photo via Toyota

Los Angeles artists Patrick Shearn and Cynthia Washburn of Poetic Kinetics, who have created art projects at Burning Man, recently made “Solar Flowers”, an art installation that uses solar power to create free charging stations with WiFi. They created the flowers for Toyota in conjunction with their Prius “Harmony” campaign.

This traveling installation consists of 5 wi-fi enabled flower sculptures which each include seating for 10 people. Created for and inspired by Toyota’s “Harmony Between Man, Nature, and Machine” campaign, the sculptures combine form and function via the addition of solar panels on the back of each petal, which power outlets for use in recharging cell phones and laptops.

The flowers have been touring the country are currently located in the upper terrace of Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco through September 27th and then travel down to The Americana in Los Angeles from October 3-18.

UPDATE: Daniel Terdiman wrote about the Solar Flowers on CNET’s Geek Gestalt.

via Candace Locklear

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photo by Scott Beale

No only does dumping endanger dolphins in the ocean, but also aliens in space.

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Environmentally Conscious Organization (e.c.o.), Inc. has developed the ultimate pizza box, the Green Box. It transforms into four serving plates and a convenient storage container that will fit in any refrigerator and is easily recycled.

The top of the Green Box breaks down into convenient serving plates, eliminating the need for disposable plates. The bottom of the ‘Green Box’ converts easily into a handy storage container, eliminating the need for plastic wrap, tin foil or plastic bags. The perforations and scores that create this functionality allow for easy disposal into a standard-sized recycling bin.

via Retro Thing

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guest post by Burstein!

Chuck Squatriglia of Wired’s Autopia took a test drive in the new Aptera. The Aptera is a fully electric car that promises to drive accelerate and handle like a Civic or Yaris and only require a overnight 110v charge for “100 miles with two people, 250 pounds of stuff and the AC going full blast.” Most remarkable is its aesthetic which was specificallly engineered to minimize air resistance and thus increase efficiency. And yes, this car is undergoing crash testing right now and is expected to be available next year.

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guest post by David Calkins

So I’ve always consumed a lot of honey (I drink it. No really. Literally) and have always been interested in getting my own hive. But actually maintaining a hive is kind of a pain. And it’s not really easy. And there are mites. And diseases (for the bees, not for you). And smokers. And bunny suits. So it’s always been more of a pain than it seemed like it was worth.

But you might have recently heard about hive “Colony Collapse Disorder.” As many as 36% of hives in the US have been lost to collapse. Not to sound snarky and state the obvious, but if all our bees go away, most of our agriculture goes away. No more fruit. No more flowers. No more honey. No Mustard, cabbage, vanilla, peppers, canola, cantaloupe, strawberries, alfalfa (horse munchies), almonds, grapes (as in those things used to make wine) or eggplants. (OK, I can personally live without eggplants, but the world should probably keep them.)

So Simone found this Bay Area guy – Allen Larson – who’s “on a mission to provide Northern California with enough honeybees to pollinate most of the inner city limits. [He] needs your help to do this. Your bees in the backyard can pollinate up to a 2 mile radius and can be a big part of bringing the numbers back.”

So I was all about getting a hive. Here’s some of my reasons:

External (altruistic) benefits of keeping bees:

1. You help the planet get better. You’re like, green, and all those other cliches.
2. Your neighborhood gets prettier. Flowers bloom. Trees blossom. Avocados fall on your head and you eat them.
3. See #1, hippie. It’s worth two bullet points

Personal (selfish) benefits of keeping bees:

1. Honey! You get about 24-30 pounds of honey per year. It’s tasty, good in tea, on ice cream, etc.
2. Allergy cure. This works. I know it sounds hippie, but I had lifetime pollen allergies. Someone told me to eat lots of local, non-pasteurized honey and my allergies would go away. It worked (doesn’t work for animal allergies.) Works on the same principle as the polio vaccine.
3. Christmas presents. You’re probably not gonna eat all that honey. Give it to your friends and neighbors.
4. Your garden will rock. If you don’t have one, your neighbors garden will rock.
5. Beeswax, royal jelly, Honey Comb, and all the other hive benefits.
6. You could even sell the honey. You get about $8/pound. So a hive pays for itself after about 2 or 3 years if you sell 100% of the honey.
7. Mead! Heck, you gotta do something with all that honey. And making your own booze is always popular with the ladies…

Allen was the perfect solution. I didn’t have to build a wooden hive, mail order a queen, or any other silliness. Allen was awesome. He shows up at your house, brings bee suits for you to wear so you don’t get stung, sets up your hive(s), and then gives you about an hour long lesson not only on bee-keeping, but how bees work (it’s all scent. Workers can find their hive from a mile away strictly from the scent of their queen I did not know that.), which bees are which, you get to play “find the queen” (insert obligatory Castro joke, here), and of course, you get honey. Five pounds of honey.

