IKEA program seeks to brighten lives of refugees in UN camps
A two-month campaign to raise funds to provide solar-powered lighting in refugee camps run by the UN has been launched by an international home-furnishings company. The IKEA Foundation will donate just over one US dollar to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) for every LED light bulb it sells in its stores around the world. The […]
Sphere Project Training
California Baptist University is hosting an official Sphere Project Training, which provides the learner with global recognition as a Disaster Responder. “The Sphere Project is a voluntary initiative that brings a wide range of humanitarian agencies together around a common aim – to improve the quality of humanitarian assistance and the accountability of humanitarian actors to their constituents, donors and […]
Disaster-Ready Shop
Tully’s Coffee Japan Co. opened its new environmentally friendly and disaster-conscious concept shop in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward. To make it environmental friendly the shop is equipped with rooftop solar panels, storage batteries, and an EcoCute electric water heater that can supply 420 liters of hot water in emergency situations. It is also furnished with water-saving toilets that […]
Fantastic Plastic
In today’s consumer world, plastic is everywhere—from plentiful stores of bottled water to disposable plasticware to the containers that hold our store-bought food. It seems like you can’t go out shopping without running into a good deal of plastic. And while this material is strong, reliable, and undoubtedly useful, we also may have way too […]
Use Earthquakes to monitor them
No doubt earthquakes have tremendous power – for: break things. It would be much smarter to use the brute forces of nature for something meaningful. This though in mind, a student of the New Zealand Victoria University developed a seismic sensor, which is driven by the force of the earthquake that he just studied and documented. […]
Map system tracks hurricane / escape routes
Google has updated its Crisis Map to cover Hurricane Sandy, with a view to helping people survive the weather event. The map can be used to track the storm, as well as provide regional alerts and other information that would be useful in such an emergency, and is similar to the Crisis Map used by […]
Satellite blinks Morse code
A new form of satellite will paint Morse code in the sky. The satellites are cube-shaped and can create any message out of Morse code in the night sky. Once launched and fully developed, they could serve any number of functions. The satellites could blink emergency alters in times of disaster, they could send messages […]
Sony protects forests in Sumatra
The technology giant, Sony, is working to protect the forests in Sumatra. In 2011, Sony began preservation efforts on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, with the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) Japan. The forests, full of rich biological diversity, have shrunk drastically. Now, radical action must be taken to save the wildlife. Recently, […]
Walk, run or bike to clean power
The nPOWER PEG harvests kinetic energy from motion such as walking, running or biking. It then uses this energy to charge hand-held electronic devices. The project is currently looking for funding on Indiegogo. The goal is to deliver 100 generators to high-risk areas that are off-the-grid, but that use mobile devices. “Over half a billion mobile […]
CDRN – an efficient way to give aid
The Corporate Disaster Resource Network is a supply chain management system that gives access to information, services and products that emergency humanitarian aid groups need. The mission of CDRN is, “Facilitating an efficient real time supply chain management system for effective deployment of resources – financial, material, volunteers and skilled professionals for preparedness, response and […]
