Green Thing Blog

Think about the number or libraries, underground stations, amusement parks, football stadiums and other places that use turnstiles as a way of regulating foot traffic. Now think about the amount of people that pass through such checkpoints. That's a lot of feet.

A team of Chinese designers at Guangdong University of Technology have come up with a really simple and powerful idea: harness mechanical energy energy from turnstile movement and convert it to electric energy to power the facilities.

The "Green Pass" turnstile won first prize at Taiwan’s most recent Lite-On awards, a annual competition that looks for the best technological innovations.

Along a similar premise is a new idea being trialled in Maryland, USA. The Colombia Athletic Club has fitted their workout bikes with generators which collect energy and store it for use by the club. People pedal-power the facility while working out. The gym is already seeing a return on the investment they spent installing the generator system.

Be it turnstiles in a library or bikes in a gym, inventions around generating energy from people and everyday activities are endless. If you're feeling inspired, check out plenty more people powered ideas - or maybe even try and build one yourself.

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(Image diseaseaday)

We don't usually take it upon ourselves to lecture you about heath but when we saw this we knew we couldn't just sit here and say nothing. In fact we knew we couldn't just sit here at all. Terrifyingly if you sit more than 6 hours a day your chances of an early death increases dramatically. To read the full infographic click here and we promise it will make you want to go out and Walk-The-Walk immediately! Or maybe you'd prefer jumping on a bike and Pedaling the Pedals. Whatever you do, just get up out of that chair!

Recent studies have shown that sitting is potentially more dangerous for you than smoking. The increased risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer and even early death that can result due to prolonged stationary motion is as bad as, if not worse, for you than smoking. The effects are worse for women than for men. We are constantly being told about the dangers of smoking so this study makes me wary of my sitting habits. As with smoking the more you do the worse it gets, so get up and I encourage you to start dancing as you read this. Alternatively investing in a stand up desk might be a good idea.

15 minutes of exercise a day is a bare mimium for health and for some inspiration to get you up and active watch The Urban Rambler. Now quick, stand up and move!

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New Year's resolutions to lose that weight, stop smoking and be less stressed at work are all pretty far behind us now. But don't worry if you've slipped off the wagon because we have a easy cure-all solution for you.

It's called walking. Just 30 minutes a day of Walking the Walk will do wonders for your health not mention your waist.

30 minutes of gentle exercise (such as walking) every day can reduce the progression of diabetes by 58%, reduce depression and anxiety by almost 50% and is the No. 1 cure for fatigue.

Not only does walking have a whole wealth of health benefits, it is also completely free. And we're not talking Land's End to John O'Groats. It doesn't have to be a big exercise regime. Just try getting off the bus one stop earlier or taking the stairs instead of the lift.

30 minutes a day might sound like a lot but think of it this way, can you limit your sitting and sleeping to just 23 and 1/2 hours a day? We think you probably can.

Not convinced? Well don't say we didn't warn you.

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Running on a treadmill is great for exercise but really, wouldn't you rather be outside enjoying the fresh air?

Introducing the Treadmill Bike, the perfect machine for those that like to run but want to get around whilst doing it.

Genius.

(Spotted on Broadsheet)

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Walking the walk just got easier with Moves app, a free iPhone app that logs your movements. It’s like a diary of your day, automatically tracking activity and recognising movement such as walking, cycling, running and transportation. You can see where you’ve been and how much you’ve moved in a day through the app’s state-of-the-art activity- and place-recognition algorithms. Moves can show you where you’ve been, so you can see that at 10am every day you grab a coffee or at 3pm you tuck out to the shop to grab some sweets.

Moves isn’t only about seeing how much one has travelled or where they’ve been. It’s also about wellbeing. Moves aims to get people walking more, aiming to walk 10,000 steps a day as part of a healthy lifestyle. Co-founder Aleksi Aaltonen says, “the idea is to allow you to understand your everyday habits and take small steps toward more healthy lifestyle."

Moves app is a brilliant tool. It makes people aware of their movements (or lack there of) and encourage more people out walking. You can download the app for free here. And why not download our Walkcast, Walk 105 to listen to as you pound the pavement.

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