Very soon, the facial exfoliators and body scrubs could come sans the little beads that you usually find in them, or at least, the plastic beads. Early this week, Illinois became the first jurisdiction in the world to ban those beastly little plastic spheres from personal care products and we applaud the move! The ban has been put in place to raise awareness in regards to the dangers little plastics pose to nature.
Coca-Cola is no stranger to green endeavors. The soda giant has proven its green mettle yet again with a one-of-a-kind refrigerator that we’d like to see every time we reach for a Coke at a store! Called the Bio Cooler, this refrigerator uses no electricity or batteries to cool soda cans. Instead, the little dispenser uses ancient technology reliant on evaporation and mirrors that work together to cool drinks! And that’s not all. This fantastic technology works better as the temperature outdoors gets hotter.
We’ve always been flag bearers of bicycles, given the fact that these two-wheeled contraptions are the most energy-efficient and eco-friendly way of travelling in contemporary times. The French authorities agree with this and have decided to promote bicycle use in France using a simple but effective incentive. The nation has literally decided to start paying people to bike to work!
“Let the roads be packed with traffic. Hell, we’ll travel to work on water!” That’s probably what a massive chunk of Sweden’s population is currently thinking right at this moment, which is why researchers at Stockholm’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology have developed the Waterway 365 project. Simply put, the project involves the use of “water buses”, tram-like vehicles capable of traveling on water. The water buses will be used to transport people and bicycles around Stockholm’s waterways, helping folks stay away from gridlocked streets for a much quicker and energy-efficient means of transport.
How often do you come across a poem that’s dedicated to air that literally helps keep the air clean too? Not once in a blue-moon, right? Well, that’s exactly why University of Sheffield’s recent initiative has left us pleasantly surprised. The University roped in a poem written by English poet Simon Armitage called “In Praise of Air”. The poem was then printed on a 33-foot by 66-foot piece of material coated with titanium dioxide and hung onto the façade of the University building. The material now absorbs pollution created by nearly 20 cars!
Swedish furniture giant IKEA has made headlines before with some of its green as a bean initiatives. The company has now decided to take a step further and has added to its catalogues an energy-efficient and environment-friendly means to transport, the swanky new FOLKVÄNLIG electric bike! The bike’s name is a combination of the Swedish words for people (“folk”) and friendly (“vänlig”) and this bike is just what its name claims it to be. Powered by a 250-watt electric motor and boasting a pedal-assisted range of 37 to 45 miles, the FOLKVÄNLIG uses a Shimano transmission with six different driving modes.
One of the quickest and most environment-friendly ways to get people around in an urban environment is the introduction of low-emission buses. Europe’s largest hydrogen fuel cell bus fleet will finally do the same after being officially launched at the All-Energy 2014 exhibition and conference in Aberdeen this week. Called the Aberdeen Hydrogen Bus Project, initiative will be the largest single demonstration of hydrogen fuel cell buses in Europe!
Crowned as the biggest electric car sharing program in the United States, Blueindy has finally moved into Indianapolis too! Soon, the folks of Indiana will welcome home a fleet of four-seater cars to drive around the city of Indianapolis. The move will help people get around in an energy-efficient and non-polluting way. French billionaire and EV entrepreneur Vincent Bolloré was joined by Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard at the opening of the Blueindy service.
India has recently won the appreciation of the world after successfully conducting the biggest democratic elections. The soon to be Prime Minister of the Southern Asian nation, Mr. Narendra Modi, has won the favor of the public not only for his knack at developing cities but also for his green ideologies. Narendra Taneja, convener of the energy division at Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party said, “We look upon solar as having the potential to completely transform the way we look at the energy space.”
Potable drinking water is a luxury for a substantial number of people around the world. It comes as no surprise that the development of technology to harvest water from alternative sources is essential. One of these developments is this innovation by the researchers at MIT’s School of Engineering in collaboration with their colleagues at the Pontifical University of Chile in Santiago. Together, the team has come up with the means to increase water harvesting at the Atacama Desert by using system of mesh structures to collect fog and convert it into potable drinking water.
