Eco Friendly Projects

PETA wouldn't consider James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau's ingenious flypaper clock very eco-friendly, but I might beg to differ. The clock doesn't require any electricity or batteries. Instead it captures flies and converts the bodies of the dead insects into energy. Eight dead f ...more

Solar Shades Looks like it's going to be another hot summer and this time of year, I always get questions about the best kind of Shades for the home! I may be a little bias in my opinion because I'm going through a more minimalist "less is more" style in my life right now. Ta ...more

Founded by Zach Kaplan, a "serial entrepreneur" with a B.S. in mechanical engineering, Inventables is a futuristic online hardware store based out of Chicago. The company sells innovative materials at much smaller quantities than typically available—largely to artists, invento ...more

Eureka! I ve seen the future, and it is Friendly Game SimplifierFriendly Gaming Simplifier is an add-on to the Foxfire or Chrome browsers. You can download a version for either one here: http://rzadki.eu/projects/fgs/ You don’t have to play FrontierVille through Firefox or Chr ...more

WonderHowTo is a how-to website made up of niche communities called Worlds, with topics ranging from Minecraft to science experiments to Scrabble and everything in-between. Check in every Wednesday evening for a roundup of user-run activities and how-to projects from the most ...more

The LED pollution dress: the ultimate tech + fashion + eco-friendly accessory. Danish design company Diffus recently introduced the Climate Dress, a garment with hundreds of LEDs that light up when air pollution is detected. Dvice explains how it works: "Hidden somewhere ab ...more

What is it about the fantasy of the treehouse? Escapism. Other worldly, bird-like elevation. Beauty and peacefulness. Backwoods simplicity (although in some cases, truly elaborate works of fine architecture). Whatever the draw is, I'm dying to have my own treehouse in the wood ...more

No more alkaline batteries. No more NiCad's. No NiMH's. No Lithium. Forget all of those hazardous chemical reactions in the batteries and think eco-friendly. Professor David Edwards did. Edward's group Lebônê, incubated at Harvard, has developed a way to make batteries from n ...more

Dutch designer Anneke Jakobs created this recycled Chiquita banana box chandelier while a student at the Utrecht School of Product Design. Cheap, thrifty, and eco-friendly, the Chiquita Chandelier is a great concept. Anneke encourages viewers to create one for themselves, or ...more

Finally! Counting down the days to a paperless (and errand free) banking system. Both no-hassle and eco-friendly, USAA bank has released an iPhone application that allows its customers to deposit their checks via iPhone. The process is simple: photograph both sides of the chec ...more

The lemon battery has a rich history in many elementary science classes as a great example of an electrochemical reaction. This is not magic, or a hoax. The nail and penny create charged poles in the fruit. Unfortunately, filling a car with a bushel of lemons and driving cr ...more

How to train a cat to use a toilet - really. I could not invent this stuff. When I first saw this video, I knew my life would never be quite the same. This ranks up there with the invention of electricity or the discovery or DNA. Now, I don't need to smell that litter. I don't ...more

Our favorite (clever, scantily clad, and South American) HowTo vixen GiannyL has yet another use for burnt out old light bulbs. Christmas tree ornaments! Eco-friendly, yet elegant, Gianny's latest craft trick makes a tired and boring tree pop! So much skin in the dead of wint ...more

In an increasingly mobile and globalized world, it’s not uncommon to lose touch with people we were once close with. Juggling between job demands, family responsibilities and our own personal needs, it’s often hard to put the time to keep all of our relationships going. Nevert ...more

Remember Grandma-approved eco-friendly mud graffiti? London native Helen Nodding has taken a similar approach: non-destructive moss graffiti. Helen was inspired by the cold hard steel, glass, and concrete of the city: "I’m always cheered up when I see weeds pushing through a ...more

Condom + Water = Fire Kinda. This is a quick 'survivalist' technique for makeshift solar fire-starting. Harness the power of sun. And at the same time you can make use of all those condoms* laying around. *Recycling scumbags is either gross or eco friendly. We are not sure o ...more

Every year I wait until the last minute to wrap Christmas presents. I always tell myself I'm going to get it done ahead of time, but it never happens. And the worst thing that can happen when you put it off is running out of Scotch tape. If you find yourself in this predicame ...more

Bottled water is a rip-off. Not only is it pretty much the same stuff that comes out of your tap for free, but plastic bottles are rarely recycled and thus account for a huge amount of the waste that's overflowing our landfills. Next Up: Water Bottles You Can Eat Fortunately, ...more

