inventions Category
July 11th, 2008 by ecojoe in food, green business, inventions, plastic, save money
Good ol’ Wal-Mart and Costco have started using a new design for their milk jugs, and I think they’ve come up with a real winner. The new design has a whole mess of environmental and cost advantages compared to the milk jug design that you’re probably used to, but there are some people that jes’ plain don’t care for it. Here’s a brief summary of its pros and cons.
New Milk Jug Design Pros
- Less shipping materials - The old jugs had to be packaged with heavy shipping crates. The new ones can be stacked with just a layer of cardboard between them.
- More efficient transport - Less shipping materials means more milk jugs can be transported in each truck, so companies save money on gas and cut down on air pollution.
- Shipping labor cut in half
- Water usage cut by 60-70% - The old shipping crates had to be sprayed off after each run, since milk would spill on them and birds would roost in them
- Lower milk cost! - “Sam’s Club said [there] was a savings of 10 to 20 cents a gallon compared with old jugs.“
- The new milk jugs fit better in your fridge.
The Bad Side of New Milk Jug Design
Amy Wise, a homemaker in Ohio, said the new-fangled gallon jug spilled milk everywhere. Judging from the picture, I’d say her main problem is that she’s trying to pour the milk into an imaginary cup in her left hand. No wonder she looks frustrated.
Many people say the new milk jugs are harder to pour. But I think with more practice, people will get used to them quickly. With all the benefits (less pollution, cheaper milk, easier transportation, and more efficient use o’ materials), methinks that the new milk jug may be here to stay.
* The bodacious picture of Amy Wise was taken by David Maxwell of The New York Times.
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April 29th, 2008 by ecojoe in cars, green business, inventions, science
That’s right, folks, it’s movie time. So sit back, relax, and get ready for some surious learning as Amory Lovins narrates this neato video about Hypercars. All you have to do is ; look, here he is now:
Fun Facts about Hypercars
- Very light weight, very strong (carbon fiber, the same as Formula One race cars)
- Less wind resistance
- More efficient electric accessories (A/C, CD player, etc.)
- Increase fuel efficiency dramatically
- Windows let in light, but not heat (reducing need for A/C)
Amory says it’s possible we’ll see hypercars on the market within 4 to 5 years. Hopefully my car can hold out that long, then I’ll spring for a crazy efficient hypercar and watch my gas savings pile up.
- credit for the video goes to PBS and Nova
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February 22nd, 2008 by ecojoe in cars, eco hero, green construction, inventions, projects, reusing, save money
Look above. That used to be a yellow cheese school bus! Man, when I first saw this, I was too interested. I read all the steps, and looked at all the pictures of what Jake Von Slatt did. What he did was buy a cheap school bus (a little more than $2,000) and transform it into a beautiful, homemade RV. I like his homemade RV for a couple reasons:
- He did it cheaply. The bus cost about $2,000, he did most of the work himself (or with his friends), and he got a LOT from the dump, craigslist, or freecycle.
- He reused a lot of materials, thereby creating his RV in a very “green” way (reused bus, materials from dump, reused mess off websites).
- You can see the process of the bus’s conversion. Seeing all the steps it takes is really interesting, and makes me want to (one day) attempt something like this. It’s really cool, so por favor take a look at it.
Anyhoo, enough with my thoughts. Enjoy this video of Von Slatt giving you a tour of his homemade RV that came from a lil’ ol’ cheese bus.
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January 25th, 2008 by ecojoe in inventions, science
Yesterday, scientists announced that they had successfully achieved a man-made genome by putting together the DNA of one of the simplest bacteria, Mycoplasma genitalium. Many experts hail this as a huge step on the way toward routine genetic synthesis, with many medical and ecological applications.
The last step for the scientists is to take the synthetic genome and successfully insert it into a bacterium where it can take over and produce a viable synthetic cell. If it can do that, then this would mark the first synthetic life-form. How huge would that be?
