The Story of Cosmetics

After a week of nonstop internet chatter about (and with) the Old Spice Man, we get this great video firing back at the makers of our personal care products.

This is the fourth installment of a terrific video series which began with the must-see Story of Stuff. With these videos, Annie Leonard and Free Range Studios have done an amazing job of taking big complex issues and explaining them in a way that even a child could understand.

This looks like such a simple idea, yet brilliantly executed. The UPACKS concept by Patrick Sung is a sheet of cardboard that can be folded to ship packages of any shape, thus saving on unnecessary filler. It would also save space in delivery trucks, which saves fuel. Yay!

(via Inhabitat)

Best Buy, the Mecca of electronic doodads and thingamabobs, is ramping up its sustainability initiatives with an ambitious plan to collect one billion pounds of e-waste over the next five years.

It’s a clever marketing move—as consumers become more aware of the issues surrounding e-waste, they will increasingly want to shop at responsible electronics retailers. And Best Buy is firmly establishing itself as the easiest retailer for e-waste recycling.

Accepting responsibility for old stuff in order to sell more new stuff. Not exactly a wash, but it’s a huge step in the right direction.

(via bmdesign)

A weird and wonderful animation by Stephen Ong:

This animated short looks at the Human Machine and it’s obsession with consumption.

I’m not sure if this is cool or annoying… Maybe a little of both, but I applaud their efforts. The German line of 100% organic and biodegradable personal care products uses clean design with nice hand-written typography to remind its users to conserve water. Hopefully they’ll add larger bottles to the line if they truly want to be less wasteful.

(via Re-Nest)

Big news here at Modern Evolution! We’re currently in the running for outdoor clothing brand Nau’s $10,000 Grant for Change. As a business committed to design and sustainability, Nau is awarding the grant to someone whose design instigates positive change in the world. That’s what we’re all about here… you’d be a fool not to vote for us!

Please take a moment to go to the Grant for Change site, create a quick account (it takes about a minute, no email list obligation), then cast your vote.

If you’re not familiar with Nau’s exquisite clothing line, here’s a quick sample…

If we win, all of your wildest dreams will come true!

www.nau.com

This new interactive data visualization for GE is a pretty neat way to calculate which household items are most costly in terms of watts, dollars, or gallons of gas. By clicking on and off the icons, you can customize it for your own home. Apparently heating and cooling appliances (central air, water heater, furnace) are the biggest hogs in your house, so they should get the most attention. The site also shows how long it would take for a new Energy Star appliance to pay for itself in savings.

The design of the site is by none other than Pentagram. Check out some of the nice icons they made below.

(via swissmiss)

This is a really cool concept submitted to GOOD Magazine’s contest for Everyday Solutions to Extraordinary Problems:

Made from zero-porosity rip-stop nylon, heat-transferred reflective striping, velcro, and batting, the bike chain cover serves a few purposes all at once: protecting clothing from a dirty chain, providing some padding to the chain making it more comfortable to wear, protecting the chain from exposure and rust, and protecting the safety of the rider by providing an extra reflectivity for motorists to notice.

Submitted to GOOD by Jill Allyn Peterson.

Domestic Transformer

Holy minimalism! Hong Kong architect Gary Chang is a master of efficient living. Using a sliding wall system and smart lighting solutions, he can convert his tiny apartment into 24 different rooms.

(via)

Beck - “Timebomb” video

This is a couple years old now, but still good. It features artist Chris Jordan’s “Running the Numbers” series which shockingly highlights the piles of stuff we consume in our lives. I imagine these numbers are even higher by now.