Tag Archives: Sarah Barker

Moonshine cologne distills a retro male attitude

December 13, 2011 – 3:07 pm

by Sarah Barker WHAT’S HAPPENING Packed in a wooden crate and coddled in a homemade burlap sack, the plain glass flask of clear Moonshine cologne distills a Prohibition-era rogue-ish attitude (CNN.com, 21 November 2011). The idea for the fragrance was brewed by three Georgia fraternity brothers to appeal to a rakish Southern, fedora-and-suspender sensibility. The […]

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My Body Gallery showcases real women

October 4, 2011 – 3:39 pm

by Sarah Barker WHAT’S HAPPENING Blame it on airbrushing or the larger societal (mis)conceptions of being beautiful; whatever the cause, 95% of healthy women reportedly overestimate the size of their waist and hips, though they could correctly eyeball the width of a box. My Body Gallery wants to refocus the way women see their bodies […]

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Bergmönch eliminates the downside of mountain hiking

September 27, 2011 – 1:45 pm

by Sarah Barker WHAT’S HAPPENING Mountain hiking enthusiasts can ascend with the folded Bergmönch scooter in backpack mode, unfold it and coast back down standing or kneeling (Coolest-Gadgets.com, 14 July 2011). The backpack/scooter was developed to eliminate stress on joints caused by descending and to turn anticlimactic downward drudgery into a thrilling ride. The lightweight […]

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Crowdfunding helps patients cover medical expenses on GiveForward

May 11, 2011 – 9:29 am

by Sarah Barker WHAT’S HAPPENING Artists seek funding through crowdsourced Kickstarter and small businesses via Kiva: Now patients can seek donations to cover medical expenses through GiveForward. Between stratospheric medical costs and ever less sure insurance, patients are seeking private donations to help pay for chronic conditions and medical emergencies. A patient, friend or family […]

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Toepener makes a hands-free, sanitary restroom entrance

March 10, 2011 – 11:19 am

by Sarah Barker WHAT’S HAPPENING Opportunity knocked and a group of business students at the University of Minnesota opened the door, using their feet. Their product, the Toepener, is designed to be installed near the floor and provides a hands- and germ-free operation of restroom doors. The group, Forge, LLC, aims to develop products that […]

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Baby burp on your shoulder: Target gets it

January 26, 2011 – 9:01 am

by Sarah Barker WHAT’S HAPPENING Goodbye, pristine mom calmly cuddling blue-eyed baby; hello, real world. Target’s new baby ads, dubbed Big Baby Billboard, focus on the chaos and absurdity of parenting (AdAge.com, 29 December 2010). Responding to parent research, Target moved from idealism to realism in their advertising, focusing on the baby rather than the […]

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Walgreens goes greener with geothermal energy

December 14, 2010 – 12:12 pm

by Sarah Barker WHAT’S HAPPENING In suburban Chicago, the Oak Park Walgreens is the first drugstore to use geothermal energy for heating and cooling, reducing its energy usage by an estimated 46% (MatterNetwork.com, 11 November 2010). Walgreens worked with Evanston, IL-based Indie Energy to install the system. A kiosk in the store shows customers the […]

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Fit after 50: Welcyon works out for seniors

December 7, 2010 – 4:58 pm

by Sarah Barker WHAT’S HAPPENING No clanking weights, no posing, no 20something showoffs — Minnesota-based gym Welcyon is designed for people 50 and older who want the same energy, health and strength to enjoy life as their younger cohorts (StarTribune.com, 23 October 2010). Welcyon combines science (we lose 70% of our muscle mass as we […]

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Elkay fights the battle of the bottle the EZH2O way

November 30, 2010 – 3:49 pm

by Sarah Barker WHAT’S HAPPENING Don’t call them simple water fountains. Elkay’s EZH2O bottle-filling stations keep track of how many plastic bottles aren’t being used. As we filled our reusable water bottle at the Elkay EZH2O water station at the University of Minnesota, the counter at eye level turned over to 10,837 — the number […]

By Iconoculture | Posted in Consumer Trend, Green, Sustainability | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off

GINKs make no little carbon footprints, and no excuses

November 4, 2010 – 8:51 am

by Sarah Barker WHAT’S HAPPENING Personal choice and societal pressure come together in GINKs (Green Inclinations No Kids), who have one lightly treading foot on the earth and the other in the child-free-by-choice camp (Grist.org, October 2010). Environmental activist and GINK poster child Stephanie Mills declared she wouldn’t have children for green reasons. Eat, Pray, […]

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Cambridge citations befriend guilty drivers

October 15, 2010 – 7:41 am

by Sarah Barker WHAT’S HAPPENING To encourage a better karmic connection between parking police and drivers, the city of Cambridge, MA, printed 40,000 tickets illustrated with yoga poses that the driver and officer can perform together (Good.is 9.22.10). The project is the brainchild of Rhode Island School of Design professor and artist-in-residence Daniel Peltz, who […]

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Travelers and agents are Mad As Hell About Hidden Fees

September 30, 2010 – 8:58 pm

by Sarah Barker WHAT’S HAPPENING The American Society of Travel Agents, the Consumer Travel Alliance and the Business Travel Coalition launched MadAsHellAboutHiddenFees.com to garner support and lobby the Department of Transportation to mandate full transparency about extra fees (Current.Newsweek.com 9.8.10). The group named September 23, 2010 (the day they present their petition to the DOT) […]

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Wrangling and redeeming points is the Art of Vacationing

September 16, 2010 – 6:45 am

by Sarah Barker WHAT’S HAPPENING Loyalty programs, credit card points — there’s a free trip in there somewhere but how to actually arrange it? That’s the Art of Vacationing, a travel service that turns miles and points into a real trip (USAToday.com 8.3.10). Instead of spending hours with websites and recorded phone menus, points hoarders […]

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Citizen grocery: H-E-B opens made-to-order store

August 20, 2010 – 5:54 am

by Sarah Barker WHAT’S HAPPENING Fresh, local produce? Aisle 1. Curbside valet service? Done. Organic beef and poultry? Sure thing. Grocery chain H-E-B incorporated customers’ requests in building its new 68,000-square-foot market in Dripping Springs, TX (BlancoCountyNews.com 7.21.10). If they don’t carry a product, they’ll order it. Some other shopper-generated features include a sushi bar, […]

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Best Buy administers pro bono “life support” to children’s hospitals

July 23, 2010 – 2:35 pm

by Sarah Barker WHAT’S HAPPENING Because maintaining a cyber lifeline can be critical to many members of Gen We, a Minneapolis-based Best Buy set up a “tech precinct” in Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, complete with Geek Squad agents (USAToday.com 6.16.10). Hospital planners integrated videogames and WiFi as part of the healing environment. A […]

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