Month: February 2012

Saving Water?  Cleaning my Pants in The Freezer

Saving Water? Cleaning my Pants in The Freezer

A while ago  I wrote about Levis changing practices to save water.   One way they are doing this is to put tags in new Levis jeans that suggest that the owner wash them less and only use cold water.

So – if you wash your jeans less how do you clean them? One way to get them clean is to put them in the freezer, a practice that will kill germs that cause them to smell.

I’ve been wearing my jeans for a few days.  (off and on – I rotate them with others.)  They do not look dirty – but do not smell as fresh as a new pair.

I looked around on other blogs – and others have talked about the  ‘freeze clean’ method which is reputed to kill the bacteria. It doesn’t remove dirt or dust, (or cat hair) but will remove the “dirty” smell.

The recommended method is to put your  jeans in a plastic Ziploc freezer bag and put them in the freezer. Some say for 24 hours  and some say for a week.

I just put them in the freezer and will see what happens if I leave them in the freezer for 24 hours, then see if I need to try this for a week.  I will report back after I give this a test.

 

** Monday February 6th – update

Two days later I took my jeans out of the freezer and gave them the sniff test.
I think they smell cleaner, but they still smell a little bit like pants that have been worn.

I plan to get the cat hair off them – and wear them today.  I plan to try the test once I have dirty jeans again.

 

Change the Way You Think About Food – An Infographic Animation

Change the Way You Think About Food – An Infographic Animation

Early this year there was lots of talk about the prediction that by 2050 our population on earth will be over 9 billion people.

The question that goes along with these numbers – is how can everyone be fed with this many people, and where will it grow?  An infographic animation produced by the World Wildlife Fund called Change the way you think about food asks this question.

The piece gives information graphics and visualizations to present a picture of what would happen if we could freeze the footprint of food by doubling the productivity of farming.  The piece indicates that to grow enough food, everything will have to change.

This is the first piece I have seen that uses information visualization effectively to raise questions about our growing population and our food supply.

Image Source:
Change the way you think about food Animation

Links:

Change the way you think about food Animation

 

 

 

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Upcyling:  A new Starbucks Built from Shipping Containers

Upcyling: A new Starbucks Built from Shipping Containers

A new Starbucks in Seattle was recently built from four old shipping containers.  Located in Tukwila, WA the store is a drive-thru and walk-up coffee shop made of one 30-foot container and three 40-foot shipping containers.  It is the first LEED-certified structure in town, and uses recycled metal for the exterior and has a rainwater collector system that collects water for the plants around the building’s exterior.

Since it is a walk-up/drive thru station, cars line up and go through the drive through window, with motors running, burning gas.  (Not sure how this factors into the actual energy saving rating of the business.)

Shipping containers are on the rise as being used as usable livable spaces with recent uses being some restaurants in San Francisco, a grocery store in Seattle, for artist studios, and for living spaces.  Most shipping containers become part of a landfill after 20 years, so in using the containers as living spaces –their use is considered upcyling.  Got an idea that you could do in a used shipping container?  I just looked online – and they are listed online starting at $2,399.

 

Images:
Tom Ackerman, Starbucks
Links:
Tukwila, WA Starbucks store