Green roofs gaining steam
Finally green roofing is starting to take off and REcover Green Roofs LLC is leading the charge.
Here is a video below about them.
…And some Press
Thanks to Ian for this heads up.
Scratching my High Brow itch…
Visiting EjForbes.com is like enjoying a well-made cocktail in an adirondack chair on a lake while conversing about the genealogy of modernity, while listening to Chet Baker, while ironically winking at your friend’s wife, while tasting goat cheese wrapped in bacon, all the while contemplating your next move in backgammon.
That is why I love seeing what E Forbes is going to toss my way. Get in the know here.
Self Inflating Tire
This looks legit, how come I haven’t seen it out on the market yet?
City Logos
This is a fantastic idea. A logo for every city on the planet. Check out the full collection here. The website is open for submissions. Someone please step up and design one for Brooklyn!
Two reasons to listen to students…
While “stumbling” around the internet I found this article about a Teenager who isolated the types of bacteria that break down plastics…
It reminded me of an article I read three years ago…
Color and Social Media
This Flickr- search picture by color thing is legit.
If 1/10 of what this video says is true I am frightened. Social Media is taking over the world, wayyyy too fast.
Shop by Color
Check out Etsy for small homemade gifts for your friends. They have a cool function where you can shop for things by color. Just scroll the mouse over the color bubble you want, click, and all items that color will pop up. Then you can click each for more information.
Have a software startup you want to Hype?
Check out the Spark of Genius Series at Mashable.com.
” Each week day we will cover a promising new startup, as part of a series we’re calling Spark of Genius. Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark, each post showcases a promising new software company, and finds the unique feature that separates it from the competition.”
Just looking out for the little guy…
3 Tea/Coffee companies I can vouch for
1. T.J’s tea is incredibly pure black Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka that tastes really freaking good. My friend T.J started the company with the aim of providing both tea drinkers with the best possible cup of tea and children in Sri Lanka with a better education. Check out T.J’s most recent video below, documenting the progress of the beneficiary school in Sri Lanka.
2. Crop to Cup Coffee is ridiculously good tasting coffee. Having worked for them I can vouch that they are not only a model of transparency, but a great example of how to directly help small farmers. Check out their links page, where you can get well-acquainted with the people who grew their coffee. Love the E. Africa focus.
3. Ajiri Tea, started by a SLU Kenya semester-mate of mine, is baddass in how socially conscious it is. I’ll just let them explain from their website…
“Ajiri Tea was started with the social mission of creating employment for the people of western Kenya and of educating the local orphans. Through the sale of Ajiri Tea, we hope to create a sustainable cycle of community employment and education. Ajiri means “to employ” in Swahili, the national language of Kenya. “
Check out their video here..
WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks has been around for a while, but their recent leak of video footage documenting the killing of civilians and journalists by U.S soldiers in Iraq has helped prove to the world that they can protect their sources.
The journalists that were killed in this footage worked for Reuters, and consequently Reuters has been petitioning to see this footage for the past 3 years. Some inside U.S military sources clearly felt that this needed to be seen sooner than the red-tape of the U.S government would allow and sent it Wikileaks. While not all leaks are this “sensitive”, Wikileaks claims to have published over 1.2 million documents in three years towards the aim of ’ safely getting the truth out.’
From exposing insider trading at J.P Morgan, banned websites in Switzerland and Australia, bank takeovers in the U.K, to corruption in the Kenyan government, wikileaks claims that it has had its fair share of mini-watergates.
Solution to Flying Toilets
To those who have not been to the slums of Nairobi, there is an unfortunate practice (among many) that consists of going the bathroom in a bag, then tying it up and throwing it in the air at night so that it becomes someone else’s problem, otherwise known as a flying toilet.
While public toilets have been put in some places, they have too often become places for drugs, rape, etc. This new product with the unfortunate name PeePoo, is looking to solve not just the issue of flying toilets, but of disease spread by improper sewage disposal around the world. The bag is a self-sanitizing, bio-degradable bag that after-used can be buried and used as fertilizer for your crops. Check out the site here. While this is a “band-aid” solution that doesn’t target the root cause of those living in the slums, it will hopefully help improve the hygiene of some of the most crowded slums in the world.
Re-thinking CO2 Emissions
While reports of dangerous CO2 levels has fueled the race for better hybrid and electric cars, there are MANY other sectors that could use an eco-friendly “re-think”, including……drywall. According to this pie chart (which I found as part of a “TED” talk video), building related emissions accounts for 52% of global CO2 emissions compared to passenger cars at 9%.
While those stats may or may not be true, Eco Rock is freaking awesome. With it’s Cradle-to-Cradle Gold achievement, and Popular Science’s product of the year, it may be the most hype-able thing I’ve found. Too bad I’m not a builder. Check out their site here .
EcoRock uses 80% less energy to produce than gypsum drywall
Naturally cured and dried, EcoRock eliminates the energy-intensive, high-C02 generating calcining and oven-drying found in gypsum drywall production.
EcoRock is made of 80% recycled materials
EcoRock is made using 80% post-industrial recycled waste, including waste from steel and cement plants—with no gypsum.
EcoRock is designed to be fully reutilized at end of life
EcoRock can be used as a pH additive for soils and can be returned to the production of EcoRock and other building materials as a valuable raw material. Unlike gypsum, EcoRock may be safely disposed of in landfills if necessary.
EcoRock is the most mold-resistant and lowest emitting drywall
EcoRock outperforms all other mold resistant drywall by 50%. EcoRock scores the highest ASTM D3273 rating of 10 out of 10, showing zero mold growth over a six week period, (other published tests go only four weeks). No harsh anti-fungal chemicals are used on its surface or within its core.
