Our very own Danny Alexander, official shape shifter here at method, was featured on JoshSpear.com last week. Check out his interview with Josh Spear as he talks about method and where his design inspiration comes from.
When we launched the omop last year, hundreds of you called and emailed us to tell us about your newfound floor love. That’s right, mopping the floor was actually fun, thanks to the ergonomic design, compostable sweeper dusters that grabbed everything in sight, reusable microfiber cloths, and yummy-smelling non-toxic floor cleaners. Some of you even said the omop was “sexy.” Imagine our delight!
Here’s a quiz: What has historically been the top-requested new product among method advocates?
Wait for it … wait for it …
If you guessed “toilet bowl cleaner,” pat yourself on the back. It was a tough one to crack, so we’re very excited to introduce you to Lil’ Bowl Blu.
method is now using bottles made of 100% recycled plastic!
You’ve heard the term “cradle to grave,” right? In marketing-speak, it refers to the importance of getting consumers hooked on your brand while they’re young so they’ll remain loyal to you over the course of their lifetime. And hey, that’s something we aspire to, although not in a creepy way.
Environmentally speaking, however, “cradle to grave” refers to the life cycle of a product, from manufacture (“cradle”) to disposal (“grave”). Putting our bottles and other packaging back into circulation has always been important to us, which is why we encourage all you people against dirty to recycle every scrap of it.
Ok...so we all know that corn-derived fuels are a great alternative to fossil fuels but a recent study suggests that corn may really be turning on the heat in its own little war against carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Not only may corn someday replace traditional petroleum based fuels, scientists are actually using corn to detect the CO2 emissions that these fuels emit.
A recent study shows how corn leaves can be used to map local CO2 emissions over the course of an entire growing season. So, you ask...aren't there instruments that can do this? While gas-sniffing gadgetry can directly record CO2 emissions, the low cost and abundance of corn throughout North America can greatly facilitate the process of tracking where CO2 emissions are the worst. It's a clever and relatively inexpensive way to sample emissions region wide, without sending a bunch of lab coats into the field. Corn may be an even bigger player in the reduction of greenhouse gases than traditionally thought.
So, where are the CO2 hotspots in the US? Sampling from 67 sites in 2004, this method showed that southern and central California and the Ohio Valley are the major CO2 emitting regions.
In the fight against global warming - Round #2 goes to corn.
Sustainability is hitting a new level. First there was sustainable agriculture, then there was sustainable clothing, and now I am proud to announce we have sustainable dancing!
A new club opened in the Netherlands called Sustainable Rotterdam. It captures the energy of movement provided by dancers and uses that energy to power the lights and music. The "greening" of the dance club will also be enhanced by walls that change color according to the heat generated in the room, toilets that will use rainwater, and biological beer (not sure what that means but it sounds healthy).
I love when we are able to convert the energy from an ordinary activity to energy used to make the world a better place. We have to get one of these clubs going in the US!
I love bottled water. But, I hate to think of all the bottles that go to waste from people that don't recycle. Well, now there's a bottled water company that helps make this little luxury guilt free.
Biota is a bottled water company that draws from Rocky Mountain Spring water in Colorado. But the real jewel is the bottle itself, made from polylactic acids, otherwise known as PLA. PLA is a resin extracted from corn, a renewable resource and it requires 30-50% less energy to produce than conventional plastic. And PLA is 100% compostable. Biota claims that the bottle will completely compost in 12 weeks (though this is applicable to industrial compost systems). It even burns clean and doesn't release harmful chemicals into the atmosphere like normal plastics.
Every night, I see the same array of car commercials, all trying to one-up each other on how many miles per gallon their automobile gets compared to others on the market. I find myself laughing out loud when I hear statements like, "27 miles per gallon". With alternatives like bio-diesel, vegetable oil and electricity out there, you would think that car makers would take notice and actually create a vehicle that was in fact revolutionary, once and for all ending our dependence on a oil. We can do better, and alas, a new car company has ...
Introducing Tesla Motors. I know, I know, you are thinking, "Great, I get to drive a go-cart to and from work everyday, which probably maxes out at 50 miles per hour." Think again, the new Tesla Roadster is powered by lithium-ion batteries and an electric motor, can go from 0-60 in 4 seconds with a top speed of 135 mph, and only needs to be recharged every 250 miles for 4 hours (if it is a completely dead battery) before it's ready to go again. Plus, it's super sleek.
To preface this, I should say that I used a pit latrines everyday for 2 years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in southern Africa. It was never a pleasant experience - the smell, the flies, the fact that a communal tap and fields of crops were situated 10 feet downhill of my lavatory. And, I had a nice latrine!
How many times a day do you do an online search? If you're like me, it's a ton! Here's a trickier question...how many times a day do you donate money to a worthy cause? I bet it's not as many times as you use a search engine. But it can be.
A new search engine called GoodSearch powered by Yahoo will donate money to a charity, school, or organization of YOUR choosing every time you use it. Their unique mission is to give back a minimum of 50% of the revenues generated. They estimate that each search generates about $0.01. While that may not seem like much, if a charity has enough supporters using GoodSearch, it can look something like this:
| Charity or School Size | Number of Supporters | Average Searches Per Day | Estimated Revenue/Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 100 | 2 | $730 |
| Medium | 1,000 | 2 | $7,300 |
| Large | 10,000 | 2 | $73,000 |
And, considering search engines generated something to the tune of $6 billion in advertising last year, the potential for giving is enormous.
You can choose from thousands of organizations to donate to or you can add your own charity (non-profits only). You can give to your child's school or the Elephant Sanctuary. Give to a different organization every time you search. It's up to you. The best part - it's completely free to use.
mer•ry-go-round (mer-ee-goh-round) Pronunciation Key n.
I don’t know about you but the first definition is the one that first comes to my mind when I hear merry-go-round. But believe it or not the second definition is also correct.
Health begins with safe drinking water, but often clean water must be pumped with expensive equipment from boreholes, dug deep in the ground. PlayPumps, a South African company, has made an innovative product that both serves as play equipment for children and a source of clean water for their communities. As the merry-go-round spins the PlayPump pumps clean water from underground into a 2500 liter tank standing seven meters above ground. A simple tap at the base of the tank makes it easy for women and children to draw water.
