Opportunity Green’s 2009 conference on sustainable business kicks off this weekend. Neu Black is proud to support Karen and Mike in this most noble of causes. We all strive to live with less negative impact. Opportunity Green gives us insight into how we might do business in this way. This years line up of speakers includes Julie Gilhart of Barney’s New York and Alexis Madrigal of Wired.com just to name of few. Take this last Opportunity to grab your tickets here.
The BMW Lovos (Lifestyle of Voluntary Simplicity) concept is an interesting solution to how to integrate solar technology into a car body. The scale shaped cell panels can lift and turn to adjust themselves to the angle of the sun and absorb the most reflective light. The “scales” can also affect handling by lying flat for maximum aerodynamic performance or lifting to create airfoil braking and stabilization. Read the rest of this entry »
This seems like a really interesting idea for those who prefer a bit more nature in their back yard. Following many of the eco-friendly trends in landscape design, this new style of chemical free pool is starting to catch on. While we certainly don’t mind the lack of irritated eyes, green hair, dry skin, and weird chemical smell inherent in chlorine pools, we are sold by the look of a pool lined with cobble stones and a cool inviting jade color. The big question now is, where’s the jacuzzi version of this?
We were a little skeptical of how this works, but we found a nice diagram you can see after the jump.
You may have remembered last year when we wrote about Tata motors showing the $2,500 Nano hailed as the new car of the people. Tata has just announced that the production version of the Nano will be available for purchase in India April 9, 2009 and has been squeezed even further down to a base price of $2,000.
What do we like about the Nano? We think that the most impressive feature (aside from the rock bottom price) is that it gets a reported 50 mpg. While this is not a hybrid engine, if it consumes less gas and emits less pollution we’re all for it. On top of that, the Nano is barely 10 feet long, which has distinct advantages when trying to park in a crowded urban area like Los Angeles.
The downside of course is, the Nano is a funny looking little car with tiny rollerskate like wheels. The top speed on the Nano is 65 mph, which means your going to get honked at even in the slow lane. There’s the obvious safety concerns that a small car has over getting hit by a large truck, but millions of Prius drivers seem safe enough so far.
The Tata Nano will be released in it’s home country of India first and is expected to do very well by Indian standards. We respect the concept as your faithful Editor-In-Chief’s first car was a ‘73 VW Beetle which served millions of people around the world well for many decades. We think in fact, that the destruction of the the US auto industry has had a lot to do with building cars that are often half the price of the owners pretax income, became increasing difficult for the average owner to fix without expensive computer based tools, and broke down more and more frequently. It’s one thing if your car is cheap and when it breaks down you can fix it yourself (which we often did with the VW with $50 and some duct tape). It’s another when it’s a $20-$40K item that breaks down and you have to shell out another $500-$1000 every time it breaks down, which happens every 4-6 months.
Tesla officially unveiled it’s new Model S electric luxury sedan yesterday and it has all the makings of a winner. This new model scheduled to be released in 2011 is set to compete against hybrid and EV offerings from Mercedes Benz and BMW with an MSRP of $49,900 after a $7,500 tax credit. The Model S is slated to be available with 160, 220, and 300 mile battery packs, but still no word on how pricing varies between options.
Provided this edition is actually released as scheduled and is widely available (a problem for Tesla’s ground breaking Roadster) the model S is certainly competitive. The Model S gets high marks for looks and seeing as it’s coming down the line from the Roadster we would expect it to handle well.
Where we think the Model S may shine most brightly is the “Environmentalist Status Symbol” area. While driving a Prius announces to your friends “I’m putting my money where my mouth is when it comes to saving the planet”, it looks like you’re doing it in your mom’s car. If the Prius didn’t have a hybrid engine, it would just be a slightly more sophisticated Yaris.
Honda has experienced the flip side of this problem with the Accord hybrid, because it looks just like a regular Accord. With out the status symbol value it’s hard to justify the extra cost (which currently out weighs the gas savings) unless you just like the personal satisfaction of saving the planet anonymously.
