Pro aesthetics supports

DESIGN FOR A GREEN LIVING

'pro aesthetics supports' by francesca lanzavecchia

Italian born designer francesca lanzavecchia graduated from the masters program at the design

academy in eindhoven last spring. her thesis project ‘pro aesthetics supports’ explored the perception of disability through its artefacts. in the project she redesigned common medical artefacts associated with disability such as neck braces, canes, crutches and back braces. she focused on making the artefacts expressive so that each one becomes a personal representation of their owner, while paying special attention to social stigma.

‘representative skins’ back brace

www.francesca.nu

  ‘lingerie’ back brace & ‘tattoo’ back brace

 ‘corset’ back brace & ‘polly’ back brace

 

‘tea-time’ cane

Pocas cosas son menos glamourosas que andar con una condición médica o inmovilizados con un cuello ortopedico. Es por esto que la italiana Francesca Lanzavecchia basó su tesis de grado, en la personalizacion de artefactos médicos comunes y corrientes, rediseñando yesos, cuellos ortopédicos y bastones y convirtiendolos en una representación personal de quien lo usa.

 

 ‘protraction’ crutch & ‘bone’ cane

 ‘personal canvas’ neck brace

 ‘pronto’ neck brace & ‘neck plinth’

"neck plinth & ‘marsupial’ neck brace

What a original idea of green living and well bein!

Thanks to designboom.com for this article.

Some people have said:

"Maybe Francesca Lanzavecchia and I should put our heads together. I was looking on-line for information about neck braces. Specifically for neck braces that are NOT 'conspicuos', preferably pretty, and useable by someone who can't stand anything even slightly tight around their neck!

Additional braces are also of interest to me - I have several medical conditions which seem to require splints, braces or mobility devices. Also, I have a cane/walking stick that I always receive favorable comments about! Pretty simple, and pretty in-expensive as well!

Personally, I like the style of the neck plinth - no constriction near the 'Adam's apple', though I'm not too thrilled by the color. (It almost looks like something from a BDSM collection.) I'd actually prefer something more ornamental, and maybe padded where it comes into contact with the skin. I also like the Victoria neck brace. The cooling aspect of the lace is appealing, since I live in a hot and humid climate.

However, I am wondering about support and appearances for the back of the neck/cervical spine?
I have pinched nerves and bone degenerating from my upper neck all the way down to my tail bone. So, something to help alleviate the pressure and pain, that is comfortable and attractive would be wonderful".

New designs crazy Leg Lamps

After sacrificing his body to a vicious slide tackle, Vestal designer Diego Rotalde had his ankle set until the swelling and pain subsided. Seven crutch-filled days later, Diego got the gift of mobility back, along with his cast. The Peruvian wasted no time turning his former shackle into something of artistic value, the DIY Leg Lamp. As we say here in Lima, when life hands you limes, you make lemonade.

DIY Leg Lamp:

Time – Five Minutes

Materials – Lamp with energy-saving light bulb, a CD, leg cast after the personal injury.

Tools – A good knife

1. Find a lamp that either has a decorative piece to balance the cast on or is built in such a way to avoid having the bulb touch the guaze. Many lamps have guards around the bulb used to support regular lampshades. This is probably safer. If you cast has been cut in half, you can use a bandage (or glue) to reform it to the shape of your leg.

2. Cut a decently large hole in the toe (or bottom of the foot, or wherever seems best)

3. Slip the cast over the bulb. Use the CD (or a piece of cardboard depending on how wide your calf is) to regulate the amount of light coming out the top.

