Earth and Industry » Concept & Design

eBay Testing 100,000 Reusable Shipping Boxes

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:41:15 +0000

No, eBay doesn't exactly ship anything. For that matter, they don't even make anything that requires shipping. But with a community of millions of active eBay buyers and sellers, there's no reason they can't launch a product that could make a significant dent in the company's environmental footprint.

On Wednesday, the world's largest online auction unveiled its prototype reusable shipping container, The eBay Box, which the company is printing 100,000 of in three different sizes. The boxes will be available at first to select eBay sellers

The idea for the eBay Box emerged from eBay's 'Innovation Expo' that invites eBay employees to develop prototypes for new products and breakthrough innovations that benefit the company's buyers and sellers. Basically, The Green Box is a durable box designed to be used over and over and over again.

According to eBay's calculations, if every box gets reused at least five times, the boxes could "protect nearly 4,000 trees, save 2.4 million gallons of water and conserve enough energy to power 49 homes for a year."

And just like the old-school system of cards in library books or those inter-office envelopes, the Green Box leaves a space for users to sign and leave some information about what the box was used for or where it has traveled.

When the boxes reach the end of their usable life, because they are made from 100% recycled content, the FSC-certified corrugated cardboard and are fully recyclable.

As a fairly eBay user, I look forward to seeing one of these in my mailbox some day. Even more than that, I look forward to turning around and shipping something off in one -- whether I really needed to sell it or not.

Company Developing Sustainable Packaging Made from Coconuts

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:35:34 +0000

Whole tree hopes to take a coconut-flavored bite out of the cardboard packaging industry

Texas-based green materials firm, Whole Tree Inc., the same company that last year made a big splash with the news that it was working on developing car parts made from coconut fibers, announced that it is now testing the waters in the sustainable packaging industry.

Working with Compadre, an Austin-based packaging design and engineering company tasked with bringing the coconut-fiber packaging to market, Whole Tree will work to develop packaging applications using a composite material made in part from coconut fiber.

The coconut-based material is strong and stiff, which allows Compadre to form the material into various shapes for packaging applications. When molded, the material is called Coir Form.

"The intrinsic properties of coir fiber are truly amazing," says Dr. Walter Bradley, Distinguished Faculty at Baylor University in Texas and founder and chairman of Whole Tree. "It also has a natural burn resistance and natural resistance to mildew and microbial attack."

Dr. Bradley says the material can be made with variable densities, which can produce a number of property combinations, which will allow for creative and variable solutions for customer needs.

via Packaging Digest

Tennessee Gets in on Solar EV-Charging Stations

Timothy B. Hurst — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:06:46 +0000

Taking another step in building out its electric vehicle charging infrastructure, the state of Tennessee is now home to the first of several solar-powered EV-charging stations. Collaborating with the Tennessee Valley Authority and the nonprofit Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) ,' the U.S. electrical products firm Eaton developed a 'solar-assisted electric vehicle charging station (not pictured).

The first station will be erected at EPRI's lab in Knoxville, Tennessee, and working with TVA, one of the biggest power producers in the U.S., more will be installed around the state in coming months.

"Solar-assisted electric vehicle charging stations are a crucial step toward the development of a regional system of clean fuel for electric vehicles," said Tom Schafer, general manager of Eaton's Commercial Distribution Products Division, in a statement.

The prototype charging station used by EPRI and TVA, also known as a Smart Modal Area Recharge Terminal (SMART), will provide information on energy usage, the time when the equipment is used, the amount of solar-generated electricity produced and stored, and the potential impact of load clusters. Load clusters occur when several vehicles are refueled at the same time and they can put stress on the localized distribution system. An issue that utilities are investigating possible solutions for, including advanced battery and smart-grid systems

Additional stations are planned for Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Nashville, Chattanooga and another site in Knoxville.

Image: Design of EV-charging station by Johnston MarkLee unrelated to solar-assisted EV charger.

The Mercury Train: The Concorde of High Speed Rail

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 11:03:15 +0000

Let's say you're a leading design firm like Priestmangoode, for example, and you're trying to get high-speed rail lines built across the UK. What's the most effective way to sway public opinion and influence leaders? When you've got something as cool to show off as the Mercury Train, just make a video about it.

