This idea is a home-run: rent storage containers for your next move instead of buying/borrowing/scavanging boxes and save up to 50% on your move.

Big claim, true. But have a look at the concept: “Rent-a-Green box is America’s first, comprehensive, zero-waste pack and move solution made entirely from post consumer recycled trash mined from local landfills. Our mission is to provide relocating business and residences with an authentic and genuine earth friendly packing and moving alternative that will save time, money and Earth.”

Here’s what they do. Call them up, make a date and pay up. Then they deliver, you pack and move. Finally, when you’ve unpacked, they come pick up the containers. That simple. Genius.

And that’s not all to this moving system. Doubters, please check out all the tertiary components that make great strides toward a completely waste-free moving system:

“Geami is the modern day eco friendly replacement for petroleum based bubble wrap and it’s made from 100% recycled cardboard sludge. Geami is made right on our trucks from our own self generated power supply, in rolls of 100 or 200 linear feet and is half the cost of bubble wrap.”

The Poopy Pallet is made from “over 700 recycled baby diapers and yes they were once used- but have no fear… they were cleaned, sanitized and the anaerobic polymers ( the stuff that will never break down in our landfills) is used like bindingg filament to make the Poppy Pallet. It’s remarkably strong and durable.”

Expandos are truly “Cradle to Cradle” technology.

“Image all of those cereal boxes, food related packed goods and just about anything that’s put into a paper fiber box or paper container. It’s recycled and the fibers that are no longer good enough for another packaged product are made into 100% post consumer, recycled flat sheets ready to make Expandos. We take these sheets and then convert them into these cool little triangles that interlock, brace and block your property from moving around in transit. What’s so amazing is that when you’re done, just put them back into the supplied recobag and we’lll reuse them again and again. Eventually, when they wear out, we just recycle them into more Expandos. Another zero waste, trash based, green sensible packing and moving alternative from rentagreenbox!”

Another helpful product is the recobag, a great story. The designer heard about a sail-maker that had a bunch of unusable sail material destined for the landfill. One thing lead to another and the recobag was born. Now Rent a Green Box uses these 100% recycled bags to transport recocubes, transports and flat sheets.

And the recocube! Probably my favorite product in the line, the recocube is made from ‘unusable’ recycled newspaper sludge. They add nutrients to the sludge, compact it into these cubes which are used exactly like packing peanuts. Only when you’re done with recocubes, you can toss them in your compost heap, or on your garden and they will fertilize your vegetables. This product actually NOURISHES the earth! Brilliant!

And reco-zips set the standard as well, use, peel, and toss in the toilet. Really. No waste, no problem!

And finally, reco-zips. Made from, “100% recycle plastic bottle caps that we remove from all of those hard to recycle plastic bleach, detergent and household chemistry bottles that are used to make our word famous lime green [ recopacks ].

Rent a Green Box is operating in Southern California for the moment, but is planning on expanding across the country in the near future. So the next time you’re planning a move, be sure to check them out. I know I will…

http://earthfriendlymoving.com/greenbox/

Just heard about the winners of the first phase of the competition. Great work everyone and good luck with the next phase…

“Architecture for Humanity New York (AFHny) announces a month-long ideas
competition in search of innovative concepts for a new market place for
the Red Hook Food Vendors in Red Hook Park, Brooklyn.”

“Designers from each of the five “Selected Entries” listed below will be
part of a team that engages in the long process of bringing a project
from a design idea to a built part of the public realm. The designers
of these concepts will begin collaborating with AFHny, the Red Hook
Vendors, and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation at
the beginning of 2009. AFHny looks forward to beginning the project’s
next stage of collaboration.”

