Sculptor Kris Kuksi’s excellence makes itself evident with these sculptures. Amazing as they look, they are in fact upcycled examples of old, discarded toys. The sculptor uses discarded toys to create these haunting sculptures that carry a medieval-ancient look.

Old toys do make a major part of the sculptures, but the artist also uses other items like statues, mechanical part, or other discarded items he can put to use.

According to the artist, he sees the grotesque as beautiful, has a feeling of belonging to the “old world”, and a distaste for the typical American life and pop culture. These thoughts and factors show themselves quite clearly in his sculptures, which look weird, and to some level, even scary.

The sculptures are detailed and interesting, and the finished product comes straight from the imagination of the artist. His sculptures are very different from “original” items used which gives them more appeal and character.

Via: Inhabitat

Considering the sheer volume of bottles Coke sells every year, the company’s announcement to move from PET bottles to a blend of plastic and 30% plant-based materials, is more than welcome. The new sugarcane and molasses based bottles will have 25% less emissions when compared to traditional bottles.

Over 1.6 billion of Coca Cola branded beverages are served every day around the world. So, it would be great to see the entire lineup move to more environmentally friendly packaging. That however, isn’t exactly happening at the moment. The new bottles will be available with Coca Cola’s Dasani brand of water; not exactly a giant volume, but still a good start.

The new bottles are completely compatible with the existing recycling facilities, and they will not contaminate petroleum based bottles in the process. Coca Cola hopes to sell nearly 2 billion of these bottles by the end of 2010, giving its vitamin water brands the PlantBottle next year. In the near future, the company hopes to have all its offerings in bottles made from 100% recyclable and renewable materials.

Source: Inhabitat

The vast expanse of the Sahara desert has since long been seen as an available source of solar energy that can be tapped. However, there isn’t much progress to show on the issue. Now the idea seems closer to reality with a German-led consortium of 12 companies that intends to harness the desert sun to power Europe.

The Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII) includes heavyweights like Siemens, E.ON, ABB, and Deutsche Bank. These, and the other organizations were brought together by an initiative of Munich Re. The plan is to supply 15% of Europe’s electricity by 2050. Energy tapped from the sun in the desert will be transported to Europe through power lines laid across the Sahara and the Mediterranean sea.

It is a huge project, with nearly 400 billion dollars investment, and the DII hopes to put the plan into action quickly, with the possibility of beginning supply by 2015. These solar plants will use Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) to generate energy. CSP has been in use for a long time, but it is the scope of this project that makes it newsworthy. DII says the North African governments have displayed a positive response for the initiative.

Source: Guardian

Southwest Airlines has unveiled a prototype that will help the skies go greener. Until now, little progress has been made in making the aircrafts environment friendly, and the new prototype aircraft Southwest displayed appears to be a step in the right direction. The new aircraft does not have any ground breaking technology as such, but a healthy dose of innovativeness is what makes this flier eco friendly.

They have used environmentally friendly materials for a number of functions on the aircraft, and have also put weight saving methods in place. The aircraft has InterfaceFlor carpet that is completely recyclable, and can withstand wear. Similarly, aluminum seat rub strips on the Boeing 737-700 have been replaced with plastic ones.

They have also replaced the leather seat covers with IZIT leather, changed the material on the life vest pouch, and used lighter foam for the seats. All these additions collectively add up to nearly 472 pounds of weight savings on the aircraft. These weight savings in turn translate to savings of 9,500 gallons of fuel. There is no word on when and if Southwest will put this bird at work.

Source: CleanTechnica

Austrian designer Sonja Baumel has a proposal that is interesting and appalling at the same time. The designer is at work on a project called “(In)visible Membranes: Life on the Human Body and Its Design Applications.” As the name of the project suggests, the Life on the Human Body is a reference to the invisible skin bacteria on our skins, and the Design Applications are fabrics made from these bacteria.

Using bacteria for clothing may sound appalling, but the designer says that since the human body is a large host of bacteria, it may as well wear sustainable clothing created from these organisms.

An interesting experiment by the designer is the “Crocheted Membrane.” This experiment is a visualization of the growth of bacteria to create complex fiber layers. These fibers build up in areas that require the most warmth and insulation, creating an organic, body hugging silhouette. The designer displayed her concept at the Dutch Design Week.

Source: ecouterre

The proposed Technosphere for Dubai’s Technopark, will be a giant carbon neutral building meant to show the state of the earth in current and future times. It replicates the earth as a structural concept, and studies the issues of self-sustaining life on a smaller level.

Designed by James Law Cybertecture, the Technosphere would have enough room to accommodate office space, residential space, a hotel and public courtyards.

