Posts by Category: Eco Friendly

All things green and planet saving.

Eco Friendly April 11, 2022 posted by

Solar Brick – solar panels that look like a standard brick wall

Canadian solar company Mitrex has developed a new product called Solar Brick which mimics the effect of a brick wall while delivering traditional solar panel electricity. The clever facade panels can produce 330W per panel and can be used for new builds or retrofits of older buildings. The advantages of being able to add a layer of solar cladding to an older surface opens up a whole new market for building upgrades.


Continue Reading »Solar Brick – solar panels that look like a standard brick wall
Solar Brick – solar panels that look like a standard brick wall
Eco Friendly March 7, 2022 posted by

Boxy – the ultimate, cash free convenience store made from recycled containers

There’s no question that a lot of current carbon emissions come from private car transportation. Cut out the super short shopping trips for ‘some milk and a paper’, and we would dramatically cut the emissions from our suburban and country living. But it’s hard to shift our habits, unless we can make local shopping so convenient that it’s a no-brainer to use. Now a French company has started to fight back. Boxy convenience stores are made out of recycled shipping…


Continue Reading »Boxy – the ultimate, cash free convenience store made from recycled containers
Boxy – the ultimate, cash free convenience store made from recycled containers
Eco Friendly February 18, 2022 posted by

This $4 solar desalination system can provide clean drinking water for a family

The boffins at MIT have come up with a super low cost desalination plant which they say will deliver continuous clean water to a family. What makes it special is the fact that it doesn’t get clogged up by salt residues, which means it stays operative after long periods of use without cleaning. The trick? Using a non-wick system which instead uses 2.5 cm holes which don’t get clogged up with salt.


Continue Reading »This $4 solar desalination system can provide clean drinking water for a family
This $4 solar desalination system can provide clean drinking water for a family
Eco Friendly January 12, 2022 posted by

New ice phobic coating keeps snow off solar panels

Everyone knows that solar panels are awesome, right? But unfortunately they can be a little finnicky about their performance. For instance, the electrical output drops significantly if any part of a panel is in shade, say from a nearby tree or chimney. Another thing that really messes up solar power output is snow. No exposed panel, no power. Simple really. Now a team from Michigan University seem to have cracked the snowy panel problem with a new spray on material…


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New ice phobic coating keeps snow off solar panels
Eco Friendly December 31, 2021 posted by

Tech of the Year 2021? Our vote goes to solar power. Again

Regular readers will know that The Ferret is a big fan of solar power. No other technology has the potential to replace our energy needs so efficiently and conveniently as solar. Sure, wind and sea turbines offer superb output at scale, but unless you have a few million in spare change, it’s not likely that you’ll be able to enjoy your own wind or sea power anytime soon. It’s only solar, with it’s local, household level (or even vehicle level)…


Continue Reading »Tech of the Year 2021? Our vote goes to solar power. Again
Tech of the Year 2021? Our vote goes to solar power. Again
Eco Friendly November 21, 2021 posted by

Yara Birkeland – world’s first autonomous electric containership launched

Those clever Norwegians have gone and built the world’s first electric autonomous containership. Which is a big deal. The 80 metre long Yara Birkeland had its maiden voyage last week, and when operational will apparently cut the emissions of 40,000 truckloads of freight per year. Initial routes will be very local, delivering fertilizer from a factory to distribution depot down the Norwegian coast.


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Yara Birkeland – world’s first autonomous electric containership launched
Eco Friendly August 31, 2021 posted by

Buoyant – air freight just got interesting

Freight is a problem as far as the environment goes. Every mode of transport for goods has serious emissions, whether it’s boats, planes or trucks. Good then to see a new initiative, which if it takes off (heh) could dramatically reduce the environmental and financial cost of freight services. The Buoyant Aero freight blimp promises 250 mile all electric range and a payload of 650 lbs. All at half the operating cost of a Cessna light aircraft.


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Buoyant – air freight just got interesting
cool tech August 22, 2021 posted by

Chargie – worried about damaging your phone battery by over charging? This neat gadget has you covered.

Most of us have this secret fear of over-charging our phone battery, right? That’s why we unplug when we can, try not to leave the phone charging overnight and make sure to charge up before the battery has drained completely. But it can be hard to keep it up, which means that our phone battery often degrades faster than it could or should. Now there’s a new gadget which could solve that problem nicely.


