The flow kitchen is a concept designed to be a sustainable system where drying dishes helps water plants and composting food waste helps to fertilize them. It was designed by Oregon-based Studio Gorm, which has quite a few other interesting items I recommend checking out.

Drying dishes hanging from a vertical storage rack drip onto herbs and edible plants, which are grown in carefully positioned containers below. A double-walled terracotta container acts as a refrigerator, keeping the inside cool as water evaporates through the outer wall, while food scraps are broken down by worms in a composter and the resulting fertilizer is used in the herb boxes to grow more food.

This particular design may not be suitable for most indoor home kitchens, but it’s a good start. And it’s perfect for an outdoor kitchen, much like the one at Punta Mona, a sustainable living retreat I stayed at in Costa Rica several years ago.

Not too many people have outdoor kitchens though, so I can only hope that the Flow Kitchen is used as inspiration to create similar, more practical sustainable indoor flow kitchens that could realistically be built into just about any home.
I already know someone here in Austin who is using their kitchen runoff to water their outdoor garden. All you need to do is use biodegradable soaps and pipe the water where you want it to go (i.e. to the garden), and viola, no more wasting water and you have healthy green plants.

Via Inhabitat.com

This is just about the coolest thing in home entertainment/management I have seen in awhile.

It’s called The CRISTAL (short for “control of remotely interfaced systems using touch-based actions in living spaces”). It’s a coffee table that can remotely control your home theater, lights, digital photo library, and even vacuum (yes, vacuum).
Currently this is just a concept of a team at the Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences’ Media Interaction Lab. And if it does get put into production it will probably cost around $15,000 to start.
I’d be interested in seeing the logistics on how this can be set up in a consumer’s home. Would the average consumer need an installation specialist to come over and configure the table? Or even configure their entire media set up? I would suspect so.
Of all the people I personally know (and that’s a lot of people) only a small percentage already have a set up where all their media is centrally stored and accessible via computer. Most everyone else still relies on their component systems. And of those people the vast majority still use separate remotes for everything (we’re talking seriously dark ages stuff here;-)

Check out the video to see the prototype in action.

Via Popular Science Gadgets

Last week I discovered inhabitat.com while researching the floating apartment complex and it has quickly become one of my favorite sites. It indulges in two of the things I am most passionate about: sustainable living and innovative design.
I want to share three of my favorite things that I have so far discovered and that are accessible to the average consumer, not just a mere curiosity or cool concept.

The first are the stackable fridge units. They remind me a bit of my Tetris playing youth.

There are a number of reasons why these are awesome.
First, you can buy just the space you need. Perfect for college dorms or single people living in efficiencies (Japan, I’m looking at you… mostly).
Second, If you have roommates you can separate your stuff more easily and hopefully avoid the inevitable who-ate-what arguments.
Third, these fridges also conserve energy. Instead of opening one giant fridge and letting all the cold air out, you only open one section, letting a little cold air out at a time.
Finally, each unit can be set to it’s own temperature. So chill your wine in one fridge and keep your fruits and veggies in another fridge that maybe isn’t quite so cold. The back of my current fridge gets so cold that if I’m not paying attention, the 4 eggs in the back of the package will freeze. Ever try scrambling frozen eggs? The texture isn’t quite there, you know?

via Inhabitat.com

Next on my list are the cassette tape lamps.

I wish I had thought of this before I dumped all my cassette tapes (this was years ago before I was conscious enough to try and do something else with them).
These lamps are very cool and would be even cooler with my collection of New Wave and Punk Rock tapes. Sadly those tapes are gone but I can still order one made with someone else’s recycled tapes. But if YOU have any tapes you can send them in and have a lamp made just for you! The light patterns on the walls are particularly gorgeous, especially when there is a stack of them.

Via Inhabitat.com

Last but not least are the pieces of living furniture. There are several designs, some for indoor, some for outdoor.

This particular one doesn’t seem super comfy, but it certainly looks cool.

However, my favorite is the lawn chair.

It’s a chair landscaped into your lawn. As soon as I get a lawn, I’m making one of these (or several, probably). I may even make a table to go with it, all overgrown with grass. Then I’ll invite over Alice and the Mad Hatter (aka: Johnny Depp) and we’ll have the trippiest tea party there ever was!

Via Inhabitat.com

My mom loves to garden. She has a beautiful flower garden in the backyard. One day, however, a bug bit her face and it turned into a serious infection. She thought it would go away but it kept getting bigger and bigger. My dad ended up having to take her to the emergency room. Fortunately, it wasn’t serious and they gave her a topical solution and it cleared after a few days. She asked me to find a head net to prevent bugs from biting her head. I found this on Amazon and it is really worth it. One size fits all.

Mosquito Head Net Olive Drab

Mosquito Head Net Olive Drab

Simtec Fun Slides Carpet Skates

We all wanted to be like Tom Cruise at one point. When I was a kid home alone I also did that famous slide. Unfortunately it didn’t turn out too well with my parents carpet. Now, if only I had the Simtec Fun Slides Carpet Skates to let me slide on carpet.

These skates let you glide on carpet just as you would with socks on hardwood floors. These Carpet skates bottom have friction-resistant plastic that lets you move like Tom Cruise on hardwood floors. A foam foot grip with an adjustable hook and loop closure keeps your feet securely on the skates. Just strap them onto your shoes and you’re ready to go. Great for just sliding around or for playing Carpet Hockey (equipment sold separately). One size fits all.

Simtec Fun Slides Carpet Skates – Silver

Waterwheel Play Table lets children (or adults, c’mon, you know you like it) play with the action of water falling. This is a very fun and imaginative way for countless hours of fun outdoors.

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Pour water into the wide funnel, and turn the water wheel which then spills into the inner and outer harbors. The elevated design keeps the water inside. The WaterWheel suits up to three children. It also comes with four piece accessory set includes: one cup, two sailboats, and one water wheel tower. Features decorative molded-in fish designs on legs. It can holds up to four gallons of water.

WaterWheel Play Table $34.49

To show you how truly cutting edge GadgetMETER is in reporting on the newest gadgets of all shapes, sizes, and purposes we have decided to feature a product that is not even in production yet.  Enter the SlingBack.

The SlingBack is the latest and greatest in cable and wire management.  The SlingBack is a universal wire retractor geared toward making your cords and cables easier to manage in a stylish and fun way.  Wire retractors are no new product, however they all come with wires pre-encased and only exist for one specific purpose.  The SlingBack is out to change all of that.  The Slingback comes without a cord preloaded in the device.  It is up to the user to choose which cable or cord to manage and shorten.

To use the SlingBack, simply pry open the casing (don’t worry about breaking it, it is held together by magnets) and place a cord in.  Put the casing back together, and give one side of the cord a pull to let it retract and coil inside of the SlingBack.  The SlingBack comes with rubber pads on the bottom so that it does not slip and slide all over the place, and also contains stackability features with the inter-locking flower design.  The SlingBack is not yet for sale in stores.  When it is released to stores it will cost $15.  However, if you are a smart shopper you will order one at the SlingBack presale for only $9.99!