This night light has been on my radar for quite awhile now. I bought 5 of them! I've been using them for months in my kitchen and powder room -- and every time someone visits our home, they comment on how nice the lights look (especially at night when the room is very dark). One thing I didn't mention in my first review of these nightlights: their energy efficiency! So here's a little about the SnapPower LED night lights in terms of being eco-friendly ... … [Read more...]
Awesome Recycling Project: Buy an Old Traffic Light and Turn It Into Game Room Décor
Want to go green with a fun recycling project? How about red, yellow, and green? When I was 8 years old, my dad bought me an old traffic light for my birthday. He and I later painted it, fixed it up, and got it working again. It soon became part of my bedroom décor and almost 25 years later still adorns my home. At the time, he bought it for me because I had a love (and still do) for traffic lights. But, beyond being one incredible birthday gift, it also reminds me that municipalities … [Read more...]
Facebook’s Social Energy Efficiency App
Energy efficiency holds huge potential when it comes to being better stewards of the environment and stopping climate change (well, human-caused, extremely rapid and destructive climate change, that is). It could also help us save money. Reportedly, the U.S. could save $700 billions dollars with some energy efficiency improvements. How much time do we spend thinking about energy and these potential savings, though? The average American spends about 6 minutes per year doing so, according to … [Read more...]
7 MORE Cool Solar Power Technologies
Following up on my post last week on 7 cool solar power technologies, here are 7 more cool solar power technologies. 1. Solar-powered Cars: I’m not sure if you’ll ever be able to buy a solar-powered car, but some researchers at Japan’s Tokai University and Panasonic, among others, are trying to make it possible, and there are some pretty wicked solar-powered car races out there, like the World Solar Challenge in Australia (the 2011 race is coming up next month -- October 16-23). 2. … [Read more...]
7 Cool Solar Power Technologies
Solar power is cool, and is very widely supported by the public -- who doesn’t support getting our electricity from the sun? But as solar has developed over the years, more and more interesting solar power technologies have popped up. Here are 7 that I think you’ll find pretty interesting. 1. Solar shingles. Want to 1-up your neighbor who just bought a solar power system? Go with some solar shingles! They aren’t available yet, actually, but mass production is scheduled to begin in 2012. Keep … [Read more...]
Solar Powered 3D Printer and Sun Cutter
These are wicked cool. I don’t know their large-scale usefulness yet, and maybe they’ll never be that useful on a large scale, but they are two of the coolest inventions I’ve seen in a long time -- a 3D solar printer and a low-tech light cutter. The inventor demos both of them in the Sinai Desert of Egypt in the videos below. Solar Sinter — 3D Solar-Powered Printer Industrial designer and inventor Markus Kayser recently created a solar-powered 3D printer, using cutting edge 3D … [Read more...]
Solar Bikinis that Can Power Your iPod, iPhone, & More
What’s hotter than a solar panel bikini? Not much for us clean energy geeks. Truthfully, I have to say that this creation of Brooklynite Andrew Schneider looks a little strange, but it’s also quite a cool and interesting concept. Now, you are probably wondering at this point, is this for real? Can you really create solar power from your bathing suit? Can you actually swim in this thing? The answers: yes, yes, and yes. … [Read more...]
2 Cool Green Gadgets That Help You Save Energy… and Money!
One of the greenest things you can do is be more energy efficient, but that just sounds like a drag or an unsolicited responsibility or something, doesn’t it? There are actually a ton of ways to become much more energy efficient (and technologies to help you do so) that you might actually find some that are cool and fun. Take these 2 gadgets, for example... … [Read more...]
Epic Pedal-Powered Snow Plow is Zero Energy and Back Friendly
The snow has cleared now. But if you're living in a place that’s still getting snow -- or still has it on the ground -- and you need some bike paths or sidewalks or even parts of the roadway plowed (or if you think you might run into a problem with snow next year and want to be prepared early), I just recently discovered a cool DIY pedal-powered snow plow you might be interested in. Check out this video to see it in action: Basically, as you can see, the seat and wheels of an … [Read more...]
Staples Are Out, ‘Stitch’ Your Documents Together With A Staple-Free Stapler
Ever try to shred a pack of documents only to have the metal staple jam up your shredder? Yeah, staples are so 1998. If, like me, you find that staples do little more than get in your way, then why not switch to a stapler that does not use metal staples for your document binding needs? That's right, a staple-free stapler! … [Read more...]
