Image: Zipcar

Lower monthly transportation bills and environmentally-friendly driving has been possible for quite some time for those using Zipcar’s car sharing program. With over 325,000 members and 6,500 vehicles throughout North American states and provinces, as well as in London, England, Zipcar boasts an impressive community of members committed to energy conservation and reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

But sharing cars just got a whole lot easier for iPhone users. Zipcar recently announced the release of their new iPhone application, available for download for free from the App Store for iPhone and iPod touch users. This new applications offers a variety of great features that make it easier for people to save energy by finding and use a Zipcar:

1. Find available Zipcars on a map using your current location, a favorite location, or any location

2. Reserve a Zipcar anytime, anywhere

3. Sort cars by time available, car type and model

4. View upcoming reservations

5. Get directions to your Zipcar

6. Easily locate your reserved Zipcar by telling it to honk its horn

7. Unlock and lock your Zipcar after scanning your Zipcard at the start of each reservation

8. Tap to contact Zipcar if help is needed during a reservation

9. Extend or cancel reservations on the go

10. Play around with the virtual key fob and make sounds even when you’re not in a reservation

This app makes finding a great car for much less totally fun and very sustainable. In fact, according to Austin CarShare, the average consumer can save approximately $6,500 every single year by joining a car share program!

e-Cycler online recycling swap service

If you’ve got room in your recycling bin, you may just be able to rent out a portion of it to one of your neighbors or a family member—or whoever! Likewise, if your bin is threatening to overflow onto the lawn next door, or you’re lacking recycling pick-up altogether, you may want to find someone willing to take your recyclables away for you. With e-Cycler, a new online service, whether you’ve got extra room or are collecting extra recyclables, you’ll be able to swap, collect and recycle trash, while perhaps making a bit of extra dough for yourself. Everyone wins!

Curbside recycling Via Flickr - g_kat26

Here’s how it works. Regardless of whether you’re giving or taking recyclables, you simply start by registering as a member of the e-Cycler community. You next state whether you’ve got extra room or extra trash and then look for appropriate connections in your area (look for ones closer to your home or on a regular travel route to avoid adding additional greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere to transport your goods, of course).

The receiver/collector of the recyclables can then decide how they want to handle extra funds they receive as a result of recycling the extra goods. They can either decide to keep 100 percent of the profits for themselves, or if they like, they can opt to share the profits by sharing 40 percent of the profits with the giver and keeping 60 percent for themselves. It’s up to the collector ultimately.

Recycling drop-off Via Flickr - AGeekMom

Of course, because e-Cycler also want to make a bit of money, they are charging a small fee to collectors for every connection they make. It’s definitely a great system for helping to send trash in the right direction while saving power (making goods from recycled materials uses less energy than manufacturing with virgin materials), and as long as the connections don’t require enormous amounts of driving, it should have a positive net effect.

Tokyo Station, Japan

Train stations in Tokyo are implementing power-generating floors, allowing passengers to contribute energy back to the station itself. Although this process is complicated, it will not alter the transportation process. The entire station would be outfitted with power-generating mats that will sense vibrations and convert them into electricity.

In two Tokyo train stations, steps are under way to generate electricity from the floors of the ticket gates and staircases. If successful, passengers could help provide the train stations with 1,400 kilowatts per second each day.

The Tokyo station and Shibuya station is used by about 2.4 million people on an average week day. This will generate approximately  10 watts per second, and helps to reduce the energy needed by the building by 90%.

When the test period ends in February 2009, the makers – Soundpower Corp.and East Japan Railway Company (JR East) – hope the floors have improved to the point that they can provide all the electricity needed to run the automatic ticket gates and electronic display systems.

This technological development is working on being implemented into mall floors, sidewalks and roads.

Read More

E-WERK Bicycle Charger

We always like to cover chargers for portable devices since our lives are so tech-heavy, especially on the go. From cell phones and PDAs to laptops and GPS devices, we’re wired for work everywhere we go, and all of this technology requires some sort of energy to keep it going.

There are all sorts of charging technologies on the market today, including solar, wind, fuel cell, and more. But today’s gadget charger is one that uses your own human energy. Attached to your bike as you cycle to work, take a leisurely ride with your kids, or whatever, this E-Werk device is a universal power supply and recharger made by Busch & Muller KG in Germany.

E-WERK Bicycle Charging Tools

With your own muscle power as you ride, the E-Werk will generate up to 16 W of power and recharges as quickly as the average plug-in charger. It weighs about 53 grams and comes with two cables as well as a USB connector so that you can hook it up to almost any device. You can use a stylus that’s mounted at the bottom of the E-Werk to adjust voltage and current so that you can use it to serve a variety of applications. It can be used to power anything from your GPS device, PDA, cell phone, bike lights, music player, and more.

The E-Werk was awarded the esteemed Eurobike Green Award for a product that “exhibits particularly significant ecological and sustainable value.” It will be available for purchase starting in October for £139.