Don’t Toss It Away — Fix It! — At The Repair Cafe
We’ve all been there. Our coffee maker, printer, or blender brakes, and it costs way less to buy a new one then to go through all the trouble of fixing it. Responding to this incredibly wasteful phenomenon and the volume of raw materials and energy needed to produce and transport new goods, Martine Postma, an environmental activist in the Netherlands created the world’s first Repair Cafe.
Read more →Urban Foraging — Find Out What Your City Tastes Like
Spring is late in Amsterdam this year, but we can finally see some greenery around the city. Let’s go outside for some urban foraging! Plants growing on the sidewalks that are either an urban wildlife or belong to someone (be it public or individual) may come out to be a great source for your daily nutrients. Fruits, vegetables, herbs, nuts or even snails are only some of the products that one can harvest and enjoy for free.
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Every Home Is A Restaurant With EatWith
By Joop de Boer
Everyone can turn their home into a little private restaurant with EatWith, a new web-based service that enables people to rent our their kitchen table to strangers. EatWith gives travelers the opportunity to eat with a local in their homes and experience local culinary traditions. As the founders explain, “being a guest in someone’s home is a great way to get an authentic local perspective in a different city or country”. And that’s what every modern traveler wants, right?
Read more →Turn Your Office Into A Gym
By Joop de Boer
We’ve always been passionate about modular and flexible furniture concepts that allow for multiple functions. Here we’ve got another great example that combines two apparently incompatible functions. Industrial designer Darryl Agawin came up with ‘No, Sweat!’, a piece of office furniture that completely converts into a gym set-up. The three-element workspace furniture set that can be easily changed when one’s in desperate need of a work-out.
Read more →Community Currencies And Bartering Models Take Root In Greek Cities
Last January we highlighted the emerging phenomenon of alternative and DIY currencies in cities across the globe. These currencies have been developed by people who wish to see their economy and society through a different scope — more humanitarian, more social. The financial crisis has boosted further development of new peer-to-peer-oriented economic systems in different parts of the world.
Read more →Seattle Plans To Build America’s First Edible Forest
By Bob Wiebes
A forest in the midst of a turbulent, roaring city; it sounds like something from an amazing dream, but in Seattle it soon will be quite real. With the self-sustaining Food Forest, Seattle is bringing urban agriculture to a higher level, by creating a place where anyone and everyone can go to harvest fruits and vegetables for free.
Read more →Indoor Street Food Stall Pops Up In London
Creative studio eks why zed designed the interior of this temporary bun shop in London. The lay-out of the 10 square meters shop is inspired by the Japanese ‘izakaya’ format, and shows that low-cost can make a big impact.
Read more →Takushi! Tokyo’s Lovely Taxi Lights
By Joop de Boer
Tokyo is one of those cities with a very outspoken and recognizable style. This becomes even more clear when you take a look at remarkable lights on the roof of its taxis. The Japanese capital is filled with these colorful expressions that give identity to each of the cabs. Lifestyle and travel blog Been Seen refers to the Takushi signs as a “passing parade of neon art”.
Read more →Pop-Up Hotel Room Folds Out Of A Suitcase
By Bob Wiebes
Travelling isn’t cheap. Even after you’ve paid for your flight, there is still the challenge of finding an affordable hotel. Trying to find the balance between cheap and comfortable is an art in itself, but Swiss-made portable hotel room Hotello might just make our search a lot easier.
Read more →Flexible Outdoor Urinal Doubles As A Composter
By Joop de Boer
French design studio Faltazi has presented a highly flexible outdoor urinal that recycles the pee of festival visitors into usable compost. The so-called Uritonnoir is designed as an eco-friendly way for outdoor sanitation for those moments it’s most needed.
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