November/December 2008 Issue

Greens Gone Wild

Who says skivvies, sex, and booze can’t factor into the sustainability equation?

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gadget

Enviro-bras

Condom Couture

Party Power

Moto Ouzo

Earth Mamas

the deal

Lingerie maker Triumph International Japan has developed a bra that generates power for on-the-go iPod charging, and another that doubles as a shopping bag.

Condoms have been woven into wedding gowns, swimsuits, and hats for fashion shows promoting safe sex in China, Thailand, Mississippi, and South Carolina.

Dancing generates 60 percent of the energy that runs London’s Bar Surya club; the piezoelectric floor uses quartz crystals and ceramics to transform busted moves into electricity.

The ultraefficient two-stroke Lotus Omnivore will come with a variable compression ratio system, which means it will run on just about any fuel, including liquor.

Contestants in the Philippines-based Miss Earth Beauty Pageant, one of the world’s largest, plant trees and make “it their mission to be Mother Earth’s guardians.”

real?

The solar bra must see daylight to work; still waiting for the bounce-powered kinetic-energy bra, an idea convincingly proposed by writer Adrienne So in Slate.

Artists use quality-rejected condoms that otherwise would have been incinerated; rubber fashions sold in boutiques and galleries.

Netherlands-based environmental lab Enviu, which helped develop the technology, is pushing for sustainable dance clubs across the globe. Next up: toddler-powered day care centers?

A prototype is due early next year. But Jack, Jim, and José are even pricier than gas; time to crank up the still.

Entrants must “possess beauty of face” and cannot have given birth; “knowledge of her country’s culture and environment” required.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

The upshot: Being able to rally $253,000 in donations over these next few weeks is vitally important simply because it is the number that keeps us right on track, helping make sure we don't end up with a bigger gap than can be filled again, helping us avoid any significant (and knowable) cash-flow crunches for now. We used to be more nonchalant about coming up short this time of year, thinking we can make it by the time June rolls around. Not anymore.

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