a font of entrepreneurial ideas: Springwise
This website is quite interesting, if you like ideas.
http://springwise.com/
People post ideas they've seen happening - you can't post if you haven't seen the idea implemented. You can also browse by industry, so here is Food and Beverage: http://springwise.com/food_beverage/index.php?page=10 and here is Eco stuff: http://springwise.com/eco_sustainability/ Three of my faves:
Eco-minded bathroom fixtures are no longer hard to find, but they still tend to focus more on function than on form. One notable exception is W+W, a combined toilet and sink from Spanish brand Roca that combines compact style with green-minded thinking.
Launched last fall, W+W is a single, L-shaped unit in which the sink and toilet are not only attached but also integrated internally. Specifically, wastewater from the sink is used to fill the toilet's cistern, thus saving as much as 25 percent of the water that would normally be used. An automatic cleaning system prevents bad odors and bacteria, while a specialized tap controls the water's temperature and flow for maximum energy savings, Plumbing Park reported.
Developed by the Roca Innovation Lab and designed by Gabriele and Oscar Buratti, the prize-winning W+W is priced at EUR 2,731. An eco-iconic innovation to bring to the green but style-conscious masses near you...?
Website: www.roca.com.es/w+w/w+w/en/index.html
Contact: www.es.roca.com/en/contact
If the energy people expend dancing and working out can power cellphones, lights and other electrical appliances, why not apply the same concept to all the energy spent by millions of people every day simply walking along city sidewalks? That's exactly the premise behind Pavegen slabs, which can be inserted among regular sidewalk sections to capture the kinetic energy people spend just walking.
Each rubber slab from UK-based Pavegen Systems gets depressed by about 5 mm each time it gets stepped on. Using just that small movement, it can convert the kinetic energy used into electricity, which is then stored in the slab. Specifically, 5 percent of the energy harvested is used to make the slab's LED glow, making it clear to users that their energy has been captured. The rest can be used to power pedestrian lighting, information displays and many other applications. Pavegen's patent-protected technology has also been used to harvest energy from users' footsteps on stairs; custom branding is available.
Following recent tests in East London, Pavegen is now seeking both investors and additional testing sites for its eco-iconic innovation. One to get in on early...?
Website: www.pavegensystems.com
Contact: hello@pavegen.co.uk
Spotted by: James Graemer
Seesaw Power
We've already written about the use of playground equipment as a means of pumping fresh water for African villages, and now a British student at Coventry University has come up with a way to use see-saws to generate power.
Daniel Sheridan, a student in consumer product design, won three separate awards amounting to GBP 5,500 earlier this year for his see-saw design, which can create enough electricity to power a classroom by capturing the energy generated when children play on it. It would take just five to 10 minutes of play on the see-saw to light a classroom for a few hours, BBC News reported, though the energy gets transferred to an electrical storage unit via underground cable, so it would be up to the school to decide how the power is used. Sheridan was inspired by a volunteer project he worked on in Kenya last summer that included building a school. "The current need for electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa is staggering," he explains. "Without power, development is extremely difficult. The potential market for this product is huge and the design could be of benefit to numerous communities in Africa and beyond."
Sheridan's plan includes recruiting the local community to build part of the device and also install it, thereby creating involvement and reducing logistical costs. Late last month he reportedly left for a village near Jinja, Uganda, to test and finalize the prototype using locally derived parts. Alternative energy entrepreneurs: what are you waiting for? This one's for you! ;-) (Related: Playing for water and Hippo water roller.)
Found on Springwise: http://www.springwise.com/nonprofit_social_cause/seesaw_power_for_schools/
Foodie documentaries on BBC4
I've just been watching "The Man Who Ate Everything" presented by Andrew Graham-Dixon, about Alan Davidson, a diplomat who wrote the first Oxford compendium of food in 1978, and founded Petits Propos Culinaires, a journal of food studies and history. He had travelled widely and tried everything- when I switched on Andrew G-D was in Laos, funnily enough where I've just been and where he was ambassador until 1975. Diplomats are - so lucky - particularly in those days, like my parents, they were discovering the world and could bring it back to Europe and in a way that is no longer possible. Sallie Morris was another diplomatic wife friend of ours in Malaysia who was also writing about south east Asian food in the 70's.
