Innovation is a key factor in design when it comes to renewable energy in Africa. Saying this a few of the top designers of the eco industry have come together and graced the African continent with a innovative design that has me waiting with trepidation. The FLAP project short for Flexible Light And Power sees leading local designers from Portablelight , PopTech and Timbuk2 coming together and working on The Solar Satchel.
A device ‘completely off the grid’ this otherwise ordinary messenger satchel is powered by what looks like a five by thirty centre metre solar panel that is able to power a two watt bulb as well as a USB that can be used for charging a multitude of gadgets like radios and cell phones. With the project still in a ‘research’ phase in Ghana ,Kenya and Uganda alike you can keep up to date with Erik Hersman on apparent feasibility at@WhiteAfricanor @AfriGadget. Just a quick note, Erik is one of the founders of AfriGadget and will play a vital role in the research team as he will be the ultimate ‘decider’ with regards to potential users.
I wish the team the best of luck and hopefully we’ll be seeing some awesome self powered back packs that’ll be commercially available.
This is for all of you who are well aware of the impact of living on an already strained environment and just don’t feel ‘comfortable’ being ferried around by a gluttonous chemical guzzling machine. A not so new invention, the folding bicycle, has finally hit the senses of the public with a metaphorical bicycle pump and is expected to do rather well to say the least. The sole focus of this California based company Dahon has been on creating innovative but reasonably-priced folding bicycles for those who are a little more ‘environmentally’ inclined.
Came across an interesting article today promoting disposable fashion sunglasses, pure idiocy if you ask me but hey let’s see what you think.
These shades have been designed for short term use only and will no doubt have a lasting effect on the environment. These ‘excuses of design’ also have no glare reduction or spf protection to speak of, so while you look much like a mini checkerboard you destroy your retina’s in minimal amounts of light. It seems that these have been designed to cater for that 80’s electro/disco scene where functionality isn’t even a consideration. It’s all about the look! Got to be styling man. :/
You would think that the whole eco friendly drive would be quite contagious, obviously not. After I did a little bit of searching I found that this issue has been quite a problem in the United Kingdom for some time. Seemingly harmless pieces of fashion are being binned faster than landfills can be created with reports from The Mail stating that textile waste has increased from 7 to 30% in the last five years. I don’t think we can write that off to population growth either.
Liz Jones the style editor for The Mail went as far as alluding to boycotting big brands, that might I add also pay minimum wages to insanely poor third world citizens, as well as employing children as young as fifteen. I’m not going to mention brand names on this site but check the link above and see for yourself.
Classic example of ‘Evil prevails when good people fail to act.’
My brain has been buzzing from reading so much about eco design and eco fashion that I found myself getting sucked right into it!
In the beginning of May Time Magazine featured the top 100 environmentally conscious designers. The article featured many well known designers across all fields of design, including fashion design of course. Give it a read!
On the subject of sustainability I have to agree with a statement made in the IBM Innovation Jam 2008 that goes something like this…
Instead of trying to heal the world, why don’t we let the earth heal itself?The earth is a living entity and just as our bodies take care of themselves it should be able to reverse the damage we as parasites have caused it.
The influence that fashion designers such as Stella McCartney have on the rest of the world is huge. We need more opinion leaders in the world doing their bit to lessen damage caused to the earth and get fashion and art involved in the process. Yes, the fact remains that the damage has already been done, but decreasing our generation’s damage to the environment is never going to be underrated in the eyes of our children.
I have come to realise, though (after all the fuss) that simply being alive has an immediate effect on our environment and I don’t know about you, but this makes me feel pretty morbid! Seeing cool t-shirt designs on Springleap.com that feature concerns about the situation lifts my spirit again though!What are your views?
