Curbing our plastic problem is no small task. That’s why the Plastic Pollution Coalition is giving away $50,000 to businesses working towards decreasing our plastic dependency.

Plastic Pollution Coalition, a global alliance working towards a world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impacts on people, animals and the environment, created the Think Beyond Plastic competition for innovative entrepreneurs working on solutions to the world’s serious plastic crisis.

The amount of plastic on the planet is nothing short of alarming. Each year, around 300 million tons of plastic is produced globally. Here in the U.S., only about the half number of plastic bottles produced wind up in recycling centers. The rest creep into crowded landfills, or our vulnerable oceans, creating serious harm to animals and ecosystems. Chris Jordan (Running the Numbers) has documented this tragedy as it’s impacting the helpless residents of Midway Island to a tear-jerking degree in his forthcoming film, “Midway: A Love Story For Our Time From the Heart of the Pacific.”

“Plastic pollution is a problem that the world has just begun to comprehend. Recycling is not an adequate solution to the increasing consumption of disposable plastic. We seek disruptive solutions that will reduce the planetary plastic footprint,” said Daniella Russo, co-founder and executive director of Plastic Pollution Coalition.

The global alliance, which was formed in 2009, has caught the attention of some major media outlets, companies, festivals and foundations. Jann Wenner, Editor and Publisher of Rolling Stone Magazine and one of the Think Beyond Plastic partners said, “Plastic pollution is a major environmental problem, and we are excited about engaging the spirit of entrepreneurship in the solutions.” Other partners for the contest include Apogee Digital, Bonnaroo, Conservation International, One PacificCoast Bank, FSB, The Sam and Peggy Grossman Foundation, and Tabor Communications.

Entrepreneurs working on products, services, materials and infrastructure solutions that can lead to a widespread decline in use of plastics are encouraged to apply. One existing business will receive $50,000 and the most innovative business concept will receive $10,000. The prizes are being underwritten by the Netherlands A-Spark Good Ventures, an investment company. Winners will be decided by Eben Bayer (Ecovative), Mike Biddle (MBA Polymers), Julie Corbett (Ecologic), Adam Lowry (Method), Dr. Ramani Narayan (Michigan State University), Mike Velings (A-Spark Good Ventures) and Adam Werbach (Yerdle). Submissions must be received by March 10^th and the winners  will be announced at ceremonies in June in Berkeley, California.

For more information, view the competition trailer here.

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

Image: tompagenet

The post Innovation Competition Aims at Reducing Global Plastic Pollution Problem appeared first on EcoSalon.

A list of EcoSalon’s favorite quotes on thinking outside the box.

There has been opposition to every innovation in the history of man, with the possible exception of the sword. -Benjamin Dana

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. -Steve Jobs

I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones. -John Cage 

In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative original thinker unless you can also sell what you create. Management cannot be expected to recognize a good idea unless it is presented to them by a good salesman. -David Ogilvy

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen. -John Steinbeck

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. -George Bernard Shaw

Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time. -Bill Gates

All work and no play doesn’t just make Jill and Jack dull, it kills the potential of discovery, mastery, and openness to change and flexibility and it hinders innovation and invention. -Joline Godfrey

You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere. -Lee Iacocca

The best way to predict the future is to invent it. -Alan Kay

Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow. -William Pollard

You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take. -Wayne Gretzky

If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got. -Albert Einstein

Capital isn’t so important in business. Experience isn’t so important. You can get both these things. What is important is ideas. If you have ideas, you have the main asset you need, and there isn’t any limit to what you can do with your business and your life. -Harvey Firestone

The greater the contrast, the greater the potential. Great energy only comes from a correspondingly great tension of opposites. -Carl Jung

If you’re not failing every now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything very innovative. -Woody Allen

Never innovate to compete, innovate to change the rules of the game. -David O. Adeife

It’s easy to come up with new ideas; the hard part is letting go of what worked for you two years ago, but will soon be out of date. -Roger von Oech

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. -General George Patton

Stay hungry, stay foolish. -Whole Earth Catalog, via Steve Jobs

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. -Thomas Edison

Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads. -Erica Jong

The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas. -Dr. Linus Pauling

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought. -Albert von Szent-Gyorgy

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. -George Bernard Shaw

Held in the palms of thousands of disgruntled people over the centuries have been ideas worth millions – if they only had taken the first step and then followed through. -Robert M. Hayes

