Eco Fashion…Where Does It Come From?

Posted on October 31, 2011 by quest

How we dress says lot about who we are. “How’s the weather where I work? “ “Am I feeling blue or bright?” “Am I retro or edgy, sassy or sexy, professional or bohemian…”Fashion is the business of selling dreams and fashion brand campaigns with all their glamour and imagery compete to capture our imagination. If the dream this season is “those boots”, then every girl must have the “it” pair of boots till of course the next “it” pair comes along.

But amidst all the glitz and glamour, we as consumers are rarely exposed to what goes on behind the scenes and the price we as customers pay for buying into the dream. As more and more horror stories about the negative human and environmental impact of the fashion industry emerge, the new trend that’s hopefully here to stay is one of ethical fashion. But what do “ethics” in fashion mean anyways and as a consumer why should I care? Even industry professionals often disagree on this stuff, making it a lot harder for the end consumer to navigate all the options out there. Here are a few terms you’ll hear often and an attempt at explaining what they mean, so that you as a consumer can decide if it’s something you want to get behind.

Fair trade

Fair trade put simply means that people who made your clothes were paid a fair living wage for making the clothes, instead of being made in a sweat shop that uses child labor. Most of us at one point or another in our lives have done minimum wage jobs, been through a lay off or been treated unfairly at work. The problem is a lot more severe in developing countries, where it often constitutes human rights violations, why would we want to contribute to that? Read the full article

Sonica Sarna is head of design and product development at “Raasta”, an ethically made hi-fashion clothing line made in partnership with rural artisan communities in India. The clothing and accessories use handloom fabrics and natural dyes while maintaining a boho-chic sensibility ( www.raastaonline.com) . Join Raasta at their exclusive launch party on Nov 2nd at 6.30 pm at BellaPelle, 9 Maiden Lane, San Francisco.

Upsolar Sponsors “Dancing Flowers”

SunPower Game Winner Gifts Solar System To Son

Posted on October 31, 2011 by quest

SunPower Corp., the Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells, solar panels and solar systems, today announced the grand prize winner of the company’s ‘Solar Discovery Game,’ an online contest and sweepstakes promoting solar education and energy awareness. The grand prize, a high-efficiency SunPower solar power system valued at $25,000, was awarded to Ewa Fietkiewicz, a homeowner in Anaheim, Calif., who is gifting the system to her son, Glendale, Calif. resident Jakub Fietkiewicz.”When SunPower contacted me with the news, I immediately knew who needed the SunPower solar power system most – my son,” said Ms. Fietkiewicz. “Concerned about his high electricity bills, he began researching solar options this summer. The system and the resulting savings make it the best gift I could ever give him and his family.”

The Solar Discovery Game attracted players, aged 18 to over 40, from all 50 U.S. states. Players responded to game questions about the history of solar power, notable SunPower installations and successes, solar facts and solar in the news. ‘Likes’ on the SunPower Facebook page increased by 246 percent during the course of the game’s run from June to September. “The Solar Discovery Game provided an entertaining opportunity for SunPower’s online community to learn more about emission-free solar power and share that knowledge virally with friends and family,” said David Henry, chief marketing officer at SunPower. “We congratulate the Fietkiewicz family, who will soon enjoy the guaranteed performance and benefits of a reliable, high efficiency SunPower solar power system.”

Solar Discovery Game winner at SunPower Insights

SunPower Premier Dealer SolarMAX Technology, Inc. of City of Industry, Calif. will install a system using high-efficiency SunPower E19 series / 320 solar panels on Mr. Fietkiewicz’s home. Fietkiewicz opted for a larger system than he would have received as the award recipient, increasing the capacity of the system to 7.65 kilowatts in anticipation of increased household electricity demand. “A SunPower dealer at our local farmer’s market originally sold me on SunPower’s high-efficiency panels,” said Mr. Fietkiewicz. “SunPower offers the most efficient solar technology available today and a quarter century of experience. My family can rely on significantly reduced electricity bills for the next 25 years.” Partners collaborating with SunPower on the Solar Discovery Game included Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), Del Monte, eBay, Hawaiian Airlines, Jersey Garden Malls, California Academy of Sciences and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).

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Tesla Founder Named Innovator of the Year by WSJ

Posted on October 31, 2011 by quest

Elon Musk, CEO and Co-founder of Tesla and CEO and CTO of SpaceX, was just recognized for Innovator of the Year in Technology by WSJ. Magazine. WSJ. Magazine’s first annual Innovator of the Year Awards honors the most creative, disruptive, and influential individuals in the world today. Musk was recognized for revolutionizing three of the biggest industries in the world — automobiles, energy and space exploration — simultaneously. Artist Tom Sachs, whose recent work is based on the imagery of space, presented the award to Musk.

In conjunction with the November issue of WSJ., the winners were honored on Thursday, October 27, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The November issue of WSJ. will hit newsstands on Saturday, October 29, as part of WSJ Weekend.
“It is an honor to be recognized by WSJ. Magazine, and to join these other visionaries here tonight,” said Elon Musk. “It is urgently important to apply innovation the areas that will most affect our future. I am committed to finding renewable energy solutions, accelerating the adoption of sustainable transportation, and revolutionizing space travel.”
The Innovator of the Year Awards were chosen by editors of WSJ. Magazine, with input from a select group of experts in each field.

Elon Musk Owes Customers 6,500 Cars

Elon Musk is also the primary investor and chairman of the board of photovoltaics company SolarCity, where Lyndon Rive his cousin is the CEO and co-founder. Just recently through his Musk Foundation, has donated $250,000 to build a solar power system in Soma City, in the Fukushima prefecture of Japan. Musk visited an area of Soma City that was devastated by a tsunami earlier this year, for a ceremony at the site where the project will be built. SolarCity is donating time and resources to manage the project, which will provide renewable electricity to a city facility located on reclaimed industrial land not suitable for agriculture.

