Natalie Portman- Living by Example

 The Green Life  No Responses »
Aug 172011
 

Natalie Portman

So who’s trending on Facebook? None other than Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard classmate, Natalie Portman.

Sassy and sophisticated, Portman has captured the hearts of her fans, and has won her stripes as GreenCupboards.com’s sustainable “It girl”.

So what’s new for Portman?  Have you seen her engagement ring?  Unlike most celebrity bling, Portman’s ring is as sustainable as glamour can get.  Instead of sporting a memorable 6 carrot pink diamond ring such as the one Ben Affleck purchased for Jennifer Lopez, Portman wears a tasteful vintage design made with recycled metals and diamonds from conflict free mines. The four carat diamond center stone is an antique.

So what made Portman’s fiancé and former Black Swan co-star, Benjamin Millepied, splurge for a specially designed ring?  A vegetarian since childhood, Portman has used her Ivy League education and super star status to support causes to stop the destruction of animal habitats by deforestation, world poverty, and the use of animal materials in clothing and shoes. Portman even came out with her own Vegan shoe company.

With the arrival of the couple’s new baby, Aleph, GreenCupboards.com will be on the watch for Portman’s baby fashion advice.

Why is this green?

Natalie Portman is doing more than just throwing money at ecological issues.  She’s working to educate others and living by example.

Sources:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1361050/Natalie-Portmans-wedding-dilemma-Best-Actress-Oscar-Favourite-decide-location.html

http://www.popeater.com/2011/01/27/natalie-portman-engagement-ring-eco-friendly/

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20508170,00.html

http://wardrobewonderland.com/2011/05/02/the-red-carpet-project-sustainable-fashion-at-the-logies/

Images:

http://yeeeah.com/2009/12/02/ss-natalie-portman-in-marie-claire/

http://www.yourengagement101.com/blog/2011/02/celebrities-with-eco-friendly-engagement-rings/

Kate Middleton, A Sustainable Princess

 Green Living (hidden), The Green Life  No Responses »
Aug 112011
 

Looking for the “it girl” of eco-fashion?  How about the fairest of them all?  Kate Middleton, recently voted one of Vanity Fair’s best dressed of the year, is classing up the elite and cleaning up the planet by recycling her designer wardrobe.

Much to celebrity dismay, Middleton is not decked out in the newest fashions on a daily basis.  Middleton has no problem strutting her stuff in last year’s designer dress.  Photos of Middleton are showing her recycling habits include mixing and matching the same jackets and shoes with various outfits as well as wearing the same dresses and hats to multiple black tie affairs.  Her affinity for a pair of nude heels which she uses as a tasteful finesse for many of her chic royal attires is causing media mayhem and a reason for eco- conscious people to celebrate.

Fellow Brit, Kelly Osborne, spoke disapprovingly of Middleton’s wardrobe on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show saying that if she were Princess she would wear a new dress every day.

I guess we’re lucky it was Middleton to win Prince Williams heart.  Middleton has designers offering her countless free outfits for events, but she insists not only on reusing her best outfits but on paying for them.  Although elite’s consider it a fashion faux pas, our following of eco-friendly trend setters see it as a step in the right direction.  Not only is she setting a fine example for the British monarchy, but for the upper class around the world, and she doesn’t look bad doing it.

Sources:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Kelly-Osbourne-Slams-Kate-Middleton-She-Shouldn-t-Recycle-Clothes-215396.shtml

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/04/kelly-osbourne-slams-kate-middleton_n_918747.html

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-08-05/gossip/29873872_1_kate-middleton-kelly-osbourne-new-dress

Image:

http://www.redhous.com/kate-middleton

http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/193050/20110805/kelly-osbourne-slams-kate-middleton-for-recycling-clothes-photos.htm

Generate Power on a Walk around the Block

 Technology  1 Response »
Mar 022011
 

Power Generating Fabric Bristles

What happens when your walking to class and your ipod and cellphone dies?  How will you get enough battery life to call your mom back? What if you could plug your ipod or cellphone directly into your jacket or jeans. With microscopic bristles rubbing against one another with every heartbeat, every step, and every handshake you could become a walking power generator.

