Springwise - Eco & Sustainability

Bicycle-powered stand serves up coffee hot and cold

2010-07-28T13:04:11Z

OK, so pedal-powered coffee retailers aren't entirely new—we saw one back in 2008 in the UK, after all—but we can't resist sharing one more, spotted this time on the streets of New York City. Brooklyn-based Kickstand Coffee uses two bicycles, a fold-up stand and a hand-cranked grinder to serve up sustainable hot and cold coffee at events around the city.

The brainchild of three baristas, Kickstand Coffee relies on two 160-pound rolling carts that are each towed to location by a custom-built bicycle, according to a report on NYDailyNews.com. Once there, the carts unfold and attach to create a 9-foot-long bar that includes everything the trio need to make coffee. Beans are hand-ground on a cup-by-cup basis, and the iced coffee is cold-brewed; only Kickstand's hot coffee—brewed on location using specially adapted Chemex glass beakers—uses any propane or electricity. The company is working on a mini folding bicycle that customers will be able to use to grind their own beans. Pricing for Kickstand's coffee is USD 2.50 per cup, hot or cold.

With bicycle culture on the rise and coffee going strong, it seems perfectly natural to combine the two for a more sustainable cup of joe. The variations on this theme are virtually limitless—as are the opportunities. Time to get pedaling yourself...? (Related: Solar-roasted coffee.)

Website: www.kickstandbrooklyn.com
Contact: contact@kickstandbrooklyn.com

Spotted by: Verge Manuel / Images by: Big Waste of Time

Green cleaning product sold in cartridges, diluted at home with tap water

2010-07-20T16:53:14Z

Forward-thinking manufacturers are working to decrease the amount of packaging used for their products. Some offer concentrated formulas, others sell refills in bags instead of containers. Now, a Canadian startup has come up with an innovative solution we hadn't yet spotted: refill cartridges that consumers dilute at home, with tap water.

Developed by Planet People, the iQ line of household cleaning products features small cartridges of plant-based concentrate. Consumers fill a spray bottle with ordinary tap water and pop in a cartridge. The coloured concentrate visibly mixes with the water, and voila: a full bottle of cleaner. iQ comes in four varieties: glass, bathroom, floor and all-purpose cleaner. All made with non-toxic and environmentally sustainable ingredients.

Besides reducing packaging and plastic waste, the system obviously cuts down on transportation, reducing fuel consumption and vehicle emissions. And—appealing to people's wallets as much as their conscience—iQ passes on packaging and transportation savings to its customers. iQ starter kits, which include a spray bottle full of solution and a first refill cartridge, retail for approximately CAD 6.49, while cartridges are approximately CAD 2.79. The products are currently available from natural food stores in Canada, and from Hannaford and Sweetbay in the US. If we weren't so busy reporting on new business ideas, we'd snap up international distribution rights ourselves ;-)

Website: www.iqclean.com
Contact: www.iqclean.com/contact_us.php

From 12 tons of trash, a pop-up hotel with a message

2010-07-19T12:55:24Z

For St. Louis's City Museum, salvaged garbage helps create a hyperlocal feel. For the Save the Beach Hotel, it's not just a building material but also a warning about the current state of Europe's beaches.

Led by Mexican Corona Extra beer brand, the Save the Beach effort aims to recover at least one European beach per year from destruction by pollution and other human-caused damage. Last year it was Capocotta beach in Rome, and votes are currently being accepted online for this year's choice. To draw more attention to the challenge, the Save the Beach effort this summer built a hotel from garbage collected off Europe's beaches. Created by German artist HA Schult and installed next to Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, the Save the Beach Hotel was open from June 3 through 6. Some 12 tons of garbage collected from Europe's beaches—more than a million pieces—were used to build the two-story structure, which could accommodate up to 10 people. Its very first guest was former supermodel Helena Christensen.

Schult explains: “The philosophy of this hotel is to expose the damage we are causing to the sea and the coastline. We live in the era of trash and we are running the risk of becoming trash ourselves. Do we really want this world?”

If a picture is worth a thousand words, just imagine how many could be packed into a trash-based hotel—not just about the problem at hand but also about the Corona brand's eco-generosity. One to be inspired by! (Related: Pop-up cafe is a (straw) monument to sustainability.)