Anyone can look for fashion in a boutique or history in a museum. The creative explorer looks for history in a hardware store and fashion in an airport. -Robert Wieder

The only thing all successful people have in common is that they’re successful, so don’t waste your time copying “the successful strategies” of others. -Seth Godin

Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats. -Howard Aiken

Some men look at things the way they are and ask why? I dream of things that are not and ask why not? -Robert Kennedy

Ideas won’t keep. Something must be done about them. -Alfred North Whitehead

Just as energy is the basis of life itself, and ideas the source of innovation, so is innovation the vital spark of all human change, improvement and progress. -Ted Levitt

If you can dream it, you can do it. -Walt Disney

The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. -Michelangelo

The practice of R&D involves making mistakes, realizations, corrections, and more mistakes. Trial and error is a fundamental part of the process. Too many managers in corporate America learn to avoid invention and new thinking because they have been convinced that their careers depend upon not making mistakes. -Tom Huff

The innovation point is the pivotal moment when talented and motivated people seek the opportunity to act on their ideas and dreams. -W. Arthur Porter

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, and don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. -Steve Jobs

It’s not about breaking the rules. It is about abandoning the concept of rules altogether. -Paul Lemberg

Genius is one percent inspiration, and ninety-nine percent perspiration. -Thomas Edison

Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world! -Joel Arthur Barker

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Images: tallpomlin, UggBoyUggGirl, Erik Charlton, Maurizio Zanetti 

The post 40 Best Quotes on Innovation appeared first on EcoSalon.

“Real Americans Buy American.” Growing up in the Motor City in the 1970s, that ubiquitous message, proudly displayed on the rear bumpers of so many Mustangs, Caddies and Pontiacs led this young man to wonder what the problem was. If the red, white and blue declarative were true, why would the Detroit Free Press be running what seemed to be a serialized front-page obituary for our town and our industry? Why would that big black number in The News’ headline have so many zeros after it? (How many people were laid off yesterday?) As near as I could tell, there were plenty of Americans around, and if they did what those bumper stickers told me they do, why was Detroit blight central rather than the boomtown my parents grew up in?

Eventually I learned the truth: Real Americans don’t buy American. Real Americans buy what they want.

This bitter truth periodically hits Detroit hard, and each time one has to wonder if the American auto industry’s hubris has led to its final death knell. I watched firsthand the slow motion response of the Big Three to real world energy and design challenges and the resulting economic devastation of the mid- and late-70s, and again in the late-80s and early-90s (when my parents lost their home and the family’s electrical supply business). Today, watching from my safe haven of California, I read stories of urban dystopia and (literally) scorched earth, the only hope being an unusually creative, industrious and determined population.

But once again, and like always it seems, there’s a blip in the flatline. Could there be life?

As Detroit’s North American International Auto Show enters its 23rd year as an international event, the city’s hometown industry isn’t looking so bad. Last year, reports Business Insider , saw Ford get back its number-two U.S. automaker slot after having lost that position to decelerating Toyota, while the top three fastest-growing brands were from General Motors. “Even Chrysler — a company once left for dead — gained U.S. market share and closed the gap with Honda, despite having a dearth of new models versus its well-stocked Japanese competitors.” (Tangentially, Business Insider, probably a good idea to can the “Pearl Harbor in reverse” rhetoric. It’s a bad week for kill-the-enemy hyperbole.)

Here’s more good news from the Wall Street Journal: Ford announced that it’s going to hire 7,000 workers and is expected to report that 2010 was one of the most profitable years in its 100-plus-year history. Meanwhile, GM says it had a strong end to the year, finishing with more than $20 billion in liquidity and that it expects to hire more U.S. workers if annual sales meet their expected forecasts. As for offerings, reports the Journal, the “40 new vehicles that will be unveiled represent an increase from 27 new models that debuted at the 2010 edition of the show… Chrysler will show off 13 models in addition to the 300 that have been completely redesigned or significantly overhauled. GM will show the Sonic and a compact Buick. Ford will feature a compact minivan based on the European C-Max model, as well as a battery-powered version of its Focus.”

