EcoPanorama

Acquart Mathieu is a French industrial designer with an interesting project; visit 15 countries in 8 months with the sustainable design theme in mind. According to his website he will be visiting The Netherlands (Delft included) in August after UK, US Canada, Australia, Japan, China, India, Norway & Sweden. Let’s try to ask him to visit DfS and share experiences/ideas.

Ecopanorama.com

Who gets what?

Did you know that 40% of total EU budget (€43.5 billion for 2004) was spent on agricultural subsidies (plants, animal products, ancillary expenditure and rural development)? Someone wake up! Check it at Farmsubsidy.org, a right-to-the-finger site "where you can find out who gets what from the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy"

$65 billion fund for Green Design

By John Thackara:

"Is advertising a source of harmful emissions? Industry forecasts anticipate that advertising spending will break through the $400 billion mark this year. That's $555 per person in the USA, (compared to $209 per head in France, $25 in Latin America and $8 in China). Those billions have just one purpose: to stimulate consumption - most of which will be environmentally damaging. I doubt that even one percent of this year's global ad spend will be used to create demand for environmentally positive goods, services or behaviour. One response would be to curb environmentally harmful marketing, much as we are trying to reduce carbon emissions. But curbs and limits are an unimaginative solution. Far better would be for adland and its clients to divert just ten percent of their budget - $10 per person, worldwide - to the redesign of products and services to make them sustainable."

Doors of Perception

IDEA Awards includes Eco-Design category

Celebrating its 26th year, the Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) are dedicated to fostering business and public understanding of the importance of industrial design excellence to the quality of life and the economy. Winning the IDEA is a distinction like no other that brands your design as the very best in the business, among your peers and clients, and to consumers around the world.

New for 2006 edition is the eco-design category to recognize design that employ environmentally sustainable principles and solutions.

Deadline: February 13th

TuttoBeNe in Milan '05

This spring TuttoBeNe will be present at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, Italy. The presentation will take place from 5 till 10 April 2006. TuttoBeNe focuses on presenting design that contributes to a more sustainable lifestyle. The applied work will be selected on its social responsible character, and its innovation in economic and ecologic sustainability (in production as well as consumption). The selection committee consist of: Cindy van den Bremen, Paul Hekkert and Danny Venlet. Please note that designers should be from, or based in, Belgium or The Netherlands. Applicants should apply before 27 January 2006!

TuttoBene site
Download pdf on how to participate

Via O2 mailinglist

Portable Light

Approximately 2 billion people worldwide lack access to electricity. Sheila Kennedy's Portable Light project brings together ancient textile weaving techniques and contemporary solid state electronics to design a new material form for light: a cost-effective, de-centralized renewable lighting device. Lightweight, easily rolled or compressed, readily shipped, transported and carried, Portable Light can be deployed at a global scale for education, household health and economic production and community practices.

Portable Light site
Via Core77

Cortica Chaise

"Daniel Michalik is a recent grad from the department of Furniture Design at the Rhode Island School of Design. With a focus on sustainability, he has developed several cork pieces ranging from lounges to ottomans. It's a beautiful collection made with an unconventional material used in a very innovative way."

danielmichalik.com

Via Mocoloco

Non battery-dependent bicycle pedal light

Pedalite is a non battery-dependent bicycle pedal light with integral energy storage. Pedalite provides a unique light signature and 360° visibility. Pedalite utilises an energy storage capacitor rather than any form of chemical battery.

Read more at http://www.pedalite.com

Another recycled PVC accessory

Well, interesting post in treehugger about recycled stuff from RUW. The trick is that if you choose their most recent design a small percentage of the price of the bag will go to a charity working to prevent domestic violence... some body is thinking! right

Read the post here

Ecoproducts Videopodcast

So, are you already a podcastmaniac? Few days ago we’re introducing the power of podcasting with a series of lectures from The Champions of Sustainability, today we go a step further and introduce videopodcasting. What’s all about? Someone goes to an event, records it in video and posts it on the net for you to enjoy it as you were there. You can download the videos directly from the websites or subscribe to them via iTunes.

We’d like to recommend you two of our favorite videopdcast:

* Coolhunting Video from the renowned design blog
* Ecoproducts Exhibition (I, II, III) from TechToys Videpodcast

Shelter in a cart

Designboom social awareness award 2006

Design a cart that can provide shelter and storage. Participation is open to applicants from every country in the world,to design professionals, students, and design-enthusiasts. Free participation.
urban homeless use carts to carry their possessions and to collect goods (like bottles, cardboard, etc.) that they then return to various recyclers in exchange for cash. This provides a small and valuable income. It is essential that your cart design not only accommodates all these functions but that it is affordable (for production and for private parties or charity organisations who wish to donate them).

Deadline: february 28th,2006 (for registration) march 10th, 2006 (for submission). check it out.

Sustainability Podcast

Podcasting is the new way to enhance your Mp3 player. Instead of downloading music files, now you can browse the net for thousands of audio files covering a wide variety of subjects. Why is this cool? Imagine you can find lectures from your favorite gurus in sustainability and listen to them in your Mp3 player on the go or in your computer without the need to be physically present in a conference room. Instead of working out your imagination just click this link and download audio files with lectures from people like Richard Florida (The Rise of the Creative Class). The files are also available through iTunes under "The Champions of Sustainability" podcast.

The Champions of Sustainability

British SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

The DTI, working with Defra and the Design Council, commissioned a scoping study on design and sustainability. The report maps UK sustainable design and draws out issues such as procurement, skills and public policy and makes some initial recommendations for taking sustainable design forward. Click here for downloadable reports.