Energy & Sustainability

If you’re a maker just starting out your journey in sustainability, it can be overwhelming to figure out how to get started. From understanding the types of materials to utilize, learning what steps will help reduce waste and emissions, and finding inspiring new ways to explore creativity that don’t have a negative environmental impact. The good news is there are plenty of resources available for DIYers looking for ways to make their projects more sustainable – from simple switches you can make today, big-picture ideas for longterm change, or exciting new ways makers are helping push sustainability into the future. In these blog posts we’ll look at tips tricks and ideas specifically tailored towards diyers and makers on the road to creating projects with greater eco consciousness so that not only will you create something beautiful but also respect its impact on our planet!

More useful shipping containers

More useful shipping containers

Photo from Afropicmusing via Afrigadget Afrigadget has a post on repurposed shipping containers. A search through Flickr for shipping container gives some interesting results. I like the apartment building. Wikipedia has an entry on shipping container architecture. You may also want to park your container across the valley from Gareth (It doesn’t sound like he […]

Grow your own bike!

Grow your own bike!

Photo from Third World Tech Third World Tech is a neat site with loads of technologies that are used and created in the developing world. One feature on their site is this great idea of making bamboo bikes. The bicycle is such an incredibly important tool for people living on very little in low tech […]

What does Tesla Motors mean to you?

What does Tesla Motors mean to you?

When Chad was a freshman in my high school program, he was talking about wanting to do a car project. The teenage car project is a time tested pursuit, an opportunity to learn many of life’s lessons, learn tools, techniques, create a useful product. Chad is currently a freshman at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, where […]

Pedaling forward with Maya Pedal

Pedaling forward with Maya Pedal

` Catherine sends this in about Maya Pedal, which helps create and supply bicycles and pedal-powered machines to communities in Guatemala. Bicimáquinas (translates as “bicycle machines”) are pedal-powered machines that act as an intermediate technology to assist the family economy in obtaining a higher production capacity in agriculture and in small business. Each bicimáquina is […]

Hey kids, Tweet-a-Watt kits!

Hey kids, Tweet-a-Watt kits!

Our pals at Adafruit have released kits for their most awesome Tweet-a-Watt, a kit that turns a lonely Kill-a-Watt power meter into a Twittering energy-usage reporter. Now you can tweet your ravenous power hunger to the entire world! The Tweet-a-Watt Starter Kit, with everything you need to create one outlet monitor (minus the Kill-a-Watt unit), […]