Could the Big Three be getting it? Are they finally giving Americans what they want? Consider that this better-than-okay news is emerging from a horrifying industry free fall that began in 2008 and featured the bankruptcy reorganizations of GM and Chrysler in 2009. “Last year’s show had a funereal feel—spartan displays, sparse attendance, few of the lights, loud music and theatrical unveilings that had become the show’s trademark,” reports the WSJ. So keep in mind from where this upbeat news is coming from. When there’s nowhere to go but up, you won’t be penalized for thinking that any movement is good movement.

It also remains to be seen if this upswing is the result of a slow but sure economic surge that has buyers beginning to make those big purchases they put off for so long. Whether or not new offerings and reconfigured corporate structures will have the impact everyone hopes for won’t be determined in the immediate future. But one thing’s for certain; the old adage is true: “when the nation catches a cold, Detroit gets pneumonia.” The thing is, for the infirm, pneumonia can be fatal. And for Detroit, that adage isn’t funny anymore.

Image: country_boy_shane

The post Making It In Motown: Give the People What They Want appeared first on EcoSalon.

I never liked the term “Black Friday.” It makes me think of evil and bad things like the Black September terrorist outfit of the 1970s or the “Black Tuesday” stock market crash that ushered in the Great Depression. Moreover, it seems odd to me that marketers would describe a shopping day – nay, actually promote a shopping day – with a term that has to do with retail profits (i.e. “getting into the black”) rather than consumers making out well. Who would buy into that?

Well, many of us do. We might second guess them, but marketers know lots of stuff that we don’t. In fact, with access to the latest in neuroscience, it turns out they know stuff about me that I don’t even know. It even has a name: neuromarketing.

Here’s a good definition of the practice from Neuromarketing, a blog focused on the field, authored by consultant Roger Dooley. (Consider that they make no secret about what they’re up to. They don’t have to. They’re that good.)

“Neuromarketing includes the direct use of brain imaging, scanning, or other brain activity measurement technology to measure a subject’s response to specific products, packaging, advertising, or other marketing elements… neuromarketing also includes the use of neuroscience research in marketing. For example, using fMRI or other techniques, researchers may find that a particular stimulus causes a consistent response in the brain of test subjects, and that this response is correlated with a desired behavior (e.g., trying something new).”

So what does this mean? That Mad Men are busy figuring out how we subconsciously process product and are tapping into parts of our brain through adverting and marketing techniques that we’re unaware of? Well, of course they are. And they’re getting better at it every day.

According to Denise Corcoran, CEO of The Empowered Business, neuromarketing recognizes that there are three “main parts” to the brain. These include, she writes at Business Know-How:

• “The ‘Human’ (‘New,’ or outer-most) Brain: Most evolved part of the brain known as the cortex. Responsible for logic, learning, language, conscious thoughts and our personalities.
• The ‘Mammalian’ (Middle) Brain: Also known as the limbic system. Deals with our emotions, moods, memory and hormones.
• The ‘Reptilian’ (Old) Brain: Also known as the R Complex controls our basic survival functions, such as hunger, breathing, flight-or-fight reactions and staying out of harm’s way.”

“While neuromarketing is still a young field with many unanswered questions, one finding is clear,” Corcoran says. “The reptilian, or ‘old,’ brain drives your customers’ [heads up people. She’s speaking here to marketers] buying decisions.” This part of the brain, now heavily targeted by in-the-know-how marketers includes, she writes, a sophisticated (not!) focus on emotions triggered by sensory stimuli, simple gain versus pain tradeoffs, and “beginnings and endings.” I’d use terms like “knee-jerk” and “super duper impetuous” to describe my reptile brain. Not really that part of me I want in charge of my wallet.

(Keep in mind, by the way, that we’re not just talking about buying product here. Lots of decisions come made by This Old Brain. Anyone around this last election day? The neuromarketers were.)

So, as we round the shopping mall turn into The Season, what are some examples of how they play us during this last month of the year? Here are two classics designed to plug into our neuro(tic?) habits, according to Dooley:

You want it? We got it! At a ridiculously low price! Just come on down and…

“A staple of Black Friday promotions is the limited quantity loss leader item,” Dooley explains. This is when a store loudly advertises a known-to-be desirable item (say, a flat-screen TV) at an incredibly low price. In fact, so low the store’s going to lose money.  Sound like a good reason to cue up? After all, the advertisements says, “At least 5,000 available chain-wide!”

