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Although street art is experiencing a renaissance, the old issue of vandalism remains. YrWall is an interactive virtual graffiti wall that avoids the drips and damage because, quite simply, there's no paint involved. Users paint on a projection screen using a can that's actually an infra-red beam controlled by a button and tracked using a computer vision system. By pressing the faux spray can's button, users draw on the wall much like using their computer's draw function, but without the mouse and on a much larger scale. A pop-up interface provides an array of digital paint colours and also allows users to select themes like nature or urban; grabbing images from these themes to add to their piece. YrWall, which can be hired short- or long-term or installed bespoke, has already been quite a hit at events like the UK's Secret Garden Party. Adding to the concept's appeal and branding opportunities, people can receive a free digital copy of their art to share with friends, or can have their design printed on t-shirts and stickers right after they've finalized their piece. While YrWall isn't going to eclipse the interest in genuine street art and good old spray-can graffiti, it’s an appealing mix of physical and digital, and of performance and play. Which could make for an irresistible offering for event organizers and their novelty-seeking clients. Website: www.yrwall.com Spotted by: Frank Meeuwsen |
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Turning shoppers into philanthropists, LavishGiving.com is an online gift retailer that donates 20% of all purchases of USD 100 or more to a charity of the buyer's choice. Which allows them to be generous twice: once when giving the gifts they purchased, and a second time when donating 20% of their value to a favourite charity. Seven days after shopping, customers are mailed a Good Card worth 20% of their purchase. The seven day grace period is in place should anyone wish to return a purchase. Customers can then visit Network for Good's website to donate the entire amount to one charity, or distribute it between several of the 1.5 million charities that are affiliated with Network for Good, from local schools and animal shelters to international aid programs and medical research organizations. It's a beneficial move for all involved: the site differentiates itself from swathes of other online gift stores, charities receive extra donations and customers can choose exactly which causes benefit from their spending. For more on adding a dose of generosity to your entrepreneurial pursuits, check out our sister site trendwatching.com's briefing on Generation G. Website: www.lavishgiving.com Spotted by: Alexander Lattin |
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There are plenty of reasons for consumers to try to reduce their carbon emissions, ranging from savings on their energy bills to good karma for simply doing the right thing. Working on the premise that there's nothing quite so persuasive as cold, hard currency, a new website aims to add yet another financial incentive by awarding consumers credits for their reductions and then converting those credits into cash. MyEex was launched in March as an information exchange aimed at lowering carbon footprints, and has since expanded into a worldwide personal carbon exchange. To participate, consumers begin by creating a profile on the free site and then using historical data on their utility bill to enter their household electric and heat usage for the past 12 months. Taking seasonal variation into account, MyEex uses that data to calculate the household's baseline usage. Consumers then set about trying to reduce their footprint, with help from MyEex's community section, tips, blogs and other sources of advice. Each month they enter their current usage amounts, and the site certifies those reductions and awards members carbon credits similar to those currently granted to companies, states and countries. Through its partnership with OceanConnect, it then sells those Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) on the Voluntary Carbon Market—one CER is equivalent to one ton reduced, with prices varying between USD 10 and USD 25 per CER, it says—and returns the earnings to consumers via PayPal. Meanwhile, the site itself makes a commission on the brokerage of those carbon credits. Consumers from anywhere in the world can use New York-based MyEex, though weather data is still being collected for international locations. One to localize and emulate for your neck of the (increasingly green) woods...? (Related: Rewarding consumers who drive less — Green concierge reduces home's carbon footprint.) Website: www.myeex.com Spotted by: Judy McRae |
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From the Lacoste crocodile to Charlie the Tuna, countless brands around the globe use animals and plants to personify and represent them. After years of profiting from those species' images, such companies and organizations can now help preserve and protect them through a new French effort called Save Your Logo. Nearly one-quarter of the world's mammal species are threatened or extinct, as are roughly one-third of its amphibians and one in seven of its birds, according to the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) Red List of 2008. Launched last fall, the Save Your Logo program lets companies and organizations that use the images of such species donate to the Endowment Fund for Biodiversity to help protect them. Each organization can donate up to EUR 1.5 million over three years to the fund, which is held by the World Bank, according to French press agency AFP; the World Bank will reportedly add up to 33 percent. Also behind the effort are the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and the IUCN. Companies without plants or animals in their logos can participate as well by supporting 'unclaimed' species, Save Your Logo says. Either way, funds received from the private sector are distributed to organizations that specialize in biodiversity and local conservation projects, with part used to finance the creation of an Emergency Fund for the conservation of lesser-known species on the IUCN Red List. Organizations that participate can enjoy a tax cut of up to 60 percent of their donation, limited to 0.5 percent of turnover, according to the Save Your Logo site. Tax benefits aside, of course, the effort will not only help endangered plants and animals, but also promises to add that much-sought-after sparkle of genuine corporate generosity to the images of those who participate. Lacoste and French insurer MAAF—which uses a dolphin in its logo—have already jumped on board. Jaguar, Puma, Peugot, Geico, Exxon, Taco Bell and countless others... what about you? Website: www.saveyourlogo.org
