and Twitter.
With world peace all but a memory of the past and revolts popping up throughout oil producing nations, the Economist takes a look at petrol consumption throughout the world in a lovely graph format. Though the results aren’t shocking, it’s still laughable (in a sad sort of way) the rate at which the US is consuming petrol, out-consuming many of the world’s largest nations combined.
Alright, now we’re getting somewhere! I made the switch to rechargeable batteries years ago, but I’ve always had a nagging issue, that appears I shared with many others: finding the damn charger. Now, problem solved. British technology firm Moixa Energy has created the USBCell, an ingenious invention which houses a normal battery with a flip-top USB plug, allowing you to recharge the battery directly from any USB port in your home or office. This includes directly from a Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii! The batteries need around 5 hours of constant charge to reach 90+/- percent of their 1300mah charge and will run you slightly more than you’d expect from rechargeable batteries, but, in the long-run, you’re doing the right thing for the environment and also looking damn cool while doing it.
Read more: USBCell, rechargeable USB batteries
Utilizing modern technology while highlighting a dire situation, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society has created the largest banner ad in the world, a life-size replica of a near-extinct blue whale. Created as a giant flash ad, the blue whale banner ad is true to it’s life-size claim, dragging my poor Mac Mini to a halt and probably enough virtual whale to fill a wall of Apple Cinema Displays. Effective usage of Flash, I must admit.
See (much) more: Lifesize Blue Whale, on your monitor
FlexibleLove is a brand of experimental furniture, which incorporates accordian-like structures to create highly durable and flexible furniture pieces made of low-cost recycled material. The name is a bit odd, but, when one knows it’s derived from “flexible love seat”, it starts to make a little more sense.
Watch the video of the seat in action after the jump..
Artist Chris Jordan has recently unveiled his brilliant art series “Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait”, where he takes a look at American culture via consumption statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of some object, such as 15,000,000 sheets of office paper (which is actually 5 minutes of America’s paper usage) and 106,000 aluminum cans (30 seconds of canned drinks consumption). The images are striking, putting statistical data on overconsumption in an easily identifiable and visual context. Jordan’s caveat however, is that viewers attempt to see them in person, where their scale is better experienced than through JPEGs displayed on a screen.
See much more: Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portait gallery
California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine will soon be introducing a bill requiring California to ban the use of incandescent lightbulbs throughout the state, instead requiring businesses and homeowners to switch to compact fluorescent bulbs, those nifty little jewels that may just play a major part in saving this here planet full of ingrates. Consuming only 25% of the energy which conventional bulbs require, CFLs put off almost equal, if not higher quality, light and saves a good chunk of money (among other less trivial things).
Read more: California to ban conventional light bulbs?
The quest for renewable energy has created some interesting and beautiful feats of engineering. Wind power, though classically accepted as a viable alternative to fossil fuels, has gone through a major evolution, especially in Europe, where wind power is widely being deployed and accepted. One of the most beautiful installations of wind turbines is in and around Northern Europe, where engineers are tackling the tricky way to harness the heavy winds present along the coastal areas, by deploying farms of wind turbines well out to sea, where choppy waters, high winds and sometimes deadly electrical storms can easily destroy a giant metal apparatus standing high into the sky. The wonderful bloggers over at Thrilling Wonder have collected a beautiful photo gallery of everything from standing wind turbines, to photos documenting the build process as well as destroyed wind turbines who were on the receiving end of a nasty lightening strike.
See more: Wind turbines in the stormy waters of Northern Europe
The Candela light is a great little invention for home decor and lighting fanatics. Providing a brilliant warm light source comparable to the intensity of 1.5 candles, the Candela uses long-life warm LED light sources, running for 8 hours on a rechargeable ni-cd battery. Though a bit pricey, designer Richard Lawson has come up with another brilliant innovation, the 9vo(l)tive LED candle. By combining the idea of the Candela light with a simple battery-driven LED mod, they’ve created the ultimate low-cost candle-light replacement for nerds. Though, we can’t stress enough how important it would be to use rechargeable 9 volts for these little projects. Interested? Contact the designer at richi(at)forpeople.co.uk.
Read more: Richard Lawson’s 9Vo(l)tive LED candles
The Segway personal transporter is sadly now banned on both the streets and sidewalks of “Great” Britain. In what could only be called inspired, the British Department of Transport has invoked the Highway Act of 1835 (yes, 1835) in order to keep Segways off of the streets and limited to private property, basically turning one of the most forward-looking inventions of the 21st century (so far) into nothing more than a useless buggy to check your post box with. The stupidity goes a bit deeper, with a statement from one of the Segway developers, who states that of the 4 officials who actually tested the Segway, 3 of them refused to even ride it, with the 1 who did, only traveling 100 yards.
Quoting Segway owner and an executive of aerospace company EADS:
“How can Tony Blair trumpet Britain’s environmental commitments when the Government tries to stop people using such a clean and sustainable mode of transport? I’m going to carry on using it.”
Read more: Segways banned from UK streets and sidewalks | Segway
A quick and easy way to save a little money by lowering your electric bill and help the environment by reducing the amount of CO2 emissions you’re responsible for is by replacing your normal incandescent bulbs with low-wattage compact fluorescents. Replacing four 60-watt incandescent bulbs with 11-13 watt (60-watt light equivalent) soft-white CFLs can reduce your electricity consumption by 1,500-1,800 kilowatt hours over the life of the bulbs and eliminate up to 2,500 pounds of atmospheric CO2 emissions you would have normally produced using the incandescents. Not only that, but CFLs last on average, 10 times longer than a normal incandescent bulb. Right now, Energy Federation Incorporated is trying to encourage adoption of CFL bulbs by offering those in the U.S. a 4-pack of 60-watt-equivilent CFLs at the amazingly low-price of $11.99 including shipping. Sure, the costs are a little higher up-front, but, over the life of the bulbs you’ll notice a higher return on investment and you’ll be doing a small deed towards helping the environment survive another year, or two (at least!). For readers in other countries, EFLs are certainly available at your local grocery or hardware store or through Amazon, among many other outlets.
Read more: 4-pack of CFL bulbs for $11.95 w/ free shipping | CFL savings calculator
July 22nd in 
