Hasta La Gadget!

When we think of oil by-products, most attention goes to gasoline. But oil is–literally–everywhere. It’s in many cosmetics and household products, in the plastics we surround ourselves with, and a major component of what you drove on today–asphalt.

But just because asphalt isn’t burned for energy doesn’t mean it doesn’t have toxic effects on the environment. Various chemicals are leaked into nature by asphalt’s production, installation, and throughout its lifetime.

That’s why engineers are starting to look to alternatives to asphalt in road construction. One pair of designers has created a new project that hopes to do just that. The research team of Thomas Kosbau and Andrew Wetzler recently won the Korean green design Iida
Awards 2010 for their innovative road construction: “Sand.Stone.Road.”

The idea is simple: using very cheap and abundant sand, and mix it with a common microbe to create roadworthy sandstone. If implemented, the idea would not only take a need for millions of barrels of oil out of the global equation, but save money. The system would be far cheaper than traditional asphalt, which rose in price by 222% (!) between 2003 and 2008.

Just how how much pollution do large cities produce? That’s what the Carbon Disclosure Project aims to find out. The CDP is hoping to determine the carbon footprint of over 50 of the world’s largest urban centers, and already three major cities have signed up: Toronto, New York City, and London.

The CDP would see these cities voluntarily measure and report on their carbon emissions.

“We know cities are the largest producers of carbon emissions, but it is vital that these outputs are quantified and in the public domain in order to track our progress in reducing them,” London mayor Boris Johnson said. “London’s city government is already committed to disclosing a range of data, not just with regard to climate change, to help catalyse change to the benefit of residents.”

Via Business Green.

Traditionally, vending machines are used to sell junk food. Pop, chips, candy. That sort of thing. But they also use up quite a bit of energy, making them not only bad for your health, but bad for the environment as well. Enter H.U.M.A.N.

The new vending machine, which is an acronym for helping unite man and nutrition, uses 30-50 percent less energy than a traditional machine, thanks to energy efficient features like triple paned glass, LED lighting, and a more efficient cooling system. It also features a much more healthy menu, including homemade granola bars and fresh fruit, with an emphasis on local produce.

In the future, the creator says that there could even be a version made entirely out of 100 percent recycled materials.

Via USA Today.

Finally, a green innovation in the ever-stagnant field of toilet paper. Kimberly-Clark has announced a new line of toilet paper that eliminates the cardboard tube. Not only does this eliminate potential waste–since people no longer have to toss the tube–but it also means that the entire roll is usable, with no glue stuck on the final piece.

The company says that there are 17 billion toilet paper tubes produced in the U.S. on an annual basis, which results in 160 billion tons of trash, since many users simply toss the tubes instead of recycling them. The tubeless rolls are still able to fit over a standard toilet paper spindle, and use a patented winding technology to make them as round as possible. KImberly-Clark says that the technology may soon be used for paper towels as well.

Scott Naturals Tube-Free toilet paper will soon be available in the North Eastern United States, before spreading to additional territories as well.

Via USA Today.

The Nissan Leaf may be able to go 116 miles on a single charge, but it’s got nothing on this Audi A2 EV, which recently set a new world record.

The Audi drove 600 kilometers (372 miles) across Germany, going from Munich to Berlin on a single charge. The trip lasted seven hours with the heating on the whole time, and beat the previous world record holder by nearly 50 kilometers. And apparently the car still had a bit of juice left in it even after that exhausting trip. “If any journalists want to charge up their iPhones, we still have some electricity left,” driver Mirko Hannemann joked upon arriving at Berlin.

Via Gizmodo.