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Organic Solar Cells Sparking Consumer Electronics

Posted on October 30, 2011 by quest

Molecular Solar Ltd, a spinout company from the University of Warwick, has achieved a significant breakthrough in the performance of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells. They have achieved and demonstrated a record voltage for organic photovoltaic cells that means these highly flexible, low cost solar cells can now be devolved for commercial uses in a wide range of consumer electronics. The Company’s most recent advance in the development of its organic photovoltaic (OPV) cell technology is the realisation of cells with open-circuit voltages in excess of 4 volts for the first time. Molecular Solar’s research team believe this is a record for an OPV device. Dr Ross Hatton, Research Director of the company commented:
“This is an important advance. We are now very close to having highly flexible organic photovoltaic cells that will be capable of delivering electrical energy at a voltage suitable for recharging lithium ion batteries that are widely used in portable consumer electronics. Remarkably, this high voltage is achieved using a cell with only 4 junctions (sub-cells)’’.University of Warwick researcher Professor Tim Jones, who is Chief Technology Officer of Molecular Solar, added:

“The first generation of organic photovoltaics will be exceptionally well matched to consumer electronics applications. The advantage of Molecular Solar’s high voltage cells is that a single cell can be used with no requirement to connect multiple cells in series for these applications, saving manufacturing cost. ’’Andrew Oldfield, Head of Cleantech at Mercia Fund Management said, “We were attracted to Molecular Solar’s unique approach to realizing truly flexible, environmentally sustainable photovoltaics that are well matched to the burgeoning portable consumer electronics market.”

Bob Beaumont, Popularized Electric Cars

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Solar Energy To Power Vertical Forrest In Milan

Posted on October 30, 2011 by quest

Bosco Verticale is a project for metropolitan reforestation that contributes to the regeneration of the environment and urban biodiversity without the implication of expanding the city upon the territory. Bosco Verticale is a model of vertical densification of nature within the city. It is a model that operates correlated to the policies for reforestation and naturalization of the large urban and metropolitan borders (Metrosbosco). Metrobosco and Bosco Verticale are devices for the environmental survival of contemporary European cities. Together they create two modes of building links between nature and city within the territory and within the cities of contemporary Europe.

The first example of a Bosco Verticale composed of two residential towers of 110 and 76 meters height, will be realized in the centre of Milan, on the edge of the Isola neighbourhood, and will host 900 trees (each measuring 3, 6 or 9 m tall) apart from a wide range of shrubs and floral plants. On flat land, each Bosco Verticale equals, in amount of trees, an area equal to 10.000 sqm of forest. In terms of urban densification the equivalent of an area of single family dwellings of nearly 50.000 sqm. The project is now underway.

The future of vertical farming in Italy

The Bosco Verticale is a system that optimizes, recuperates and produces energy. The Bosco Verticale aids in the creation of a microclimate and in filtering the dust particles contained in the urban environment. The diversity of the plants and their characteristics produce humidity, absorb CO2 and dust particles, producing oxygen and protect from radiation and acoustic pollution, improving the quality of living spaces and saving energy. Plant irrigation will be produced to great extent through the filtering and reuse of the grey waters produced by the building. Additionally Aeolian and photovoltaic energy systems will contribute, together with the aforementioned microclimate to increase the degree of energetic self sufficiency of the two towers. The management and maintenance of the Bosco Verticale’s vegetation will be centralised and entrusted to an agency with an office counter open to the public.

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Electric Vehicles A History of Moving Americans Reborn

Posted on October 29, 2011 by quest

The popularity of mass-produced electric or hybrid cars is recent, but the idea behind using electricity as a power source for cars is more than 100 years old. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will explore the history of the electric car from the early 20th century to the present in a new display as part of the “America on the Move” exhibition opening Oct. 27 through January 2012. “Electrifying Cars” showcases two cars—a 1904 Columbia electric runabout, the best-selling car in the United States at the turn of the century and a 1913 Ford Model T touring car, a gasoline car equipped with an early type of electric starter and electric headlights. The cars, along with a battery charger for General Motors’ EV1 and images of additional electric models, car owners and power sources, follow the historical, cultural and physical development of the electric car.

A look at electric vehicles in history

“Electricity has always been a popular feature of cars,” said Roger White, associate curator of Road Transportation. “By the 1920s manufacturers used batteries not to propel cars but to apply the conveniences of electric cars to gasoline-powered cars.” He added that in recent years a market has developed for all-electric cars and hybrid cars with gasoline and electric propulsion because they reduce energy costs and air pollution. “These cars can draw energy from a variety of sources including fossil fuels, regenerative braking and renewable sources such as solar panels and wind power,” he said.

In the early 20th century, Americans could choose electric, steam or gasoline cars. Wealthy city residents, particularly women, bought electric cars because they were easier to operate. By the 1920s, gasoline-powered cars were the vehicle of choice because they could be driven much farther than electric cars between fill-ups, and gasoline pumps, unlike electric power stations, could be readily located anywhere. Since the 1960s, smog, greenhouse gases, global warming and strained oil supplies have prompted researchers, government and the public to take a new look at electric hybrid and all-electric cars. In the 1990s GM and other manufacturers worked to put electric cars on the market. GM’s EV1, Honda’s EV+, Ford’s Ranger EV and Toyota’s RAV4 EV were leased. But by 2003, the manufacturers determined that the electric car was not commercially viable and ended the leases. By 2010, the market led to the reintroduction of electric cars, and for the first time in almost 100 years consumers could purchase all-electric or new types of hybrid cars.

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