When a guy goes into the bathroom, which urinal does he pick?
posted by Premeditated Symmetry Breaking on Sep 2, 2009 - 163 comments

Eartheasy is about sustainable living. It offers information, activities and ideas which help us live more simply, efficiently and with less impact on the environment. [more inside]
posted by netbros on Jan 8, 2009 - 9 comments

Fuelly tracks your gas mileage over time, helping you save fuel and expenses as you drive.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Aug 21, 2008 - 52 comments

Our Decrepit Food Factories. Michael Pollan on what sustainability is really about. [Via Gristmill.]
posted by homunculus on Dec 18, 2007 - 27 comments

The Case for Resilience. How Efficiency Maximizes Catastrophe.
posted by homunculus on Aug 15, 2007 - 23 comments

Better living through Smallistry at Smallist. Gadgets, spaces, beverages, fetishes: ultra-niche blogging at its finest. [via mefi projects]
posted by cortex on Mar 24, 2007 - 19 comments

Wayne Gerdes, king of the hypermilers
posted by MetaMonkey on Jan 3, 2007 - 31 comments

Ever wonder how toilet efficiency is tested? With pictorial goodness of the, errr, test subjects. (mildy NSFW)
posted by greatgefilte on Oct 22, 2006 - 30 comments

Designing the Next Industrial Revolution [google video], an inspiring talk by William McDonough on design and ecology, beyond sustainability. Starts a little slow, but builds a powerful vision of a possible future. [transcript, via, see also]
posted by MetaMonkey on Jul 26, 2006 - 5 comments

A new study suggests that, over the course of its lifetime, a Hummer H3 has a lower energy cost per mile than all currently offered hybrid vehicles.
posted by driveler on Apr 19, 2006 - 91 comments

There are an infinite number of things you could be doing. No matter what you work on, you're not working on everything else. So the question is not how to avoid procrastination, but how to procrastinate well. (via slashdot)
posted by Chuckles on Dec 25, 2005 - 24 comments

A more efficient microbe genome. A more efficient sorting algorithm. A more efficient keyboard layout.
posted by fatllama on Aug 26, 2005 - 8 comments

Shell Eco Marathon UK is coming up in England (6-7 july). It is a race not for the swift, but for those who can drive immense distances in super-efficient vehicles. Two years ago, the current world record of 10,706 MPG was set at one of these events. The lessons learned are useful in development in other fuel-efficient cars, such as the 100 MPG Honda Insight. Interesting in these times of high oil prices, then, when considering that despite tactical driving, normal petrol cars rarely get better than 45 MPG. Diesels are slightly better, as illustrated on BBC Top Gear, where Clarkson drives an Audi A8 from London to Edinburgh and back on a single tank of diesel. That's 800 miles.
posted by SharQ on Jun 25, 2005 - 13 comments

Obsession: Mr. Singh’s Search for the Holy Grail American visionaries, cranks and con men have long sought the simple key to boosting the efficiency of the gasoline engine. Now a barefoot tinkerer in India believes he has unlocked the door. Is he for real?
posted by Shanachie on Jan 2, 2005 - 14 comments

The end of the light bulb? E. Fred Schubert, a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute "claims to have invented a 99-percent efficient reflector that promises to speed the replacement of light bulbs with LEDs." According to researchers, this could happen within the next five years. The current prototype is bankrolled by the ARPA and The National Science Foundation "recently award Schubert's team a $210,000 grant to create in three years a commercial version of his patented omnidirectional reflector."

"Schubert claimed that lighting accounts for 25 percent of U.S. electrical energy consumption. Since white LEDs emit more light per dollar and generate less unwanted heat, they are potentially a major energy saver." (see EE Times link)

Meanwhile, some of the oldtimers seem to be pretty refractory.
posted by tcp on Jul 24, 2004 - 10 comments

347 square feet? Hyper-efficient living space.
posted by yoga on Jul 5, 2004 - 59 comments

Gizmodo + Cool Tools + Whole Earth Catalog = Meta-efficient -a "guide to the most efficient things in the world."
posted by luser on Jun 3, 2004 - 8 comments

He gives a whole new meaning to the word "Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy." NY Times
posted by crunchland on May 1, 2001 - 138 comments