Motivated by disgust over home builders intent on giving people as little as possible for as much money as possible, Simon Dale obtained a free plot of land and moved his family to a hillside in Wales, England where he proceeded to build a real life “Hobbit house” over a four month period for just £3,000.
Check out more info and pics after the break.
Let’s face it, for a lot of people owning a hybrid car or buying recycled products is as much about appearances as it is about saving the environment. If you are the type who likes to feel smug about your environmental efforts, the following products will take you far above and way beyond what everyone else in the neighborhood is doing.
The green movement has gained a lot of momentum in recent years, no doubt prompted by rising energy costs, a weak economy and environmental disasters like the BP oil spill.
Some have been quick to capitalize on the trend, losing practicality in the frenzy to attain another kind of green—the kind that shows up on a balance sheet. Others create extreme concepts that will never become everyday realities, in order to raise awareness.
Either way, the results can be just plain nuts.
Want to travel the world but you are too lazy to get up? For $16,000 you can have the best of both worlds. The “sofa boat” is the optimum lazyness adventure vehicle.
However, it does have a few special features like a folding sun canopy, joystick steering and an engine that is completely powered by electricity. A “B2B” version will also include amenities like laptop docking points and an onboard mini fridge.
The Blow Couch is a super simple concept that utilizes old dunnage bags (inflatable bags used for shipping) and supports them with a metal rack and some rubber straps. It probably doesn’t have a high weight limit, but it would be really easy to transport. It’s the kind of thing I can picture taking on a camping trip but, alas, it is only in the prototype phase at the moment.
Cardboard, recycling and gravity got together to make the Slinky green for the 21st century. The result is the Flexy, which is made entirely from recycled and biodegradable materials, I.E. cardboard. However, moisture is pissed off that it was left out of the mix, and is on a mission to render your Flexy useless should they ever meet.
Product Page: ($18)
This mini recycling bin pen holder will make you look environmentally conscious without having to do a damn thing. If there is one thing that we can all agree on it is that getting credit for doing basically nothing is a beautiful thing.
Product Page (£1.74, about $2.85)
Unlike those cheap re-usable shopping bags you can buy in your local supermarket, Character Bags allow you to craft your own animal shapes. Squirrels, rabbits, butterflies—you name it. It’s kind of like origami or balloon animals for treehuggers. An additional image is available after the break.
If landfills and our wasteful ways have you fighting mad, consider venting your frustrations with the Do Box punching bag. Designed to be filled with refuse, the Do Box allows you to tenderize compost before dumping its stinking, lifeless corpse in your garden.
Product Page ($120)
Start each morning off with a healthy dose of anger at the evil industrialized countries that produce the most CO2. As the mug heats up, the truth will be revealed. (Not surprisingly, the US is lit up like a giant red warning siren.) Just keep in mind that there is a good chance that the manufacturing process for your beloved cup of coffee resulted in its fair share of CO2 emissions, so don’t get too smug with yourself.
Product Page (£8 or $13)
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