4. Enjoy!

In german:
Nach seinen Körper zu opfern, um einen bösartigen Grätschen, hatte Vestal Designer Diego Rotalde seinem Knöchel bis die Schwellung und Schmerzen abgeklungen gesetzt. Sieben Krücke gefüllte Tage später bekam Diego das Geschenk der Mobilität zurück, zusammen mit seinen Darstellern. Die peruanische keine Zeit dreht seinen ehemaligen Schäkel in etwas von künstlerischem Wert verloren, der DIY-Leg Lamp. Da wir hier in Lima, wo das Leben Händen limones Sie sagen, du machst limonada.
DIY Leg Lampe:
Time - Five Minutes
Materialien - Lampe mit energiesparenden Glühbirnen, ein CD-, Bein-Stimmen.
Tools - Ein gutes Messer
1. Suchen Sie eine Lampe, die entweder ein dekoratives Stück der Stimmen auf oder ist in einer Weise gebaut Gleichgewicht zu vermeiden, dass die Lampe berühren guaze. Viele Lampen haben Wachen um das Leuchtmittel verwendet werden, um regelmäßige Lampenschirme unterstützen. Dies ist wahrscheinlich sicherer. Wenn Sie geworfen hat um die Hälfte reduziert, können Sie einen Verband (oder Leim), um ihn an die Form Ihrer Beine zu reformieren.
2. Schneiden Sie ein anständig großes Loch in die Zehe (oder Unterseite des Fußes, oder wo auch immer scheint am besten)
3. Schieben Sie die Stimmen mehr als die Glühbirne. Verwenden Sie die CD (oder ein Stück Pappe, je nachdem wie weit Ihr Kalb), um die Menge an Licht kommt aus der Spitze zu regulieren.
4. Viel Spaß! 

25 Firefox Extensions to Make Your Green Business More Productive

Firefox is my weapon of choice when it comes to browsing the web. It’s fast, free, and gives the user the best feature ever: Choice.The beauty of the Firefox extension is that it allows you to add a specific feature or function, fully customizing your browsing experience. For someone wanting to make the most of their online time, this is a huge opportunity. There are limitless ways to tailor your browsing with Firefox extensions.

 Here are 25 of my favorite extensions that help me save time while online.

1. Autocopy – The name pretty much says it all. Instead of having to hit cmd+c (or ctrl + C for our Windows readers), every time you highlight text it automatically copies it to the clipboard. If you don’t want it on 100% of the time, you can toggle it on and off in the bottom-right of the browser.
2. Better Gmail – A must-have for any Gmail user. Maintained by the legendary Gina Trapani of Lifehacker, Better Gmail adds some killer features that would make any developer at Google scratch their head and wonder “Why didn’t I think of that?!”. Keyboard macros, saved searches, right-click preview views and integrate Google Reader to name a few. (The keyboard macros are enough of a reason to install this little filly, in my humble opinion.)
3. Better GReader – Another gem from Gina for Google Reader. Add feeds toGReader and bypass the default add page from Google, make the most of the reading area and take advantage of some great keyboard shortcuts, to name a few.
4. No Squint – Finding yourself going cross-eyed form leaning too close to the monitor? No Squint can fix it. Specify a percentage to show all text that’s larger than the default for your screen resolution. You can either make all sites a default size, or only specify a few with different font sizes.
5. Remember the Milk for Gmail – If you’re a fan of the todo list application Remember the Milk, you’ll love this extension. Fully mange your todo items inside of Gmail, instead of having to trek over to the RTM website every time you want to check off a task. You can also quickly assign emails as tasks. Very slick.
6. Shareaholic- An indispensable extension for those who do a lot of social bookmarking with digg, del.icio.us, twitter, or maintain a tumblelog. In one click you can share the page you’re on with the previously mentioned services (plus a few more) without spending any more time than you have to away from the article.
7. LeechBlock – If you’re feeling a little vulnerable to the addictive qualities of certain websites, use LeechBlock to literally force you from visiting them within a certain time period of the day. No joke. Not for the faint of heart, or those with problems with authority.
8. Read it later – Don’t have time to really focus on an article you’ve found? This extension will enable you to quickly save the page you’re browsing until you’re able to read it. Once you’re ready to read your saved articles, the extension will open the articles in new tabs with the click of a button.
9. Scrapbook – Much like the Read it Later extension, Scrapbook allows you to quickly save pages for later reading. However, it has a few more great features, like taking whole snippets of pages (like Google Notebook), searching within snippets, saving whole websites, and you can even organize the snippets like bookmarks. Perfect for researching or in-depth bookmarking.
10. Meetimer- Meetimer is a great way to get a handle on just how much time you’re spending on various sites around the web. You can group sites into categories (ie. facebook.com = “procrastination”), and track just how much
11. Copy Plain Text- The name pretty much says it all. If you do a lot of writing in WYSIWYG editors (blogging and other word processors), then this extension can come in pretty handy. Copy Plain Text will leave all the bolds, italics and other unwanted formatting when you copy and paste into text fields.
12. Ad Block Plus- For those obsessed with a zen-like minimalist approach to web browsing, this Ad Block Plus will surely keep you focused. Kill annoying banners and ads by simplying installing the extension and right-clicking the banner on the page. Once you’ve clicked the banner, you’ll never see it again as long as the extension is turned on.
13. Gmail Conversation Preview – A nifty little Greasemonkey script that allows you right-click and see the body of the email, without opening it. Simple and slick.
    