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Yet another task the iPhone can simplify: creating, printing and sending postcards without ever having to physically handle one. PrintYourLife.com has devised an iPhone app called goPostal, which can be downloaded to the iPhone for free. Users take a photo or choose one they've snapped earlier, write a message and select a recipient from their phone’s address book. The postcard is then printed and delivered via postal mail to anywhere within the US for USD 1.29. While they may lack the personal touch of a handwritten postcard, goPostal's missives provide a tangible and perhaps more thoughtful alternative to emailing a photo, without more effort for senders. Postal services: time to partner with goPostal or set up something similar of your own! (Related: Email a photo to send prints to friends & family.) Website: www.printyourlife.com Spotted by: Susanna Haynie |
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Sweet-toothed consumers suffering from cupcake ennui can already try a taste of the South in the form of Tennessee T-Cakes, as we've noted before. Now from the West, however, comes yet another alternative: churros, also known as Spanish fritters. In their native Spain and in Southern California, traditional churros are a familiar concept, having enjoyed widespread popularity for years on account of their sweet, crunchy, pastry goodness. Offering a fresh and upgraded take on the ages-old confection, however, Xooro now operates two stores—in Santa Monica and West Hollywood—with a gourmet line of the mouth-watering fritters. Some fifteen flavours currently grace the signature Xooro line—including distinctly modern interpretations such as Turkish Hazelnut, Mango, and Maple Bacon—all of them cooked in rice bran oil, which Xooro calls "the world's healthiest edible oil" for its vitamins, antioxidants and lack of trans fats. Prices begin at USD 3.69 each. Xooro is already planning to expand, with locations coming soon to Orlando, San Antonio, Los Angeles and San Diego. In addition, it's currently completing FTC franchise documentation, with an eye toward licensing franchises as well. One to get in on early...? Website: www.xooro.com Spotted by: Brent Cohler |
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Citywide bike schemes are popping up all over the world, as we've noted on several occasions already, touting myriad benefits for the environment, urban congestion and human health. As is so often the case when equipment is shared, however, hygiene concerns inevitably follow—particularly during winter months and events such as the current swine flu pandemic. Enter Cyclean, a handlebar cover designed to protect bike users from germs. Developed by Spanish PersonalBox with Barcelona's Bicing bike scheme in mind, Cyclean covers are hygienic, adjustable and waterproof sheaths that are available in versions tailored both for street bicycles and for the indoor variety used in gyms. Using the bright-red, condomlike covers, bicyclists can avoid contact with all the dirt, dust, pollution, viruses, water, sweat and other potential unsavouries that might be lurking on a shared bike's handlebar grips. Launched in December, Cyclean covers are recyclable and photodegradable, PersonalBox says. They are available online and through retail bike shops in Barcelona and Madrid; pricing is EUR 5 for either a bag of 18 pairs for street bikes or 12 pairs for indoor bicycles. A video on Vimeo demonstrates Cyclean in action. Of course, whether the world needs yet another disposable item on the streets is far from clear, as TreeHugger points out—particularly when a pair of washable gloves could presumably do just as well. Their safety, meanwhile, would seem to depend on a good, tight fit—something PersonalBox has no doubt already ensured. Nevertheless, consumers will ultimately decide whether disposable handlebar covers offer enough advantages to be compelling—if they do, could make a nice feeder business for gyms and bike sharing programs around the world. One to watch! Website: www.cyclean.es |
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Late last year we wrote about the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's pilot program to offer free car charging in its parking garage, and now a brand-new McDonald's restaurant about to open in North Carolina will be the chain's first in the nation to offer the same thing. The new restaurant in Cary—opening this week—will be North Carolina's first "green" McDonald's, and it aims to become gold-certified under the LEED standard. Both the interior and exterior of the restaurant have been designed with sustainability in mind. More than 95 percent of the wood used in construction, for example, comes from forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, while tables and decor incorporate rapidly renewable materials such as sunflower seed board, wheat board, bamboo and kirei board. Solatubes inside provide quality natural light, while lighting fixtures automatically adjust to changing light conditions. All components used inside are free of urea and formaldehyde, while vinyl is PVC-free and all paints, adhesives, coatings and sealants are low-VOC. The kitchen and bathrooms, meanwhile, are designed to minimize the use of water. Perhaps most interesting of all, there will be preferred parking spaces for hybrid and fuel-efficient vehicles, along with ChargePoint stations offering free electricity for plug-in cars. Two such stations will be available at the restaurant's launch, according to The News & Observer. It's not entirely clear whether a 30-minute meal offers enough time to charge a vehicle adequately, as HybridCars points out. Nevertheless, plans are afoot to install charging stations at McDonald's locations in Sweden as well, the publication reported, and there seems little doubt that as adoption of electric vehicles increases, there will be demand for charging stations in convenient spots around the globe. Embrace such technology early, and you boost your eco-credentials; offer it as a free perk, and you could win eco-minded consumers' hearts, minds and dollars! ;-) Website: www.mcnorthcarolina.com/7501/ |