“The competition juries selected the following entries:

Selected Entry 1 – “Food Fence”
Designers: Mateo Pinto, Carolina Cisneros

Selected Entry 2 – “Bleachers”
Designers: Miki Onodera

Selected Entry 3 – “Food Coloring”
Designers: Asaf Yogev, Craig Tooman AIA, LEED-AP

Selected Entry 4 – “Double Sided”
Designers: Emilie Graham

Selected Entry 5 – “New Vendor Kiosk”
Designers: Jackie Luk

The juries also awarded the title of “Honorable Mention” to the following designs:

Honorable Mention 1 – “Splitting the Difference”
Designers: Raj Kottamasu, Michael Haggerty, Brian Ackley

Honorable Mention 2 – “Tapas Toldos Plaza”
Designers: Nic Goldsmith, Ashish Soni, Eric Smith, Matthew Hilyard

Honorable Mention 3 – “Groundplane”
Designers: Chris Syrett

Honorable Mention 4 – “Market Made”
Designers: Nick Brinen

And you thought Tokyo was fantastic on the surface! Just have a look at what’s under your feet: miles of cathedral-like sewers. A neo-gothic labyrinth of engineering wonder! I just wonder if they ever fill all the way up!

I was absolutely wrong about these! This is Kasukabe and a storm drain at that. Still an awesome space though. Here is a press release:

SAITAMA (Kyodo) An underground tunnel built to take in river
water overflow and release it into another river to mitigate flood
damage was shown to the media Monday in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture.

The 6.3 km long conduit is 50 meters underground in Kasukabe and connects the Otoshifurutone and Edo rivers.

If the Otoshifurutone River or nearby Naka River flood, excess
water can be channeled into the tunnel from five locations and
temporarily stored in a gigantic reservoir before being pumped up and
released into the Edo River.

The water chamber, dubbed the “underground palace,” features 59
columns, each 25 meters high, that can store 670,000 cu. meters of
water, according to the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry.

The government project began in 1993 with a budget of 240
billion yen, and part of the tunnel became ready for use in 2002. The
system will begin full operation in June.

Historically, the eastern part of Saitama Prefecture has been
prone to floods. The government says the flood-management system will
significantly reduce the danger of floods in the area.

Just ran across this ultra-mod orchid growing system and fell in love. Get one for the James Bond fan in your life. Not so sustainable, but having more plants in our lives is a good start…

“Breathe Easy is an aeroponic growing system designed to improve home
air quality. It utilizes toxin absorbing plants that clean the air and
add humidity. It also doesn’t hurt to bring some of nature’s green
indoors too. The plants are held in place by magnetic seals in the top
opening…As an
added touch, a row of LED lights line the bottom for some nice ground
effects.”

+ Designer: Paul Thomas

via Yanko

Over at Ligature we are featuring award-winning designer, fabricator and educator Peter Benarcik. Be sure to check his work out, it’s awesome.

Peter Benarcik has worked with nationally recognized architecture and industrial
design studios in addition to developing his own multi-disciplined
design studios.

Peter’s current endeavor- Five Ply Design based in
Seattle, WA- continues to focus on both furniture and architectural
projects.  As if that were not enough, Peter is also a Full-Time Tenure
Track Faculty member at Bellevue Community College where he teaches
various foundation and advanced design studios in the Interior Design
Department.

read the rest on Ligature:  Ligature Online

To view more of Peter’s work visit: http://www.fiveplydesign.com

]]> http://incli-nation.com/2009/01/05/peter-benarciks-great-green-designs/feed/ 0 http://incli-nation.com/2008/12/16/brad-pitts-sustainable-city-completes-first-six-homes/ http://incli-nation.com/2008/12/16/brad-pitts-sustainable-city-completes-first-six-homes/#comments Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:36:27 +0000 Staff http://incli-nation.com/?p=15

Just heard that the first six, LEED Platinum certified homes in Brad Pitt’s rehab project in New Orleans are now finished. The homes use sustainable materials and donated time and effort to come in under the symbolic $150,000 budget.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

via Architectural Record

Just as soon as you can, head over to Project H Design and vote for their latest project; designing educational math toys for developing and US retail markets, based on the Kutamba AIDS Orphans School in Uganda (an Architecture for Humanity building).

According to Project H:

The design team will develop a locally-produced version of the math toy
for Kutamba with broader distribution in the developing world, in
addition to a sister US retail version based on the same system. View
photos of the Kutamba school case study here.

There are few projects more deserving. Sign-up now!

Please join CoCA as we play host to Pecha Kucha Night. This month’s theme is "Trouble". You’ve got some, we got some – let’s share. We’ve
assembled an incredible roster of writers, visual artists, race car
drivers, actors and other creative luminaries. Share ideas, see great
work – we’d love to see you there!

