Catalytic Clothing: Clothing that breaks down air borne pollutants by means of a photocatalyst.

   

This is amazing clothing, that when light shines on this clothing, the electrons in the material are rearranged and become more reactive which are then able to react with the water in the air and break it apart into 2 radicals (extremely reactive molecules). These radicals then react with the pollutants in the air causing them to break down into non-harmful chemicals.  

This new clothing technology is designed to breakdown pollutants immediately. However, it is likely that some pollutant may not be broken down and get attached to the clothing, but they will then be washed off during laundering.

How is the technology delivered to the surface of the clothing?

During your laundry procedure the photocatalyst is delivered to the surface of the clothing as an addictive within a standard product such as a fabric softer.

Mass participated is need

As each garment is only able to remove a small amount of air pollutant, the more people wearing the Catalytic Clothing the more noticeable the pollution reduction level will be.

It has been estimated that to see a significant reduction in the level of air borne pollutants in a city such as London, for every metre of pavement, 30 people wearing Catalytic Clothes walked past each minute. 

Why should we reduce or ideally get rid of air borne Pollutants?

Air borne pollutants are mostly caused from motor vehicles and industry, and present a risk to human health as well as having detrimental effects on ecosystems and vegetation.

How we will be able to see that the clothing is working

There is already some form of air quality monitoring stations in most major cities and towns. Those monitors record the levels of a range of major pollutants, such as NOx and VOC’s.

The team working on the Catalytic Clothing expect that once the Catalytic Clothing technology is in widespread use considerable reductions in the levels of the pollutants will be observed using those monitors.


When will it be available?

Catalytic Clothing will hopefully be publicly available in 2013.


Glossary:

A catalyst - a person/thing that starts or speeds up a reaction while undergoing no permanent change itself.

A photocatalyst – a catalyst which gets the energy it needs to be active from light.

A radical - an extremely reactive molecule.

No impact Man: a non-profit lifestyle experiment

In 2006 manahhtaning dwelling Colin Beaven, along with his wife, two-year-old daughter and dog, decided to undertake a yearlong project of leading a life with as little environmental impact as possible.

His reason for doing this was to attract public awareness about global issues (such as depletion of energy and material resources, water shortages, global warming and sustainable food systems) by experimenting with various ways of living that would improve the overall quality of life.

They went about doing this by saying no to electricity, taxis, takeout food, and meat and they went organic.

"Only bring into your home what you want," Beavan says. “You want the apples, not the bag they come in.”

"The average American creates 1,600 pounds of trash a year. We’re trying to reduce that to zero," Colin Beavan.

No Impact’s Man’s Top 10 Eco-Lifestyle Changes:

1. Stop eating beef. 

2. Give up bottled water. 
3. Observe an eco-sabbath. For one day or afternoon or even hour a week, don't buy anything, don't use any machines, don't switch on anything electric, don't cook, don't answer your phone, and, in general, don't use any resources. In other words, for this regular period, give yourself and the planet a break. Keep your regular eco-sabbath for a month. You'll find that the enforced downtime represents an improvement to your life.
4. Tithe a fixed percentage of your income to the non-profits of your choice.
5. Get there under your own steam. Commit to getting around by bike or by foot a certain number of days a month.
6. Commit to not wasting. From heat, to food, to air-conditioning to fuel, the list in endless. Spare your money and save the planet. 
7. Build a community. Spend more time with friends & family doing things that involves less waste. For example, have dinners/drinks and play music by candlelight.
8. Take your principles to work. 
9. Dedicate a day's worth of TV viewing to eco-service each week.
10. Believe with all your heart that how you live your life makes a difference to all of us.

The Book

The Movie

Inventions which Convert Unused Energy into Electricity

Take a look at these superb inventions that capture unused energy and convert it into electricity for us to reuse. The best bit is that these creations do not require us, lazy humans, to change our behaviour in order to become more environmentally friendly. 

Although several of these designs are still at concept level, we love them and take our hats off to the designers, researchers and scientists behind each and every one of these beauties.

Dancepants: your movement generates electricity to power your MP3 player

Sneakers which charge your mobile phone

Solar powered tie and other photovoltaic clothing

Moss Table: furniture demonstrating the use of Bio-Photo-Voltaic (BPV) technology

ALMA  Tree Lamps

Solar Floating Resort

Solar Power Satellite

CNF-PZT Cantilever: a process whereby a carbon nanotube film absorbs thermal energy from electrical devices, forcing a cantilever to bend creating an electrical current

Save Your Planet by Reducing Your Carbon Footprint

Patagonia: one of the Earth's rapidly vanishing wonders

What is your Carbon Footprint? 

Basically anything you do that results in an increase in the concentration of green house gasses being emitted into the Earth’s atmosphere, for example driving a car, using electricity, etc. These types of actions add up to make your Carbon Footprint. 

Through more eco-conscious living, you can reduce your Carbon Footprint and play your part in decreasing the effects of global warming.

Global warming results in the collapsing of the Earth’s ecosystem, as well as having negative effects on the human race, e.g. resource conflicts, increase in war, mass immigration, famine, disease and other human tragedies.

Before you are able to reduce your carbon footprint, you must first calculate it. Once you have done this you can develop ways to decrease it. To calculate your Carbon Footprint, you can use Global Footprint Network calculator. 

Nespresso Capsules are Harming Our Environment

Need a quick, easy caffeine fix? One of the world's most popular, fastest and simplest ways to get your coffee intake is Nespresso. Nespresso and their competitors have hundreds of thousands of consumers around the world, yet so few of them are aware of the amount of damage that these capsules are causing to the environment.

These pods are not biodegradable as they are made from aluminium and plastic. Although it is just ~1g of aluminium per capsule, it adds up, as the average person has 2 cups of coffee a day. In most countries aluminium can be recycled but all the coffee granules need to be removed from the capsule before it is compressed and recycled. As a result these capsules end up in our landfills creating tonnes of waste making them environmentally irresponsible.

Sadly, the amount of people who own Nespresso machines and are not aware that they need to recycle the capsules is outstanding. What's more is there are consumers who are aware that they should recycle the pods yet still don't. Can you blame them?  The time and equipment required to recycle the capsule takes away from the whole quick and easy coffee fix that coffee capsules are all about.
There has to be a better way...