Last summer London premiered with the world’s first eco-nightclub. It sells ecological drinks, has waterless urinals and tries to be green in many other aspects. But what makes this nightclub really special? Your presence is fueling it with free energy.

All you have to do is dance to save the world

Because next to solar energy and a wind turbine you are a solid source of energy. The designers of the nightclub, Club4Climate, managed to develop a dancefloor which can store energy. All you have to do is dance the night away, your movement will trigger power generating blocks that conserve energy. By having fun, you can feel green. How great is that?

It’s especially interesting since it is a good way to create awareness. A lot of green products cost extra money, but this club isn’t more expensive… it’s even cheaper: When you go by foot or bike, you get in for free. And the club hasn’t changed the way you have fun, you can still drink and dance on great music. All it does is interact with you in a subtle way, giving you the feeling that you are doing something good by having fun. And at the same time it feeds you with knowledge about alternative energy sources and the need for a clean world. Everyone wins.

via Dailymail

In an attempt to save the planet (and sell more cars in the proces) Ford is working on a new type of dashboard. The company came up with the idea that drivers will become eco-drivers when they are shown what the results of their driving style is. Unfortunately they completely missed the purpose of a dashboard in the process.

The dashboard they’ve been working on is called SmartGauge. It is actually a big LCD screen that can display all kinds of information. On the display they integrated EcoGuide. This EcoGuide translates your driving style into a plant: when you drive green it shows a full-grown vine with leaves, but when you start driving bad it starts to become brown and die. This way Ford is trying to make you more aware of your driving style. It’s actually the next generation Tamagotchi, which lives or dies depending on your care.

While this may sound like a good idea, the implementation seems to fail. In a demonstration of SmartGauge it becomes clear that technology is leading, at the cost of usability. Because of the LCD screen the engineers must have thought: ‘Hey, this is a great way to pack away a lot of useless information in this car!’ Now the driver will see different screens while driving and even needs a tutorial to explain all the functions. Why is this necessary?

I personally do like the idea of EcoGuide. Not all drivers will embrace this, because they like driving fast and in bursts. But more and more people will be proud to show of that they are indeed living green. This said: wouldn’t it be cool if you could take EcoGuide outside your car. Maybe the vines can be displayed on your carkey, so that people will know how green you really are.