World water day was March 22th and to honor it, why not talk about bottled water and it’s impact on this planet. From the same people who brought you “The Story of Stuff” here is “The Story of Bottled Water”

The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.

The United Nations General Assembly designated 22 March of each year as the World Day for Water by adopting a resolution.This world day for water was to be observed starting in 1993, in conformity with the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development contained in chapter 18 (Fresh Water Resources) of Agenda 21.

States were invited to devote the Day to implement the UN recommendations and set up concrete activities as deemed appropriate in the national context.

The Subcommittee welcomes the assistance offered by IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre to contribute to an information network centre in support of the observance of the Day by Governments, as required.

To add to what I posted earlier (A world made of glass presented by Corning), here is a real life preview of a transparent LCD display by Samsung. One thing that I should specify here is the LCD display is actually powered by nothing more than ambient light. With its 46-inch display, 1920 x 1080 resolution and ten-finger touchscreen capability, this is the coolest computer screen I have ever seen!

[Source] Engadget

Imagine a world where everything that surrounds you is made of glass. But not the usual kind. This glass is interactive and tactile in a way that you could think of it as a giant iPad. This could be part of a more eco conscious future reducing our use of paper to almost nothing. If you pay attention to the details in this video, you will see that the waste reduction is not only limited to paper. Right at the beginning, you see the house windows changing shades to allow the sun to come through. This means no more need for blinds or curtains. When the guy operates the stove, you see that there is no more need for switches, buttons or other analog controls. This may not seam like much, but put all those little things together and you get big results. Also, glass is very clean compared to plastic or other petroleum based compounds.

On an economic standpoint, we could see a boom in the advertising market. New ways of connecting with customers and in the process, a new shopping experience. In fact, there is a wide variety of jobs that would be created to support all this glass display infrastructure. From the worker putting it together to the one installing the system and everything in between.

To sum it up, this would really be the world at our fingertips.

In this video discover +1 Water that comes to you in a bottle made from a renewable resource, corn, not petrochemical biproducts. The bottles are made from certified biodegradable NatureWorks PLA, and is not only compostable but is also recyclable along with other plastics. For more information click Here

I’ve been writing a few articles about MacBook laptops and now I can finally say that I’m a real Mac person. I went to best buy this Sunday and I bought a 13in MacBook. It’s totally awesome. I just love the fact that it’s almost completely recyclable and made from aluminum.

What truly amazed me was the packaging. Apple was telling us that it was environmentally friendly. I use to like this fact but now that I’ve seen it for my self I can say that it’s true. They used the strict minimum to package this little wonder.

Now all there is to do is to explore every aspect of my MacBook. As I do this I’ll keep you posted on how it goes. 

If any of you want to ad something about this feel free to comment.

If you’re a Mac enthusiast you must know that the 13in Macbook that came out at the end of this summer is a big step in computer designing in terms of the environmental impact. The laptop is fully built out of a block of aluminum. I don’t want to go into details on the conception of the laptop because what I really want to talk to you about today is the latest wonder in the laptop world and that is the big brother of the MacBook…the MacBook Pro.

The newly designed MacBook Pro just like it’s little brother uses the aluminum block to carve the casing. What is really impressive about the MBP is the big evolution in lithium-polymer batteries. This one can last up to 8 hours on a single charge and that can be done 1000 times which is more than three times the lifespan of a typical notebook battery.

Apple commitment to the environment is one awesome feature of the company. To be noted, the new MacBook  Pro is designed with the following features to reduce environmental impact:

• Arsenic-free glass
• BFR-free internal components
• Mercury-free LED-backlit display
• PVC-free internal cables
• Up to 37% smaller packaging
• Highly recyclable aluminum and glass enclosures

Not only is this notebook ENERGY STAR certified but it also received the EPEAT Gold status. The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, or EPEAT, evaluates the environmental impact of a product based on how recyclable it is, how much energy it uses, and how it’s designed and manufactured.

So if you need a high performance notebook you should definitely go for a MacBook Pro or if power is not relevant to your needs you may want to take a look at the MacBook.

If you want us to look up new products or if you want to give your own review, drop us a line at “info [at] talkgreen [dot] ca”

The BMW Hydrogen 7 is the world’s first production-ready hydrogen vehicle. Yes it can fully work on hydrogen which I believe make it the world most eco-friendly car.

If the Hydrogen is created from renewable energy, it makes it 100% clean. Than you may ask why can’t you find it in showrooms? Like they say in this video there is no infrastructure to support hydrogen refuelling. If oil producers turned themselves to ward’s making hydrogen instead of digging for oil and causing environmental disasters, we could truly be heading into a greener more sustainable world. But that’s just IF.

In this video learn more about this car the BMW Hydrogen 7. For more information click Here.

The University of Ottawa was hosting “career in engineering day” this week and what caught my eye during this event was this little green laptop Nortel Networks had on their presentation table. It was the “one laptop per child” XO laptop. Although this is not a super computer it’s still a great learning machine.

The purpose of this green wonder was to help under developed countries so that children could get a better education.

Most of the nearly two–billion children in the developing world are inadequately educated, or receive no education at all. One in three does not complete the fifth grade.

How did they manage to pay for this? Well we were the donors. The way this worked was if you paid 200$ for the laptop which was listed at 100$, “one laptop per child” would send one laptop to a developing country.

I also got the chance to play with the laptop. Since it was meant to be sent to many different countries, the designers decided to use symbols instead of words so that they could spare the disk space for the applications. I thought this was a great idea. Even if the screen is quite small it’s still very easy to see the display. You can easily navigate the web and even puts up links to encyclopedia for quick info.

The softwares on this laptop are great for children too. They can draw, learn how to read and write and even learn new animals and objects. On the side of the screen you can find video game controler buttons similar to the ones you can find on a playstation controler.

For more information on the XO laptop visit www.laptop.org

Here’s an invention that manages to be environmentally conscious and ridiculous at the same time.

Figure 1, above, may look like a lovely work of art meant to evoke little wavelets formed by raindrops on a serene body of water.  But actually it’s the Eco-Drop shower floor.  You turn on the shower and step in, the concentric circles gently massaging your feet and helping make the surface non-slip.

But the floor is made of a special expanding material, and the longer you stay in the shower, the more pronounced the droplet designs get.  It’s not too long before, as you can see in Figure 4, they become downright uncomfortable on your feet and you have to get out!  Voila — no one takes very long showers!

Still, there must be a better way.  I’m picturing a bunch of angry people with sore feet and sudsy hair returning this thing to their local hardware store.