Website: www.coronasavethebeach.org
Contact: www.coronasavethebeach.org/contacto/

Spotted by: Martina Meng

Fiat offers electric bikes as loaner vehicles

2010-07-12T16:53:58Z

Last year we saw a UK Volvo dealership offer bicycles as loaner vehicles when customers' cars are in for service, and recently one of our spotters alerted us to something similar in Spain. Specifically, Fiat now offers owners of its Fiat 500 an electric bike option while their car is in the shop.

Launched in May, Fiat's offering is now available in its Barcelona, Valencia, A Coruña, Sevilla and Madrid locations through a partnership with bicycle maker Trek. There's no charge for borrowing the electric bikes, which have a 70 km range and recharge during braking as well as through plug-in power. The motivation for the move, Fiat says, is to demonstrate its commitment to sustainable mobility; the company also offers an eco:Drive service to help consumers use their cars more efficiently.

If the electric-bike loaner program proves popular in Spain, Fiat will reportedly extend it to other European countries as well. Other car makers and dealerships: what about you? And since this is a relevant and appealing way to let consumers try out a product that's still unfamiliar to most consumers, electric bicycle brands would do well to seize the opportunity and initiate similar partnerships. (Related: Bicycle trailers on loan at IKEA.)

Website: www.fiat.es
Contact: www.fiat.es/contacto

Spotted by: Leticia Pérez Prieto

Ice cream shop crowdsources its organic fruit

2010-07-08T19:06:39Z

It's not often we see crowdsourcing applied to food products, and when we do—Yellow's chocolate bar and Vitaminwater's flavour contest both come to mind—it's typically a matter of soliciting input on product development. Bringing the concept into the realm of the supply chain, New Zealand's Giapo Gelato is now inviting consumers who grow organic fruit to sign up as suppliers for the store's new “Giapo Certified Organic” line.

Located in Auckland, Giapo Gelato serves up an all-natural line of healthful gelato and sorbets, with inventive flavours including Spirulina, Feijoa and Chili Chocolate. Earlier this week, it kicked off its new crowdsourcing effort to incorporate organic fruits supplied by the crowds. To be eligible for consideration, consumers must guarantee that no herbicides or pesticides have been used within the growing area of their fruit; samples will be randomly tested to ensure compliance. The price of the fruit supplied will then be calculated in current market prices, and Giapo will give suppliers free Giapo Gelato in return.

Given the garden produce that tends to overflow each growing season, it's a safe bet there are gardeners aplenty willing to exchange some of that abundance for free ice cream—not to mention a good status story and some (still) made here appeal. Next, who will find a way to help consumers unload all that excess zucchini...? ;-)

Website: www.giapo.com
Contact: giapo@giapo.com

Triscuit-sponsored site taps urban gardening trend

2010-07-07T12:44:47Z

There seems to be no end in sight to the urban gardening innovations. No sooner did we publish our story about the rooftop garden at London's Thornton's Budgens than we got word of Triscuit's Home Farming effort, which aims to create 50 community-based home farms across the United States in 2010.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans are interested in growing food in a backyard garden, according to a recent Triscuit survey, and three out of four of those surveyed prefer to eat foods with a few, simple ingredients. Toward that end, Kraft's Triscuit brand recently teamed up with nonprofit group Urban Farming to launch what it calls a Home Farming movement, with a site that aims to provide a place where both beginners and seasoned gardeners can connect and get advice about growing food at home. Four million packages of Original and Reduced-Fat Triscuit crackers have been packed with cards including basil or dill seeds that are ready for planting; with the help of crop guides, a community forum and tips from master gardener Paul James, visitors to Triscuit's new site can use those seeds to reap the rewards of home gardening. Triscuit and Urban Farming are also collaborating to create 50 community-based home farms across the U.S., starting with one in Los Angeles that launched in March; others are slated to appear in such cities as Dallas, Detroit, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Tampa, to name just a few. A full list of cities participating in the community-based program is available on the new Triscuit site, along with details about where people can volunteer or get started with their own community-based home farms. Both individual and community farms can be plotted on the site's Google-based Live Map.

There's certainly no shortage of gardening advice sites out there; what's interesting here is the big-brand involvement and the “seeding” of all those boxes of Triscuits. Not that it's surprising, mind you, given the USD 167.5 billion-plus globally that's at stake here. (Source: Husqvarna's 2010 Global Garden Report.) Other food brands: time to find—and flaunt—your own green thumb...?