Priestmangoode's Mercury Train is designed like a modern-day version of the iconic Mallard train. Of course, as with any train aimed at getting 225 mph, the Mercury has longer lines and an elongated nose cone.

"We've tried to create a new British design icon, like Concorde, the Spitfire or the Routemaster bus," said Paul Priestman, one of the founders of Preistmangoode.

The interior is designed to be more than just comfortable. The airy glass-encased first-class cabins have couches and soft furnishings, a fully stocked bar and a viewing deck. It has cabins designed for business meetings or family trips. And it even has a children's play area.

The goal is: get people to leave their cars at home. The tactic: design something that is more attractive.

"An iconic train design will be one of the most successful weapons in the battle to persuade people to leave their cars at home," Priestman said. "Train travel needs to be as exciting as flying and as sexy as the latest car."

Image Credits: PriestmanGoode

A Cardboard Box that Sprouts Life at the End of Its Own

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:43:16 +0000

It's no secret that we like talking about cardboard boxes. From fully customizable cardboard boxes that can be formed into just about any shape, to others that could revolutionize the pizza box, there's clearly tons of room for growth and sustainable improvements to cardboard boxes. But the new Life Box design from Paul Stamets does something no other cardboard box does, it sprouts.

According to its creators, Stamets' Life Box and Tree Life Box "builds upon the synergy of fungi and plants by infusing spores and seeds together inside of packaging materials that can be planted."

Planted Planet Productions, distributors of the Life Box suite of products say it could be ideally suited for DVD/CD mailers, pizza boxes, shoe boxes or even sleeves for hot beverage cups. They even suggest that some day the Tree Life Box could some day qualify for up to one ton of carbon credits, but I think they have some serious product testing and independent verification before that happens.

h/t Inhabitat; greenUPGRADER

Pizza Box Design Eliminates Need for Plates (w/video)

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 21:09:01 +0000

If you're anything like me, you end up with a few pizza boxes kicking around your kitchen once in a while. The big cardboard boxes can be recycled if they are absolutely clean of any food debris, but that rarely is the case. A New York design firm believes it has solved the pizza box waste problem--or at least found an innovative way to repurpose them.

The Green Box by Ecoincorporated is designed to easily break down into four plates for you and your pizza-loving guests. And perhaps the coolest part, if there are any leftovers, the other half of the box folds into a handy leftover pizza box that is half the size of its bulky progenitor (see video below). The best aspect of the Green Box from a business standpoint is that it is manufactured at no additional cost.

H/t: Triple Pundit; greenUPGRADER

NASA Opens Lunar Robot Mining Competition

Timothy B. Hurst — Tue, 25 May 2010 06:01:01 +0000

Participants in NASA's Lunabotics Mining Competition design excavation systems that could be used for future lunar exploration.

Even as the Obama administration pulls the plug on NASA's dysfunctional lunar program, Constellation, NASA is still planning lunar exploration in the long term by piquing the interest of the next generation of scientists and engineers.

22 teams from universities across the United States descended on the Kennedy Space Center in Florida this week to test their designs in a head-to-head robotic mining equipment competition.

The critical test in the The NASA Lunabotics Mining Competition is for students to design and build a remote controlled or "lunabot" autonomous excavator that can collect and deposit a minimum of 10 kg (22 lbs.) of simulated lunar dirt in under 15 minutes.

NASA says it benefits from the competition by "encouraging the development of innovative lunar excavation concepts from universities which may result in clever ideas and solutions that could be applied to an actual lunar excavation device or payload."

Although the Obama administration has come under some criticism for its NASA retooling, the proposed budget would actually increase NASA’s cut by $6 billion over the next five years.

"We want to look at new designs, new materials, new technologies that will transform not just where we can go but what we can do when we get there," said President Obama in a major space policy speech in April.

No related posts.

UPACKS Form-Fitting Cardboard Box: Innovation or Over-Engineering?

Timothy B. Hurst — Thu, 13 May 2010 15:12:42 +0000

Innovations in cardboard boxes come along about as often as innovations in mouse traps, or perhaps even less. But designer Patrick Sung thinks you can make a better cardboard box, and if you pay attention, you might even be able to make the same box twice.