Then Allen comes back every two weeks or so to tend to your bees, and collect your honey for you. You can do it yourself if you feel like it (it’s your hive), but it’s probably better that you leave it to the pros (same reason I use Laughing Squid Web Hosting to host my robot websites. I’m capable of running my own servers, but I’d really rather have a specialist do it for me.)

So you want a hive yourself? Get Bees. A single hive is $570 if you live in most Bay Area cities (see his site for the list.) This includes your hive, one queen and a skajillion drones and workers, five pounds of honey, and your annual service plan. (And if you get a hive, mention me. ’cause I get free honey for referrals.) I wouldn’t normally post “advertisements” for companies, but I really believe in helping keep humanity around – and bees are a key component of doing that. And Allen strikes me as the guy to help you.

And of course, then there’s the mead we’ll be brewing…

photos by David Calkins

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London design consultant Tom Ballhatchet has created a prototype for a Hamster Powered Paper Shredder. 45 minutes of hamster wheel running will shred a piece of paper which then becomes bedding for the hamster.

via Neatorama

image via Tom Ballhatchet

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“I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas” by MC Lars featuring Jaret Reddick from Bowling For Soup. Off of the Green Christmas EP now available on iTunes.

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Last night Violet Blue and I stopped by the Escape From Berkeley Vehicle Showcase Party which took place at The Shipyard in Berkeley and included the James Watt Memorial Roast. Today the Escape From Berkeley road rally of alternatively powered vehicles officially kicked-off and they are now on their way to Las Vegas.

Photo Gallery: Escape From Berkeley

Video: The Golden Mean Snail Car

Video: Flash makes a “Kilowatt”

Video: Mini Trolley Car

More Coverage:

- New York Times

- The Colbert Report

- Wired (Autopia)

- Reason Magazine

- Geek Entertainment TV

- East Bay Express

- Jon Sarriugarte

- Danger Ranger

- Heathervescent

- Jalopnik

- Phil Glau

- Jess Hobbs

See Previously: Escape From Berkeley (By Any Non-Petroleum Means Necessary)

photos & video by Scott Beale

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Tap’dNY takes NYC’s legendary tap water, purifies it and then bottles it for sale.

Tap’dNY is a New York City bottled water company with a local twist and knack for honesty. We don’t travel the world from Fiji to France seeking water or offer the usual bottled water gimmicks. We work with NYC’s public water system to source the world’s best tasting tap water, purify it through reverse osmosis and bottle it locally, leaving out ludicrous transportation miles.

We offer an honest and local alternative to thirsty New Yorkers, giving them a smarter choice: to drink their own (award winning) water.

Thanks to Mara for the tip!

photo by Tap’dNY

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Escape From Berkeley (By Any Non-Petroleum Means Necessary) is a road rally of alternatively powered vehicles traveling from Berkeley to Las Vegas on October 10th through 13th. A panel of judges will be presenting awards for both artistic and technical achievements. The rally is being organized by Jim Mason and The Shipyard.

Part engineering problem, part artistic opportunity, the rally challenges contestants to start their “engines” on something other than petroleum based fuel, and by any means necessary, cause their “vehicles” show up in Las Vegas three days later- using only fuels/power/motive force scavenged “for free” along the route.

Here’s the current line-up of vehicles and there is still time to register your vehicle if you want to enter. If you would like to help support the rally, you can sponsor the route by the mile or specific landmark. They are also looking for more volunteers.

More Coverage:

- Techyum

- Instructables

- World Changing

- Maker Faire

- CNET News (Green Tech)

UPDATE: Photos and video of the Escape From Berkeley Vehicle Showcase Party.

photo by Scott Beale

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