A lot for a little? “This pitch is neuroeconomic perfection,” he says. “Consumers see the product, and are shocked by the amazingly low price. At the same time, neuroeconomics research tells us that people aren’t good at translating odds and percentages into real-life probabilities… most consumers wouldn’t have a clue that a particular chain might have, say, a thousand stores. And, if every store gets just a few units, the chance of actually being able to buy one is very low. Still, many make the trek into the store early on Black Friday hoping to do just that.”

What’s left behind when the smoke-and-mirrors-screen clears is what Dooley calls “an atmosphere of savings. If people are lining up at 4 AM to buy stuff, the prices must be incredible, right? This savings frenzy may carry over to other products and even infect shoppers not pursuing the limited-supply items.” Wow. Such language! “Atmosphere of savings!” “Frenzy!” “Infect!” I don’t mean to pick on Dooley, who’s just doing his job, but yikes.

But wait! There’s more!

Buy now, pay… well, who cares when? Just buy now!

Another big end-of-the-year play is to promise no payments until next year. Never mind that that might be just a few weeks away. Oh hell, you know that! How about no payments until, say, next summer? Or maybe, “No interest for a year! You can pay it off by then. Can’t ya?”

This is what Dooley calls the “No Payment, No Pain” approach, another “brain-based technique” that minimizes current cash outflow while maximizing overall cash outflow. “The possibility of immediate gratification with very little in the way of ‘paying pain’ will no doubt close more deals. (The mere enabling factor of these offers is important, too; some consumers simply can’t pay for the product in full.)” Again, note that this marketing consultant is talking to The Man (or Men or Women, or whoever wants you cash) and not to you.

So yeah, buy now, pay later. From the mouths of neuromarketers: “Some of these financing offers make sub-prime mortgage lenders look downright sensible and cautious.”

Enough. We and our oh-so-easy-to-read brains get the drift. Many of us are no match for the cross-fire of high-level sales techniques. (As a cha-ching FYI, an estimated $45 billion was spent at retail stores on Friday and $1 billion was spent online Monday.) I say, though, that a little awareness goes a long way. So heads up out there in the marketing kill zone this season. Consider the value of your own (In the) Black January and opposed to surrendering to your inner reptile.

Image: Oran Viriyincy

The post Beyond Black Friday: Neuromarketing, Your Brain and Your Wallet appeared first on EcoSalon.

1. The Electric Lightbulb

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“… good enough for our transatlantic friends … but unworthy of the attention of practical or scientific men.” British Parliamentary Committee, referring to Edison’s light bulb, 1878.

“Everyone acquainted with the subject will recognize it as a conspicuous failure.” Henry Morton, president of the Stevens Institute of Technology, on Edison’s light bulb, 1880.

The Brits get sniffy about American innovation (not for the first time) – and miss the invention of the century. Now our light bulbs comes in all shapes and sizes, and we’re eco-innovating faster than ever. Not too shabby for a conspicuous failure.

2. The A/C

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“Fooling around with alternating current is just a waste of time. Nobody will use it, ever.” Thomas Edison, 1889.

Oh Tom, you were doing so well. Edison enjoyed sniping at the efforts of his rival George Westinghouse (who bought the patent for a/c transmission from Nikola Tesla), and look where it got him. Fact is, it’s easier and far more efficient to distribute power with a/c than with Edison’s darling direct current. Oops.

3. The Personal Computer

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We have reached the limits of what is possible with computers. John Von Neumann, 1949

Somewhat wide of the mark. Along came the integrated circuit (better known as the microchip), and things went crazy. Computers have allowed our species to really connect. We can even study and regulate our own planet – and there’s still no computing limits in sight.

4. The Microchip

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“But what… is it good for?” An engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, commenting on the microchip in 1968.

Hardly anything – well, apart from virtually every piece of electronic equipment in gadgets, vehicles, computer networks, power stations, homes, offices and every other conceivable part of everyday life for this century and probably the next. But otherwise, yes – useless.

5. Data Transmission

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“Before man reaches the moon, your mail will be delivered within hours from New York to Australia by guided missiles. We stand on the threshold of rocket mail.” Arthur Summerfield, U.S. Postmaster General under Eisenhower, 1959.

“Transmission of documents via telephone wires is possible in principle, but the apparatus required is so expensive that it will never become a practical proposition.” Dennis Gabor, British physicist, 1962.