These great docs are of course, on BBC4, part of the Exquisite Cuisine Season..here they are:
(Funny to see Fast Food Nation in the list though, it's a drama film made by American Eric Schlosser who recently did Food Inc ..)
Bread: A Loaf Affair. The story of the rise of the popular loaf and how it has shaped the way we eat in Britain.
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Carluccio and The Leopard. Antonio Carluccio travels to Sicily to discover more about Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel The Leopard.
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Christina: A Medieval Life. Michael Wood traces the story of a real-life peasant of 14th-century Hertfordshire.
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Clarissa and the King's Cookbook. Clarissa Dickson Wright tracks down Britain's oldest cookbook and traces its influence.
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Fast Food Nation. Film in which a fast food marketing executive takes an eye-opening trip around Middle America.
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Fat Man in a White Hat. New Yorker magazine writer Bill Buford dons a white hat and works in a series of French kitchens to investigate whether French food is all it's cracked up to be.
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Fear of Fanny. Dramatisation of Fanny Cradock's career, based on interviews with her friends and family, revealing the private vulnerability behind her tart public persona.
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France on a Plate. A gastronomic tour through French history, from Versailles through to ethnic fusion food.
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Hannah Glasse: The First Domestic Goddess. Clarissa Dickson Wright presents a profile of the author of The Art of Cookery, the best-selling cookery book of the 18th century.
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In Search of the Perfect Loaf. Documentary which follows Tom Herbert's efforts to bake a prize-winning loaf of bread.
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Kings of Pastry. Documentary chronicling the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France pastry chef competition.
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The Man Who Ate Everything. Andrew Graham-Dixon presents a profile of the influential food writer Alan Davidson.
Spotted on Springwise: the Green school
There are plenty of schools out there with green practices among their goals, but a new school opening this fall in Bali will be entrepreneurially green from top to bottom.
The Green School, which will offer preschool through year eight, aims to provide a place where students can become more curious and more passionate about their education and the planet. The school's eight-hectare campus in Sibang Kaja is divided by the Ayung River, on whose western bank are the school's classrooms, libraries, laboratories and kitchens. Aquaculture ponds, organic vegetable gardens, edible mazes and permacultural gardens are interspersed throughout the vast campus, which is built entirely of low-impact and environmentally conscious materials such as bamboo, alang-alang grass and traditional Balinese mud walls. For energy supplies, the school is experimenting with micro-hydro power generation as well as producing methane from cow manure to fuel stoves and developing a gasification unit that will use rice husks and other organic materials to produce electricity. A working organic chocolate factory, large sports fields, gymnasium, high ropes course and a network of bicycle paths are also part of the campus.
The Green School's curriculum, meanwhile, combines demanding academic content taught through a holistic approach that aims to inspire and enhance all of a child’s capacities. The school's Learning Village, for example, gives students a chance to apply lessons to specific disciplines and real business situations, making abstract ideas come to practical life. Students are involved in everything from manufacturing their own chocolate to helping manage the organic fields, bamboo plantations and rice paddies that are integral to the campus. The Green School is open to children from all over the world, with boarding available starting next year for those in seventh grade and up. Villas are available for international families whose children attend the school. Tuition ranges from roughly USD 4,000 to USD 9,000 per year, depending on grade.
It doesn't get much more eco-iconic than a thoroughly green school, and eco-minded consumers with the means to afford it will surely find the Green School compelling. Of course, the concept seems like one that could also work in other parts of the world. One to watch!
Website: www.greenschool.org
Contact: info@greenschool.org
Found on http://www.springwise.com/education/index.php?page=8
Are you interested in a lot of different things?
Then you are a scanner. I have a few scanner friends, and they are usually working in something quite dynamic like radio-producing or docco-making, because those professions need a curious mind, a wide general knowledge and a desire to keep moving on.
See www.scannercentral.co.uk for a monthly event run by a coach who specialises in helping ideas people.
