residents, monks started collecting bottles in 1984. The House Made Of 6 Million Beer Bottles. 1ℓimit – Faucet Design by Yonggu Do, Dohyung Kim & Sewon Oh. One Liter Limited 1ℓimit faucet looks more like an elegant test tube inverted on top of a tap. The glass tube holds exactly one liter of water, sufficient for a quick handwash. The theory being that we waste almost six liters of water and use only one, while washing hands. Once the stored one-liter is used up, you have to turn-off the tap till the next one liter fills up the tube.
A cumbersome rationing process that will hopefully drive home the point of conservation! Designers: Yonggu Do, Dohyung Kim & Sewon Oh. Whale-Shaped Floating Garden Cleans the World's Rivers. Vincent Callebaut, visionary behind the Lilypad and Dragonfly, has created a whale-shaped floating garden designed to drift through the world’s rivers while purifying their waters.
The Physalia is a self-sufficient ecosystem that generates all the power it needs from the sun and works to reduce water pollution through bio-filtration. Callebaut’s designs are certainly fantastical, but it’s a treat to ponder them and hope that someday this type of utopian technology will actually exist. His newest vision is a floating environment filled with gardens and covered by both a green roof and thin-film solar panels. Hydro-turbines generate power from the moving water underneath the boat, thus, all of the boat’s energy is generated from renewable sources. The craft’s exterior features a layer of TiO2, which reacts with ultraviolet rays to clean the water. Physalia was inspired by the “Physalia physalis” jellyfish, whose name translates roughly to “Water Bubble” . + Vincent Callebaut Via Freshome. How To Craft a Table Using Old Magazines. If there's anything we have too many of in our apartment, it's magazines and plants. So we solved the problem by re-purposing six magazines (and that's all you need—no glue or scissors required!)
Into this plant stand. It took about ten minutes. Here's how: We were inspired by a project done by our friend Erica. She has the coolest job of anyone we know: she crafts and does the store design for Anthropologie. The concept is similar to cardboard furniture. What You Need MaterialsOld magazines. Instructions 1 Pull out any subscription cards from inside the magazine. Old Red Goes Green: Recycled Wall Brick Built to Save Water. 7 Weird Endangered Species Only a Mother Could Love. The Star Mountain by *centrifuge on deviantART. Alchichica,Puebla by ~mahuistic on deviantART. Awakening by ~dEivIDmx on deviantART. Chignahuapan Puebla by *aladecuervo on deviantART. Pico De Orizaba by ~Fedelrayo on deviantART. Recorrido Atlixcayotl II by *mimictrash on deviantART. The stream II by ~RoblRessai on deviantART. Sierra Norte de Puebla 51 by ~Montanismo on deviantART.
Sierra by ~HERNZ4795 on deviantART. Paisage de Puebla by ~dessoville on deviantART. 6230833329_abba7289da.jpg (500×333) KelpsunburstAug29-12 | Flickr: Intercambio de fotos.