360 DEGREES Weblog

If you live in a place that is more water than land, you obviously know what to make out of waves. Since, you have experienced the thrill of extreme sports such as surfing and waterskiing, it’s probably a good idea to have a little maritime experience with this “Green Samba” personal watercraft (PWC). Developed by by Ohio-based Silveira Group, the Green Samba adds sustainability to the thrill of stirring water sports with its 65mph top speed on a noiseless twin direct drive electric propulsion pods. Fueled by onboard batteries, this zero-emission PWC produces 260bhp without releasing any hydrocarbons. Expected to set for testing later this year, the Silveira Group has plans to customize it for marine research, environmental and other groups with particular needs.

Shoeboxes account for millions of tonnes of waste and sadly, looking at my shoe racks, I’ve probably made a substantial contribution to that. PUMA on the other hand is on a mission to reduce its carbon, energy, water and waste “paw print”, and has decided to do away with the shoebox altogether. It has launched its Clever Little Bag, a single folded sheet of cardboard in a resuable, recyclable PET bag, designed to protect shoes from the time they leave the factory until the customer gets them home.

Whether it’s to shrink their carbon footprint or boost their bank balance, few consumers will dispute the need for decreased energy use. Some steps are relatively easy—switching off lights, or going easy on the climate control. But for real resource management, households need to know exactly how much they’re using. To help them out, companies all over the world are launching smart energy monitoring devices and systems. A few examples we’ve spotted recently:

Promoting shorter showers, Efergy’s Shower Time tracks how much water is used when showering. It comes with a calibration bag to determine how long a specific showerhead takes to run through one liter of water. That number is then saved in the timer’s memory, along with the maximum amount of water someone would like to use. During a shower, the timer indicates how much water has been used so far, and sets off an alarm when it’s time to turn off the tap.

Combining hard data with an appealing interface, the Tendril Vision is a one-stop dashboard for household energy management. It not only lets users review their own current and historical energy consumption, but also that of their neighbourhood. It displays real-time pricing information, alerts users of upcoming price changes, and helps automate routine tasks to circumvent peak load times. Designed by IDEO, the system presents all of this complex information through a simple and elegant interface on a touchscreen display, developed to make energy management part of a household’s daily routine.

Getting kids in on the action, Tio is a light switch ghost that shows children how much energy they’re using. Tio starts off green and happy, and becomes red and angry if lights are left on too long. Information from the light switch is sent to a computer program that allows children and watchful parents to track their lighting use over a period of time. Besides reminding kids to turn off lights, the device is also a playful way of making them aware of the need for energy conservation. The concept was created by Tim Holley, a British designer based in Germany.

Like the colour-changing ghost, the Power Aware cord relies on ambient visual cues to remind consumers of their energy consumption.

If you’re looking for an easy way to make your contribution to saving the planet, then it could be as simple as switching your font to ‘Century Gothic’. University of Wisconsin - Green Bay (UWGB) has rolled out the change this semester, saying it uses 30% less ink than its default font Arial when printed.

The Joos Orange (geddit?) promises to take portable solar charging performance to a new level by delivering up to 30x more power than any solar charger currently on the market. How? Well apparently it uses a sophisticated micro-processor controlled energy management system tied to some Ninja mono-crystalline Silicon Nitride anti-reflective coated solar cells.

It’s waterproof, shockproof, operates in very low light (including under water and in rain) and can store power for years on the internal 5,400 mAh battery. Most importantly – well done guys – the battery is user replaceable after it’s 1000 charge cycles are up. Size is 8×5 inches. Available in June at around $100.00. Sounds delicious.

In line with the “green” theme that everybody is going with nowadays, Onzo has come up with a Smart Energy Kit, that can be placed anywhere in the home (due to it being wireless), and track your home energy usage. With it in place, you’ll be able to better understand and manage your energy use, thanks to a small sensor that directly tracks energy usage and wirelessly sends it to the display unit. It can store up to 10-years worth of energy usage data, and can be hooked up to a computer to upload the data and get more detailed energy saving advance. It tracks the watts used in real time, and even allows you to set goals for your energy consumption.

Made from biodegradable and recyclable plastic, the Aqua Jar attaches to any plastic bottle that has a standard threaded opening making the beverage inside easier to pour thanks to a contoured spout and generous handle. It was created by industrial design lab GR for home accessories company balvi, and while the Aqua Jar doesn’t appear to be on their site just yet, it will supposedly be available in orange, graphite and frost colors.

While the yacht lovers are still drooling over Roman Abramovich’s “Eclipse,” the Monaco-based yacht maker, Wally has quietly gone into bed with the prestigious luxury brand Hermes to give shape to a revolutionary yacht design. WHY Wally-Hermes Yacht has an air of exclusivity to it that you would expect from this rarefied collaboration. This revolutionary yacht is developed with the latest and most advanced sustainable technologies, recycling thermal energy, as well as any organic and inorganic waste without compromising on its luxury aspects. The 38-meter-wide yacht takes the WallyIsland concept forward with dramatic silhouette that comes with a triangular hull shape that doesn’t features a superstructure. The interior of the yacht is fitted with water resistant buffalo leather using the calpinage technique. The luxuries on board include a 25-meter interior swimming pool, three decks and a 36-meter “beach” along the back.

The environmental and ecological advantages are also a strong point of WHY. The yacht is powered using a diesel electric engine and it features a surface of the photovoltaic panels measuring 900 square meters covering the roof and sides of the vessel to provide solar electricity which is sufficient to subsist the power needs of the boat. Different sources of energy are managed by a central computer. The yacht has been tested in Gothenburg, Sweden, in a specialized tank testing facility, to see how it would perform in big seas. This innovative concept was developed by president and CEO of Wally Luca Bassani Antivari, artistic director of Hermes, Pierre-Alexis Dumas and design director of Hermes Gabriele Pezzini.

Changing a lightbulb is rarely an exciting task, unless you’re trying to solve one of those age old questions such as “how many drummers does it take to change a lightbulb?” questions. (The answer is 1, if the drummer brings you a ladder.) So it’s only natural that companies are always trying to make bulbs that last longer and longer. Well now Panasonic is touting a new LED bulb that will last a whopping 19 years.

Can you imagine putting new bulbs in your infant’s room and not having to change them until they’re already in college? What’s even better is that this 60-watt equivalent bulb will only cost around $3 per year (as opposed to around $26 for a standard incandescent bulb) to operate. Even at $40 a pop, these things will definitely pay for themselves in the long-run. Unfortunately they’ve only been announced for Japan, hopefully we’ll be getting them over here before long.

In the midst of overwhelming debate over climate change - an issue that seemingly paralyzes politicians - the Chinese government has announced its intention to construct a 2-gigawatt solar power plant in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia. Mike Ahearn, CEO of the Arizona-based company which will construct the plant, describes the unprecedented project as “an encouraging first step forward toward the mass-scale deployment of solar power worldwide to help mitigate climate change concerns.”

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Thanks Gizmag