Some people have a lot of ideas but there is only so much time to devote to them. Ideas are like seedlings, and they ain't much unless you nurture them, focus on them and give them the right kind of attention. If you have too many, you need to thin them out, or none of them will grow very well.
But what if you have a problem deciding which to thin out? You need to choose. But you just can't, because you are so interested in all of them. This is the crux of my problem right now. (and for as long as I can remember! )
Natural swimming pools - I want one
I'd like a natural swimming pool in my future eco-house. My dad has tried to transform a set of ponds into swimming poinds, up in Yorkshire, but it's very murky and there's only about 1 day each year when you might consider swimming in it... these ones look a lot nicer:
http://www.theswimmingpondcompany.co.uk/about.html
and a video:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTjHbXzvG6M&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Foodie Lurve Schools - reviews
Another idea I had recently was to combine two of my "interests" - Food - and Flirting. I should start a local food lovers' group for singles... anyway in the meantime, I discovered some already existing... so I'm going to set about going to them and over time, should have some reviews...
GOURMAND LOVE SCHOOLS
• Whisky blending for singles. Glengoyne distillery, near Glasgow. Tel: 01360 550 254.
• Flirting With Flavour cooking course. Caffè Caldesi, London W1. Tel: 020 7487 0750/9. www.caffecaldesi.com
• Wine-tasting dating. National events, dates and prices vary. www.grapevinesocial.com
Tried this once - quite a good revolving system but unfortunately it was a little bit lowest common denominator for us, even if it was in posh Fulham..
• Parship dating classes. Leiths School of Food and Wine, London. www.parship.co.uk
Leith's is no doubt brilliant but DO NOT TRUST PARSHIP, the Independent's dating site. Terrible - in fact the reviews are so bad we wouldn't be going too far when we say it's a scam. So not sure how the two would combine. I will check out.
FEEL FREE TO ADD TO THESE BY COMMENTING BELOW - THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE IN LONDON OR INDEED THE UK!
Green Food
Green Smoothies For Beginners
Basic Balance
1 mango 1 cup kale 1 cup water Yields 1 quartRocket Fuel Smoothie
2 cups green or red seedless grapes 3 golden kiwis, peeled 1 ripe orange, peeled, seeds removed 1 small leaf of aloe vera, with skin 5 leaves red leaf lettuce 2 cups water Yields 2 quartsParty in Your Mouth Green Smoothie
1 small pineapple, cored 1 large mango, peeled ½ head romaine lettuce ½ inch fresh ginger root Yields 2 quartsMorning Zing Smoothie
4:½ bunch dandelion greens 2 stalks celery ½ inch fresh gingerroot 2 peaches ½ pineapple Yields 2 quartsParsley Passion Smoothie
1 bunch fresh parsley 1 cucumber, peeled 1 Fuji apple 1 ripe banana 1–2 cups water Yields 2 quartsSavory Green Smoothies and Soups
Mediterranean Soup
3 cups spinach 3 stalks celery 1 sprig oregano 1 sprig thyme 1 red bell pepper 1 large avocado 1 cucumber 1 jalapeño pepper 1 lime, juiced 2 cups water Enjoy with dulse leaves or flakes. Yields 3 quartsSoup Gazpacho
3 leaves kale, stems removed 1 bunch basil 3 large tomatoes 2 stalks celery 1 red bell pepper 1 large avocado 1 lime, juiced 1 cup water 2 cups love Yields 2 quartsThai Soup
2 cucumbers 1 large avocado 1 lime, juiced 3 cloves garlic 6 leaves curly kale, stems removed ½ teaspoon dried turmeric powder ½ inch fresh gingerroot 2 cups water Yields 2 quartsCucumber Dill-icious Soup
2 cucumbers ½ bunch dill 1 large avocado 5 leaves dinosaur kale, stems removed 2 stalks celery 1 lime, juiced 3 cloves garlic Yields 2 quartsGreen Puddings
