Green Thing Blog

Pretty cool design for a space-saving, solar-powered vertical park in smog-filled Mexico City.

As well as being powered by renewable energy the idea is it recycles its own water too. And all made out of stackable modules like some giant eco lego kit. Or something. Nice.

[Seen on Inhabitat]

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A restaurant in Chile has made the change from firewood, to fuel its cookers, to using solar energy. The Carvajal's restaurant in Valle del Elqui, Villaseca uses 10 solar ovens to cook enough food for up to 70 customers a day.

The ovens have been introduced as part of a programme by a Chilean university and the government to make life easier for the families in the area who previously relied on spending large amounts of time searching for firewood to fuel fires to keep them warm and to cook food. With the sun shining around 300 days a year it's a pretty good location to have a solar powered restaurant.

The ovens are oriented towards the sun for an hour before use in order to warm up enough but even after that it still takes four hours to cook a piece of goat meat, according to the restaurant's owners.

This coincides with the development of solar powered cookers for street food carts in Mexico. Rather than using charcoal these carts will have solar panels on their roofs that produce clean and cheap energy with which to cook the delicious street food found all over Mexico. Mmmm.... solar tacos.

Ps- Feeling inspired? Why not make your own solar oven from a pizza box?

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(Image: Springwise)

Panam trainers. The holy grail of the hipster footwear world. The older and more beat up the better. Unfortunately for cool kids everywhere, these are mainly worn by Mexicans who have spent years getting them to this scruffed-up perfection so lusted after by the retro loving world.

But, hipsters rejoice! You don't have to spend your money on going to Mexico for these oh-so vintage shoes (which is lucky, you'll need it for that independent film you're making). Panam are out and about in Mexico swapping brand new trainers with Mexicans who have been lovingly (if unknowingly) been wearing in and trending up that pair of 1980's Panam sneakers that you so desperately want. They get a choice of 250 different Panam trainers, in every colour and size they could want, and in return they hand over their retro Panam footwear for you to buy. When you Swap What You Got, everyone's a winner!

P.S. For more all-consuming fashion ideas check out this dress made from milk.

(Spotted on Springwise)

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(Image: Efeverde)

As many parents and grandparents will tell you, there used to be a time when glass bottles and the like were returned to shops in exchange for money. The bottles got recycled, you didn't have that empty gin bottle staring pointedly at you every time you went into the kitchen and you got a little bit of money out of the bargain too. Everyone was happy.

Well now it seems that this clever idea has been reinstalled in Mexico City. The citizens bring their cleaned recyclables (anything from glass to paper to plastics to Tetra Paks) to Chapultepec Park in the country’s capital and hand them over to the recycling companies. In return, they receive vouchers to use at the farmer's market next door to buy fresh, local food.

Since the vouchers are funded by the recycling companies, they get materials to recycle, the farmers sell more food and the residents get rid of their recycling in exchange for free produce. And the cherry on the top? An increased awareness of the benefits of recycling between every Tom, Dick, Farmer and Recycling company.

Now that's definitely something to tell the grandchildren.

P.S. This isn't the first Mexican swapping story we've told you. Remember the Hipsters that were desperate to swap shoes with the Mexicans?

(Spotted on Springwise)

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