Website: www.triscuit.com/homefarming
Contact: www.nabiscoworld.com/misccontent/contactus/contact.aspx?m=cu_form1

Spotted by: Jim Stewart

Grocer launches rooftop garden for hyperlocal produce

2010-07-06T21:46:30Z

If Fortnum's can keep bees on its roof and sell the hyperlocal honey they produce, it stands to reason that other purveyors of food should be able to make the most of their rooftops in a similar way. Enter London grocer Thornton's Budgens, which just began selling organic produce grown in a rooftop garden of its very own.

Dubbed Food from the Sky, the rooftop garden project is a collaboration between Thornton’s Budgens, The Positive Earth Project and the local community. In late May, a crane lifted up the necessary materials onto the roof of Budgens' Crouch End store, including 10 tonnes of compost, fencing, trees and over 100 pallets. The project is collaborating with the heritage seed library to grow a number of endangered species of food; it also plans to run food growing workshops on the roof and provide seeds from the harvest free of charge to residents and schools. The garden's first organic fruits and vegetables just went on sale in Budgens, all grown and harvested by volunteers. All proceeds from the not-for-profit venture will be put back into the project; plans for the future include the addition of chickens and top bar bee hives.

As urban areas continue to sharpen their focus on sustainable and local production, it's not hard to imagine food retailers large and small setting up rooftop farms of their own, buoyed also by consumers' love for a good still-made-here story. Other grocers around the globe: what about you?

Website: www.thorntonsbudgens.com/social-environment/food-from-the-sky
Contact: andrew.thornton.tle@gmail.com

Spotted by: market.se via Maria Dahl Jørgensen

Solar smartphone comes with eco bragging rights

2010-07-05T14:05:29Z

Eco-minded products are all very well and good, but for many consumers the important thing is the green credentials that go with them. A new smartphone from German sports company Puma—launched just last week in Europe through a partnership with France's Sagem Wireless—promises to serve both purposes by featuring both an integrated solar cell and an eco-metering function that displays all the resulting energy savings.

With a tablet form factor, a 2.8-inch thumbable screen, a 3.2-megapixel camera and a VGA video call camera, the Puma Phone is available SIM-free for an estimated retail price of EUR 399; it's also available subsidised by local operators as part of a contract bundle. The sports-centric phone is shipped in eco-friendly packaging, and just one hour of sunshine provides enough power for one hour and 30 minutes of MP3 play or about 30 text messages, its makers say. Even more interesting is that users can easily see how much of their phone calls, music and messages have been powered by the sun—data that's eminently shareable for a quick boost in status. According to a report on Gizmodo, solar power usage also translates into points redeemable in the Puma store.

Of course, in addition to providing an eco-metering, status-conveying alternative to the rest of the cellphone pack, the Puma Phone is also a nice example of what our sister site would call a branded brand. Makers of other eco-minded goods: what are you doing to help your customers flaunt their green credentials...? (Related: Fitness-focused cell phone — Laundromat reaps solar rewards — Energy meters get tweeting — Thermoelectric wellies charge festival-goers' phones.)

Website: www.pumaphone.com
Contact: info-de@puma.com

Spotted by: Henry Mason

Austrian phone booths repurposed to charge electric vehicles

2010-06-30T12:18:05Z

Now that mobile phones are ubiquitous, public phone booths are fast becoming obsolete. In a bid to find a viable new use for its 13,500 phone booths around the country, Telekom Austria has begun converting them into battery recharging stations for electric cars, scooters and motorbikes.

Unveiling its first phone booth-turned-recharging station in front of the company's Vienna headquarters in May, Telekom Austria announced plans to convert an additional 29 phone booths by the end of this year. During the initial trial period, recharging is free. The company eventually plans to charge a single-digit euro sum for the recharging service, with payments to be made via mobile phone.

Telekom Austria’s forward-thinking scheme comes at a time when, of the total 4.36 million cars on Austrian roads, there are only 223 electric cars and 3,559 hybrid cars registered. Yet the Austrian motor vehicle association, VOeC, predicts that the number of electric vehicles in Austria will rise to 405,000 by 2020. Telecommunications companies around the globe: a leap into the widely forecast EV-prevalent future worth following? (Related: Charging infrastructure for electric vehicles — Free car charging at new, greener McDonalds.)