Whites are the hardest color to keep looking bright and new after just a few months' time. Your sweat and oils quickly become stains, and colors from other clothes will eventually bleed into the fabric, discoloring your bright whites into something merely whitish. But before y ...more

If you have a cat, trying to get all of the little clumps out of the litter probably feels like an impossible task. It pretty much is, but we've found the best cat litter scoop that gets more of those tiny pieces out than any other scoop. Plus, it's sturdy, degradable, and eth ...more

The paper towel is a wondrous invention. It allows cooks to wipe up really gross stuff without having to constantly do laundry and drain fried foods so they're crunchy and crispy instead of oily and heavy. But did you know that your humble paper towel has several other uses be ...more

Surprising? No. Exciting? Absolutely. After a grand introduction by at the Apple event on September 10, 2019, the iPhone 11 is finally here. We may have known nearly everything about this new iOS device ahead of time, thanks to the usual surge of reliable leaks and rumors. Th ...more

So the new iPhones have arrived. Like last year, Apple released three iPhones in three different sizes that vary in price and specs. There's the base model iPhone 11, and then there are the real deal, premium models, the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max. The iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro ...more

The iPhone XR has touched down alongside the XS and XS Max, and it utilizes tried and tested materials found on the iPhone 8, while being molded in the same vein as the iPhone X. The budget-friendlier flagship comes with its own set of design elements to set it apart from its ...more

It's Black Friday time, and in 2020, that means a lot of online deals to make up for more stores closing on Thanksgiving, as well as everyone avoiding in-person shopping because of the coronavirus. But while you may wish to grab a better 65-inch 4K TV, the new PlayStation 5, o ...more

Apple's latest big update to iOS 14 has a lot to be excited about. While iOS 14.2 had some fun new features, such as new emoji and wallpapers, People Detection in Magnifier, and a Shazam control, iOS 14.3 brings on the heat. There are new Apple services and products that are s ...more

Imagine this: you have your finger poised to take the perfect picture — a once in a lifetime opportunity, like a solar eclipse — and you are suddenly caught off guard by a buzz, then "ding!" You look down at your phone to find your perfect pic ruined by distortion from the vib ...more

Since its creation, Arduino has been growing exponentially more popular as DIY enthusiasts and Makers alike realize its potential. As new versions of the device are released, many easy-to-use peripherals are showing up on the market also. One of the more important features of ...more

I noticed the neon yellow sign at the new location of Pho Bar in Chinatown right away. The sweeping cursive yellow letters spell out "Crazy Rich Broth"; the same phrase printed on the back of servers' shirts. It's the kind of minimalist but colorful design feature that is espe ...more

WaveOptics, makers of diffractive waveguides, has inched closer toward getting products featuring its technology to market through a production partnership with a consumer electronics company whose clients include Google, Microsoft, and Sony. China-based Goertek, an original ...more

Brought to you by Purdy Paints The art of painting requires excellent tools. And with so many options on the market, it can be hard to find a brand that works for you and your DIY project. That's where Purdy comes in. High quality, dependable, and easy to use, Purdy is the s ...more

The recent announcement of a $480 million US Army contract awarded to Microsoft over Magic Leap for supplying 100,000 augmented reality headsets shows just a how lucrative the enterprise (and government) sector can be for AR. However, considering sales of total smartphones to ...more

When you need to take notes, sketch out projects, brainstorm with others, create mood boards, or map out ideas without constraints, look no further than Freeform, Apple's new collaboration-friendly digital whiteboard. Each Freeform project has an infinite canvas to give you f ...more

The $35 Raspberry Pi is an amazingly useful single-board computer (SBC) with a good balance of price, performance, and connectivity options. But for some projects, it just isn't enough. Whether you need more computing power, a smaller size, or better machine-learning capabilit ...more

Deadly natural disasters can happen at any moment— earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, fires and especially tornadoes. That's why you have to be prepared. According to Secrets of Survival: The greatest and most frequent tornado occurrences happen in the United States. ...more

First off, don't be frustrated. YOU CAN DO IT! Contrary to the message in the image above, it's NOT over. It's just beginning. And when it comes to solving the New York Times crossword puzzle, the old cliche does apply: practice makes perfect. I've read quite a few books and ...more

Nobody could predict the success of Microsoft's Kinect, not even Microsoft themselves. So, it was quite a surprise when it ended up earning a Guinness World Record for fastest-selling consumer electronics device, and an even bigger surprise to see people buying one that didn't ...more