Changespotting: People power may pave the way

Is there a way to use crowd power to generate electricity? Photo / Supplied

British entrepreneur Laurence Kemball-Cook has spent the last several years developing Pavegen, paving tiles that harness the kinetic energy of foot traffic to generate electricity. Anyone who has ever visited London can understand why this is an ideal location for their plans to harvest enough energy to power all the lighting for a Westfield shopping centre in Stratford City. Via Inhabitat.

A sinking feeling?
Here's a simple and award-winning design concept: the Ecocubo is a sink design for residential bathrooms that allows you to recycle your grey water and occupies very little space. It stores water from hand-washing in a bucket beneath it for re-using around the house or in the garden.

Get woken up in a retro way
Electronic sounds are ubiquitous in modern life, from your cellphone ringing to the tones on your computer. This design offers a gentle reprieve from these often grating sounds; it is an acoustic alarm clock that softly plucks at strings like those on a guitar to wake you each morning. The design has also done away with a glaring digital clock face.