Website: www.telekom.at
Contact: www.telekom.at/contakt/email

Spotted by: Cecilia Biemann

Crowdsourced effort maps the trees of San Francisco & adds dollar values

2010-06-29T18:58:28Z

Mapping is an application to which the crowds are eminently well-suited, geographically dispersed as they tend to be. Not only have we seen the masses contributing to maps of hot music gigs and filming locations, but now they're helping to create a map of San Francisco's urban forest too.

Now in beta, The Urban Forest Map is “a collaboration of government, nonprofits, businesses and you to map every tree in San Francisco,” in the project's own words. Starting with a database from public records, the project aims to communicate the value of the urban forest and engage communities in creating greener, more livable urban environments. Toward that end, citizen participants can not only search for particular types of trees in the San Francisco area, they can also add new ones that haven't yet been mapped by simply putting a dot on the map where they're located and then providing as much information about them as they can, including photos and factors such as species, size and trunk diameter. Citizens can verify the facts about the trees near them as well, updating as necessary to help track changes as the urban forest grows. The information added to the Urban Forest Map will be used by urban forest managers, landscape architects and planners to estimate future growth and planting opportunities, improve wildlife habitat, maximize ecosystem services, and grow a strong and healthy urban forest.

Perhaps even more interesting, however, is that for each and every tree, the Urban Forest Map taps a US Forest Service model to calculate the environmental benefits it's providing: how many gallons of stormwater it's helping to filter, how many pounds of air pollutants it's capturing, how many kilowatt-hours of energy it's conserving and how many tons of carbon dioxide it's removing from the atmosphere. The open-source project is available for use by any community; time to start “missing” the forest for the trees near you....? ;-)

Website: www.urbanforestmap.org
Contact: www.urbanforestmap.org/contact/

Spotted by: Anna Brones

Shampoo brand is a reminder to save water

2010-06-29T16:31:06Z

There's no shortage of bath and body products made with organic ingredients or otherwise positioned as earth and human friendly. Hoping to stand out in that increasingly crowded marketplace, a new German company is taking things a step further: instead of a regular brand name, it operates under a message: Stop The Water While Using Me.

Stop The Water currently sells shampoo (EUR 13) and shower gel (EUR 12) through its online store, with toothpaste in the works (EUR 8). All products are made with organic and/or natural ingredients, packaged in biodegradable containers, and manufactured with sustainability in mind. But the standout feature is that message, reminding people to switch off the tap while lathering up.

Managed by ad executive Stefan Kolle, Hamburg-based Stop The Water was shortlisted for a 2010 Cannes Lion and is currently seeking retailers to sell its products. Whether or not you sell bath products, the concept of message-as-brand is worth a brainstorm. (Related: Smart devices help households monitor their energy use.)

Website: www.stopthewaterwhileusingme.com
Contact: hello@stop-the-water-while-using-me.com

Spotted by: NOTCOT

Site connects producers and buyers of local food

2010-06-28T12:57:31Z

The locavore movement may be focusing new interest on locally produced food, but regional farmers, ranchers and fishermen continue to struggle to find a market for their products. That's as true in the Pacific Northwest as everywhere else, which is why Portland, Ore., nonprofit Ecotrust created FoodHub.

Launched late last year, FoodHub aims to increase food trade in the Pacific Northwest by connecting food buyers of all types and sizes with local farmers, ranchers, fishermen and food manufacturers. For food sellers, FoodHub offers an easy way to let buyers know what products are available and how to make contact to complete a sale. For food buyers—including local restaurants, public schools, grocery stores, caterers, universities and hospitals—FoodHub provides a robust database of food products that are available. Customizable search features allow a buyer to hone in on the exact product specifications they're seeking -- “pallet quantities of Northwest-grown certified organic black eyed peas,” for example. After paying an annual membership fee of USD 100, both buyers and sellers can create detailed online profiles; FoodHub's message center, meanwhile, streamlines communications.

Deborah Kane, vice president of Ecotrust’s Food & Farms program, explains:“FoodHub is designed to be a one-stop-shop for the chef who needs six dozen artichokes for a menu special, the baker looking for a local source for flour, or the large institutional food buyer whose purchasing power could significantly stabilize a family farm.”

Currently, FoodHub is open to food buyers and sellers of all types in Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. However, Ecotrust intends to make the FoodHub platform available to qualified partners in other parts of the country as well. One to emulate in other parts of the world?