EVENT DETAILS
Thursday, September 25^th
Doors Open 6:00 PM
Presentations Begin at 7:00
CoCA Ballard: Inside the Shilshole Bay Beach Club
6413 Seaview Ave NW  Seattle, WA 98107

Free entry and parking
Dinner Service & Cash Bar Available 

PRESENTERS:
Dave Clapper, Writer
Heather Budd, Performing Artist
Joe Whinney, Theo Chocolates
Jamie Drzayich, Stock Car Racing
Thomas Wurst, Illustrator
Jonathan Zegars, Architect
Adina Gillet & Andrew McMasters, Experts

get the deets here…

The theme of this year’s Biennale of Architecture in Venice, which opened on Sunday, is ‘Out There: Architecture Without Building’ so we thought it appropriate to review it from afar, from ‘Out Here:‘ as it were. Curator Aaron Betsky has this to say:

"Architecture must go beyond buildings because buildings are not enough. They are big and wasteful accumulations of natural resources that are difficult to adapt to the continually changing
conditions of modern life…Most buildings are ugly, useless and wasteful"

Hmm.

Whether one agrees with Betsky or not, there are still great things
to see at this year’s Biennale. It’s difficult to narrow the choices
down to five but through the magic of the internet, we’ve managed to
put together a ‘mash-up’ of sorts; the best of the best. We scoured
journals, blogs, Flickr and others to bring you this fresh list of
sights, sounds and events not to be missed at this years event. Send us
a postcard!

1. Italian pavilion

With a nod to our hosts, these photos are two of my favorites from
this year’s Biennale; NL Architects on the right, and Collectif Exyzt’s
Wii game on the left. Though
from certain sources, the effect of the Italian pavilion in person is
far less
exuberant. From the excellent ‘David Report‘:

"I would like to note that the Italian Pavilion, if not the entire
Biennale, had a melancholic yearning that reminded me time and time
again of the works of Italian Radical Architecture from the late 60’s,
early 70’s. I was shocked that no credit or space was given to
Superstudio, Archigram, Archizoom, Pettena or UFO by the curators nor
the individual exhibitors who ‘sampled’ ideas and substance from these
pioneers at almost every turn." -read the rest…

2. 1907… after the party, Belgian pavilion

In a similar vein—though less seriously—irony is on the scene. The Belgian pavilion is wonderfully
over-the-top. Office Kersten Geers David van Severen took
the Belgian pavilion, surrounded it with a seven meter steel wall,
emptied the interior of the building and covered the floors with
confetti. As if to say, ‘Architecture is to be built, not exhibited!’
Nice photos at DesignBoom…

3. Fantastic Norway

At the opposite end of the spectrum is the Fantastic Norway caravan.
I love these guys! Here is what they have to say for themselves: "The
caravan functions as a mobile platform for architectural
discussions, debates and workshops. We gather ideas, suggestions and
local knowledge from the communities we work in and utilize the
collected information in the design process. Places are stitched
together by the stories and lives of people living there." -read the rest on their site…

4. Gaasitoru Gas Pipe, Estonian Exposition

Monumental sculpture meets political activism meets…Venice? It’s not
hard to see how the Estonian Exposition has become a hit at this year’s
Biennale. According to an interview in the Baltic Business News it was an eventful evolution for the architects, “When we introduced the project to the board of Biennale, the first reaction
was a clear no – the Italians didn’t want to see this project, uncomfortable in
both essence and construction, on the Biennale,” commented Maarja Kask, “Thanks
to the support of the general curator of this Biennale, Aaron Betsky, we were
allowed in the end to install the gas pipe if we get permission to from all the
states whose pavilion the pipe will pass in front of.”

5. Into the Open: Positioning Practice, American pavilion

With the participation of some of our favorites,
including Rural Studio, Rebar and CLUI, the garden out front seems to have been the winner,
even with the typos [radichio, not raddichio...]. According to the team, the US exhibition explores,
"…how architects,
urban researchers, and community activists are meeting the challenges
of creating new work in response to contemporary social conditions and
addresses factors challenging traditional methods of architecture, such
as shifting socio-cultural demographics, changing geo-political
boundaries, uneven economic development, and the explosion of migration
and urbanization."

The Biennale runs through November 23rd. For more information go to: http://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/