The Universal Packaging System or UPACKS, is a flat sheet of corrugated cardboard with triangulated perforations that allow it to fold around unusual shapes. The UPACKS system could also be used as internally inside other boxes to protect goods as they are shipped, and as a replacement for Styrofoam peanuts or other plastic packing materials. Sure the UPACKS system might be ideal for protecting valuable, irregular-shaped objects, but those oblong corrugated blobs don't make for very efficient stacking. For traditionalists, however, the box can also be bent into rectangular forms for stacking and shipping.

H/T: Yanko Design; Inhabitat

Earth and Industry Day: Win an HP Compaq 8000f Desktop w/22-Inch LCD Display

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:00:16 +0000

Tell us more about your office's sustainability efforts and you could win this eco-friendlier HP computer/monitor.

The energy efficient HP Compaq 8000f Elite is the first Windows-based Desktop PC in the industry to be completely free of brominated flame retardants and Polyvinyl chloride -- and thanks to the good people at HP, we're giving one away for Earth Day.

The 40th anniversary of Earth Day is less than a week away and if there is one message that has become increasingly clear over the last 40 years, as the environmental movement has moved from the fringe the main stream of public consciousness, it is that most environmentalists now agree that getting business to operate more sustainably will be a critical part of solving any of the major environmental problems we face today.

So in that spirit, LiveOAK media is partnering with HP to celebrate Earth Day in the work place by giving away one HP Compaq 8000f Elite and HP Compaq LA22f display (worth a combined value of $1,079) to a lucky winner who tells us a little more about how, why or what their office is doing/planing on doing/could be doing to 'go green.' Here's the nitty-gritty:

How to Enter to Win:

1. Become a fan of Earth & Industry (or other LiveOAK Media sites including ecopolitology, greenUPGRADER) on Facebook; alternatively you can subscribe to any of the above via Twitter or sign up for our newsletter (but you must become a new subscriber to something, even if you unsubscribe in a week, which we hope you won't do, of course);

2. Share this post with your friends and coworkers on Facebook or Twitter (You don't have to do this but they're gonna find out anyway so you might as well be the one to tell them).

3. Learn more about how the HP Compaq 8000f Elite Ultra-Slim Desktop and the HP Compaq LA22f Widescreen LCD Monitor really are greener than most computers;

4. Leave a comment for this post telling us which Facebook profile or feed you subscribed to, AND;

5. Answer one of the following questions in the same comment field (in 50 words or less):

What is your office doing to reduce energy use, cut waste or make it a healthier environment for everyone who works there?
What could your workplace be doing in that regard in 2010?
Based on what you know about the HP Compaq 8000f Elite desktop and LA22f display, how could these machines help your office achieve its environmental goals in 2010?

Please, no duplicate entries and only one entry per person per website. One winner will be randomly selected from all qualifying entries on Thursday April 22, Earth Day.

Good luck!

FloDesign Raises $42.8 Million for Jet-Inspired Wind Turbine

Timothy B. Hurst — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:40:13 +0000

FloDesign's wind turbine based on jet engine technology triples standard turbine efficiency.

FloDesign secures $34.5 million of venture capital to go with $8.3 million from feds via ARPA-E program

Massachusetts-based FloDesign Wind has received another big jolt of investment with its most recent round of funding. The company will use the nearly $43 million in venture capital funding to continue testing of its jet engine-inspired wind turbine that, according to its designers, triples standard wind turbine efficiency.

The latest (as well as the previous) round of funding for FloDesign was led by cleantech VC rockstars Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers. However this time around, KPCB was joined by a syndicate of three other high-profile investors: a Goldman Sachs managed investment fund, Technology Partners and VantagePoint Venture Partners.

Along with the announcement of the new round of funding, FloDesign also announced changes in the executive leadership. Lars A. Andersen joined FloDesign as Chief Executive Officer in early January, 2010. Mr. Andersen will be responsible for managing the company's "transition from a research and development organization to a leading renewable technology manufacturing company."

FloDesign has not only been the darling of cleantech VCs, the company has also caught the eye of the Department of Energy, receiving $8.3 million from the newly-funded ARPA-E program. Considering the quantity of public and private funding pouring into FloDesign right now, I suspect more than a few folks will be waiting with baited breath for any news out of the company's Massachusetts testing facilities on updates about the viability of this little gem and whether it might actually live up to its already lofty billing.

Follow Tim Hurst on twitter @ecopolitologist
via: CleanTechnica via: BusinessGreen