Changespotting: Virtual water

The wonder material graphene. Photo / Thinkstock

The Virtual Water project visually represents the quantities of water required in bringing you much of your day-to-day food and drink. The movement is represented in a popular poster designed by Timm Kekeritz that uses a water droplet graphic to represent every 50 litres of water required to grow barley, coffee, produce beef and more. A Virtual Water iPhone app is now available that might make a difference next time you're at the supermarket choosing between tea and coffee.

Graphene creates electricity when struck by light
The wonder material graphene, first isolated in 2004, has been attributed with an interesting new property in the form of electricity production. Silicon solar panels are only able to sense some wavelengths from the sun, but if solar panels can be made from graphene they should be cheaper to produce and will be sensitive to far more of the light spectrum.

Films on fridges
It's not exactly pretty but Films on Fridges, an event held during summer in front of London's Olympic site, certainly illustrates the extent of unwanted waste that contributes to increasing landfill. The initiative was a pop-up cinema that screened classic athletic films and everything from the screen's scaffolding to furnishings and the refreshments booth were constructed from old fridge parts.