Elevator? Very eco for treehouse!

Building a treehouse is green, espcially, the one built by Ethan Schlussler.

He utilizes sheets of metal reclaimed from an old barn as roofing material and wood from the trees in the area it is built on.  The treehouse is held in place by friction of five large cable clamps tightly encircled around the tree, so no nails, bolts or screws were knocked into the tree to secure it in place, 28 foot above the ground.

So, how does he gets up there?  See for yourself.



That's a bicycle powered tree house elevator you are looking at!

He modified his mom's old bicycle with used parts and old scrap materials but to ensure that it works safely, new pulleys and cable were added.

Source:
http://www.gizmag.com/human-powered-bicycle-elevator/29102/

Plastic waste? Best used as porus bricks?

There is a new cement-like material call Plastisoil being developed.  As the name implies, it is made up of plastic waste and soil.

The developer, Naji Khoury, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Temple University in Philadelphia used discarded polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles which are pulverized and mixed with soil.  The blended mixture is heated with a coarse aggregate to create what he wants.  A porus substance, which when laid will hold rainwater instead of draining off the surface.

He would like to see Plastisoil used for sidewalks, jogging paths, driveways and parking lots in an effort to reduce plastic waste, road filth and oil from polluting the environment as it drains away into canals and rivers with the rainwater on the current surfacing material used, such as, cement or asphalt.

There is a concern though that toxin in the composition of PET could also leak into the environment which would defeat its prupose as a filter.  Moreover, a surface that could hold water would also encourage growth of weeds which could also make maintaining it a problem.

I hope that he will be able to find ways to overcome all these issues and make Plastisoil a reality as it will take 30,000 used PET bottles to make one ton of the material.  As it does not used as much energy to manufacture compard to standard surfacing material like cement or asphalt, this could result in lower cost for us as consumers.

 

Gizmag is my source of information on Plastisoil and you can read its full article at:
http://www.gizmag.com/palstisoil-pervious-concrete-made-from-bottles/17000/

Old toilets? The bricks for future homes.

There is now a reason to dig out old landfills in search for discarded toilet bowls and ceramic waste, such as, basins, stoneware and bricks.

In the past, old toilet bowls stripped of its rubber, plastics and metalic parts can be crushed and used as roadbed. But research conducted by Spain's Universitat Politècnica de València and Universitat Jaume I de Castellón, Imperial College of London, and the Universidade Estadual Paulista of Sao Paulo in Brazil have discovered a better use for the waste material.

They discovered that Sodium hydroxide or sodium silicate as an activator can be mixed to this grounded up waste material with water. The mixture is then poured into a mould and subjected to a high-temperature process.to harden it. The process make the waste material useful again as cement bricks which are tested to be stronger than the types that are commonly used.

Rice husk ash is also reported to be another possible reclaimed waste materials to use in the process.

I discovered this information reading the following article at New Atlas: 

Old toilets recycled into new "green" cement

Cardboard Cathedral possible? Yes!

Let's build a Cathedral out of cardboard?  Not a miniature to play with but one to worship in?  Sounds cool but are you kidding me?   No, it's not a joke and Japanese architect, Shigeru Ban, made it possible with some shipping containers and ninety-eight cardboard tubes for decoration with timber beams inside to hold the load.

Why do that?  Do you remember the earthquake of February 2011 that struck the South Island of New Zealand? Its historic Anglican Cathedral in Christchurch was damaged.

Well, the so called "temporary replacement" which can last 50 years is finally completed.  And here is how it looks like.  Beautiful.

I picked this up from Gizmag.  It makes you wonder what else have been created with cardboard that are commercially viable, doesn't it?  OK, let's take a look then.



And if you think that it would be too difficult to do your own cardboard furniture, you just have to check out this video by Industrial Designer, Adrian Candela, where he shared why and how his cardboard furniture was created with easy to follow instruction, Ikea style.



Do a search on YouTube for "cardboard furniture" and you will find many more of such creations to inspire you.