In San Diego there’s a gym, that in and of itself is nothing unusual, I’m sure San Diego has a bunch of gyms… but theres a place in particular called the Greenasium that is using a special stationary bike called the visCycle.
Manufactured by Resource Fitness, the visCycle and other similarly capable machines generate electricity that is routed back into the power grid of the facility, offsetting some of the power usage, like lights, fans and the computer.
I can’t even tell you the number of times my phone battery died at the precise moment I needed to receive an important call, or how many times my Ipod quit 10 minutes before the end of a movie I was watching. I know I am not alone in my frustration of finding a charger, or worse.. the search for an available electrical outlet. Forget about hiking or camping, okay, I’d like to forget about camping altogether, but my daughter likes it, and when she forces me to go, I have the use of my phone for what? a day? What if I had an emergency? nPower has alleviated my concern with their nifty nPower® PEG and I will never have to lose power again, no matter where I am.
Read morenPower – Presenting yet another alternative energy source – YOU!
Although you can’t exactly switch your entire world of gadgets into solar-powered ones, you can certainly take care of the smaller gadgets. Having some sort of a fan to keep you cool when you’re not in the mood for air conditioning requires you to use more power from your car. However, if you picked up this Solar Power Auto Cooler you could easily handle taking some edge off of that heat.
Lamp posts are a much more attractive way to offer outdoor lighting. They’re far more classic and interesting than just having an ordinary porch light. The down side is that it means you’ll be running wires if you do want a lamp post. That is unless you pick up a solar powered alternative, then the set up would be a whole lot faster.
We have reported on a lot of solar-powered planes before. Like the Solar Impulse, which is capable of a 26 hour flight, then there is the Zephyr, which broke the record for solar-powered unmanned flight.
This is the Cri-Cri, and it is a solar-powered plane that is really only designed for a quick flight. How quick? Try about 15 minutes.
I like how long compact fluorescent bulb last, but I’ve never really liked the look of them. The convoluted coils can be pretty disorienting when you stare right into them, but what happens when you decide to throw a designer slant to the ordinary bulb? Apparently I’m not the only one to feel that way, because this bulb was created this way just for the looks. Plumen 001 is the world’s first designer low energy light bulb.
This is the Tree Hotel, designed by Swedish architects Tham and Videgard. As you can see, it is nearly invisible as it is a box made of mirrors.
It was once a concept that others mocked, saying it was “computer-generated eye candy, impossible to build, and death for birds”. There is apparently a special film that is visible to birds and applied to the glass.
As you might have guessed, it is a somewhat eco-friendly resort. It was constructed from sustainably harvested wood, has an electric radiant floor heating and a state-of-the-art incineration toilet.
The serious Mac fans out there can’t help but show their fanboy side just every now and then. Well if you are one of those fans then you might enjoy this USB drive. Especially since carrying around this drive means you’ve rescued a little bit of plastic from making it to the nearest landfill. It never hurts to be just a little extra eco-friendly from time to time.