A brilliant scientist, Gabor received the Nobel Prize for inventing holography – but entirely failed to anticipate e-mail and the modem. (To be fair, so did everyone else). Nowadays, entire bookshelves can be transmitted for a few cents in the blink of an eye, making scientific collaboration a truly global enterprise. And all without rockets.

6. Online Shopping

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“Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop – because women like to get out of the house, like to handle merchandise, like to be able to change their minds.” TIME, 1966.

It’s true that both sexes like the tactile experience of shopping in person. But e-commerce? As PayPal‘s proft margins will attest, remote shopping is here to stay – and helps get money to where it’s most needed.

7. The Automobile

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8. The Television

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9. Possibility

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“Everything that can be invented has been invented.”

Supposedly said by Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899 – except he probably didn’t. So the last word goes to actor and humorist Peter Ustinov:

“If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can’t be done.”

In green tech, there are some truly audacious ideas that plenty of “experts” have been quick to write off. As they relate to every day living and things you can do to help the environment, we’ll be covering them here, so be sure to bookmark us. If the history of technology offers any lesson, it’s that today’s most cynical eco experts could very well end up with egg on their faces. Naturally we’ll be diligently reporting on it all.

Further reading: 87 bad predictions about the future, courtesy of 2Spare.

Each week here at EcoSalon, the editors choose a post from the archives that we think you’ll love. The original post can be found here.

The post 9 Life-Changing Inventions the Experts Said Would Never Work appeared first on EcoSalon.

The lightbulb. The telephone. Email. If you’re a specialist in your field, there are two ways to become a household name: create something new, or claim it can never be done. If you want to be remembered on the Internet, choose the second one. Here are 9 examples of breakthroughs, inventions and innovations the experts were completely wrong about.

1. The Electric Lightbulb

“… good enough for our transatlantic friends … but unworthy of the attention of practical or scientific men.” British Parliamentary Committee, referring to Edison’s light bulb, 1878.

“Everyone acquainted with the subject will recognize it as a conspicuous failure.” Henry Morton, president of the Stevens Institute of Technology, on Edison’s light bulb, 1880.

The Brits get sniffy about American innovation (not for the first time) – and miss the invention of the century. Now our light bulbs comes in all shapes and sizes, and we’re eco-innovating faster than ever. Not too shabby for a conspicuous failure.

2. The A/C

“Fooling around with alternating current is just a waste of time. Nobody will use it, ever.” Thomas Edison, 1889.

Oh Tom, you were doing so well. Edison enjoyed sniping at the efforts of his rival George Westinghouse (who bought the patent for a/c transmission from Nikola Tesla), and look where it got him. Fact is, it’s easier and far more efficient to distribute power with a/c than with Edison’s darling direct current. Oops.

3. The Personal Computer

We have reached the limits of what is possible with computers. John Von Neumann, 1949

Somewhat wide of the mark. Along came the integrated circuit (better known as the microchip), and things went crazy. Computers have allowed our species to really connect. We can even study and regulate our own planet – and there’s still no computing limits in sight.

4. The Microchip

“But what… is it good for?” An engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, commenting on the microchip in 1968.

Hardly anything – well, apart from virtually every piece of electronic equipment in gadgets, vehicles, computer networks, power stations, homes, offices and every other conceivable part of everyday life for this century and probably the next. But otherwise, yes – useless.

5. Data Transmission

“Before man reaches the moon, your mail will be delivered within hours from New York to Australia by guided missiles. We stand on the threshold of rocket mail.” Arthur Summerfield, U.S. Postmaster General under Eisenhower, 1959.

“Transmission of documents via telephone wires is possible in principle, but the apparatus required is so expensive that it will never become a practical proposition.” Dennis Gabor, British physicist, 1962.

A brilliant scientist, Gabor received the Nobel Prize for inventing holography – but entirely failed to anticipate e-mail and the modem. (To be fair, so did everyone else). Nowadays, entire bookshelves can be transmitted for a few cents in the blink of an eye, making scientific collaboration a truly global enterprise. And all without rockets.

6. Online Shopping

“Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop – because women like to get out of the house, like to handle merchandise, like to be able to change their minds.” TIME, 1966.

It’s true that both sexes like the tactile experience of shopping in person. But e-commerce? As PayPal‘s proft margins will attest, remote shopping is here to stay – and helps get money to where it’s most needed.

Image: Cyberesque
“The ordinary “horseless carriage” is at present a luxury for the wealthy; and although its price will probably fall in the future, it will never, of course, come into as common use as the bicycle.” Literary Digest, 1899.

