Weird Green Inventions

What funny ways of helping the planet can you think of? There are numerous ways in which one can help protecting the environment and at the same time have fun. Some may interpret many of these things as being crazy, yet all of these are what people generally label as green initiatives.

Have you ever found it difficult to teach your child the proper ways to save energy? This shouldn’t be a problem for you anymore since Tim Holley came with just the perfect light-switch that changes colors and as such is able to teach children the importance of energy conservation. This design is meant to remind children how much energy they’ve used by leaving lights open. And it does this in a funny, sweet way. Even though I am what people would call an adult I enjoy this invention as well. Just wait to find out how this works and you will too. Tim Holley called his invention Tio, a proper name for a friend if you ask me, a child’s friend. Tio changes colors as the child forgets to turn off the lights. If the light is being left turned on for more than four hours, Tio turns yellow and looks shocked. Imagine that you were a child and saw this device getting shocked. Will this make you turn off the lights the next time you leave your rooms? If it doesn’t then Tio will get angry and all red. I would say that this device isn’t just for children but for many of the adults as well.

Tio, Tim Holley's invention

Nest time when leaving a room turn off the light too. It will help you save some money and some energy as well, lowering the impact one has on the environment.

How about wasting large amounts of water? Jean-Michel Gauvreau found just the perfect solution when inventing the Zen Garden Sink. It is what most people would consider to be an unusual sink yet it is quite inventive if we were to think about the fact that it allows the water used while washing your hands to water a plant. When thinking that only the water will get to the plant without the soap then the invention seems to be even more amazing and wonderful.

Zen Garden Sink

When thinking about the hundreds of trees being cut each year for one to have its paper in the office and be able to print various documents the PrePeat Printer comes as a wonderful invention. It is not a conventional printer as it makes use of specially made plastic sheets, which can be easily erased and be used more than just once. This printer makes use of a thermal head to print on these specially-created plastic sheets. By using it not only will you be able to reduce the expenses on paper but you will also save some trees.

PrePeat Printer

Have you ever been aware of the bad impact that staples have on the environment? If you haven’t then you should not worry anymore as a company decided to spare us of using them and created a staple-free stapler. All you need to do is get rid of the old stapler and look for the eco-friendly one. In this way you will manage to put an end to staple pollution or at least try to do so.

Staple-free Stapler

How about the iPhone charger powered by a hand grip? Did it ever cross your mind that such a thing is even possible? Well, some of us are endowed with an amazing imagination which makes possible all these things.

You have been a student too yet the university where you studied never thought about building a green roof meant to serve as a gathering place for you and the other students. You would be surprised to hear that there is such an university in the world, the School of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.Here, the roofs serve as informal gathering spaces. What place more wonderful than if not in nature? Besides its aesthetic function these green roofs also manage to insulate the building, cool the surrounding air and harvest rainwater for landscaping irrigation. Therefore an idea that should be embraced by many urban buildings as well.

Nanyang Green Roof

If you are a person who likes social life and enjoys spending Friday evenings in dancing clubs then there is one way you can contribute to the protection of the environment. You probably frown now and wonder which is this way. There is a bar in London called Bar Surya which gets its electricity from its floor. How is this possible? The floor has been re-outfitted with springs that, when being compressed by dancers produce electrical current that is stored in batteries and used later. Therefore the electricity bill no longer comes as a burden for the owner of this bar. According to the club’s owner Andrew Charalambous, the dance floor can thus power 60 percent of the club’s power needs.

Bar Surya, London

Therefore if you think about opening your own club, you should keep this in mind.

How does the idea of getting a free meal in a hotel sound to you? If it sounds interesting then perhaps next time you go to Copenhagen you should stay in Crown Plaza Hotel. Yet, you have to do something in exchange: generate some electricity. The way for you to do this is take 15 minutes of cycling. You will find there an exercise bike attached to a generator. What better way to keep your physical condition and at the same time produce electricity?

Crown Plaza energy bike, Copenhagen

When it comes to crazy green inventions I think the shower forcing you to leave when you have wasted too much water is just about the craziest one. Designer Tommaso Colia came up with his eco-friendly shower probably thinking about the amount of water being wasted when taking long showers. How is this possible, you will probably ask? It is all made possible by some concentric circles that will rise to force you to stop showering when indulging in too long showers. Do you need one at home? I think women certainly need one as they tend to spend an important amount of their time under the shower. Are they to be blamed? When it comes to saving water they are.

If you happen to have a similar crazy idea perhaps you should put it into practice and see what comes out of it. You will certainly manage to save the environment.