Your Plants Could Text You

The next time you hear your cell phone signal that you have a text message, it may not be from your significant other, your kids, or your friends.  Instead, it may be from your plants.  What exactly do your plants have to say?  Well, they may be texting you to let you know that they need water.

Generally, plants aren’t capable of telling us when they need more water, but with a new type of sensor designed by AgriHouse, that may all change.  These tiny little sensors clip on to the leaves of the plant.  They’re very small and thin—in fact, the latest sensors are smaller than a standard postage stamp, and they don’t damage the leaves at all.  Once they’re clipped on the plant, the sensors are capable of monitoring how much water the plant is receiving and whether or not it needs more.

Anyone who lives in an area that gets plenty of rain on a regular basis may find that they don’t need this kind of close monitoring.  However, for those trying to grow crops in areas with little rainfall, or those who tend to forget to water their plants, these little sensors could mean the difference between thriving plants and dead ones.  Farmers who rely on using water from aquifers will also find that the sensors are very useful.  By knowing when to water their crops, they can save a lot of money since they won’t be over watering.  This conservation of water and energy can greatly affect some areas, giving farmers more money to spend on other ventures.

IBM Building New Eco-friendly Data Center

Many computer companies are doing what they can to both cut costs and go green.  For some, this means changing the materials they use in their computers.  For others, it means figuring out ways to use less power.  That’s what IBM and Syracuse University are doing.  The two have joined forces to build IBM a new data center that will use 50% less power than similar data centers around the world.

The company and Syracuse have put a lot of research and effort into designing a building that will need only half the energy of current data centers.  This includes looking at everything from insulation techniques to energy generation methods to much more.  They plan to send six months on building this 6,000-square foot facility at a cost of $12.4 million US dollars.  While that may sound like a lot of money to spend on a building, no matter how energy-efficient it is, there’s no question that this new data center will completely change the concept of energy efficiency in the computer industry.

The IBM/Syracuse building will have a number of new systems to help make it so power efficient.  It will actually have a computer infrastructure that will shift applications and workloads to servers that are not being utilized to increase the efficiency of both computing and power.  The cooling system, something that uses a lot of power, will now only target those servers that need to be cooled down.  Sensors built into every room will detect when people are using various parts of the facility and, when they aren’t, will turn off the lights and other items.

These new approaches to improving energy efficiency are quite ambitious, and many of the things IBM and Syracuse have planned have never been done before.  If the new building truly does use 50% less power, it will be a major accomplishment.

E-Cycler Caught Lying

Many companies have started what they call e-cycling, or ecologically friendly recycling of items that really can’t be thrown into your local garbage, such as computer monitors.  Some e-cycling companies hold large events every few months in which they collect things that cannot be recycled by local city recycling, and for the most part, these companies do a great job at taking these items away and actually recycling them.  These companies deserve a lot of praise for their work.

The EarthECycle company, however, doesn’t.  They recently had two e-cycling events in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  The owner of EarthECycle went on record as saying that all the materials collected at these events would be recycling at a local facility.  The company also promised the local human society that they would donate $10,000 for every 100,000 pounds of recyclable materials they collected.

However, despite what EarthECycle officials said, the Basel Action Network, an environmental watch group, discovered something very interesting.  BAN members followed the EarthECycle trucks to warehouses, and later that day, they witnessed the waste being loaded into shipping containers.  Six of these containers where then transported via ship to Hong Kong, while another was shipped to South Africa.  These containers and the waste they held were set to be delivered to landfills.

However, BAN’s quick action has led to five of the Hong Kong containers and the South Africa container being returned to the US.  However, EarthECycle isn’t the only company that collects materials and then ships them off to other countries for disposal.  This doesn’t just happen in the United States, either—these types of scams occur all around the world.  To make certain it doesn’t happen to you, your city, or any group you’re a part of, be certain to check into the background of any recycling company you agree to work with.

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Solar Powered Bus Stops

First there was the idea for the solar powered bench (the one that can power a laptop, remember?).  Well, now the scientists at MIT have designed what they call the EyeStop, a solar powered bus stop that features a number of different entertainment options.  These options include current news and weather so that people will be informed about the world (something many people are not), but there are other uses to the EyeStop as well.

In addition to the news, those waiting for the bus will also be able to use an interactive mapping screen to figure out their bus route from the station to their destination, including which stops they need to get off on and which buses they need to catch.  They can also use the internet from their mobile devices and even see what types of pollutants they’ve been exposed to in real-time.  The EyeStop will also feature an electronic bulletin board that users can post ads and other announcements on.  All of this will combine to turn the bus stop into more than just a place to wait.  In fact, it could actually make people want to ride the bus again.

