The Toaster Project: A design student’s fascinating project to make a toaster – starting with finding and processing small quantities of raw materials.The project took him all over the UK searching for raw minerals, and developing methods to process them at home. His whole process was about re-creating the background story. I’d love to see […]
Via a New York Times article, barcode-reader iPhone apps will put product info in consumers hands at point-of-sale. GoodGuide is already a beta database of info on products will help consumers know what is in the products they consider purchasing. The service reduces lots of complex info into a single number (the higher the number, […]
Seventh Generation’s liquid dish soap bottles are sporting an in-depth ingredient label – under the existing label. The peel-away outer back-panel gives a text-heavy overview of the company’s safety criteria and commitment to transparency. Inside, an extended eco-label takes the first steps toward integrating statistics: Minimally illustrated with a home icon, the statement reads that […]
A Giant Sequoia in New York’s American Museum of Natural History reveals centuries of history juxtaposed with the tree’s growth rings. The pairing of dates of history with centuries of growth rings gives us deeper understanding of how time passes and things change: as seen both in nature and in civilization. A definite ‘background story’ […]
The New Leaf paper eco-audit is a well-thought out tool that communicates transparency, and -in a beautiful way- helps the end consumer understand the sustainability-positive impact of using a specific paper. The eco-audit provides a place for data on resources that have been saved throughout the life-cycle of New Leaf’s paper (as compared to the […]
Not much can put things in perspective like real-time data. (Even if it is based on an algorithm.) http://www.worldometers.info/
My local, local-foods eatery, Common Roots, has launched the first of a series of profiles on the local farms from which the restaurant/coffee shop sources their ingredients. First up: Butter from Hope Creamery in Hope, MN. Nice story about the history of the creamery (though slightly lengthy for online attention spans) . And a short […]
An exhibit on Water at the Science Museum of Minnesota contains an interactive display that allowed people to ‘become’ a raincloud. By rubbing a ‘raincloud’ tool over a series of screens displaying a topographic map, the cloud rains drops of water onto the topo-map. Visitors can see how the drops of water run down the […]
Merging analog and digital, this new tool allows users to use their webcam to make a simple printed page come to life. In 3 dimensions! An incredible display of technology, it’s not hard to imagine the communication possibilities for sustainability, communicating the background stories of products…or anything for that matter. However it’s not immediately clear […]
Google is in the development stages of a power meter that enables users to monitor real-time feedback on their household energy consumption. This kind of instantaneous feedback gets to the basic premise of why it’s important to show & tell background stories. This power meter is tool that enables the customer to make their own […]