Rather than selling products individually, a subscription sells periodic use or access to a product or service and at the same time become a recurring sale and can build brand loyalty. Subscription/membership model used by industries such as video rentals and magazines is a great way for fledgling entrepreneurs to get a foothold in the food business, creating a steady income and a client base.Cases in point:Milk Made is offering New Yorkers the chance to have a pint of freshly-made ice cream ... Read Full Story

Traditional outdoor and athletic apparel is made from virgin, non-renewable materials, contains questionable chemical treatments, and usually finds its ultimate home in a landfill. This Sports apparel is a huge industry worth billions and is dominated by a few giant brands. A small company from Arlington, Virginia is gathering support across the United States. Which is probably due to their unique angle: its athletic clothing is made from trash. Atayne uses recycled polyester (from post-consu... Read Full Story

There are countless brands of jeans in the market, most of them manufactured all over the world, with components sourced from multiple countries and assembly done in others. If you wear them, chances are, they were made in a sweatshop in China, Mexico or another third world country.In order to compete in the global economy, factory owners agree to produce goods at the low prices demanded by overseas clients. Factory elites and multinational corporations reap the profits, and shoppers around t... Read Full Story

Several studies have shown that children living in households that received plain soap and hand washing educational materials had a 50% lower incidence of pneumonia, a 53% lower incidence of diarrhea and a 34% lower incidence of impetigo.Because of these and other significant findings, it has been proven that hand washing with soap prevents the two diseases that cause the largest number of childhood deaths globally - diarrheal illness and acute lower respiratory infection. Also, hand washing ... Read Full Story

Every year, an estimated 400 million units of obsolete electronics are scrapped. By 2010, this figure will rise to three billion units. While advances in technology continue to improve and enrich our lives, product lifecycles are getting shorter and shorter. And that means an increasing stockpile of end-of-life equipment that needs to be managed. When discarded, much of this equipment ends up in landfills in the US, or is exported to third world countries.Whether ignorant or just plain lazy, ... Read Full Story

What chemicals are in your baby shampoo? Was sweatshop labor used to make your t-shirt? What products are the best, and what products should you avoid? Increasingly, you want to know about the impacts of the products you buy. On your health. On the environment. On society. But unless you’ve got a Ph.D, it is almost impossible to find out the impacts of the products you buy. Until now… GoodGuide is an information clearinghouse for green consumers, integrating hundreds of databases... Read Full Story

Imagine browsing at your leisure through an extensive international fashion wardrobe and choosing exactly what you want. Swapping clothes is a huge step towards sustainable living. By sharing what we already have, we are cutting down our consumption massively and reduce our carbon footprint.There are a few examples of businesses that allow consumers to buy, sell, rent and trade used clothing, including Closet Infinite. Providing a slightly different twist on the notion, however, is thredUP, w... Read Full Story

Gasometers or gasholders--huge storage containers for the gas used in heating and cooking--were built in many cities during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, when gas was a commercial byproduct of coal mining, steelmaking, and other industrial processes. Today, many of the old gasometers have been replaced by pipelines and tank farms, but a few are being adapted to new uses.In 1896 the Viennese authorities decided to invest in large-scale gas and electric utilities, so they constructed ... Read Full Story

In a world wrapped up in global supply chains, small farmers can only sell to supermarkets and get less cash for your carrots, or spend a lot of time and effort trying to sell directly to customers. Consumers, meanwhile, are torn between loyalty to local businesses and the convenience of those established supply chains.Now a German farm, Peter-und-Paul-Hof, has found a solution in the form of... vending machines. The result of a collaboration between the farm and vending manufacturer Stuewer... Read Full Story

With Apple selling hundreds of million iPods worldwide, the potential for Ewaste in huge. They don't last forever, and tempting new models are always just around the corner. There are alternatives: used or broken iPods could be sold on eBay, where hundreds of Apple's music players are listed for sale for parts or refurbishing. But many consumers can't be bothered with finding out how to list a product, and don't want to deal with potential customers.Buying broken iPods from co... Read Full Story