Back in 2006 we wrote about iscape, a British company that manufactured stand-alone offices for installation in the user's home garden. The company since merged with rival Garden Lodges and has begun offering an expanded line, but now it's also gained a new competitor: the OfficePOD.

Whereas Garden Lodges aims its offices and other structures primarily at consumers, the OfficePOD focuses on employers who want to give their staff the option of working at home. The unit is a 2.1-by-2.1-metre structure that can be installed in less than a day and typically requires no planning consent. Designed to maximize efficiency in its use of space, the OfficePOD features innovative storage and desktop solutions using high-quality materials chosen for their visual, physical and environmental characteristics. Recycled and recyclable products have been used wherever possible and natural materials chosen over man-made. Power is provided via a protected connection to the house or garage; IT and phone connectivity are generally wireless but can be similarly cabled. The POD satisfies the most stringent energy performance benchmarks with its low energy consumption, high levels of insulation and innovative cooling system. Also included on the OfficePOD is a secure locking system. The OfficePOD is available to employers through a flexible leasing arrangement with full service including all surveys, enabling work, installation, help-desk support, health and safety assessments, repairs and removal. Pricing is GBP 5,000 per POD per year, and general availability will begin January 2010.

There's no shortage of arguments in favour of flexible work arrangements, ranging from financial and environmental considerations to workers' quality of life. For employers, the OfficePOD can even create demonstrable property cost savings of GBP 9,000 or more per employee per year, its maker says. The OfficePOD will be officially debuted in London later this month; one to check out, partner with, or otherwise get in on early....?

Website: www.officepod.co.uk
Contact: enquiries@officepod.co.uk

From unused parking spaces to extra beds to arable land suitable for gardening, consumers are increasingly finding new, recession-busting ways to make the most of what they have. While we've covered several examples of marketplaces that focus on one of those sharable assets, we hadn't yet seen Spareground, a UK-based contender that aims to cover them all.

Spareground bills itself as "the one-stop shop for finding somewhere to store your sports equipment, keep your caravan for the winter, park your car, graze your horse, find somewhere to display your art or find somewhere to stay near that sports event or festival." In essence, it's a place to advertise or look for just about any kind of unused space, including accommodations, parking spaces, driveways, garages, storage facilities such as attics or sheds, unused land, spare rooms or car share spaces. The site is free to use by both businesses and individuals, and space is organised by category: property, land, parking, storage or other. Consumers with space to share simply create a listing with its description, location and price; those seeking space search by category or keyword and then contact the owner directly to arrange the terms. "Space wanted" ads are also available.

Launched last summer, ad-supported Spareground hopes to expand beyond the UK in the near future. Given the current economic woes around the globe, it's fairly sure there will be healthy demand. One to get in on early in a market near you...?

Website: www.spareground.com
Contact: mail@spareground.com

Spotted by: Rachael Mallender

Several years ago we covered junk-removal companies 1-800-Got-Junk and Any Junk?, based in Canada and the UK, respectively. Though we didn't know it then, turns out a like-minded company was being launched in the US around the same time. Epitomizing the brand name that says it all, College Hunks Hauling Junk has since grown from a temporary summer gig into a multi-truck, multimillion-dollar franchised business with locations across the United States.

Washington, D.C.-based College Hunks Hauling Junk taps local colleges and universities to find what it calls the friendliest and most trustworthy junk haulers in the industry. Serving both residential and commercial clients—past ones have included US Airways and the SEC—the company offers comprehensive service and upfront pricing that includes labour, disposal fees and travel time. College Hunks says it recycles more than 60 percent of the junk it collects, and it also donates a portion of its revenue to College Bound, a nonprofit scholarship program. Since its original founding in 2005, the company has expanded to employ more than 100 people in 14 locations including Orlando, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and has been featured in SmartCEO Magazine, The Washington Post and on Oprah.com. This year, it expects to grow to 30 franchises, with overall sales of USD 10 million. Meanwhile, a new sister business—College Foxes Packing Boxes—was launched last year.

College Hunks is actively seeking franchisees across the country; one to bring to a junk-laden territory near you? (Related: Helping seniors relocate.)

Website: www.1800junkusa.com — www.collegefoxes.com
Contact: www.1800junkusa.com/aboutus-and-contactus — service@collegefoxes.com

Spotted by: George Palmer

The word "commune" may connote images of long-haired hippies and failed experiments, but in today's ailing economy, that's no reason to abandon the concept altogether. So goes the thinking behind Wanna Start a Commune?, a website now in beta that's dedicated to promoting a fresh take on the communal-living idea.

Wanna Start a Commune aims to provide members with the tools they need to share resources of many kinds, whether or not they actually live together. The site's 24-page "Tools for Commune Starters" pamphlet—downloadable for USD 3—includes a "get started" checklist, resource-sharing guide, potluck and workshop planning tools, organizational documents and technology tips for managing and growing a commune. Commune-related events are in the works; meanwhile, interested consumers can follow the organization's three pilot projects currently underway in the Los Angeles area at CuldesacCommune.org. In one pilot in Topanga, for instance, members are taking a communal approach to planting wildflowers, rodent control and building a new well, as well as carpooling and installing a communal pizza oven. The other two—one in Hollywood and one in Rustic Canyon—are teaming up to barter services, install a shared solar array, create a disaster preparedness plan and offer salsa dancing lessons. The group invites consumers interested in starting pilot projects of their own to contact the site for help.

There's nothing like necessity to make once-discredited ideas gleam anew with fresh possibility, and that's particularly true in this case given that neighbours are already forging new connections online and shoppers have begun teaming up to wield their crowd clout for discounts and other benefits. The communes of the '60s may not have lasted, but who's to say a modern approach won't make them just what we need today? (Related: Neighbourhood approach to renewable energy.)

Website: www.wannastartacommune.com
Contact: us@wannastartacommune.com

Spotted by: Alex Warren

We've already covered a few examples of retailers that focus on green supplies for do-it-yourself home improvement, and recently one of our spotters alerted us to another that just opened in Manhattan: Green Depot, a store that aims to make green building and living solutions "accessible, affordable and gratifying."

Green Depot has been selling sustainable building products and services through its showrooms since 2005, but it was not until earlier this month that it opened its new, flagship retail store in Manhattan. Located in the Bowery, the 3,500-square-foot store is designed to demonstrate high-performance green materials in action, and is itself on track to be a platinum LEED-certified space. A light booth made of recycled resin materials, for example, helps shoppers compare light bulbs and paint colours in a controlled setting, while the zero-VOC paint bar serves up a line of paints free of volatile organic chemicals. The store's private-label cleaning line, meanwhile, is available for sale by the ounce, encouraging customers to refill and reuse their own plastic and glass containers. Aiming to cut through the "greenwashing" that's frequently applied to less-than-entirely-green products and stores, Green Depot also uses a system of five simple icons to make the "green" label explicit for consumers: "air quality," "local," "social responsibility," "energy" and "conservation," indicating just what aspect of greenness each product addresses.

Green Depot bears no relation to Home Depot, but it does promise to help spread a whole new world of eco-credentials to the green-minded masses. Time to jump in with a contender in your neck of the eco-iconic woods....? (Related: Pop-up cafe is a monument to sustainability.)

Website: www.greendepot.com
Contact: contactus@greendepot.com

Spotted by: Elliot Marchant