reuse

Food storage bags have revolutionized how we store edibles for longer periods of time, divide bulk bags into healthy portions, and pack lunches for workdays. The problem is that we use millions of them every year, and many of them end up in oceans, rivers, and landfills. Since they're not biodegradable, they end up staying there for a long time.

I'm certainly guilty of using the bags: on any given day, I'll use at least one, whether it's in a packed lunch or to bag dinner leftovers. I try to limit my use of them, but … Read more

The first time I walked into a West Elm store, I knew I would fall in love with it. The company focuses on organic housewares, both in design aesthetic and in the materials they use, and I got a good feeling when I looked around at the natural bamboo furniture and painted branches.

It's this kind of mindful design that is growing increasingly popular, as our concern for the planet waxes and our tastes for expensive luxuries from synthetic material correspondingly wanes. But the pieces that end up in stores like West Elm are no less beautiful than those … Read more

Imagine you wanted to create the Kindle killer, a revolutionary e-book device that matched and improved upon its functionality. What would you do? Well, you could, Mission Impossible-style, break into Amazon's Seattle headquarters and carry off the source code for the Kindle, then copy and extend its functionality to create a competitive device.

Or you could simply download the Kindle's source code from Amazon.com, where Amazon has already released the source code to the Kindle.

In fact, as TechCrunch rightly notes, the Kindle source code has been available since 2007.

Given this fact, why haven't you … Read more

You might remember Gigoit, a service we covered early last year. Much like Freecycle it's set up to let you get rid of, and browse through other people's, junk. The site is littered with things like old lawn mowers, television sets, and anything else that was once useful and is now taking up space.

Up until now the only way to get the directory was to go through the site or use the service's Facebook app; however, there's a new iPhone app called LocalReuse that lets you see which of these items is nearby based on … Read more

Longing for a stylish way to create more storage in your tiny kitchen? Borrow a solution from one of the tiniest food-prep areas known to man: the airplane kitchen. Thanks to trendy travel retailer Flight 001, you can get your hands on a vintage airline food cart for use as a dry bar, serving vessel, or kitchen storage.

The carts were actually used on planes, so they come complete with small dents and scratches. Fortunately, Flight 001 has prettied up the exterior with a number of groovy finishes to appeal to your modern sensibilities. Inside you'll find a retractable … Read more