Georgia Tech developed the technology. The bristles are coated with zinc oxide nanowires that convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. A square meter of this fabric could give your ipod the battery it needs to finish that playlist or give your cell the boost to finish the call, roughly 80 kilowatts of power.

“The two fibers scrub together just like two bottle brushes with their bristles touching, and the piezoelectric-semiconductor process converts the mechanical motion into electrical energy,” Said Professor Zhong Lin Wang who is overseeing the development of this technology at Georgia Tech.

The material could also be used in tents, curtains, awnings, umbrellas or anything else that is subject to mechanical movement by way of body, wind, or other.

We may very soon be on the verge of developing energy wherever we go. I have covered numerous innovations such as sweet and simple as this one. Combined, all of these technologies could be used to create a truly sustainable utopia. Have hope for the future.

Sources:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/20278/

http://medgadget.com/archives/2008/02/electricity_generating_fabric.html

The White Goat

 Technology  1 Response »
Feb 172011
 

Office Paper In, Toilet Paper Out

I have been writing a lot about innovations coming out of Japan recently and I have another one for you today.

It is a machine that turns waste office paper into toilet paper. That’s right, now you can wipe your butt with your office memos, talk about two birds one stone. It takes 18,000 sheets of office paper to make two rolls of toilet paper, the process takes about two hours.

The machine dubbed the “White Goat” is made by the Japanese company Nakabayashi Co. and costs $95,000.

While the machine is a noble idea and a notable sustainable innovation, it is not necessarily practical for an everyday office. For one, it cost $95,000 a price you will probably not save in toilet paper cost unless you run it all day. And two, it takes eight pounds of paper to create one single roll of toilet paper. Not to mention the machine itself is massive, weighing 1,320 pounds.

If the machine were left running 24 hours it could create 48 rolls of toilet paper a day. That is something that the city of Newark, New Jersey, is counting on as it purchases its very own White Goat. The $95,000 dollar cost will be offset by the money saved keeping the city’s TP stocked for all its workers while recycling the city’s paper waste.

So if you are liberal with your TP, you might want to invest in a community White Goat to offset your consumption. Imagine, the neighborhood White Goat where children go to drop off their “C” grade papers and take home daddy a new roll of the good stuff. Authors could dispose of their failed manuscripts and wipe their bottoms with it in disgrace. Scorned romantics go to dispose of their letters of love past only to show them what its worth…

The White Goat is just one more creative, sustainable innovation THE Greencupboards Community would like to share.

Sources:

http://craziestgadgets.com/2009/06/01/office-toilet-paper-making-machine-turns-waste-paper-into-paper-for-your-waste/

http://inventorspot.com/articles/office_paper_recycler_turns_trash_toilet_paper_28683

http://www.flashnews.com/news/wfn03100730fn32492.html

Images:

http://www.geekologie.com/2010/01/quick_empty_the_printer_this_b.php

http://technabob.com/blog/2010/02/01/white-goat-eats-paper-poops-toilet-paper/

Wind Farms, Noisy Neighbors?

 The Green Life  1 Response »
Jan 072011
 

There are approximately 250 wind farms in the USA. Wind is free. Nobody can steal your breeze. Just like roaring rivers, wind bears tremendous natural power. Tornadoes are capable of raising houses off the ground and dropping them onto the Wicked Witch of the West. Nature is the essence of life and power. Scientist and engineers are looking to our world in a new way, not to take from it, but to harness it. From sunshine to water, to air to the earth’s core, environmentalists are tapping into natural forces and converting it into usable energy. With change, there are opportunity costs. Wind farms, provide clean power and energy cost cuts for many Americans. There are approximately 250 wind farms in the USA (NY Times). But there is a catch, many neighbors of the natural power plants are complaining of the noise. The never-ending whoosh and whirr of massive turbine blades has given headaches to……

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