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!
Rick Cavallaro and his team at DDWFTTW succeeded in making a wind powered vehicle that travels downwind at a speed faster than the wind itself. The vehicle is at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011, having newly accomplished a feat that was considered impossible by many. The vehicle is made from a combination of steel, carbon […]
It’s being widely reported as the first time an electric multi-copter has carried a human being aloft. Germans Thomas Senkel, Stephan Wolf, and Alexander Zosel are the brains behind e-volo, a 16-copter with four groups of four blades, each of which is driven by a separate motor. The first human-carrying flight is reported to have lasted one minute and thirty seconds.
Zachary Rukstela of Kinetic Steamworks considers himself the steward of the pieces of vintage steam technology he owns. He operates a steam powered vehicle at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011, and explains his background in steam, from growing up on a farm, to working on a WWII era steam powered destroyer.
MAKE has covered Berlin-based artist Benoît Maubrey prior work on Audio Ballerinas. Now he has created a similar, but stationary sculpture using over 1000 repurposed speakers. It’s called “Speakers Wall” and in the center is a genuine piece of the Berlin Wall. It has become something of a speaker’s corner for remote museum attendees who can call in and talk through a set of the speakers for 3 minutes. As an added bonus, the speakers are used as a PA system for DJs during concerts – I can only imagine what that would sound like.
In the comments to an old post that Becky did in 2009, about Instructable user brokengun single-engine single rotor wind turbine (pictured above), a maker from India is trying to build a similar turbine and having problems.
A chance meeting with the EastSide Riders Bike Club leads us to the Georgia Street Community Center. Both organizations are dedicated to improving their community, through education, gardening, and neighborhood involvement.
Without going all the way out on a limb, I’ll borrow language from my first scratchbuilt post and suggest that polish master modeler Andrzej Ziober is producing work that is approaching “the limits a single modeler can achieve,” using conventional scale modeling techniques and technologies, in the field of 1/72 scale aircraft. He has not produced many of these models, because each of them takes about five years of work, at about five hours of work a day.