8. The Television

9. Possibility

“Everything that can be invented has been invented.”

Supposedly said by Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899 – except he probably didn’t. So the last word goes to actor and humorist Peter Ustinov:

“If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can’t be done.”

In green tech, there are some truly audacious ideas that plenty of “experts” have been quick to write off. As they relate to every day living and things you can do to help the environment, we’ll be covering them here, so be sure to bookmark us. If the history of technology offers any lesson, it’s that today’s most cynical eco experts could very well end up with egg on their faces. Naturally we’ll be diligently reporting on it all.

Further reading: 87 bad predictions about the future, courtesy of 2Spare.

Each week here at EcoSalon, the editors choose a post from the archives that we think you’ll love. The original post can be found here.

Image: Fabbio

The post 9 Life-Changing Inventions the Experts Said Would Never Work appeared first on EcoSalon.

The electric blue is kind of cool. White’s got the Apple look going for it. Black is still the new black. No comment on the sea foam green.

The iPhone 4 accessory wagon continues its quick ramp-up with this new solar-powered battery charger/case available from SimeniBiz. (Read: “Direct Wholesale from China.”) It comes in not-exactly-rainbow colors, but its non-toxic, protective soft silicone sheath is “environmentally friendly” – whatever that means these days. I’m also digging on their marketing line: “Free solar power.” Um, okay. Thanks!

The “high-power” solar panel on the base of the case and built-in 1500 mAh Li battery is where you store the electric stuff. I know, mAh is a “what’s that?” term for me too, but 1,500 of ’em is a pretty healthy storage capacity; enough to “top off” your charged phone, says EnviroGadget. This is a good thing for those of us who get all nervous when the percentage charged icon falls below 98 percent.

The deal is that its battery charges when it’s left in the sun, with or without the phone in it. It can also be charged with an AC adapter, car charger, or USB charger via a 5-pin cable. The “dash” is simple enough for me, with three light indicators for capacity – 25, 50 and 100 percent – and an ON/OFF switch. Yep. Can do.

The post Calling on Sunshine appeared first on EcoSalon.

Not too long ago we told you about some ecologically friendly ways to go – literally, as in how to do away with that pretty corpse of yours in a manner that’s best for the environment. Some of those options were for those of you interested in the eco-ashes to eco-ashes route. But this begs the next question: What to do with those cindery remains? The Answer is clear (cue music”¦ no, really): Turn them into a record album for your loved ones to spin and spin and spin again – forever and ever! (Okay, maybe not so clear. But funky, though, huh?)

Meet And Vinyly, my vote-getter in the run-up-to-Halloween race for most macabre and inventive company. What these twisted, though seemingly respectful Brits do is take some or all of what you leave behind and press it into “a vinyl recording your family with cherish for generations.” Your last expression can include anything you like, such as a final personal message (your last will and testament, for example), your own “soundtrack,” or nothing at all – “simply press your ashes to hear your pops and crackles for the minimal approach.” (I wonder if you would need to buy rights to the music you use. Could you get sued? Would you care? What would an aggrieved record label do? Confiscate your record and, um, burn it?)

The basic package is for up to 30 discs and includes standard “R.I.V” cover artwork and record label with your name, birthday and deathday. You supply the audio and get someone to bring in your remaining remains (they require personal delivery, so make sure you leave a trip to London to some lucky pal in your will). You only get 12 minutes a side, so if you’re rushed for time, well… The cost? Basic starts at about $4,800. I know. Cold.

That said, if you’re willing to throw down about twice that fee, you can up your in by having National Portrait Galley award-winning artist James Hague paint your portrait with acrylic and ash (yes, yours) on canvas. Your album covers will then be made from limited edition prints of the original portrait. To do this, you can simply supply a photo or “arrange a one hour sitting with James, before you die.” (Lord, I love the English.)

Here’s how it works (and in this order, by the way.):

1. Confirm your location and the viability of these services in your area.
2. Identify a family member or chosen rep who will accompany you (your ashes) to the pressing.
3. Establish audio content and cover art.
4. Attend the mastering of your record.
5. Receive playable proof sample of your record and cover.
6. Die.
7. Get cremated.
8. Your family member or chosen rep books and attends the sprinkling and pressing of your records.
9. Your chosen recipients are sent details of where to collect their copy of your personal record.
10. Live on from beyond the groove.

