Monday, January 14, 2008

Kinetic House Power

Houses and other buildings flex a great deal more than you think. They are built to do so, in fact. Why waste that flex? Set up a system to capture that energy and store it in batteries or return the power to the grid. The real innovation would be the boards that were used to build the dwelling in the first place. Sure it would be more expensive, but if each 2x4 was made to be a part of the energy capture system, the could interlock and make power each time each board was flexed. People walking around the house would generate power in that case. Throw a party and generate the power needed to run the speakers that pump the good tunes for your guests....

----------------
Now playing: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Kinna Sohna
via FoxyTunes

gray water collection system

Retrofit your residence with a second set of pipes (use Pex) that all return water to a centrally located submerged tank of gray water, treated with UV to keep it clean. A switch would be installed on all the fixtures that would send that current flow to the tank rather than to the sewage line. Better yet, have the system analyze the water just before it goes out the sewer. Scratch the re-plumbing idea in fact, just have the central sewage line leading out of the residence analyze the water for grey or black and act accordingly. My shower water/dishwashing water really shouldn't be classified the same way the water from my toilet is. Gray water return isn't really my idea, but I'd like to see it done uniformly and safely.

----------------
Now playing: Pigeonhed - Battleflag (Lo-Fidelity Allstars Remix)
via FoxyTunes

Personal Registries

A no-brainer. Want to know what I want? Go to my personal registry at www.Iwantthesegifts.com. I wouldn't mind that page having a fair amount of advertising on it, either. As long as it was targeted to my needs and desires. I might also find that I buy myself the things I put on my registry. I think it's tangentially a bright green thing: reduce the amount of gifts that you get that stink, reduce the waste and energy created during their manufacture, delivery, purchase, and subsequent return to the store. It's not about over-consumption, it's about targeted consumption. You'd only give out the addy (and of course you must register to see the registry) to people who you wanted to see the registry. BTW, there is no registry for me, that address is a placeholder demo thingy.

----------------
Now playing: L. Subramaniam - Wandering Saint
via FoxyTunes

street and highway generators

I can't imagine this hasn't been thought of yet, but I haven't seen it myself. The idea is simple: all the kinetic energy that driving over a road creates needs to be captured, stored and redistributed. Huge amounts of kinetic energy is spent as cars drive over roads, highways and bridges. Certainly it could be gathered and stored simply for the street lights that are connected to that patch, but it would be great if the energy might be sent down the line to power neighborhoods or simply sent back to the main grid. The cement/asphalt/concrete would have to be re-engineered, or at least be dug up and the capture system put underneath/inside. The best solution would be to only do it on high-traffic areas and only do it on newly installed roads for optimal returns.

----------------
Now playing: Kruder & Dorfmeister - Gotta Jazz
via FoxyTunes

used clothing shredder

Okay, I want a bunch of DIY tools, and this is a biggie. I want to take my clean but no longer cool/wearable/functional clothing and make it into stuff. Literally, stuffing. I want to have it done by a simple machine like a paper shredder. I have tons of solo-socks, bad t-shirts, ripped pants and such that are landfill-bound. If I could make something else out of these items, it would rock. I wonder if perhaps there's a place I could drop off my dead clothes for recycling rather than re-using (like the used jeans craze). I understand that some home insulation is currently being of shredded denim, and since that's pretty much cotton, I want my own insulation maker. I could use it to restuff my pillows or use it to make stuffed animals, but insulation would be the biggest use at the moment. Hmm. Maybe this is best left to the industrial recyclers.

----------------
Now playing: Euphoria - Desert Drive
via FoxyTunes