Continue Reading »Chargie – worried about damaging your phone battery by over charging? This neat gadget has you covered.
Chargie – worried about damaging your phone battery by over charging? This neat gadget has you covered.
Eco Friendly July 22, 2021 posted by

MoEa – sneakers made from fruit offer a low carbon alternative to leather and plastic

Cool footwear is not so much a fashion thing, more a religion. Which is probably why so many eco shoe projects end up failing miserably. This latest effort, from international company Mother of Earth (MoEa) may buck the trend. Their MoEa Sneakers are apparently crafted from only the finest fruit and vegetables. Not sure whether they’re organic (artf!), but we applaud the concept wholeheartedly.


Continue Reading »MoEa – sneakers made from fruit offer a low carbon alternative to leather and plastic
MoEa – sneakers made from fruit offer a low carbon alternative to leather and plastic
Eco Friendly July 1, 2021 posted by

This Song Plants Trees – add this 31 sec song to your playlists and plant a tree every 100 listens

Really clever idea. A new service which lets you stream a simple 31 sec ‘song’ (actually just a short description read aloud) in your playlists which earn enough money after 100 plays to plant one tree. The world’s first MP-Tree. Yeah clever, like we said. This Song Plants Trees is basic, easy to understand and a really interesting way to raise awareness of the need to tackle climate change.


Continue Reading »This Song Plants Trees – add this 31 sec song to your playlists and plant a tree every 100 listens
This Song Plants Trees – add this 31 sec song to your playlists and plant a tree every 100 listens
Eco Friendly June 26, 2021 posted by

Boxabl Casita – one hour folding home for just $49,000 including kitchen bathroom

We’ve seen some pretty innovative house designs recently, including 3D printed ones etc, but this new Bosabl Casita takes the biscuit. It’s pre-assembled on the factory floor, folded up into a package measuring 8 feet on one side, then shipped to the destination site. Once there, it can be unfolded in around an hour, and customised, connected to services and finished ready to go in a day. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, the makers are offering it at a…


Continue Reading »Boxabl Casita – one hour folding home for just $49,000 including kitchen bathroom
Boxabl Casita – one hour folding home for just $49,000 including kitchen bathroom
Eco Friendly May 25, 2021 posted by

Maxeon Air 330 – these flexible solar panels are a game changer

Solar technology is a revolution happening in slow motion. You forget about them, then all of sudden you realise that some very cool stuff is happening. Take these Maxeon Air 330 flexible solar panels for example. They’re not just bendy, but designed to be fitted to roofs without frames. This is a. big. deal. for solar in general. What most people don’t realise is that most of the cost of installing solar comes from the installation nowadays. The actual panels…


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Maxeon Air 330 – these flexible solar panels are a game changer
Eco Friendly May 16, 2021 posted by

Tecla House – the world’s first 3D printed house made of raw earth

This enterprising project from Italy, called Tecla, is the world’s first 3D printed raw earth house. What does that mean? Well for one thing it only took 200 hours to print. For another there was no need to bring any materials on site. They just dug up some earth as the source. Clever eh?


Continue Reading »Tecla House – the world’s first 3D printed house made of raw earth
Tecla House – the world’s first 3D printed house made of raw earth
Eco Friendly April 21, 2021 posted by

PDK – new kind of plastic can be recycled for ever, at a price

Scientists have come up with a new form of plastic which can be recycled back to a pristine state for resuse a huge number of times. This makes it a big contender to help stop the mountain of plastic trash we waste every day. The new material, PDK – which stands for polydiketoenamines – come with a penalty though. It’s very expensive to make. Something to do with one particular chemical component which costs a lot. However once PDK is…


Continue Reading »PDK – new kind of plastic can be recycled for ever, at a price
PDK – new kind of plastic can be recycled for ever, at a price
Eco Friendly April 14, 2021 posted by

Eat Just chicken – world’s first lab cultured meat gets go ahead in Singapore

So the race is on to wean us all off meat and turn us into happy little plant eaters. Leading the charge is Beyond Meat (disclosure: recently tried their Beyond Burger and it is astonishingly good), closely followed by a bunch of alternatives. Among the most interesting is California based Eat Just, which recently announced that it’s lab cultured chicken had won approval for commercial use in Singapore. Why Singapore? We’re not sure. Anyway the bottom line is that our…


Continue Reading »Eat Just chicken – world’s first lab cultured meat gets go ahead in Singapore
Eat Just chicken – world’s first lab cultured meat gets go ahead in Singapore