In a recent e-mail exchange with And Vinyly’s “Undertaker,” Discovery News asked him how he came up with the album concept: “The idea came through personal considerations about the inevitable,” he said. -¦ I began to get glimmers that perhaps I wasn’t invincible after all. I saw a story on an American chap who had his ashes put into fireworks for his family to enjoy. I loved this idea. I began to see that death does need serious consideration, but that this could be done in a light-hearted way. Our concept provides immortality in sound.”

There are way too many silly puns on And Vinyly’s website to even begin to try to compete with them here for some clever close. I’ll just punt to their tagline: “Death to Vinyl.” Sounds like a plan.

Image: Wouter de Bruijn

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When it comes to gadgets, simple is better. At least for me. I never was much of a geek, to be honest, and I sometimes have trouble with simple instructions, often creating not-so-simple problems that require (if I’m lucky) simple solutions. With that in mind, here’s the simple story of the Belkin Conserve Socket Power Timer.

This little device turns stuff off. Gets to the root of the issue, really, as for all intents and purposes it unplugs plugged-in stuff when it’s plugged in. Okay, so it’s simpler than I’m making it out to be. The gadget basically acts as a timer for your electro-stuff, shutting off power – including standby power – after a time interval that you select.

To use it, just plug it into a socket and then plug your device, in turn, into its outlet. Then set its little timer for either 30 minutes, three hours or six hours and that’s it. Whatever is plugged in gets cut off from the juice when it’s had enough. This is good for all sorts of stuff, like coffee makers, irons, phone chargers, even television sets.

The Conserve Socket Power Timer’s reason for being is that many electronics and appliances suck electricity even when they’re not being used. This waste is sometimes referred to as vampire energy or standby power and, as pointed out by our pals at Good, adds up over time. Put on your times-millions-of-devices-times-millions-of-households hat and, well, doing the math is pretty simple – that’s a lot of suck.

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If the already perfect storm of baffling high-tech driving distractions weren’t enough, GM’s OnStar adds Facebook to your mix of thought options to consider while changing lanes.

Though still in an experimental stage, the “hands-free” (safety first, right?) social media access system could be available to some subscribers as early as the end of the month. (OnStar subscriptions start at $199 a year.) Using it, a driver could update his or her Facebook status simply by speaking out loud (i.e., Scott Adelson is driving). Users will also be able to listen to Facebook newsfeeds and messages read to them in a friendly, let’s say sultry, OnStar voice: Hello Scott”¦ Bambi wants to be your friend. (Ahem. I digress”¦)

But wait, there’s more! The Bluetooth-based system will also read text messages and let a driver reply using one of four pre-set replies with a simple touch of a steering-wheel button. I’m not sure if you’ll be able to create your own reply. Maybe something like “Crashing my car, not LMAO!”

GM (OnStar) has been engaged in a losing battle with Big Three rival Ford Motor Co. (Sync), for the hearts and mind of the younger tech-savvy set. According to the The Detroit News, GM has recently announced a partnership with Google to link smart phones to OnStar so subscribers can search for directions by voice and download maps. The company has also introduced a new “OnStar mobile app” that allows drivers to remotely unlock doors, start the ignition, check tire pressure and fuel economy, and more.

Meanwhile, Ford’s Sync system is moving ahead with its own plans, says the Detroit Free Press. The next generation of Sync, will also allow users to read and reply to text messages. And while Sync won’t hook up with Facebook, later this year it’ll start to plug into Twitter, Pandora and Stitcher.

Ironically, to me at least, OnStar was originally developed for safety. And though it doesn’t take a Ph.D. in Psychology to figure out that this stuff will cause problems behind the wheel, I’m going to quote one anyway. Driver distraction expert David Strayer, Ph.D., writing for Car Talk: “…these systems neglect the cognitive sources of distraction. Over a decade of research has documented that interacting with systems like this can divert attention from driving and result in substantial impairments. Simply put, you cannot pay attention to two different things at the same time.  If you are updating the status of your Facebook account, you are not paying attention to the road.” He adds, “The driver next to you may be updating their Facebook account and their reactions will be about as bad as if they were drunk.”

Nice, huh? Well, so much for technology making our world a safer place. Can’t wait to see this update: “Facebook Username; Just hit a tree.”

Image: Open Box

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