Repair Café Toronto Aims for Less Disposable Society

Source: insidetoronto.com Published: January 8, 2014 Group of volunteers planning a ‘fix it’ gathering Jan. 11 Volunteer fixer Daniel Medeiros, foreground, and Susan Sussman check a vaccum cleaner during a recent Repair Café Toronto event. – Photo/COURTESY While...

WakaWaka Provides Portable Solar Power to Syrian Refugees

Source: inhabitat.com: Published: December 19, 2013 by Charley Cameron An estimated 6.8 million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes due to the ongoing civil war. With many refugees struggling to find access to adequate shelter, power, safe light sources and...

Conservation Group Turns Christmas Trees into Salmon Habitat

Source: goodnewsnetwork.org Published: January 2, 2014 By Good News Network Before you kick your dying Christmas tree to the curb, consider this: Members of the conservation group Trout Unlimited would love to turn that tree into fish habitat. On three Saturdays in...

Grass Could Become the World’s Next Big Biofuel Source

Source: inhabitat.com Published: December 26, 2013 Scientists have figured out how to make biofuels with everything from algae to bacteria poop, and now they are turning to grass. A new European research project called GrassMargins seeks to discover a new perennial...

Dutch Biotech Firm to Make Car Tires from Hybrid Dandelions

Source: inhabitat.com Published: February 18, 2013 by Inhabitat Staff Image via Wikicommons users Nicolas Zea P. and Loyna You see them popping up in your garden, and soon the dandelion may also parked in your driveway. Dutch biotech firm KeyGene has plans to use the...

Giant Marble Harvests Energy from Sun and Moon

Source: seeker.com Published: September 19, 2012 The weatherproof sphere is designed to rotate and follow the sun across the sky. Credit: Andre Rawlemon ANALYSIS: Solar Panels Light Up the NFL It looks like a giant, glass marble. But this globe is no game. It’s a...

Algae Converted to Crude Oil in Less Than an Hour

Source: nbcnews.com Published: December 17, 2013 This concentrated goo of algae can be converted into a bio-crude in less than an hour, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory The day when planes, trucks and cars are commonly...

Jump Rope Charges Devices with Kinetic Energy

Source: treehugger.com Published: December 18, 2013 Derek Markham © Uncharted Play Harnessing the kinetic energy of people and objects in motion, and converting it to electricity, is one of the latest innovations in offgrid and renewable power, and we’ve already...

Personal Energy Generator

Source: npowerpeg.com Published: December 13, 2013 This charger harvests kinetic energy to generate electricity, and is perfect for outdoors enthusiasts who don’t typically have access to electrical outlets and who want to eliminate the need for batteries. The PEG is...