Genetically altered plants and bacteria could work to clean up pollutants and create fuel for people. They could also be used to treat sewage more effectively, and maybe even used to produce medicines. This is a tremendous leap forward for science, and for humanity; once we can harness the power of genetics, we can vastly improve the world.
True, this technology could also be used for harm, such as creating more powerful bio-weapons, but hopefully the benefits will easily outweigh the negatives. There are so many things this could be used to improve; it’ll be exciting to follow the developments on this story.
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January 3rd, 2008 by ecojoe in electric, inventions, solar power
Roads and parking lots. They are everywhere in today’s busy, dog-eat-dog, modern world. They sit there all day, selfishly absorbing the sun’s rays, then squandering all that heat at night by simply releasing it into the night air. Welp, a Dutch company named Ooms Avenhorn Holding BV is now working on ways to take that solar energy and use it to heat homes and offices.
Ooms has already implemented this technology in several places around the Netherlands; solar energy collected from nearby roads and parking lots helps heat an industrial park of 160,000 square feet in Hoorn, a 70-unit apartment building in Avenhorn, and an air force base hangar.
This is a great idea; even on cloudy days, this system of getting heat from roads is effective. Let’s hope that America can build off of this Dutch technology and start using our numerous roads and parking lots to heat our buildings. Just think about how much of our land in cities is taken up by roads and parking lots. Imagine if we were using that captured solar energy to heat our buildings. We could cut our power usage in a huge way, while not sacrificing anything in the way of personal comfort.
A good article about getting energy from asphalt can be found right about here. Thanks to my pop for letting me know about this.
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December 4th, 2007 by ecojoe in inventions, off the grid
Do you love camping, but hate sleeping on the ground? Do you envy the lives of acorns and pinecones, getting to hang from a tree all day? Well have I got an invention for you.
It’s called the Tree Tent. Designed by Dutch sculptor Dré Wapenaar, the Tree Tent is a 13-foot tall ball that you hang from a tree. Its hardwood floor and round mattress lend an air of dignity to the zaniness of the Tree Tent.
Luckily, it only costs $50,000 to buy yourself one. At that price, I think I’d rather just hang a bag on a tree and crawl inside, but if I was super-rich, I might be tempted to get me one of these. If your bank vault is getting full, you can buy a Tree Tent here.
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November 28th, 2007 by ecojoe in eco hero, inventions, water
Arsenic in water is a big problem in the developing world. It can cause death within 30 minutes. Worse, it is usually odorless and flavorless, so it’s hard for people to detect. Luckily, Dr. Vicki Colvin, a professor of chemistry and chemical and biomolecular engineering at Rice University, has invented a very easy way to produce a “pollution magnet” that will pull arsenic out of water.
How to Make an Arsenic Magnet
Colvin’s process to make an arsenic magnet is very simple and cheap, which is great for developing countries. Here’s how to make an arsenic magnet:
- Fry a teaspoon of rust in a mixture of oil and lye. This breaks the rust down into nano-sized pieces.
- Use a magnet to pick up the rust dust.
- Put rust-covered pollution magnet in water with arsenic.
- Pull out arsenic.
The system is up to a hundred times more efficient than existing methods, and the simplicity (and cheapness) of its production means that even dirt-poor people can make these arsenic magnets.
Dr. Colvin’s arsenic magnet system could go global as soon as the next five years (if it passes governmental regulations). If her arsenic magnet is mass-produced, it could ease water (and arsenic) worries for millions of people in the developing world. For her invention, I have decided to award her the prestigious EcoJoes Eco-Hero award. Hear hear.
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Good ol’ Wal-Mart and Costco have started using a new design for their milk jugs, and I think they’ve come up with a real winner. The new design has a whole mess of environmental and cost advantages compared to the milk jug design that you’re probably used to, but there are some people that jes’ plain don’t care for it. Here’s a brief summary of its pros and cons.
