Israel celebrated its very own ‘Public Transportation Day’ on September, 23rd. An event that saw a professional conference being organised by the local green groups, plus a 6km drag race in Tel Aviv between different modes of transportation. The race was symbolic because Israel’s transportation has been bogged down by the increasing traffic and air pollution. The promised subways are just being built extremely slowly.
On the other hand, the rail system is witnessing a lot of delays and cost overruns. So, it was time the public decided for itself, which is the best mode of conveyance. The bright Tuesday morning, saw a race between a bus, which only travelled in its designated lane, a bicycle and a car. The three vehicles started out from the outskirts of Tel Aviv going towards the central train station.

The bike won and people saw how it was the best, quickest as well as green way to get to one’s destination. The bus came second while the car took the longest time struggling in the endless traffic.

Via treehugger

In metropolitans, air contagion is the main predicament rigorously encountered by inhabitants there. To stamp out this major dilemma out of cities, University of Twente is outlining an amazing green technique which would draw on overlaying stones and concretes effectually. Although trials on this project would hopefully begin this year but prelude outcomes would be visible only after the end of the year. The stones utilized for sanitizing air inevitably demands an unsoiled concrete manufacturing process as concrete is excessively carbon dioxide concentrated while forming.

According to university researchers the paving stones and bricks would scour the air by converting nitrogen oxide mainly found in atmosphere due to car oozing into non detrimental nitrates which would get swabbed away rain water.

Furthermore it has been established that chemical reactions of a polluted atmosphere ingredient titanium dioxide with concrete catalyzed via sunlight would certainly help in disinfecting surroundings. Hence, as per university’s environmental crusaders paving stones are the best ways to decontaminate our milieu and build up a greener as well as cosseted future.

Via Ecogeek

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Imagine a scenario where the polluting elements from a car’s exhaust get miraculously nullified by the road on which the car is running! This might become the reality in near future in a small Dutch town – Hengelo. The town’s University of Twente is now testing a nouveau type of concrete which it claims is an “air-purifying concrete”. The university claims this unique concrete absorbs nitrogen oxide particles which are emitted by car exhausts. The titanium dioxide-based additive alters this concrete. The latter is able to bind nitrogen oxide with the help up sunlight falling on it and converts them into nitrates (harmless species). These can easily get washed away with the rain shower. Currently, the new concrete will be tested on the roads of Hengelo in parts only as the townsfolk is still skeptical over this concept.

So, green bricks made out of this air-purifying concrete will be laid down in alternate sections will the normal one on the road and then further studies will be conducted to determine its effectiveness. If the new concrete proves its mettle then hurray, at least there will be a beginning of green pavement in that part of the world!
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Via: engadget

One look at the Daan will get your eyes popping out in amazement for this sleek-n-sexy air purifier doesn’t look like one at all! The stylish design befools you and you may wonder is it’s one of those uber-glam lampshades found in the market these days?
The Daan means ‘Column’ in Korean and is designed by Joseph Kim. It’s shape and structure and ability to occupy minimum space reveals the tremendous changes that have occurred in the air purifiers in past few years. So far, these purifiers just got better with the efficiency but were still unable to dynamical adapt to different size spaces. But Daan rectifies those problems by its unique and delightful design. The product improves your health and imparts green goodness to your living space, yet sets a perfect example of ergonomics.

Its disk sized units are small in size but have powerful air purifying capabilities. It is flexible and occupies a small little corner in your living space and you can detach it and take one unit for your travel! For a bigger room just stack together more units and there you have got a fresh and purified room for your self. This product is simply great for people who have nasal allergies for they can purify their house at any time of the day and any season of the year!

Via: Yankodesign

The Chinese government has left no stone unturned to control pollution in their capital city in the wake of the Olympic Games. The skyline is accentuated by a hazy smog that just refuses to lift as more and more foreign journalists pour into the 2008 Olympic city. In fact, the government is so worried about the whole thing that measures which should be invoked only in ‘extremely unfavourable weather conditions’ were posted on the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection Website on Thursday. And this crusade against pollution was started on 1st July with a ban on 300,000 high polluting vehicles. Soon driving and traffic restrictions were imposed removing almost two million vehicles in the city.

Looks like the stereotypical preventive measure are not enough for the Chinese government as they have also come up with innovative traffic restrictions. Apparently, odd number (licence plate) vehicles can hit roads on odd days and even number vehicles on even days. More than 105 heavy polluting factories too were padlocked. The sky gods seem to be ppreciating the Chinese effort to bring down pollution with the approaching rains. Environmental officers claim that pollution has dropped by 20 percent due to all these efforts. However, the foreign journalists beg to differ.

Via greendiary

Parisians are known for their innovative trends world over be it in fashion& beauty, art& architecture, literature& cinema and even eco-concerns. Parisian skyline these days adores a giant tethered helium balloon which is in fact a pollution indicator! The concept is about giving a real-time report of breathable air quality and display the level of air pollution produced by auto emissions via this balloon. The brainchild behind this concept is a company Aérophile. Its AERO30NG model is no less than a tourist attraction since the time it has been installed in the Parc Andre Citroën. The balloon uses a unique lighting system which is visible from more than 12.4 miles! It can store up to 6,000 cubic meters of helium and take up to 30 passengers at a time for a pollution-free joy ride. One can have a 360° panoramic view of the beautiful city while flying at 150m in the sky!

The innovative lighting system of this biggie informs Parisians about air quality via 2 distinct indices:
A) Ambient air quality gets reflected through general illumination using three projectors located upon the envelope’s equatorial plane. The night time visibility is reportedly better.
B) The quality of air near traffic-jam prone areas and bylanes is displayed using a high-power rotating laser beam. The latter sweeps the envelope’s southern tropical plane.

The data for all this is collected by “Airparif”- organization that uses sensors to collect info. Within the city of Paris and compiles the data with the nouveau European index developed for the CITEAIR project (currently used by about thirty large cities). The displays are made in colors.
Color code:
RED- highly polluted air; ORANGE- polluted air, YELLOW- mediocre pollution, LIGHT GREEN-clean air and GREEN- very clean air (a blessing for your lungs!)

Note: collected indices also reflect the quantity of the 3 most harmful contaminants: Nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particles.

With this latest attraction now we can only imagine the popularity graph of Paris to be one of the most sought-after traveler’s destinations. The cultural hub now becomes an center of green-tourism as well.

Via GreenPacks

Touted as the greenest endeavor of Toyota, Prius is all set to pep-up its eco-friendly quotient. The super sexy vehicle will now be available with a set of solar panels. These panels will be fitted on the car’s roof. Prius is already an efficient Hybrid cars well established in the market. It is believed that the solar panels thus installed will power the car’s AC (air-conditioning) unit. This further addition not only reflects the car’s potential to remain number one in the world of Hybrid cars but also the company’s smart move to polish its image many folds by becoming more and more eco-savvy.

This hybrid synergy drive vehicle can be yours at $21,500 (starting price). Start booking it today!

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Via Inhabitat