The structure will prove its self sustainable and carbon neutral credentials with a number of innovations to make this miniature earth what it intends to be. The exterior of the structure will house solar panels to provide requisite energy for its inhabitants. The interiors will be shielded from the sun by a sky garden, which will also function as an air purifier to keep a steady supply of fresh oxygen going.

The Technosphere is going to be economical with its water use as well, and water inside the structure will be recycled and used efficiently.

Source: Inhabitat

Everyone complains about the electronic waste resulting from America’s prosperity, particularly from individual ownership of personal computers.  It does seem that a computer will last you around five years at the most and then will be underpowered to even boot the latest operating system, let alone the programs we use.

Well, there is salvation for your greenness.  Keyboards and mice are being made from sustainable, replaceable and grown material.

I came across a company that makes the keyboards and mice out of bamboo.  They are cool looking and will accent your office very nicely, whether you have laid it out according to Feng Shui principals or not.

They are actually not colored green but they go well with just about most decors.  By the way, you can also get your office floor to match or even in a dyed contrasting color.

Don’t worry, the cute Pandas are not going to starve.  Bamboo grows fast and when it gets to the maturity to use it for building materials, it is useless as a food source.

Tonggu Kinbamboo Industry Co., Ltd has a lot of different styles to fit your particular tastes.  It is made in China, so maybe China is paying a little attention to the environment.

The Fluid pavilion is scheduled to make itself noticed and admired at the 2012 World Expo in Yeosu, South Korea. This exhibition space is in part inspired by the whale, and is an organic structure that utilizes the concept of adaptability.

Designers of the structure, Peddle Thorpe Architects (PTA) from Melbourne say the adaptability of the structure will allow it to be used long after its duties at the World Expo. Fluid will latch on to the structure, and float above water while being anchored in the harbor. Its organic design will ensure that the pavilion does not have a negative impact on the coastal ecosystem.

Once its work at the Expo is done, the structure can simply be unlatched from the site and sent on its way to other cities. A floating pavilion with enough space means that its availability to host different types of events will not be limited to its presence at the expo, the structure could travel to a number of places and do away with the need of creating new structures for many events.

Souce: Inhabitat

The US President Barack Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden are expected to make important announcements that will provide stimulus for a greener future. An Obama administration official has said that the President will make announcement regarding Smart Grids during his visit to Florida. Obama’s announcement of a Smart Grid will be the government’s largest investment of economic stimulus funds in clean energy.

The Smart Grid will bolster the production of energy from clean domestic sources to consumers in 49 states. At the same time, this will also help create a more powerful, stable and robust grid with clean energy playing an important role.

In a separate visit to a closed General Motors plant in Wilmington, Delaware, the US Vice Presiden Joe Biden will announce that the plant will be reopened for production of plug-in hybrid electric cars. However, it isn’t GM that is opening the plant, it is California based Fisker Automotive that will take control of the plant. Fisker is well known for its first plug-in electric vehicle, the Fisker Karma.

Source: Reuters

Do you own a home entertainment center that is the envy of the neighborhood?  Do you have friends or neighbors chide you that the only GREEN in your living room is the color of the larger than life Eagles football players seemingly doing their end zone dance at your feet?

If the above is true or you just want to save some energy, I have the device for you.  At just under $500.00 (a pittance if you have a home entertainment center with big-screen plasma displays and a thumpin’, bone-rattling sound system) This power distribution unit protects all your equipment from brownouts and blackouts (Like California experiences on most hot summers).  It also protects against surges and other nastiness bent on destroying your equipment.

The PowerCenter has some cool features:

• The power protection completely disconnects your equipment from the power source and monitors the hot and neutral lines for abnormalities.  It will not connect you back until all problems are resolved.
• It has an IR receiver for complete remote control.
• It protects all your telephone, cable and satellite cable connections.
• The PowerCenter™ (HD IR 2550) provides clean power filtering and ground loop isolation for noise-free audio and video presentations.
• The front panel provides additional power outlets behind a door and provides USB connections for camcorders, iPods and other devices.
• It has PLC (Power Line Communications) support so it can interact with other equipment over your house AC lines.

Best of all, they have “Green Power which completely powers down the equipment when not in use so you can save energy plus also extend your equipment life.  So, only power up your entertainment system components when you are using them and be kind to the environment and still be able to enjoy life.

If you are financially challenged in this economy, do not despair!  You can have a nice power controller for under $130.  The Monster GreenPower™ HDP 900G PowerCenter™ is for your more modest entertainment setup.

Other GreenPower products can be seen here.