14. Invisibility cloak – Lifehacker’s solution to blank out certain time-wasting sites that kill productivity. This is a much smaller version of LeechBlock.
15. Add a second inbox to your Gmail account – Quickly and easily toggle between Gmail inboxes. Perfect for those with a business and personal email accounts at Gmail.
16. FEBE – On the surface, FEBE will quickly and easily backup your Firefoxextensions. But the fun doesn’t stop there. You can also sync multiple computers with the same Firefox extensions, and even set up automatic backups, ensuring that you’ll never lose your Firefox configurations again.
17. del.icio.us bookmarks – Save, search and share your Del.icio.us bookmarks easily inside of Firefox. Browsing your bookmarks is especially easy with the del.icio.us sidebar.
18. Googlepedia – I find this extension extremely valuable for getting a more holistic Google search. Googlepedia splits the Google search results in half and shows the relevant Wikipedia page for the search alongside the Google results.
19. Errorzilla Mod – This extension is pretty nifty for troubleshooting error pages that you might come across, giving you the Google Cache, Wayback Machine,Whois, and tons of other useful information about the site and page in question.
20. Pageaddict – Pageaddict simply shows your internet usage by website. It’s not as intrusive as Invisibility Cloak or LeechBlock, but it can provide a helpful look at where you really spend your time online.
21. urlfixer – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve typed in “gmail.cmo” to get a frustrating error page. Instead of having to perfectly type in every url, urlfixercan usually guess where you’re trying to go, and will send you there anyway.
22. Colorful Tabs – This extension is deceptively useful. Much like office file-folder tabs, colorful tabs gives a color to each tab opened in Firefox. Quickly find which tab you need without having to read it.
23. Faviconize Tab – Save some serious tab bar real estate with Faviconize tabs. With a simple right-click, you can shrink each tab to only the size of the favicon(16×16px), giving you much more room for open tabs.
24. Google Notebook- Google notebook is another bookmarking tool, except it can save whole excerpts from pages, images and links. Quickly save all parts of a page into an digital “notebook” for easily collecting. Not quite as nifty as the Scrapbook extension, but definitely a contender.
25. Dictionary Tooltip – A perfect companion for any writer. Just highlight any word and hit Ctrl + Shift + D to see the word’s definition, without having to open a new window

The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See -Global Warming-

The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See -Global Warming-

ECO VILLAGE

Many people are learning to live sustainably, without money. In this video, they discuss their struggles, how they got to and developed kew bridge eco-village. They discuss about food, family, diferent activities.

Do you like the history The Hobbits (Movie The Lord of the ring)? Here you can see his house!!!

It's a style of life. you can have your house like The Hobbits Shire...

Straw Bale House made by Single Mom

4 Tips for Maintain Healthy Household Plants

Having plants in the house is a great idea, both for decorating purposes, as the oxygen they breathe into a room. The following are a few tips for keeping your indoor plants healthy and vibrant.

