Join people around the world to leave your cars at home today.
Tomorrow is the first day of autumn, and what better time to ride a bike than in the fall? Try riding to the store or run your errands and enjoy the freedom without a car. Walking and public transportation are also great options for World Carfree Day. If you can’t leave the car at home all of the time, going carlite can still have a positive impact on your life, the city you live in, and your climate.
If you go by bike today, and you are new to bike commuting, check out the League of American Bicyclists and Commute by Bike.
Japanese water purifier venture Nippon Basic displays a portable water purifying system “Cycloclean,” powered by pedaling a bicycle to make a maximum of 5 liter of clean water in a minute at a technolocy fair in Tokyo. Nippon Basic Co. is gearing up for large-scale production in Bangladesh of the bicycle that can purify water at disaster zones or remote villages.
A Japanese company is gearing up for large-scale production in Bangladesh of a bicycle that can also be used to purify water at disaster zones or remote villages.
“If you can bike to a river, pond, pool or other sources of water, all you need is your leg power to produce clean drinking water,” Yuichi Katsuura, president of Nippon Basic Co. said on Thursday as he introduced the system.
Cycloclean needs only manpower to turn a bike chain driving a motor to pump water through a series of filters, unlike other systems requiring gasoline or electricity. It can purify five litres (1.3 gallons) of water in a minute.
The bike boasts puncture-free tyres, while the pump and hoses are housed in an attache case-like box on the rear carrier and three filter cartridges are fitted around the rear wheel.
Nippon Basic, based in Kawasaki near Tokyo, has sold 200 bikes since first launching Cycloclean in Japan in 2005 at 550,000 yen (6,600 dollars) each, Katsuura said.
Many of the bikes went to Japanese local governments but a small number were sold to Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines, he said.
Katsuura said the company had seen demand rise in Bangladesh and started local assembly late last year, partly to reduce the price in cooperation with a Bangladeshi bicycle maker.
“We hope local production will go into full swing around April,” he said, adding his firm and local partners were aiming for annual production of 100-200 units.
Katsuura argued Bangladesh’s millions of rickshaws would decrease as its economy grows but that a bike-water business could provide new jobs to some of the drivers.
“You go to where water is, put your bicycle on a stand, drop a pump and peddle for clean water, which can then be sold elsewhere,” he said.
He added that the pump was capable of sucking up water at a depth of five metres despite its “low-tech appearance”.
Cycloclean was on display at an environment-friendly technology fair in Kawasaki, near Tokyo, which ends Thursday.
Via PhysOrg
What was your inspiration for “23 Feet”?
I was living in Durango, CO at the time and knew I wanted to move to Portland, OR in the summer. Realizing that it didn’t make sense for me to rent while I was traveling so much for work, I decided to buy an Airstream. I also decided that I wanted to buy a veggie diesel to pull it. Being a bit too spontaneous, I bought an old 1993 F350 veggie diesel with my savings and hit the road that same day to Boulder, CO where I had found a gutted 1970, 23-foot Airstream on ebay. I spent 5 dollars on gas and drove on veggie oil the rest of the way for a 7-hour drive to Boulder. The truck, (who I named Elvira) had “Wild Beast” written on the side and a “Got Balls” bumper sticker on the back… Needless to say – I got some stares.
A film about people who make the conscious choice to live simply in order to pursue their outdoor passions.
I got to Boulder and bought the airstream, hooked it up, and started my way back home to Durango, CO. I was 11 miles out of Boulder when my engine blew up. One scam-artist mechanic and a month and a half later I bought another engine which also failed and was stranded in Boulder with not a dime left to my name.
Cutting my losses, I sold the truck for scraps, towed the airstream to a storage place, and caught a ride with my friend Timmy to the 5Point Film Festival in Carbondale, CO where I knew I could then hitch a ride home to Durango.
After a shot of inspiration from all the wonderful films at 5point and then hearing story after story of my friend’s own adventures on the road, I was encouraged by other filmmakers at the festival to document my adventures in the airstream.
So, Elvira the veggie truck ended up wiping out all $8,000 of my savings, but the opportunity to go to 5Point Film Festival and get that inspiration made it worth every penny.
Via Keen Blog
I found this over at Instructables.com, a great DIY Project Community with thousands of instructions for cool projects. I’ve seen everything from DIY USB Bike Generators to projects that involved using a taxidermy beaver as a computer case. Randomness aside, this one definitely caught my eye:
A giant glowing balloon that changes color depending on the air quality for that day. Using an ($10) air quality sensor and minor technical skills, you can follow the directions over at instructables.com to make your very own air quality sensor balloon.
Katy Crane on 
Charles Allen on 
