Household helpers are not new to us. Dozens if not hundreds of companies are offering maid services either for short and long term. In this kind of competitive environment, how does one company get themselves out from the deadly red ocean into calm blue ocean. The only way is to differentiate yourself from your competitors and make them irrelevant.
Consider EcoMaids. This company offers environmentally safe green cleaning for homes or businesses. For countries such as the US where LEED standard have been adopted by many companies, LEED certified cleaning services have been a relatively new thing.
EcoMaids uses only non-toxic, chemical-free, all-natural and biodegradable products are used for cleaning without introducing harmful toxins into homes and the environment. Don’t worry, they won’t harm your XBox. Equipment and supplies are even reusable and recyclable.
I can imagine this kind of service being in demand in other parts of the world.
For those who have been following my blogged, I am quite into Green innovations. Anything that has anything to do with cleaning up waste, recycling old products or alternative energy sources will get me excited.
Well…some genius has came up with the idea of using old standard shipping container as pop-up restaurants. The container transforms into a ‘chic fast food’ restaurant in 90 seconds at the touch of a button. Aptly named Müvbox, the container features a fully functional kitchen with enough space for four members of staff and a wood-fired pizza oven.
The walls of the container collapse to create a covered patio with enough room to serve 28 people, half of whom can be seated at small bistro tables. The floor is made from recycled tires and its roof contains solar panels to provide up to 40% of required energy. Fresh, high-quality local products such as lobster rolls, seafood pizza and other local lobster delicacies are for sale. Come to think of it, this idea can be applied for businesses other than food.
As consumers are getting more educated on being environmentally friend, being green becomes a competitive advantage. Companies that do not start thinking green will eventually feel their bottom line affected in the near future just because they cause more damage to the environment compared to their competitors. When energy-saving measures are introduced, such as energy management systems, fluorescent bulbs, ceiling fans, etc., energy bills are much reduced. Being green also means guests, staff and management are healthier.
Countries are beginning to adopt Green ratings to rate how green a hotel is. For example if you go to Greenhotels.com, they even provide listing of hotels that are deemed environmentally friendly. So whether you are in the Outer Banks or Pulau Pangkor, why not start the very first Green Hotel in your area?
What do you get when you get a bunch of people and provide them with Peepoo bag? Well… you get man-made fertilizer.
In certain parts of the world, it is quite alarming that people do not have regular access to a toilet. Without proper water sanitation, people actually die from drinking contaminated water. With this alarming fact, Swedish Peepoople created the Peepoo bag to serve as a personal, portable and low-cost solution. The plastic bag is made of biodegradable plastic measuring 14 by 38 cm. It is lined with a urea-coated gauze layer that disinfects all waste. Used bags are odour-free for at least 24 hours and are safe for burial underground.
Within two to four weeks after use, the contents get converted to high-quality fertilizer, which means it can actually become a source of income for some people. I cannot think of a more ingenious way than the Peepoo bag. Think of it this way, for those who are trapped in a traffic jam or having difficulty looking for a toilet during long distance moving or traveling, this could be your solution.
For countries that have tropical climates, large of amount of energy is being used for air conditioning. Most city dwellers can not live without air conditioning. With El Nino hitting some countries, without a doubt, sales of air conditioning and electricity bills will shoot up.
Aiming to provide a more sustainable alternative, an innovative company recent launched “Evening Bed”, a canopy bed with built-in air conditioner that uses only a fraction of the energy normally used (400 watts on an average). Air is filtered and cooled to a set temperature and humidity level and then gently directed over the sleeper via an upholstered canopy ceiling.
So say goodbye to Vegas vacations to escape the tropical heat wave and say hello to “Evening Breeze”.
Constructions and new developments are one of the main contributors of greenhouse effects. Authorities such as the recently launched Green Building Index Malaysia (GBI Malaysia) have started to pressure contractors and developers be have a more sustainable development approach.
In Indonesia for instance, a company called EcoFaeBrick has achieved a significant breakthrough offering bricks that are made of cattle waste (as in cow poo). They claimed that the bricks are 20% lighter compared to the clay brick but 20% stronger in terms of compressive strength. That’s a great way to utilize waste as methane gas from from cattle waste is also major contributor of green house effects.
I can only see more demands for such products in the future so let us not waste time and start out own “Poo” bricks. The process of making these bricks can even help you to lose appetite which means you don’t even need to use any safe appetite suppressants.
Sustainable living is the way that every consumer should be taking more responsibility. The choice they make when they purchase a product will determine and redefine market opportunities. With the growing concern of increasing rate of deforestation, soon, there will be no more trees left standing. Imagine everywhere you turn your head, you see miles and miles of barren lands.
Furniture makers should start thinking proactively on how they could help to safe the planet. Choices they make when selecting raw materials will have a huge impact on changing the mindset of the suppliers. If strategically done, furniture makers could carve themselves a nice niche market that appeals to eco-driven consumer. Take for example Greenandmore.com. They supply eco furniture ranging from patio furniture and patio furniture covers, that are made from reclaimed, sustainable plantation grown teak and recycled resources. They choose manufacturing process that produces minimal impact to eco system.
Nothing surprises me more. With the improvement of technologies, more and more materials can be used to build better things more efficiently and more importantly, more environmental friendly.
Consider Calfee Design, builder of carbon fiber bike frames since 1988. Their durable frames have been used in world class competitions like the Hawaii Ironman and the Tour de France and the Olympics and some very famous athletes have raced on their bikes.
Calfee Design has came up with a unique material that can be used to make bike frames. Guess what! The material is none other than Bamboo. Some of the added benefits using Bamboo is better vibration damping that results in performance advantage on longer rides.The bike frame is made from Bamboo that has been smoked and heat treated to prevent splitting. Now, that’s what I call real innovation.
We have many avid bikers in Asia. This maybe something that might just interest them.
If you can’t measure how much you weigh, it would be difficult to manage your weight and control your food intake. If you can’t measure your energy consumption effectively, it would be very difficult for you to know where you should reduce your energy consumption. So the old adage “You can’t manage what you can’t measure” holds true here.
When Internet giant Google announced that a new free web application called PowerMeter will be launched to provide users to track exactly how their homes are consuming energy, there is a new hope that we will be more energy efficient and reduce energy wastages.
Most people don’t know how much electricity their appliances use, where in the house they are wasting electricity, or how much the bill might go up during different seasons. The software, still in the prototype stage, can tell users, for example, which appliances in their homes are using the most energy. Using this information, consumers can make intelligent choices about how and where to cut their energy use and electric bills.
Great idea. Now where do I get my hands on those smart meters. Maybe there is a sale some where.
With Malaysia being one of the countries with large coverage of forest reserves, there are many business opportunities there if you explore further. Consider Skytrex Adventure located in Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam Agricultural Park (Taman Pertanian Shah Alam) located in Shah Alam.
This brand new activity revitalises the park’s long forgotten attraction as the Malaysia’s first agricultural park (built 1986) and quite possibly the world’s largest at 1290 hectares. Skytrex is a combination of everything, from canopy walking to tarzan-swinging, gliding, crawling, etc. All this is done at a height of 22meters off the ground.
If you want some fun during your off days, challenge yourself to Skytrex Adventure but don’t forget to buy your travel health insurance first.