1. Lighting: The amount and intensity of light that your plants receive is one of the biggest factors affecting their growth. But It is also possible that your plant is getting too much light, so here are some warning signs telling you to move your plant out of direct sunlight:

• Brown patches on the leaves making the plant look ‚Äúscorched‚Äù
• Leaves look faded or washed out
• Plant begins to wilt around mid-day
• Leaves become too dry and start to fall off.

2. Watering Your Plants: It’s hard to know exactly how much water your plant needs, especially when the amount changes depending on the species of plant, soil, light, temperature and the humidity in your home. Plants need more water if they have a lot of leaf surface and soft, lush foliage or if it’s their growing season. The only way to really know whether your plant it thirsty or not is to stick your finger into the soil up to your first knuckle. If the soil feels moist, the plant is fine. If the soil feels dry, it wants water.

3. Grooming Your Plant: When the flowers on your plant begin to wilt and die, you should remove them immediately for two reasons: the decaying material will attract insects and disease, and it will avoid the plant expending energy for making seeds. It is also good practice to wipe down leaves once in a while with a damp sponge to remove any accumulated dust, and remove any dead leaves or branches as you see them.

4. Raise the Humidity: If your plant looks droopy, burnt at the tips or has flowers that bloom half-heartedly and then die, it may need more humidity. Here are a few tips on how to give your plants the humidity they need:

• Spray them with a fine mister once a day.
• Place your plants on a tray filled with water and pebbles. The water will slowly evaporate and humidify the area immediately around it.
• Group all your plants together so that they all benefit from the moisture they are each emitting.

Read Original: agreenliving.org/How to Maintain Healthy Household Plants

Solar-Powered Compact Illuminates Inside and Out

Need to do a quick face check in a dimly light car or restaurant? Stila’s solar-powered compact features an illuminated mirror that makes touchups on the go a cinch. Made from recycled plastic, the energy-efficient palette comprises a mini-photovoltaic panel that charges up to 1,000 times for roughly five years of preening. Plus, it’s refillable, which means less packaging waste ends up moldering in the landfill.

Read Original: Ecoterre/ Stila's Solas-Powered compact illuminates inside and out.

Treehouse Tents a safe haven in the Treetops

Imagen (Inhabitat)

Tentsile is a portable habitation unit that can be suspended amidst trees to provide accommodation for three people. With three anchor points and the use of tension instead of poles, the Tentsile is part tent and part hammock. The structure is made from a collapsable frame of webbing straps with fire retardant, UV PU and water resistant polyester fabric infill panels. The three points serve as sleeping chambers and the middle is held in suspension and serves as a vestibule and gathering space. Access is gained via a rope ladder in the middle. It comes in a wide variety of colors and each tent is made by hand and there is also an option to hang the tent with a stand if no trees are available.

Read Original: Tentsile Treehouse Tents Provide a Safe Haven in the Treetops! | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

The 2012 Detroit Auto Show

World's smallest Solar Movie Theatre (solar Power)

The Sol Cinema is a micro movie house powered entirely by the Sun. We can accommodate 8 adults comfortably for a unique cinematic experience. We have a full library of comedy, SteamPunk, music videos and short films with inspiring environment themes.

Sol Cinema is an ideal solution for showing short videos within your community, festival, event or party. They are a non-profit project from the award winning arts charity, Undercurrents.

Red original and Photos from thesolcinema.org

Eco Wines

There are numerous factors to consider in selecting a fine wine—including whether or not it was produced in an environmentally-friendly manner and if it has been certified as such. The national organic farming certification rewards growing practices. The international biodynamic farming certification focuses on growing practices as well as the laws of nature’s spirituality. The regional sustainable certification encourages improvements in many areas, touching on the above as well as energy resources, waste-reduction, working conditions and community responsibility. And the FFF certification offers another angle on sustainability, this time addressing land management of the farm as a whole. All of these factors influence my wine choices.

