Our brains resemble our muscles in one key respect: don’t exercise them, and they're likely to lose strength. Conversely, many experts now believe that brains stimulated in a healthy manner can better resist debilitating mental conditions such as Alzheimer’s. Which begs the question: how to keep brains in top shape?

The solution offered by vibrantBrains, a San Francisco start-up, is to create a workout centre for the brain, patterned after a health club. Instead of exercising muscle groups via a series of circuit-training machines, vibrantBrains members hone their mental skills using a variety of computer software programs and other tools, for a monthly membership fee of USD 60. vibrantBrain’s health-club-for-the-mind approach should appeal to the millions of baby boomers who’ve spent their adult lives regularly visiting gyms. As they approach retirement age, they’ll want to maintain their mental agility, too, as attested by sales of Nintendo’s Brain Age, which sold 10 million copies, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

No doubt we’ll see plenty of additional products and services aimed at enhancing baby boomers’ brain power, joining a long list of companies already selling everything from vitamins to training seminars. Still, vibrantBrain’s model is unique. And from a business standpoint, it has a couple of profit-enhancing advantages over the traditional gyms that it’s based on. Space requirements are minimal compared to health clubs, and entrepreneurs won’t have to lease or buy an expensive array of exercise machines.

If the mental health club idea catches on, the real competition eventually may come from traditional health clubs, which could add brain-exercise routines as easily as they’ve added yoga and martial arts instruction. However, even if that happens, there should be plenty of opportunities for start-ups to differentiate themselves—from rehabilitative clinics for the elderly to centers focused on mental and physical exercises for kids.

Website: www.vibrantbrains.com
Contact: info@vibrantbrains.com

Spotted by: Wendy Hoffman

In Denmark, as in many other countries, consumers pay a refundable deposit on bottles. When they return them through a retailer's collection machine, it prints out a slip of paper that states how much they'll receive at the cash register. Generally, these aren't large amounts, but they're enough to get people to return their containers.

One of Denmark 's largest consumer goods retailers has now added a charitable twist to the process, adding a button that lets customers instantly donate their bottle money to charity instead of collecting it for themselves. A partnership between Coop Denmark, UNICEF Denmark and DanChurchAid, the 'push to donate' system was launched in September 2007 in 14 of Coop's Kvickly xtra stores. In the first three months, customers donated over DKK 120,000 (USD 25,750), proving that tiny donations add up to significant amounts. This year, Coop will be adding the option to 1,200 bottle collection machines in its other supermarket chains.

If you want to entice consumers to be charitable, make it easy for them. One for other retailers to be inspired by? (Related: Reverse vending.)

Website: www.coop.dk

Spotted by: Frida Berglund

It's a fact of life in the business world that companies in urban areas tend to require frequent, small deliveries of merchandise and other goods from the city outskirts and beyond. That's a recipe for inefficiency, traffic congestion and pollution, as so many delivery trucks make their way in and out of town with partial loads again and again. French La Petite Reine has come up with an alternative, greener approach to business deliveries by using truck-sized cargo bikes instead.

La Petite Reine maintains a fleet of about 60 Cargocycles for hire by businesses that need to make small to medium-sized urban deliveries over a distance of up to 30 km. Weighing only 80 kg (as opposed to a tonne or more for most delivery vans), each Cargocycle can transport about 180 kg of merchandise in its 1,400-liter cargo space. (For larger loads, La Petite Reine also has electric trucks suitable for deliveries that size.) Cargocycles' small footprint lets them travel anywhere on the roadways, including bus and bike lanes, and they can park easily between two cars. Cargocycle deliveries are faster than those made via traditional truck, and also 10 to 20 percent less expensive, La Petite Reine says. Perhaps most significant, however, is that they are completely nonpolluting—in terms of both emissions and noise. Cargocycles are also available for lease or sale, as well as for advertising space and use at special events.

Paris-based La Petite Reine was founded in 2001, and has since expanded to Bordeaux, Rouen, and Dijon. It now makes some 2,500 deliveries every day for clients including DHL, ColiPoste and Monoprix. The company is interested in signing up franchise partners--one to bring to an urban area near you?

Website: www.lapetitereine.com
Contact: contact@lapetitereine.com

Spotted by: Pavi Ani

Earlier this year, we wrote about a sympathetic initiative by Paris airports, giving weary travellers a chance to recharge with a dose of full-spectrum light therapy.

Last week, IKEA offered fatigued Stockholm shoppers a similar form of respite by installing a Sovhotell (sleep hotel) in one of the city's downtown shopping centres. After checking in at Sovhotell's front desk, guests were asked whether they normally sleep on their stomach, side or back, and were given a pillow to suit their personal sleeping style. In addition to single and double beds, the Sovhotell also featured a bridal suite.

Guests were welcome to snooze for 15 minutes, and were given eye masks and headphones with soothing soundscapes to help them benefit from their sponsored power naps. According to IKEA, inspiration for the Sovhotell came from Japanese capsule hotels and from the fact that the shoppers in its own stores are occasionally found napping in the bedroom section.

No word yet on whether IKEA is planning to bring this shopper-friendly campaign to malls in other parts of the world, but we think it's a great example of the tryvertising trend: marketing a product by letting customers try it out in a relevant setting, without pressuring them to buy.

Website: www.ikea.com

Spotted by: Frida Berglund

It's estimated that one in every three traffic fatalities in Europe involve alcohol-impaired drivers. In the US, alcohol-related car crashes kill someone every 31 minutes, according to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the problem extends around the world. Blow Me is a UK-based company that hopes to reduce such statistics by bringing its mobile alcohol breath-testing service to private and corporate events.

Event organizers can hire Blow Me to attend any party or other happening where alcohol will be served. With the same equipment used by police forces throughout the UK, Blow Me's trained team conducts unlimited alcohol breath tests for event guests in a non-threatening and professional manner. Both branded and unbranded packages are available, and Blow Me's staff will follow any dress code to suit the occasion—tux and ties if needed. They can offer custom promotional materials, if requested, as well as information for guests about local transport options. The result, Blow Me hopes, is that more people will think twice before getting behind the wheel. Package prices start at GBP 695.

Launched in 2006, London-based Blow Me serves clients all over Europe; by January of this year it had stopped more than 1,000 people from unknowingly driving drunk, founder Sam Rose says. Undoubtedly it has also enhanced many a company's corporate image. Blow Me is currently considering franchising the brand—one to bring to an area near you?

Website: www.alcoholbreathtesting.com
Contact: info@alcoholbreathtesting.com