The Need/Want Glass from Alesina Design is  designed to bring this topic to mind when you have a glass of water in your hands. I think it might have more of an impact if this concept was implemented on a larger scale like your house, our dishwasher but for the most part the Need/Want Glass conveys the point. (via This is colossal)

What other creative examples have you seen that help people realize that water is a valuable resource?

The simple but yet sleek design allows urban gardeners to work side by side while maximizing minmal space.

Personally I think this a slick design for an ugly problem. The biodegradable skin is mad to last 5 years and if the car owner wants to keep the car longer they can by a new skin at a relatively cheep price.

What are your thoughts? Have you seen something like this before?

For some reason these things remind me of the night time scenes of Avatar, might be geeky but it does. Gionata Gatto and Mike Thompson unveiled these new pendant lamps at the Milan Furniture Fair. These lamps absorb light energy from ambient sources. I woldn’t mind trying one of these puppies our for myself.

Source: Gorgeous Energy-Absorbing Trap Light Never Needs to be Plugged In | Inhabitat – Green Design Will Save the World

The debate has been in the news and among greenies alike, Solar or Wind? Now you don’t have to choose, scientist from University of Liverpool have created solar blades for wind turbines.

This effort lead by Dr. Joe King, was aimed to silence wind critics that wind turbines are not efficient because they only create energy when the wind is blowing. In my point of view Joe has done this ease and style.

Since the prototype is located in the UK the scientists are still debating on where to install the solar wind turbine to start testing and refining. Right now they’re looking at three different places in the UK – Spain, Morocco and Italy. Across the pond the southwestern states should look into this technology where places like Palm Springs can leverage the power of wind and the sun.

What really stands out to me is the amount of rejected energy (in grey)  there is in the U.S. It pretty interesting to see how and where we could improve our energy consumption just through energy efficiency.

Anyways the visualization is highly complex and very deep take a look for yourself.

“…our data visualization teams have put their design skills to work on GE’s new “ecomagination Challenge: Powering the Grid.” Backed by $200 million in venture capital funds from GE and its partners, the goal is to find the best ideas from researchers and entrepreneurs that will help accelerate the adoption of smart grid technologies. But it can be a daunting task plowing through the more than 1,400 submissions to-date (and growing). So, as you can see in the data visualization, the entries have been represented graphically, with the circles representing clickable ideas.”

Reports are just coming in that another rig has blown up in the gulf of Mexico.

GRAND ISLE, La. – An offshore petroleum platform exploded and was burning Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico about 80 miles off the Louisiana coast, west of the site where BP’s undersea well spilled after a rig explosion.

The Coast Guard says no one was killed in the blast, which was reported by a commercial helicopter flying over the area Thursday morning. All 13 people aboard the rig have been accounted for, with one injury. The extent of the injury was not known.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau said some of those from the rig were spotted in emergency flotation devices.

Seven Coast Guard helicopters, two airplanes and three cutters were dispatched to the scene from New Orleans, Houston and Mobile, Ala., Ben-Iesau said. She said authorities do not know whether oil was leaking from the site.

The Department of Homeland Security said the platform was in about 2,500 feet of water and owned by Mariner Energy of Houston. DHS said it was not producing oil and gas.

The Deepwater Horizon rig leased by BP was in about 5,000 feet of water when it exploded and sank in April, killing 11 workers and triggering a leak of about 206 million gallons of oil.

As some cities are struggling to  supply antiquate and consistent energy to the community the Sonnenschiff solar city in Freiburg, Germany is producing 4 times the amount of energy that they consume. As many projects in the states brage about thier new-zero impact this community is taking sustainable living to a whole new elver. Sonnenschiff applied a very simple strategy when designing their city by implementing solar panels through the city. It’s almost obvious but in most cases solar is almost an after thought when cities in the states are built. Incorporating renewable energy sources into the design stage of a city or a home needs to become more of a standardized practice.

The city is mixed of commercial and residential buildings designed around sustainability and renewable energy. The design are relatively simplistic however, they are highly functional in their layout, availability for green space and optimal positioning of solar arrays allowing the city to supply more energy than they need.