basel

Staples agrees to progressive e-waste standards

Staples has agreed to work with one of the most environmentally progressive electronic-waste recycling groups to handle gadgets from both the company and consumers when those devices die.

The retail giant announced a deal Monday, Earth Day, to use recyclers certified by e-Stewards, a program set up by the Seattle-based environmental group, the Basel Action Network, to handle materials collected from its free technology recycling program at more than 1,500 stores nationally. The company will also use e-Stewards-certified recyclers to handle electronic waste from its own internal operations.

One of the big problems with electronics disposal is that recycling … Read more

The environmental pitfalls at the end of an iPhone's life

SHENZHEN, Guangdong province, China -- A young man, wearing a short-sleeve, white, button-down shirt, is looking at my 32-gigabyte iPhone 4S.

The man, sitting at a small stand in front of the massive SEG Electronics Market here, surfs to the settings page on the device, looks at the model number to determine where the phone came from. He sees it's a locked device. He notes there aren't any scratches or dings, and that it seems to work just fine. It should. I bought it last October, when the 4S first went on sale in the United States.

He … Read more

Aleloop Mini Coopers featured in Florida art event

Ten Mini Cooper art cars were part of an event featuring pop surrealist artist Aleloop in Florida earlier this month.

Each of the Mini Coopers featured a theme: Fine Arts, Grunge, Video Game, DJ, Mini Me, Free Hand, Comics, Pattern, Driver, and Nature, and an additional Mini, called Graffiti Mini, allowed event attendees to add their own artwork to the car.

The event took place from Dec. 1 to 4 in Miami and Miami Beach. The Mini Coopers, which traveled in a caravan, stopped at parties, art galleries, and restaurants.

At each stop, 40 performers dressed in Aleloop-designed T-shirts emerged … Read more

Recycled Lexus parts as couture

With about 2,000 parts to choose from, four designers created high-fashion clothing and accessories from a disassembled Lexus CT 200h.

The Lexus Fashion Workshop highlights not only the talents of fashion designers Moss Lipow, Eddie Borgo, John Patrick, and Alejandro Ingelmo, but also the Lexus CT hybrid as a 90 percent recyclable vehicle.

The fashions created from the car parts push the idea of recycling and are part of an upcoming advertising campaign for Vogue.

The collection will be on display at Art Basel Miami Beach, on Dec. 1 and 2, 2011. The pieces will also be available through … Read more

Swarm Light elevates audio visualization to art

VIP attendees of the annual Design Miami/Art Basel art and design showcase in Switzerland Monday are being treated to a new interactive light sculpture from London design studio Random International.

Comprised of hundreds of LEDs that are physically linked with polished brass and electronically linked by micro controllers, Swarm Light takes audio visualization into the real world using three 3D grids of lights.

Interactivity is based around embedded microphones that pick up nearby sounds. The audio is processed in real time by software and transformed into corresponding light animations that float above you like swarms of choreographed fireflies. The … Read more

Recyclables take a world tour

Ever since I came to the United States from my native Europe, I have been curious about the country's recycling practices. What happens to the mess of old newspapers, plastic boxes, food cans, and wine bottles that piles up each week? (Back home, we have to arrange it all neatly in separate containers.)

I got the answer when I visited the Davis Street Transfer Center, a waste management center in San Leandro, Calif. Here is a photo gallery showing how that facility sorts through those messy heaps.

I was surprised to find out that, after being sorted at the … Read more