Design
H&M’s new "Conscious Collection" features leather made of grapes
Vegan leather is quickly growing in popularity in response to environmental and ethical concerns about traditional leather. H&M’s new "Conscious Collection" will feature all sorts of eco-forward materials, including vegan leather made from grapes! The material is made by the Italian Read More...
This suit warns firefighters when they’re in danger of getting injured
Despite rigorous training and protective clothing, tens of thousands of firefighters suffer burns in the line of duty every year. But a good number of such injuries are avoidable. Because most firefighter gear is heat resistant up to a certain temperature, the insulation can also numb a Read More...
The packaging for this toy is actually a part of the toy
Whenever we receive a package or buy a new product, we’re so used to opening up the packaging and tossing it right away into the trash. But what if you could actually use the packaging for an entirely different purpose? That’s the idea being pushed forward by a company called Educational Read More...
In this Dutch neighborhood, there's 1 vehicle for every 3 households
The Netherlands is well-known for being the ultimate biking country, and, today, pedestrianized city centers are also the norm in many of the country’s urban areas. Still, in the country’s major cities, vehicles still tend to dictate the design of most public spaces. In an effort to change Read More...
A design firm transformed old scrap yard into row of sustainable homes
Redeveloping a former scrapyard into a site for sustainable, solar-powered houses may sound like a difficult challenge, but that’s exactly what a London-based architecture firm managed to pull off. Unit One Architects has turned an unused lot in northern London into a row of dwellings, Read More...
Now this is how to make eco-friendly prefab homes without cookie cutter approach
Prefab houses aren’t exactly a thrilling proposition to architects, but with urbanization in full swing, there is a great need for nice, quickly-constructed prefab houses. The good thing is that the architects behind these houses are finding ways to build prefab homes that produce clean energy, Read More...
Could the buildings of tomorrow be made of fungus? These researchers say yes.
If you read yesterday’s Optimist View, you know that the options for building in a changing climate are diverse and versatile. They might even include building homes out of fungus. Yes, fungus. A provocative new paper by academics from the University of the West of England and the Royal Danish Read More...
How rain gardens can help reduce polluted water runoff
If you live in a coastal city, you know not to swim in the ocean for several days after heavy rain. This is because water runoff can carry dirty and even harmful pollutants such as bacteria, chemicals, and sewage. Beautiful, planted rain gardens are a natural and effective way to clean water moving Read More...
This solar farm is providing a habitat for desert tortoises to thrive in
Solar farms aren’t only good for generating clean energy. In the desert in Nevada, a solar farm is providing tortoises a habitat they can thrive in. Juvenile tortoises depend on plant cover to hide from predators, and fortunately for them, the shade below the solar panels allows many plants that Read More...
New homes in Wales will be powered by renewable energy by 2025
The building and housing sector are one of today’s major contributors to global warming and the climate crisis. Acknowledging the urgent need to find a solution to this problem, the Welsh government has recently issued plans requiring all new homes in the country to be heated and powered by clean Read More...