Of the many reasons to choose one food or wine over another, flavor is certainly at the top of the list. But when you discover that your favorite winery also operates on solar power, fertilizes through companion planting, bars chemical insecticides and fungicides, and constructs its roads to assure the health of native wildlife, a new level of satisfaction comes into play. My food and drink choices are not based only on (rightly so) selfish pursuits of flavor, accessibility and body image. My choices—and they are choices—encompass ecology, community, sustainability and ethics as well. It’s good to know that one does not exclude the others, but rather enhances them. Indeed, in my estimation the best wines on Earth are those that are eco-consciously produced!

Read Original: ecohearth.com - The 'Fish Friendly Farming' Wine Cert

If My Plants Could Talk…

It's every plant's wish... and its owners too.
Hand made clay plant pot.
Designed and produced in Spain.
Plant not included.

Cement Pet Houses That Double as Planters

Hi bloggers, we are sharing a really awesome post from Urban Gardens! thanks for sharing with ours your feedback.

Gotta say, I just love these lightweight cement dog and cat houses that double as planters from French company, Loft Dog. Even if you don’t one, almost makes you want to get a pet just to have one these.

Made of micro-concrete, with two coats of an ornamental coating for a polished effect. Weigin in at 5 kg or about 11 lbs, the critter homes are offered in a few styles…

Great for outdoors…

Or indoors…

I’d love the Cocoon, above, in the garden as they look a bit like rocks.

Loft Dog offers 5 bed design models, like this one above.

Designing in collaboration with a company that specializes in concrete technology, all the houses and beds are available in a range of colors, though I must say I still really like the natural cement color.

For the real cosmopolitan dog, the New York style skyscraper-inspired bed.

I might add a soft blankie inside to cushion the pet, but they are stylish, oh so stylish.

Lotus House of Michelle Kaufmann architect

5 Prefab Homes

1. WEEHOUSE

At just $125 per square foot, the WeeHouse is a single module that can be plopped on just about any site, including a rooftop. The basic unit is framed with steel and wood, and comes with tongue-and-groove bamboo flooring, and Ikea cabinetry, kitchens and sinks. Despite what the name implies, don’t let it size fool you- this is one awesome modern residence.

2. TINY TUMBLEWEED HOUSE

Founded on his personal philosophy and desire for low-impact living, Jay Shafer’s Tiny Tumbleweed House has represents what he calls “subtractive design,” rejecting typical spatial assumptions and opting for clarity through conscientious use of space. This tiny house ranges from 40-500 square feet and accommodates a whole slew of needs from home office to vacation home or full-time residence. They’re also road-ready for the ultimate nomadic portability.

3. SUSTAIN MINI HOME

The Sustain MiniHome is quite the compact green machine, packing a ton of green materials and technologies into a small but very livable space. No vinyl, formaldehyde, toxic adhesives or finishes, all water-based or plant oil-based finishes, FSC certification, natural ventilation… the list goes on and on. Not to mention, it’s portable, modern, and cutely compact!

4. LOFTCUBE

Not only is the LoftCube tiny, it can be strategically plopped on a rooftop so as to not consume any additional footprint. Especially in urban environments where there’s nowhere to go but up, LoftCube provides a small but clever solution to your housing needs. Built by Werner Aisslinger, LoftCube also boasts an affordable pricetag at just $55,000, and can be easily transported to your next rooftop location via helicopter.

5. MICROCOMPACT HOME

This tiny residential cube packs a highly-functional punch, providing a double bed, bathroom, lobby, dining space for 4-5 people, and state-of-the-art entertainment technology, all for just 50,000 Euros. And size-wise, it measures in at a tiny 2.65 m cubed (roughly 77 sq ft), but incorporates everything a person needs in a home in its super compact design.

