Belated HAPPY Groundhog's Day Everyone!

amigurumi groundhog
Originally uploaded by planetjune

From the looks outside here in Toronto, all three groundhogs were right... We've got six more weeks of winter coming our way... It's snowing out! You know that perfect light powdery snow that gracefully floats to the ground?

I am however hoping it'll stop snowing by this evening because I'm moving apartments tonight! So keep your fingers crossed for me ;)

Just in case I'm not back blogging till next week due to the move, unpacking, connecting internet, etc... Just wanted to share this very cheesy, yet still very cute and well done video forwarded to me by my Uncle M (note: if you double click on the video, it will open in a new window and isn't cropped)...

Enjoy!

xo,

ej

PS - Watch out for a special Valentine's Ecojot Giveaway coming soon!

A novel use for plastic bottles... A clothes hanger!

Discovered via my Uncle M, and dvice.com, I bring you the very green, but unfortunately also very expensive... Rethink Hanger!





At 8 bucks a pop, it's definitely a tad on the costly side... However, I certainly do think it's a pretty ecoCool idea!

"Conceived by designer Xuan Yu, it's basically a hook with two holes that hold empty bottles. Once you've polished off a couple of Sprites, screw the bottles into the holes and you've got a deliciously convenient place to hang your shirt — without the awful flatness of a wire hanger."

What do you think? Would you use Rethink Hangers?

Well that's it for me this week.... I gotta say it's great to be back blogging again. Oh and keep those Ecojot Ecard January 2010 Giveaway entries coming! You've got nine more days to send ecojot ecards for a chance to win!

Bon weekend !

xo,

ej

A Very ecoCLEVER Science Project: A Solar Panel Made from Human Hair.

My Uncle M forwarded this article to me yesterday from DVICE with the message:

"With your longer hair I think you could power a city!"

My hair is at its longest these days. Part laziness for booking a haircut, part economical and well a much bigger part that I have become quite fond of long hair :) But back to the topic at hand.... Full excerpt from DVICE article:

A schoolboy from Nepal has come up with a recession-busting new solar panel which replaces the silicon component with human hair. Milan Karki, an 18-year-old student from the region of Khotang, devised the idea after discovering that hair pigment Melanin acts as an energy converter.

Each panel, which is around 15 inches square, produces 9 Volts (18 Watts) of energy, and costs $38 to make. This, it has to be said, is mainly due to the price of the raw materials: half a kilo of human hair costs around 25¢ in Nepal. Karki is hoping to commercialize his invention, which can charge a cellphone or power batteries to provide an evening's worth of light, and eventually mass produce it.

"First I wanted to provide electricity for my home, then my village," says Karki, who was inspired by British physicist Stephen Hawking. "Now I am thinking for the whole world. We have begun the long walk to save the planet." Catch a shot of the teenager's invention below.

I love stories like this. So inspiring. An 18-year old how was simply inspired to provide electricity for his home and then his village! I certainly hope that Milan Karki is able to parlay this into something amazing for him and his village... And hopefully the world!

xo,

ej

PS - A more in depth article posted by my bro on Daily Mail here.

"How to draw a woman from the inside out."

Yes, you read the headline correctly... "How to draw a woman from the inside out. " I too had to do a double read when I found an email with the same subject title in my inbox a little while ago. However, when I noticed the sender was my Uncle M, I just knew it would be great forward of some kind! As I may have mentioned previous... I usually detest forwards, but my Uncle M always sends the best ones a.k.a. never-chain-letter like ;D Thanks Uncle M!

I wish I could embed the video itself somehow, but I guess since it's a Flash video, the best I can do is provide a preview and attach the link. So click on the image above and hit play... I recommend watching at times 16 speed!

What's the best forward you've ever received via email? While "How to draw a woman from the inside out" isn't necessarily the best, it's among my top faves... I only wish I could provide more info on the source, but alas I couldn't find any...

Bon Mardi / Troisième Jour d'été ! Happy Tuesday / 3rd official day of Summer!

xo,

ej

sensored, timed and on call... lights!

I was inspired by the flowers I'd added to my pulling the February Giveaway Winner out of my bright pink beret, that I drew the green light bulb above. Whatcha think? Okay, perhaps I should leave the art to Designerjots ;)

By now you may have guessed, today's post is brought to you by light bulbs! How's this for an innovative idea, a light bulb with a built in sensor? As dvice points out "there are plenty of motion-sensing outdoor light, but about inside your home?" Hallways for example do not need to be let all the time.
"The Smarthome Screw-in Motion Sensing Light Adapter, as the name applies, screws into a typical bulb socket — no screwdrivers required. Turn on the light switch and the bulb will turn on only when it detects motion, then shuts off automatically when there's no movement within a 16-foot range. The length of time it stays on is adjustable from 5 to 100 seconds. It retails for $25, but who knows how much you'll save in energy costs?" Available at Amazon.

Also on dvice, I came across another cool light-related feature, this time regarding lighting whole street blocks... On call! That's right "on call." Cities are no exception to the need to save on green (cash variety) and so it's no surprise that "towns all over the work have started turning off their street lighting to save money."

However what about safety, or as dvice points out "when Grandma's pooch needs to go walkies at 2 AM?" Well a few German towns have come up with an on call solution... literally, called Dial4Light. Local residents can call up to selectively light up street by street. After 15 minutes a times reverts the street back into darkness. Thus far, participating towns have benefited from a 25 percent savings in their street lighting bills. For a more complete article check out Treehugger.

These two brilliant energy, pun intended ;) ideas got me thinking about my recent year in France. Whenever I visited an apartment building (large or small), and small office buildings, all light switches in hallways and stairwells were on a timer. I found this to be one of those obvious clever ideas, one I am surprised not to see this put into more practice in North America.

Well that's it for now. Clearly my absence last week has left me with lots to say 0;) Again, my apologies, here's hoping you're still reading... Please leave me a comment to relieve my fears *wink, wink, nudge, nudge.*

xo,
ej

Eat bananas backwards

Originally uploaded by bocavermelha-l.b.

Happy Hump Day! Please excuse my absence yesterday. It's winter and with winter comes colds and flu and I was feeling under the weather. 'Nough excuses... I'm back :)

A January Giveaway entrant told me about ecoSUAVE 2009 yesterday. ecoSUAVE is a "party with purpose" in Toronto next month. Thank you to the awesome Anonymous commenter for telling me about the event to "raise awareness "for health local food production." Click on the banner below or here for more info. I may be attending a retreat that weekend, if not I'll definitely be there. I certainly like to consider myself "effortlessly gracious and green in a social manner!" ;)

As I just happended to purchase bananas and other fruits at Kensington Market yesterday evening... Therefore found this tidbit very handy... "Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little 'stringy things' off it. That's how the primates do it. Also, take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster." - from an email forward from my Uncle M.

That's it for now... If you're in Toronto or an equally snowy locale... Enjoy the snow. There's lots! Oh and I say treat yourself to some homemade hot cocoa with tons of marshmellows on top!

xo,
ej