We spotted this menu in a window in Japan. We were drawn to the incredible scents (bayberry, anyone?) and the colors in what looked like the window of a nail salon. Further sleuthing revealed this to be an airbar, where you can order up some fresh air, infuse with the scent of your choice and then sit back and breathe deeply. Great way to get a fresh air fix in the middle of the city.
- method creative team
A newspaper in Sao Paolo reported city police finding a giant plastic bottle floating down the
Tiete River (one of the most sickenly polluted waterways in the world,
linked to industrialization of the city and the creation of the
Guarapiranga - an artificial lake). Turns out the bottle was a test for Sao Paulo
artist
Eduardo Srur’s PET installation, in which he will put 30 gigantic 40-foot-long inflatable plastic PET bottles along the
river’s banks for a month to make a point about the need for recycling
and the importance of cleaning up the water. Point made!
Check out Eduardo's work:
http://www.eduardosrur.com.br/
Proving that money is not the only kind of green valued by bankers, Bank of America is building a state of the art tower in New York that is said to be the country’s greenest high-rise building. Reminiscent of one of those kryptonite crystals in the old superman movies, it’s estimated that this building, due for completion in 2008, will use 50% less energy and 50% less potable water than similar sized buildings and will create net zero carbon dioxide emissions.
Among the features of this 54 story, 2.1 million square foot tower:
This will be among the first high-rise buildings to strive for U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) “Platinum” designation. To get an idea of how rigorous a platinum designation is, of the approximately 550 buildings which have been LEEDS certified since 2000, only 20 have achieved platinum certification nationwide.
Hoorah for clean banking and design.
Click here for more information on the Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park
Aside from the potentially messy, albeit potentially fun, option of laying grass down, there are some great green ways to carpet your home or office. Each year, it’s estimated that 800 million square yards of carpeting are sent to the landfill. That’s enough to carpet the island of Molokai and then throw it all away.
Enter Interface Carpeting… at method we chose Interface not only because of its great styles, but also because they are a pioneer of corporate sustainability.
By choosing Interface, they claim to ‘retire’ more than 250,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually. This equates to 58,000 cars taken off the road a year and 28 million gallons of gas not consumed (source).
Among the other ways Interface operates to reduce its environmental footprint are projects in renewable energy, carbon sequestration, energy efficiency and reforestation.
These days, I walk a little prouder knowing with each footstep I take on our office carpets, it’s one less footprint on the environment.
Looking for more info on green carpeting?
(photo courtesy of Sharon Risedorph and Garcia + Francica Architecture/Design)