Website: www.food-hub.org
Contact: connect@food-hub.org

Spotted by: Anna Brones

Tapping the crowds for sustainable ideas and funding

2010-06-25T13:18:53Z

If crowdsourcing can be used to help tackle economic problems in Ireland—not to mention those of the more personal kind—then why not the global environmental imperative? That, indeed, is just the aim of the Globe Forum, which hopes to use crowdsourcing to help people around the world build a more sustainable future.

Now in beta, Stockholm-based Globe Forum operates conferences and an active online community to help match the creators of good ideas with those who can help bring them to life. Specifically, the organization hopes to bring together innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, corporations and the public sector in a natural space “where breakthrough solutions can occur collaboratively,” as the site puts it. Its matchmaking service, for instance, aims to match supply and demand for sustainable solutions, with expert facilitation, consulting and project management by the Globe Forum organization. Its intelligence arm, meanwhile, strives to provide market-leading research, industry insight and access to innovation. A crowdfunding section lets potential investors browse through promising new project ideas and fund the ones they like, while projects and organizations with sustainability challenges to be solved can post those in Globe Forum's “Challenges” section for a little collective brainstorming. After hosting a conference in Stockholm this spring, Globe Forum's next large-scale event will take place in Dublin in November.

Anyone out there still doubt the power of the Global Brain? We didn't think so. Sustainability entrepreneurs: this one's for you!

Website: www.globeforum.com
Contact: info@globeforum.com

Spotted by: Johan Lofmark

Compost service for businesses sells the soil it creates

2010-06-18T16:35:54Z

Where most of the composting initiatives we've seen have focused on helping consumers get the dirty job done on their own household waste, Utah-based Eco Scraps collects leftover food from grocery stores and restaurants and turns it into valuable organic soil conditioner for sale at local nurseries.

Americans throw out nearly 30 million tons of food every year, and 27 million of those come from supermarkets, restaurants and convenience stores. Hoping to put that waste to good use, Eco Scraps collects leftover food and coffee grounds from five grocery stores and six coffee shops in Utah Valley, according to a report in the Standard-Examiner. A delivery vehicle makes rounds to pick up some 2,000 pounds of local waste each day; it then brings them to Eco Scraps' Provo workshop, where they are ground up, mixed and turned daily until the resulting compost is ready to be bagged and sold. Roughly 60,000 pounds of compost are reportedly produced each month and sell out quickly at local garden retailers and wholesalers.

Launched by a Brigham Young University student, Eco Scraps took second place recently at the BYU Social Venture Competition and is also a Sparkseed innovator. The company hopes to expand to five additional markets in California, Arizona, Colorado and Oregon by early 2011, with further expansion after that. Time to make trash part of your next treasure...? (Related: Compost service for urbanites, with soil in return — Garbage into gold, via worm poop.)

Website: www.ecoscraps.net
Contact: contact@ecoscraps.net

Spotted by: Garett Gee

No-darn repair kit breathes new life into worn wool garments

2010-06-16T11:50:39Z

Just as Denim Doctors can inject new life into a favourite old pair of jeans, so Woolfiller can extend the usability of a much-loved wool item.

The brainchild of Dutch product designer Heleen Klopper, Woolfiller repairs holes and hides stains in woollen jumpers, cardigans, jackets and carpets. In a 21st century approach to darning (their words), Woolfiller takes advantage of the unique quality of wool, whose fibres each contain miniscule scales that open up when pricked with a felt needle. Once open, those scales bind with each other and do not separate again, even when washed. To use Woolfiller, consumers place a small bunch of patching wool in the spot that needs help. They then repeatedly prick the old and new wool with a needle, working from both sides over a foam block, until the new patch has bound. Six standard, colour-themed kits are available on the Woolfiller site, priced at EUR 17.50 each delivered within the Netherlands, but custom kits can also be created for EUR 21.50. Each kit contains five pieces of coloured wool, two felt needles, a piece of foam and a user's guide.

Last fall Klopper won the Doen | Material Prize for Woolfiller, which is available both online and in outlets in the Netherlands and in New York. Green and crafty retailers around the globe: time to bring a little good, old-fashioned ingenuity to sustainability-minded, wool-loving consumers near you?

Website: www.woolfiller.com
Contact: info@woolfiller.com

Spotted by: Green Thing