It’s the yin and yang of plants and fish bowls. This incredibly clever idea is called One Pot – Two Lives. It’s a hybrid fish bowl and planter designed by Sheng-Zhe Feng and Ling-Yuan Chou. A regularly potted plant is placed on top and a goldfish lives underneath. This tit for tat relationship is comprised of the fish turning their eaten bait remnants into nutrients for the plant, which is then fed with water that filters and passes through, becoming clean for the fish. Materials are cycled and soil remains humid, so the watering period is extended by a week. That’s the natural cycle of life in action for you!
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Image Source: www.yankodesign.com/
Content Source: www.creativityplatform.com
Did you ever think football might help change lives? Four Harvard engineering students (Jessica Lin, Jessica Matthews, Julia Silverman, and Hemali Thakkar) have come up with an energy-harvesting soccer ball that generates renewable energy when kicked around. Dubbed sOccket, the ball uses inductive coil technology to capture and store energy for later use. It will herald a new age and may be the solution for more than one billion people living in third world countries. It’s inexpensive, green orientated and targets young people, particularly in Africa where the sport is gaining popularity.
Image Source: www.soccket.com/
Content Source: www.ecofriend.org
Nothing is more infuriating than supermarkets packaging everything unnecessarily, which is why the idea behind Unpackaged is as simple as it is beautiful. There is no packaging for any of the organic wholefoods and other eco-friendly products on offer, instead allowing customers to bring their own containers or use the store’s very own reusable containers. Catherine Conway is the genius behind this idea, which started off as a market stall in 2006, and now resides in a brilliantly designed store in northeast London, maintaining that fresh market feeling.
Image Source www.static.guim.co.uk
Content Source www.beunpackaged.com
The oil spill is on everyone’s mind at the moment, as we reconsider the role that oil plays in our lives. This dependence can turn on our environment. The good news is we can send a message to oil companies by turning to oil free products. Most products use oil-derived ingredients to some extent. Primitive Makeup is one such brand that not only provides oil-free lipsticks, but also vegan lipsticks, humanitarian lipsticks (where the proceeds go to the Jane Goodall Institute) and organic lip liners. Products are not tested on animals, so you can really make a point to oil companies about what you won’t stand for (while looking saucy in some of these delicious shades, mind you!)
Image Source www.beautylab.co.uk
Content Source www.primitivemakeup.com
The latest fashion accessory on everyone’s lips is a red hot cracker! Used fire hoses have been vigorously cleaned and then transformed into a stylish, streamlined and limited collection of bags, belts and wallets. You can see these designs from the Dutch fashion accessory company Elvis and Kresse. Celebrities like Cameron Diaz and former first lady Sarah Brown are already huge fans of the collection. Each product is adorned with product labels printed on old luggage tags and the bags and wallets are lined with parachute silk, resulting in an authentic and durable finish. The packaging is made up of, curiously enough, used grapefruit crates. In fact, no tiny detail is forgotten in the bid to help the fashionably, eco-conscious sleep well at night and look red hot during the day!
Image Source www.ecouterre.com, www.ecouterre.com
Content Source www.fire-hose.co.uk
It’s hard to imagine wine getting any better than its current form. And yet, take it from us - organic wine goes down very smoothly. So what’s the difference? Organic wines are grown from grapes using no chemical or artificial fertilisers, and without the use of added sulfites. Other benefits of organic ‘green’ wine often include sustainability in the winemaking process. Wine bars and restaurants are jumping on the sustainable wine bandwagon, offering a selection of organic wines on their menus. They’re not alone either. It’s said that the Obamas hosted a dinner party in the White House and organic wine was on the menu! How nice of them.
Image Source www.sociallysuperlative.com
Content Source www.americanprogress.org
Young entrepreneur brothers Rob and Martin Drake-Knight, based in the small Isle of Wight, are the innovative brains behind Rapanui Clothing, an ethical clothing company that’s aiming to put the ‘cool in ethicool’. We think they’re doing a mighty fine job of that by using sustainable textiles and natural, organic fabrics. The folks at Rapanui believe that the key to awareness is communication. It’s not that people don’t care about what’s wrong in the world. It’s more that people don’t know. And what better way to tell them than through cool, surf inspired clothing? Check out their inspiring collection and support their cause on Facebook and Twitter. It could be the start of an ever-lasting eco-friendship.
Content Source www.rapanuiclothing.com
Image Source www.rapanuiclothing.com
Here at Trendspotting we love a good recycling story, especially when it combines some of our greatest loves. Well, we love wallets and we also love classic vinyl records. Cue the latest trend of (yes you guessed it) recycled vintage vinyl record wallets! You can purchase these unique pieces by The Original Record Wallet Company on Etsy, a marketplace specialising in handmade items. We also love these Gorilla Vinyl Classic Record Wallets, made from original vinyl. Oh and these very cool Recycled Vinyl Record Wallets. Yes, we’ll just take one of everything, thanks.
Content Source www.etsy.com
Image Source www.modculture.typepad.com