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It may have taken a while, but city governments are now rushing to catch up with the technological preferences of their citizens. Just last month we covered San Francisco's recent Twitter initiative, and now Boston is jumping on board with a new iPhone application for filing civic complaints. Dubbed Citizen Connect, the application will allow residents of the city to snap photos of neighbourhood problems such as potholes, graffiti or abandoned vehicles, and e-mail them directly to City Hall, according to a report on Boston.com. Tapping the iPhone's GPS function, users will easily be able to specify the problem's precise location. And whereas in the past citizens often felt that their complaints "disappeared into a bureaucratic black hole," as Boston.com put it, the new application will give users a tracking number after they file their complaint, allowing them to follow city officials' progress in addressing it. Designed by New Hampshire firm Connected Bits, the app is due to enter a testing phase next week, with some 70 people—primarily City Hall employees and volunteers—trying it out, according to Government Technology. It will be offered as a free download from Apple's iPhone App Store, and is expected to become available in mid- to late August. Also on board the iPhone train with civic applications are Utah and—no surprise—San Francisco, according to Government Technology. Other governments: what about you...? Website: www.cityofboston.gov |
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Consumers can already tap the wisdom of the crowds for advice about their image, their style or even their marital disputes. Now taking the notion a step further, Instant Jury gives them a way to resolve conflicts of most any kind—marital or otherwise. People stuck in a dead-end argument about virtually anything under the sun can open a "case" on Instant Jury to bring it to "the court of public opinion." Current examples include a disgruntled man who claims his female coworker cheated to win a sales contest by wearing revealing shirts, and another man who wants his neighbour to buy some headphones while he's learning to play guitar. Users of the site choose a username, give their case a name and description, and then list the stakes—lunch, for example, in the case of the sales contest dispute. Once that's done, the defendant in the case receives an email asking them to participate—also anonymously, via the username of their choice—and give their own side. If they agree within 24 hours, the case becomes live and both sides get the chance to present opening and closing arguments in their defense, as well as uploading supporting evidence such as photos, emails, etc. The jury—made up of at least three interested visitors to the site—then "deliberates" and casts its votes, leading ultimately to a final decision; if fewer than seven votes are received, the site's resident "judge"—dubbed "Hugh D. Cyde"—gets the final say. Potential jurors can search for interesting cases by category ("classmates," for example, or "office politics") as well as by descriptors including "Ending Soon," "Cold Cases" and "Most Viewed." They can leave comments as the case progresses, and each case they serve on earns them juror credits that increase their rank and—ultimately—will get them special privileges. Ad-supported Instant Jury is based in New Jersey. One to localize and bring to the bickering masses near you...? Website: www.instantjury.com Spotted by: Brett Reilly |
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Last summer we spotted Roof Ray, an online service that uses Google maps to estimate a building's solar potential. California-based Sungevity takes the notion one step further by using solar imaging and existing satellite images to design solar panelling. Sungevity’s system means it cuts out visits to client homes to take measurements and make draft plans; speeding up process, saving customers a bit of cash, and also reducing carbon emissions. Interested customers can request a free iQuote. Staff then set to work with satellite images to measure the available roof space, determine the tilt and direction of the roof, and even identify obstacles that could make installation difficult or cause shade problems. Two to five systems are designed for every quote, allowing Sungevity to work around the target quote and take issues such as energy rebates into consideration. The company acknowledges that some more complicated homes may require visits, but for most a visit to the site isn't necessary until installation day. The company also takes care of permits and paperwork. Sungevity breaks new ground by combining aerial photography with remote design and pre-fitted solar panelling. Services like this simplify retrofitting homes, which is half the battle in convincing people to act to cut carbon. One to bring to other sunny regions? Website: www.sungevity.com Spotted by: Charlie Haims |
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Facebook users can already send each other real flowers, candy and drinks. Now they can add ice cream to that list as well—free, no less—thanks to a new promotion from Starbucks and Unilever. Beginning this week and extending through July 19, Starbucks and partner Unilever are giving away coupons for more than 800 free pints of the newly launched Starbucks Ice Cream on Facebook every hour. US-based users of the social networking site need only visit the special promotion page on Facebook at the beginning of any hour and be ready to click quickly before that hour's set of coupons is gone. If they succeed in claiming one, they can choose to send it to any friend on or off Facebook, or they can elect instead to treat themselves. Either way, the coupon can then be redeemed for the Starbucks Ice Cream flavour of the recipient's choice: Caramel Macchiato, Mocha Frappuccino, Java Chip Frappuccino or Coffee. There is a limit of one coupon per household; those who fail at first to get one can keep trying, as a total of some 20,000 free coupons will be given away each day before the contest's end. One part Facebook perk and one part tryvertising, the wisely targeted Starbucks Ice Cream promotion is sure to win many a fan for the new ice cream, particularly since there's almost certainly a significant overlap among devotees of the two brands. Pick the right audience, give away ice cream in July, and it's hard to go wrong! ;-) (Related: Food blogger turned purveyor & intermediary.) Website: www.starbucksicecream.com — apps.facebook.com/starbucksicecream Spotted by: Brandweek via Raymond Kollau |
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