In would could be a step forward on a road to a greener future Better Place is looking to get electric cars out on the road sooner rather than later, and according to NY Times columnist David Pogue, it’s a plan that might be just crazy enough to work.
If you want the low down, Better Place want to sell you a car, and lease you a battery that you can charge up at home or trade out at charging station. The idea is you own your car, but but your pay for the miles like you’d buy minutes on a cell phone plan. According to Better Place CEO Shai Agassi in fact, the company will subsidize the price of the car if you buy enough miles in the same way that cell phone companies subsidize handsets.
So far the company has signed on it’s home country of Isreal, as well as Denmark, Ontario CA, and Hawaii, with San Francisco CA and a few other Bay Area counties on the way. The company has it’s share of critics as you can read on Tree Hugger and the Huffington Post. We think that while this may not be the answer it is an answer to the myriad of problems with both how we use energy, and how we move from one place to another.
As we have mentioned before, cars haven’t changed to tremedously since Henry Ford released the Model T, and we applaud anyone doing anything to re-think how a works or what a car is. As for the would we buy one question goes, we think there are three big issues to address in no particular order.
1. Is the price of the car and the miles more, less, or roughly equivalent compared to a gas powered model?
2. What happens if I forget to charge it and I run out of power? Will AAA come bring me a battery to swap?
3. What’s the quality of the car like? Is it reliable? Is it fun to drive? Aside from the feel good factor of saving the planet, will I love this car?
Drawing inspiration from the materials and textures of handmade pieces our great grandparents might have owned, Environment is bringing home furnishing back to it’s roots. Through decades of increased manufacturing productivity and diminishing profits, the quality of materials used in almost all of today’s furniture design is poor at best. Even pieces from the higher end retailers are assembled particleboard puzzles, shipped flat for efficiency. Environment is a refreshing return to quality construction with rustic natural textures and simple contemporary design.
The ‘On Route’ transportation system aims to transform the way people and cargo move through todays urban cities. By transporting freight and passengers within one zero emission vehicle, the city of London could directly address both of it’s greatest air quality issues. The zero emission propulsion system is designed to accommodate either a battery fuel-cell system or a small bio-gas generator to maintain fully charged batteries. In wheel electric motors allow the bus to maneuver in and out of bus stops with ease. Created as an entry into the New Bus for London contest held in Summer of ‘08, concept originator Hugh Frost hopes to have the design transcend it’s original purpose and address the larger issues faced by modern transportation systems. This is an innovative step in the right direction, but only time will tell if this system will be fully realized as a solution to the metropolitan emission reduction.
As many of us are now searching for a few finishing touches to our holiday shopping, I thought I’d add a few suggestions from our local reserve. Check back for coverage of our favorite local boutiques and the places we’ll be shopping this holiday.
Since it opened in mid 2006, Regeneration has been a staple in Eagle Rock (Los Angeles). This boutique was focusing on eco-friendly goods at a time when many contested the validity of global warming. “What really makes the store work is that most people find things that they really want, and the eco-friendly aspect is a bonus. There’s also so many items that have a story behind them. Customers have said it’s like browsing in a museum. I really like that aspect, and look for interesting things, particularly items that aren’t mass produced,” says Owner Kelly Witmer.
It’s the most basic innovations which can make the largest impact. The LifeStraw costs about $3 USD and will filter about 700 liters of water. That’s a two liter a day for a year. As clean drinking water becomes more scarce, due to decreased snow fall and changing climate, we may come to rely on less than ideal sources for water. It’s comforting to know that these types of products are being developed cost effectively.
While $3 may not be a whole lot here, in most developing nations it’s more than a days work. This is still a small price to pay to ensure that you and your family are safe from water born bacteria and viruses. It kills and removes 99.999% of waterborne bacteria, 99% of waterborne viruses, and removes particles down to 15 microns. This little gadget requires no electrical power to operate and is compact enough to travel with.
