10.28.2008
[First published in Spire]
For Sindhu Venkatanarayanan, the earth is her catwalk. The passionate and knowledgeable London-based founder of the online boutique DeviDoll has assembled a selection of super-stylish labels that warrants just as much attention from fashion editors as it does from the Sierra Club. In my opinion, there is no better niche Website focused on this growing arena. Everything is exquisitely tailored and made from eco-friendly fabrics, such as organic cotton, vintage cashmere, soy, Tencel and bamboo. In addition to cute dresses, blazers, tops, jeans and even bustiers, you'll find sassy hats and bags made of re-appropriated or sustainable fabric. Sindhu's real talent is her ability to hone in on and scoop up emerging talent. In Europe, many of the designers are exclusive to DeviDoll, the only European e-retailer specializing in high-end green fashion. Shipment is available globally, in biodegradable packaging, naturally.
Posted by lydia
Category:
design
| eco
| luxury
| shopping
| wearables
Tags: clothing fashion
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10.14.2008
We've seen a lot of different solar chargers for gadgets (including the mother of them all, the solar charging table). Now we're starting to see gadgets that have a solar panel built in.
Crave reports that later this year, Singapore-based company Shiro will release a 16GB MP3 player featuring a 1.8-inch color display, FM tuner, and solar panel which recharges the device fully within four hours, sun permitting (which it often is in Singapore - it has to be the hottest place I've ever been to!).
It's called the SQ and there are no price details yet.
Posted by Diane
Category:
devices
| eco
| portable media
Tags: solar power
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09.29.2008
After the word “Internet”, the word “recycle” is perhaps the most popular one in the geek world. It's ironic, therefore, that with technologies getting outdated so rapidly, recycling is possibly the most tricky to implement among this very same group of people. I believe that the numero uno step to efficient recycling here is perhaps a strong personal resolve – the resolve to reduce waste and reduce unnecessary consumption.
A pretty daunting thought, considering that most gizmo buffs easily succumb to the temptation to acquire more. But what if you could acquire brand new gadgets of your choice by trading in something as “useless” as your old CDs/DVDs/books? Sound too good to be true? Apparently, it's not.
AbundaTrade.com is a website launched by FeedYourPlayer.com in order to bring re-circulation back into the CD/DVD market. The intention behind the website is to reduce CD/DVD waste, which according to statistics, adds up to 45 tons of garbage every month. If that appalls you, then using a service like AbundaTrade may be very appealing.
Trading on AbundaTrade is quite simple – you submit a list of your CD/DVD/books online and then wait for AbundaTrade to let you know which ones they are interested in. Next, you ship the shortlisted items to them. For each item that you trade in, AbundaTrade will assign credits (in US $) based on the market value of the item. So once you have enough credit, you can choose gadget(s) of your liking on AbundaTrade, which they will ship right over to your doorstep. Simple and extremely innovative.
Personally, it was quite disappointing for me to discover that my once-favorite Music Box CD (Mariah Carey) is now worth only a cent. Boo hoo.
Posted by kanchana
Category:
eco
| on the web
Tags: recycling
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09. 9.2008
If you guessed "an old book" you're a lot more design savvy than I am. Books are one of the hardest items to recycle, due to the glue used to bind them, so it makes sense for designers to find new ways to re-appropriate them. The very inventive Laura Cahill has turned her old unwanted books into little benches and stools that actually look like recycled books, but she also came up with this clever design, which she makes by cutting up old books with a saw, then arranging the spines around test tubes to make a modern, environmentally-friendly design.
Maybe not something for beginners to try to replicate, but pretty nonetheless.
Via Boing Boing.
Posted by Diane
Category:
design
| eco
| home
Tags: lighting
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09. 5.2008
Using lightweight, reusable shopping bags made of recycled materials is pretty standard practice these days, but it's nice when bags you use all the time have a bit of style too. I like these bags made of recycled newspaper (from the Arts and Leisure section, so they're colorful too). They're made to be water resistant and have double straps and velcro closure. At $52 each, they're not cheap, but if you use the same one for years of trips to the farmer's market, the grocery store, and the library, then the per use cost could be almost nothing. And each one is unique.
Wallets of similar design are $30 each. Both are available at Uncommon Goods.
Posted by lydia
Category:
accessories
| eco
| shopping
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08.21.2008
Don't you just hate it when you fall in love with a gadget that's not available in this country? I'm a big fan of tokidoki, as faithful readers already know, and love my beautiful handbag, jewelry, belt buckle, and other accessories designed by Simone Legno. Therefore his limited edition tokidoki, PC - exclusive for the Japanese market and which can only be purchased on Fujitsu’s website - is killing me.
But the good news is that this FMV Loox eco friendly computer will be available state-side in the next six months and should retail for around $1,100.
While your shopping, I mean, browsing the tokidoki site, check out the evocative painting Simone created for the “This One’s For The Children of Sichuan” charity auction to benefit children affected by the disastrous earthquake that struck the Sichuan Province of China in May of this year. (An impressive group of artists and vinyl toy companies have come together for the charity auction which will take place online with live auctioneers from Friday, August 21st to Sunday, August 31st.) Give till it hurts.
Posted by Evan
Category:
computers
| devices
| eco
Tags: laptop tokidoki
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08.20.2008
I was recently on vacation in Cape Cod and while out sightseeing, my daughter drained the battery on her Pink Blackberry Pearl. Imagine the horror. Thankfully, I had the Medis 24-7 Power Pack on me, so a catastrophe was narrowly averted.
In case of a real emergency, such as the earthquake we recently had here in Southern California, being able to charge your flashlight with a kit that's powered by one measly Medis fuel cell may be a lifesaver. Reportedly, the cell can provide enough power for the flashlight to be used for up to six weeks (though by then most of us will be out of food and water, but at least we'll have light).
A simple "squeeze, plug and go," this portable system has enough power to drive most handheld devices when the battery is nearly depleted - up to 30 hours of talk time for an average mobile phone or 60-80 hours of play time for an average MP3 player (including iPods). It works with most PDAs, smartphones, MP3 players, digital cameras and GPS devices. Check this page to see if your device is compatibile. (Medis is coming out with an iPhone cable in September with retail slated for October.)
After removing the safey tape, squeeze, then shake the fuel cell to activate it. Make sure to connect the cable to the Power Pack FIRST, then your device SECOND.
It's only $29.99 (at Power It Anywhere) which is a small price to pay to have emergency power, and the eco-friendly device is designed to be recycled.
Posted by Evan
Category:
cell phones
| devices
| eco
| misc gadgets
| portable media
Tags: power
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08.11.2008
You've doubtless seen solar powered chargers before (including a certain solar-powered bra charger) but as of last week, the mack daddy of solar chargers is available to buy: the Suntable is both a piece of furniture, and a one-stop gadget charging shop.
It's made of teak and stainless steel and is a good-looking piece of furniture in its own right, subtle enough to sit in any garden... as long as the garden's owners can afford the $2,200 asking price, that is.
Via Gizmodo.
Posted by diane
Category:
devices
| eco
| luxury
Tags: chargers solar power
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08. 7.2008
We have green everything today, from gadgets to re-usable shopping bags, but organic lingerie? Eco-Chick ("Because Mother Earth is a Women") turned us on to this French company, g=9.8, which makes the first underwire bra that’s made from recycled pine fibers.
Starre, who runs Eco-Chick and is just as glamorous as the name implies, swears it's comfortable.
Check out the lovely French site, buy some pretty under things and feel good about sustainable development. That's what we call a Win/Win.
Posted by Evan
Category:
body
| eco
| wearables
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