Thursday, July 22, 2010

Eco Business Cards

Eco-friendly consultants are sure to turn green with envy when they see Andrea Romani’s brilliant Ecological Business Card ecocards
The concept consists of a simple stamp that can be used to print contact information upon virtually any recycled material. The clever concept is economical and not only cuts down on manufacturing costs and energy waste, but also re-uses materials that are already on the road to being tossed away.


It is interesting how many companies that are considered eco-friendly still carry around paper business cards. It’s quite a shame too because the odds are low that most people end up saving that little piece of card stock — if not immediately thrown in the trash or recycled, it could sit in one’s pocket’s for days winding up as a wet pulp ball at the end of a wash cycle. Even if that little contact summary is considered valuable, most likely the recipient inserts the critical info into their Outlook contacts and tosses the card out nonetheless.


Romani’s Ecological Business Card design acknowledges the cost and waste involved in printed business cards and instead focuses on what the card is intended for – marketing. Romani uses a self-inking custom designed stamp that can be applied to any type of appealing scrap paper. Self-inking stamps are an easy and affordable option since they are available at just about any business supply store and range around 15 dollars each. Even the industrial graphic nature of the stamp itself is helpful in promoting a minimalist image.

The process involved in creating a business card not only requires hiring and paying for attention-grabbing graphic work, but also includes releasing the designs for manufacturing. Although the stamp as a product certainly has production costs of its own, the production process for printed card stock uses a tremendous amount of ink, paper and electricity. Sometimes even shipping costs are incorporated — depending on the location of the card manufacturer in respect to the purchaser. With a world full of small, necessary, yet generally useless tiny pieces of paper, it’s smart to just use what already exists.

Learn more at Ads of the World


Friday, July 16, 2010

Wind Powered Composter

KinetiCompost is a wind powered rotating composter made of 100% recycled material. Designed by Ben Bangser, an industrial design and sculpture double major at Syracuse University, KinetiCompost works by using a geared down wind turbine to slowly turn the compost barrel. Just put your compostable materials in KinetiCompost’s rotomolded barrel, pop on the lid, and let mother nature do what she would normally do – only about 10X faster!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Fan Innovation

The Air Multiplier from Dyson will blow you away!
As the world’s climate heats up, will we continue to use more energy-intensive air conditioning, generating ever-higher greenhouse gas emissions? It’s a valid question considering that the average American household already uses 2,822 kWh of energy each year to cool off, spending $276 a year. The answer will likely depend on building efficiency measures and new cooling technologies like these efficient new bladeless fans announced by Sir James Dyson, of vacuum fame. 
The fan works like a jet engine, sucking air into a cyclone accelerator that amplifies it 15 to 18 times before blowing it out over an airfoil-shaped ramp. As that air is blown out, more is sucked in from behind. With no blades, the airstream is smooth and the contraption is easy to clean. The fan runs on a modest 40-watt motor. Dyson’s fans may not be the final answer to staying cool in a warming climate, but they’re certainly a step in the right direction.
via Dyson