Daily Archives: December 29, 2008

:: Not sure what to do with that really embarrassing reindeer sweater from Aunt Susan? Make mittens!

:: Ring in the New Year with the best of Kelly’s easy, economical and eco-friendly dinner recipes from 2008.

:: Consult the consumer guides for e-cycling tips before you give your old gadgets the boot

.

After the Tesla Model S, Here Comes BYD’s F3DM

It was only a couple weeks ago that BYD’s F3DM plug-in hybrid went on sale in China. At that time, BYD still said it had plans to “bring the F3DM to the US in 2010″, but that has now changed without much in the way of explanations. Read on for more

.

image: empyrean

After World War II, many designers tried to apply the techniques developed for wartime industry to housing; Fuller with the Dymaxion House and the Lustron houses were attempts in steel; in 1947 Acorn structures tried it in wood. Their first experiments were in a form of sandwich panel; Like almost every other builder who has attempted that since, they ran into trouble with the inspectors. Soon they were building kits, with small, Scandinavian-modern designs. They expanded, merged with Deck House, got into sustainable efficient design early, join

The Amazing Shrinking car
It seems like Toyota has learned quite a bit from building the Toyota iQ (follow link for photos), the “Smallest Four-Passenger Car in the World“. But the question really was, if they can fit 4 people in a car that small, how many people could they fit in a car that is still small, big slightly bigger.

It seems like we’re getting an answer, because Toyota has unveiled in Japan a 7-passenger MPV that will be about the si

Photo via Tom Bullock

One thing that is a constant thorn in the side of efficiency lovers is over-packaging. Using more cardboard, paper, plastic, space, and fossil fuels than necessary to get things from one place to another is an ubiquitous eco-sin. Here are seven instances–illustrated in a photo gallery–of when packaging has gone awry. Click through to see the images.

Image from Patent Application

EEStor may not be having much luck getting their ultracaps into cars, but Lockheed is working hard at getting them into your pants. They have made a patent application to build them into armoured clothing. According to BariumTitanate, it is:

a new form of utility garment that includes body armor among other things. Specifically, the application discusses that the electrical energy storage unit “substantially conforms to an armour plate.” The

images from Green Cabin Kits

I find it interesting that so many women have become leaders in the prefab movement. Pioneers were Jennifer Siegel, Rocio Romero and Michelle Kaufmann (this year’s Residential Architect of the Year). Two years ago we were big on a Cusato; now we have Copeland Casati, who is offering Green Cabin Kits. And judging by the picture, you don’t want to mess with her.

Image via iGo

iGo Technologies provides solutions for charging up gadgets more efficiently by ditching standby power. They’re debuting a few more cool looking products at the upcoming CES. Read on for a glimpse of what tech we’ll get to see in just a couple weeks.

Now that the Christmas shopping spree is over, and Channukah’s wild nights of gorging jelly-filled doughnuts finished, here’s the latest in dumb “green” gifts for the holidays. This time we go all the way to the Holy Land for this little treasure: a plastic enc

2008 was a banner year for green tech start ups. While the economy crashed, investments in clean technology stayed relatively strong. We’re taking a look at the top techy start-ups to follow as the new year begins

.