Read more: Top 5 Tiniest Prefab Homes Weehouse – Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

Ford EcoBoost Engine 2011

Ford announced it was cutting the amount of water used in vehicle production by 30% by 2015. While this environmental initiative is worth praise itself, in the past week, Ford has followed up this announcement with three more reasons why environmentalists may want to consider Ford’s eco friendly cars, before they settle on the Leaf, Spark, i, or Volt. Keep reading below to see how Ford is staying green in 2012.

1. Recycled and sustainable materials in vehicles

The newest edition of the Ford Escape is going to have its bolsters (inside parts of doors) made from Kenaf, a plant fiber similar to bamboo and related to cotton and okra, in place of what used to be made with oil-based resin. Not only is the raw material far more sustainable than what was previously used, it’s also lighter, amount to a reduction of 25% in the total weight of the door bolster. Lighter doors means less fuel is required to move the car, which in turn makes the vehicle more fuel efficient. And from an environmental standpoint, the use of kenaf in the bolster production will offset 300,000 lbs of oil-based resin every year in North America alone.

2. Tripling EcoBoost deployments

While it would be nice if everyone was ready to switch over and drive a hybrid or electric car, the fact is we aren’t there yet. So for those who are still buying vehicles powered by traditional fuel, Ford has something to appeal to your environmental side: a unique fuel efficient engine called the EcoBoost, which has so far been limited to a few models. However, in 2012 Ford is tripling the number of vehicles which will be shipped with EcoBoost technology, making a standard gasoline-fuelled car more fuel efficient by maximizing the amount of energy that’s produced from each drop of fuel. In other words, “the performance of a V8 with the fuel economy of a V6″.

3. An electric car and an award-winning plug-in hybrid

2012 will see Ford releasing the Focus Electric, complete with a home charging system and MyFord mobile app to monitor your eco-friendly car’s performance and battery life. The new electric car will also feature seats made with 100% recycled materials. The 2012 Ford Focus Electric will be out later this year and priced at around $40,000 before taking advantage of Federal Tax Credits ($7,500 for electric cars).

This year, Ford is also releasing a plug-in hybrid vehicle, the C-Max Energi, which just received Green Car Journal’s 2012 Green Car Vision Award. The C-Max Energi (pictured in the header banner) is Ford’s first foray into the plug-in hybrid market, but for a late bloomer the car is expected to be released with a range of 500 miles. The C-Max Energi is being released later this year, and although Ford has yet to announce pricing for the car, it’s being estimated between $35,000 and $40,000

Read originaly from: www.greenerideal.com/vehicles/8769-vehicles/ford-eco-friendly-cars-2012/

EcoFabulous Construction

Eco Friendly Architecture

Green building and solar energy

Passive solar homes in which solar energy is used through photovoltaic and active solar techniques. Green building architects use recycled materials such as bricks, tiles, woods and bamboos. Gravel that is properly packed is used instead of concrete in parking lots which replenishes ground water resources. It helps to protect natural resources such as energy, land and water.

Materials used for buildings

The materials used for the constructions should be appropriate. Building constructions should consist mainly of wood as it is eco friendly and the least amount of energy is used. Eco friendly architecture should have provisions for ground water recharge and rain water harvesting. The use of cement, steel and aluminum are replaced by natural elements. The main point on which green architecture focuses on is to maintain harmony with the features and resources that surrounds the building. The building is generally surrounded with greenery so that fresh oxygen circulates freely in the air. It also aims in improving the productivity of employees, to protect the health of people living around, reducing air and water pollution and also to reduce land degradation. Insulated concrete and panels, straw bales are also considered to be ecologically friendly and hence are also used. The main thing that helps to create such building is the design. The designs that are used to construct buildings should harvest water, light and air. Terrace garden or aqua house can be constructed at the roof to provide a cooling effect to the house. Gardens can be decorated with small pebbles and various other plants to give the house a touch of greenery. Provisions for generating electricity through solar energy are also an important necessity. Aluminum produces a lot of pollution and therefore it should be totally avoided.

Read Original: protectearth.net

See our next publication. You can see a video about EcoFabulous Construction