What about greener gadgets?

Since we’re all very interested in having a greener lifestyle, maybe we can use some gadgets to help us in our everyday life. We all know the classic gadgets like a special saving lamp or solar panels but there are also other inventions that are really cool. Moreover, there are even inventions that help to encourage us to live green even at an early age. Let’s take a look at two fun examples!

The SprinkleFish!

The SprinkleFish playfully instills green-living habits in our younger generations, making attention to water consumption a natural part of their lives. Based on the idea that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, the SprinkleFish educates children from an early age, teaching good habits that will serve them and their environment well. Inspired by common pull-chord games, the SprinkleFish makes children playfully aware of the amount of water they are using for a single shower!  Telling tales of the little fish who wanted to swim back home parents can also gently educate their kids on how to use less water. The suction-cup waterplants enable a basic level of esthetic customization, and provide functional benefits by creating areas where detergent bottles can be easily stored. The SprinkleFish teaches green habits at an early age, so they'll last a lifetime…

The DeskTop!

The DeskTop encourages energy saving by putting a single power switch for all your office equipment in a convenient location: right under your eyes and fingers. Sometimes saving energy can be simply achieved by creating more efficient ways for people to behave responsibly: the DeskTop is such a solution!  The DeskTop is a multiple socket plug system intended to hang on top of your work surface of choice, rather than sitting on the floor beneath it. Its convenient position puts a master switch for all your electronic devices close to your fingers, so it’s easy to turn everything off at the end of the day. Gone are the days when your screen would be forgotten in standby… or when a multiple socket plug’s own on/off indicator would stay on all the time because you could not reach it. Additional benefits include better cable and desk management. The DeskTop is a modular system can also be expanded to include powered and non-powered modules, such as iPod docks, USB hubs, power outlets for mobile phones and digital cameras, or simple desk management modules like pen and cup holders. Moreover, the DeskTop, turns off all your office equipment with one touch, and cleans up your workspace.

What do you guys think about these gadgets? Would you buy one of these gadgets?

Jacinta De Deckere, Iwein Porton and Dennis Willems

ELECTRICAL BACTERIA. IT SOUNDS LIKE MAGIC, BUT IT’S REALITY !

Hello fellow bloggers!

Have you watched yesterday’s news? They talked about a very interesting subject: “electrical bacteria”. A small team of Belgian and Dutch scientists discovered bacteria in the North sea that can produce electricity. It sounds like magic, but it’s reality. 

The “electrical bacteria” was first discovered in 2010 by Danish scientists in the aftermath of an investigation looking into chemical fluctuations in the seabed. They were all speechless about  the process in which these bacteria generate electricity and transport electrons over long centimeter-scale distances. The exact operational principle of the electron transport is not clear yet, but the research team is trying to find out how the process works and how it influences the natural processes of the seabed ecosystem.

Once we know how these bacteria generate electricity, this also could open up new opportunities for innovative research into bio-electric systems. The “magic bacteria” could work as biological batteries, generating green energy. But for now, Scientifics are only talking about nanoelectronics. First calculations have shown that you need for example 20 square meters of seabed to charge an iPod. In other words, these wonderful creatures cannot immediately be used in daily life.

But what has not yet been achieved, might as well come forward in the near future… 

You can check the video at the following link:

http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/wetenschap/1.1927805

Klara, Sarah and Klaas 

A totally green New York City

Hey fellow bloggers!

Over the past few weeks, we talked a lot about new ecological innovations and green ideas to help build a better world. I hope many of you remember the idea of urban gardening or urban agriculture because we want to continue on that idea in this last blog of the semester. If you’ve ever wondered what a green, sustainable New York City could look like, you should definitely continue reading!

Hungry Hungry Hippo, I mean, New York City

Recent research has shown that you need 4 million acres of food-producing land – this is roughly the size of the entire state of Connecticut - to feed the people of New York City for one year. The problem is that New York City is an urban environment so their food has to be transported from all over the globe. But what if New York could provide some of its own food?

A wholly self-sufficient New York

A team of researchers came up with a project to allow New York to feed its population by using the available structures in a new and innovative way. Green roofs would cover nearly every Manhattan building and some streets would be replaced by community gardens. Moreover, it would be possible to build “food towers”, which are vertical farms with outdoor terraces that can even support roaming livestock.

For now, this lovely project still remains a pipe dream, but we personally think that New York would be even cooler if this project was actually possible. Do you agree with us or do you prefer the current urban jungle of NYC?  Let us know in the comment sections.

Emmeline, Marjoke and Sophie