Kent Mango Bliss
2 Kent mangoes 1 bunch chard, stems removed 1 pear 1 banana Serve with kiwi. Yields 3 cupsGreen Pudding
1 bunch fresh parsley 5 grape leaves ½ pineapple 1 Abbot pear 1 orange, peeled 1 cup water Yields 2 cupsPersimmon Pudding
3 fuyu persimmons, peeled, seeds removed 3 cups baby spinach 1 ripe banana Yields 2 cupsThe Pear-fect Smoothie
2 d’Anjou pears 7 leaves purple kale, stems removed 1 leaf aloe vera 1 banana Yields 2 cupsApplesauce
4 apples 1 banana 1 head romaine lettuce ½ teaspoon cinnamon 2 cups water Yields 3 cupsGreen Smoothies for Body Care
Aloe Facial Cleanser
½ cucumber ½ avocado 1 large leaf aloe vera, with skin Apply on skin as a sunscreen, or after sunburn, or to improve overall skin health. Keep on skin 10–30 minutes, then rinse off. Yields 1 cup
Super Green Smoothies
Victoria’s Favorite Dark Green
1 bunch dandelion greens 4 Roma tomatoes 3 cups water Yields 2 quartsHeavy Metals Be Gone
1 bunch cilantro 2 cups stinging nettles 1 bunch fresh parsley 3 stalks celery 1 lemon, juiced 2 mangoes 2 cups apple juice Yields 2 quartsGreen Smoothie Monster
4 leaves kale, stems removed 4 leaves chard, stems removed ½ bunch fresh parsley 1 leaf aloe vera ½ bunch dandelion greens 3 pears 1 banana 3 cups water Yields 2 quartsDark Green Love
1 bunch dandelion greens 1 medium cucumber 3 cups water Yields 2 quarts
Green Smoothies for Adventurous Souls
O-mega Aphrodisiac
3 cups wild purslane 1 small watermelon 3 limes, juiced Yields 2 quartsRevitalizing Energizer Smoothie
6 young grape leaves (they contain resveratrol, which triggers longevity genes) 3 leaves dinosaur kale, stems removed 2 mangoes 1 pint strawberries 2 cups orange juice Yields 1 quartSummer Splendor Smoothie
4 leaves chard, stems removed 3 stalks celery 1 head fresh parsley 6 apricots 3 peaches ½ vanilla bean Yields 2 quarts“Bitter Delight” Cocktail
1 large leaf aloe vera, with skin 4 leaves chard, stems removed 3 cups chickweed 1 banana 1 peach 1 pear Yields 1 quart
Green Smoothies for Children
Miner’s Lettuce Smoothie
3 cups wild crafted miner’s lettuce (wild edible) 2 ripe pears ½ pint blueberries 2 cups water Yields 2 quartsCoco-Tango
Thai coconut, meat and water 5 leaves kale, stems removed 2 nectarines 2 peaches 1 mango Yields 2 quartsThe Laughing Gorilla
½ head romaine lettuce 2 ripe bananas, peeled and frozen 2 oranges, peeled, seeds removed 1 mango 2 cups water Yields 2 quartsEmerald Applesauce
4:5 apples 1 bunch fresh parsley ½ inch fresh ginger root Yields 3 cups
Green Smoothies for Pets
Poochie’s Gourmet Green Smoothie
1 cup kale 1 banana 1 cup water 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 teaspoon kelp (granules or powder) Add some torn nori sheets; dogs love it!Fluffy’s Delight
1 cup wheatgrass clippings (or any other grass, not sprayed) 1 cup water 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 capsules fish oil (pour on the smoothie, in the bowl) Pinch of catnip (optional) Yields 7 servings: You may freeze it in an ice-cube tray and serve it by the cube. Recipes courtesy of the Boutenko familyGreen smoothie...
You should drink this every day if poss..
But you need a juicer.
After you've juiced each veg/fruit, scoop out the pulp and put it in a container in the freezer. You can add this to the pan next time you are making soup. Or muffins.
broccoli, 3 heads
celery, 3 sticks
ginger, an inch
lemon, a half or whole
apples - 2 or 3
spinach, a handful
barley grass powder get from health food shop
spirulina, get from healthy food shop.
Ask yourself...
Are you part of the solution?
or are you part of the problem...
Ecologically I mean.