Another cool feature of the EyeStop is that it will start to glow as the bus gets closer.  This will let everyone know just how much time they have until their ride arrives, plus at night it will make it easier for bus drivers to see if anyone is waiting at the stop.

But there’s more to the EyeStop than just helping out the average bus rider, although that is its main focus.  However, each EyeStop will also monitor the environment around it, collecting useful real-time information for environmentalists and others.  Of course, the EyeStop will do its part for the environment—they will run off of solar power, and each EyeStop will be made out of as much recycled materials as possible.

Reusable Bags Can Be Dangerous

Everyone wants to use cloth, reusable bags.  Everyone believes that these bags are much, much better than both plastic and paper bags.  They don’t destroy the environment, they can be used for many other things besides grocery shopping, and they can be decorated and customized for each person.  But a new review by the Environment and Plastics Industry Council (EPIC) recently announced that reusable cloth bags can be dangerous!

EPIC conducted their research after Toronto considered putting a ban on plastic bag usage.  What did EPIC’s study reveal?  According to them, a reusable bag may contain much more mold and TPC than used Tupperware!  If just a bit of water or other moisture gets inside one of these bags, it can create the perfect environment for bacteria to grow.  This is because the inside of these bags are dark and many people leave them in their cars.  During the warm months, the temperature in the car can get quite high, creating a warm, moist environment.

What this means is that food can get contaminated if the bags are used over and over without being cleaned.  Because yeast has been found in these bags, there’s a very good chance that other microbes are also growing inside the bag.  This can result in food poisoning or worse.  According the EPIC’s study, at least three out of every 25 bags examined had coliform contamination in them.

How can you help protect against this?  Wash your reusable bags on a regular basis.  Make certain meats and any other food that may leak is wrapped tightly and securely.  Don’t leave your bags out in the hot car, either.  Remember that these bags are, in a way, like your dishes—you wouldn’t eat off of a dirty plate, so don’t put your food in a dirty bag.

HP Makes Laptop Packaging Greener

While HP may not like talking about how they have one of the most ecologically friendly packaging ever, but they certain did a great job at coming up with an amazing way of saving on packing materials.  Why don’t they want to advertise this?  Well, according to the lead designer of their Innovation Program Office, the department that has come up with a number of green solutions for the computer manufacturer, being green just isn’t part of their brand!

Back up just a bit.  HP itself is certainly interested in being green, but when it comes to this particular laptop packaging, green isn’t hip.  The packaging in question is for their Voodoo brand of laptops.  It is mainly aimed at gamers, a group that is not known for going out of their way to be green (you know how many pizza boxes they go through each month that don’t get recycled?).

So what is this amazing packaging that HP doesn’t really want to talk about?  Well, it is basically a very nice box that features a small embossed logo on it.  There’s no other printing on the box, saving on ink.  As a bonus, because there’s nothing else printed on this box, it can easily be reused for a number of things.  Inside the box are two simple trays that hold everything that comes with the laptop.  These trays can easily be used for sorting papers and other tasks.

Gone is that plastic sheet that normally has to be peeled off the screen.  Instead, the laptop is covered with a microfiber sleeve that can be reused over and over to protect the computer and clean it.  While this sleeve isn’t biodegradable, it’s not garbage like the plastic was.  Just about every aspect of the packaging, then, can be reused in some way.  That’s a huge advancement over other computer boxes.

Dealing with the Trash

No one likes taking out the garbage, especially when you realize just how much garbage you make.  Many of us do our best to recycle everything we can, but it still seems like the garbage adds up.  However, there are some interesting, unique types of trash cans that can help us control the garbage we make.

By putting a limit on how much garbage we produce, we can find different ways to reuse or recycle items.  That’s the idea behind the adjustable trash can marketed in Japan, anyway.  This trash can has an adjustable depth so it can be a full-sized trash can or a smaller one.  If kept at the smallest level, perhaps people would make less garbage?  So far, no studies have been done, but it does sound like an interesting concept.

Another interesting trash can is the sidewalk collector used in Germany.  This is one of the deepest trash cans around.  What’s interesting is that only the top of the trash can appears on the streets of Hamburg.  However, lurking under the ground is a huge, 400-liter trash can.  The concept here is that larger trash cans need emptying fewer times, thus saving the money associated with weekly garbage collection.

Finally, there’s the Big Belly solar powered trash can.  Now, why would a trash can need power?  Because the Big Belly actually compacts down the trash thrown in it.  This allows it to hold up to eight times as much garbage as a trash can the same size.  Of course, the downside here is that no oxygen can get into the compacted bundles of trash, which causes some issues with decomposition.  However, recyclables can also be compacted down, which can help save space in recycling plants.

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