Trashing Batteries for Brighter Sidewalks

 

We all know alkaline batteries are really bad for the environment if you don’t dispose of them properly. The right thing to do is send them to special recycling centers but hundreds of tons end up in landfills where their toxic innards seep into the earth. Perhaps a good solution is the Energy Seed, an LED lamp post powered by trashed alkaline batteries.

The idea is to encourage people to throw their batteries away into the Energy Seed. There’s a slot for nearly every size battery. The unit combines any left over juice from all the batteries to power a super efficient LED ring.

Of course once the bins are full, we’re left with the same original problem. Somebody has to collect all those spent batteries and recycle them.

Designer: Sungwoo Park & Sunhee Kim

 

More Info here!

The Oatmeal =)

fernando brizio: furo + senta for materia

‘furo’ by fernando brizio for materia*
agglomerated cork, colored pencils
∅ 255 x H286mm
image courtesy of materia*
in a collaboration that started more than a year ago, portuguese cork manufacturing company amorim,
approached experimentadesign, whose flagship venture is the EXD biennale in lisbon, to develop a project by selecting
designers to bridge the gap between the raw natural material and user, by creating objects for everyday use.
experimentadesign chose ten portuguese and international designers and studios based on their creative processes,
paying close attention to their functionality and relevance, with an understanding of user dynamics.

entitled materia*, the result is a collection of objects that investigate the potential of cork, emphasizing its versatility,
first presented to the public on the occasion of milan design week 2011.

portuguese designer fernando brizio has developed ‘furo’ and ‘senta’ for the collection, both of which explore the idea
of a main cork centrepiece whose purpose and function is enhanced through the use of ‘legs’.

More Info Here!

‘flexbook’ by hao-chun huang – ‘FUJITSU design award 2011’ shortlisted entry

‘flexbook’, a concept device by taiwan-based designer hao-chun huang, offers portable, multi-use computing
within a single device. the concept was shortlisted from over 1000 designs in our recent designboom competition
‘a life with future computing‘, organized in collaboration with FUJITSU.

with a waterproof keypad and 21:9 screen, ‘flexbook’ is designed for portability and range of use among the constantly connected.
featuring a flexible structure with a center joint, the laptop can be folded into a range of configurations, while a 180-degree
swivel touch screen offers different configurations of viewing,  including a laptop and tablet mode.

the design lets the device’s shape reflect its functionality: folded as a book for reading e-books, a tablet for browsing
newspapers or in crowded environments, or a laptop when preparing typed documents. ‘flexbook’ is also easily
portable, serving as its own case when folded it in half.

the device is further customizable through the availability of easily swappable rubber skins, which huang envisions
available for purchase online where users can select their own colours and patterned textures.

MORE INFO HERE

designwright: buro for lexon

Invited to develop a single or range of products to celebrate the design manufacturer lexon‘s 20th anniversary,
london-based designwright (adrian and jeremy wright) developed ‘buro’ a series of desk tools.
the set of seven accessories: tape dispenser, calculator, hub, stapler, hole punch, calendar and magnifying lens,
are reminiscent of wooden building blocks or a collection of miniature books, unifying the items commonly found
on a desk into a coherent and practical range. designed to look appealing both individually and as a set,
the simple block forms of the ‘buro’ series can be stored in any orientation, whether neatly aligned or stacked on top another
addressing the problem of clutter which often occurs with all these tools on our desk.
available in three color gradients of either green, grey or purple, the pieces are made from ABS with a rubberized finish.

More Info here!

1000 Awesome things: A must See Blog, a must buy book

This a new kind of post. It’s a post about this amazing blog I found surfing the net a few moths ago. Im not going to talk much about it, cause I want you to see it for yourself.

But I can say to you that Neil Pasricha was it’s creator. Starting from really tiny things that he enjoyed in life, he created a whole world of things that happen to everyone in the world. The awesomest and simplest things.

1000 Awesome Things is just a time-ticking countdown of 1000 awesome things. Launched June, 2008 and updated every weekday.

Some thoughts and reviews from around the horn:

“1000 Awesome Things might be described as optimism for the rest of us. Sunny without being saccharine, it’s a countdown of life’s little joys that reads like a snappy Jerry Seinfeld monologue by way of Maria Von Trapp.” – The Vancouver Sun

“Neil Pasricha is the guru of small joys.” – The Toronto Star

“None of what Pasricha shares is philosophical or heady. Similarly, his style is not a pontification on a single universal truth on how to live a more positive life, regardless of one’s personal circumstances. It’s absent of prescriptions that assume only changing the way we think will result in better outcomes. He merely brings to life — and reminds us about — the small occasions that will likely have you saying to yourself, “yes, that is so right. Why didn’t I think of that?” Pasricha doesn’t mandate a way to live well. In many simple ways, he just reminds us that we already do.” – The Huffington Post

“Pasricha finds fun in frustrations, going from grit to wit.” – Publisher’s Weekly

interactive digital books by push pop press

newly founded push pop press  has just released the first digital book created
through its innovative publishing platform, currently in beta with select clients.
backed by rodale inc. and featuring additional content by melcher media, the ‘our choice ‘ application
is an interactive digital version of al gore’s book ‘our choice: a plan to solve the climate crisis’.

available for the iPad and iPhone, the nineteen-chapter book expands the possibilities of the digital form,
combining truly interactive and multimedia content with an intuitive touch interface.
lacking any kind of control panel, navigation through the book is controlled exclusively
through common touch gestures, scrolling, pinching, and moving onscreen content.

Al Gore’s Our Choice Guided Tour from Push Pop Press on Vimeo.

Apple