Saving the world one beer at a time- casually

How much energy is wasted each year powering our fridges and keeping our soda's, beers and ciders cool? Well I know it's a lot when you consider that you could be keeping your beverages cooled naturally.

eCool is a product developed by four guys from a small town in Denmark that utilizes the damp and cold of the earth to keep your drinks chilled. The eCool system is placed deep in to the cool earth (about a metre underground) and uses the natural dampness and cold atmosphere of the soil to keep each 33cl can refridgerated all year round. 

The eCool is a perfect camping accesory for those who want to crack open a cool beer in front of the fire with their friends, and it would also be perfect for storing fizzy drink cans at a family barbeque with its 24 can capacity. It's a convenient and organic way of storing and cooling your drinks and as it requires no electricity think of all the oil you're preventing from being fracked. All you need to do to get a cool drink is crank the handle and rotate the belt that keeps the cans stored, and suddenly all the cool berevages you could possibly want all for the cost of $369.

Oh SNAP!

Freedom to create is probably the best gift out there, and with SNAP you have the freedom to turn anything in to a coffee table, auxiliary table, desk or side table all with a simple assembly system that allows you to design your own furniture and change any space in to what you want it to be.

SNAP allows you to turn boards and surfaces in to tables that are portable, versatile and easy to create. There's no need to drill holes or make table legs, all you do is pull down the flexible portion of SNAP to fit around your desired table surface, then tighten the cable until your SNAP is securely in place. And voila!

SNAP is set up in seconds and you've got a sturdy table at the ready. That surfboard that gets in the way a little bit? Now it's a funky coffee table. An old chessboard sitting in the cupboard unused? Now a quirky side table to compliment your room.

SNAP has endless possibilities and easy set-up so that you can personalize your living space in a few, simple steps. And you don't have to use the conventional four SNAP's in making your table, you can use three for a more conventional feel, or two if you plan to rest your surface against the wall. You don't have to worry about it falling apart because it is literally fall proof. Prices start on Kickstarter from $60 for two SNAP's, to $80 for three and $110 for four, depending on what you want to do with your living space.

Get Passive Aggressive!

I've left a few post it note rants in my time that end up spanning three separate notes - double sided might I add - which is when the Post-It Note Roller would have come in handy. The Post-It Note Roller lets you get your notes down without having to cram it all on one sheet, allowing you to roll out as much as you need all in one pretty pink go. 

No more restricted telling offs in the office, no more post-it notes losing their stick and fluttering around the place; with the Post-It Roller you can literally paste your notes on any surface as if laying down wallpaper. 

The Post-It Note Roller is spunky and fun, letting you be creative with your notes; making a great gift for the 'passive aggressive' post-it note culprit in your dorm room. And at roughly £8 it's a nice filler present. 

Show off

You've got precious items that need showing off but you don't want to leave them in a cabinet when the only time the eye is draw to them is when they get dusty? Then you should definitely store your trinket in a Showcase Mirror. 

The Showcase Mirror is your conventional glass mirror except for it has a plexiglass bubble formed over the middle center which provides a reasonably sized space for you to store your prized possessions and showpieces in a way that's a little more creative and unique than putting it on a shelf. The bubble makes it appear as if your souvenir is floating; genius! 

There really is no limit as to the stuff you can store behind the bubble of a Showcase mirror; be it your flowers, a necklace, a delicate piece of china or even some kids toys to spruce up their room a bit. Whatever you have that you want showed off to the world, you can put it in a Showcase Mirror. There's something almost poetic about the display of floating art. 

Designers Studio Thier&VanDaalen created their own machine which allows them to form plexiglass panels in organic curved shapes which make all of their Showcase Cabinets look as breath taking and magical as they are. And if your article is too big for the Showcase Mirror then maybe the line of Curator Cabinets is for you; with an all over plexiglass bubble to display larger items. 

Utilize the outdoors

It's always important to have critical supplies when venturing out in to the wild (I mean the forest, not the streets; it's not that wild out there, jeez) and there's no better way to carry what you need in a compact way than with a VSSL canister of outdoor utility tools. 

A flashlight is one of the most primary camping tools out there; so it's essential for a VSSL to have a high efficiency LED light attached to the end of the canister for quick and easy use. And within the canister you'll find all sorts of useful equipment perfect for your camping, hiking and outdoor adventures all in mini capsules; Such as first aid kids, a compass, candles, a razor blade, aqua tablets, a wire saw, an emergency whistle, water proof matches, tinder (not the app!), fishing gear and a punch of other stuff. Everything you could possibly need in a crisis. 

The aluminium VSSL tube is 9" by 2"; perfectly compact and totally durable with its military grade aluminium casing which is weather resistant. 

VSSL come in four forms; the Supplies canister, First Aid canister, Shelter canister and the Blank/Empty canister. The latter of which allows you to store all your emergency items securely with the VSSL flashlight on the canisters head. Prices for VSSL's range from $49-$105; a great price for a small and easily accessible emergency pack. 

Get Keyed in!

So you've got a key chain full of keys; your car keys, your house keys, your partners house keys, your folks' house key and that miscellaneous key you know opens something but you haven't quite worked out what that something is yet. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. And you can't sneak anywhere without making a noise all thanks to that noisy little wind chime hanging off your belt loop.

Well good thing there's a solution. The KeyDisk (number two and one) are awesome key companions that fit up to nine keys in a tiny, compact disk, therefore making it easier to access what you need when you need it whilst it's tucked away safely in the meantime.

KeyDisk is sleek, simple and geometric; ace for all of those people you know who have more keys than sense my friend. Now you don't have to keep all those tacky key chains people gift you for birthday because they don't know what to get you; leaving your pocket light weight and your keys secure in its durable frame constructed from aluminium. And as an added extra KeyDisk features a bottle opener in its center; absolutely great for those get away days with your mates.

The KeyDisk two isn't just for keys, it's for all your wallet essentials; such as membership cards, flash drives, car remotes and other junk that you might need. And at $25 you can get your KeyDisk tidy tool in either Gun Metal Gray or Onyx Black. Smooth, a very much an essential part of daily living. 

Shave it for later

Exams are coming up and there's no better way to get yourself organised than to begin with your pens, pencils and other stationary. (Okay, maybe revision is best, but pretty and functional things never fail to make everything better.) And if you do want to get yourself in order, then this Pencil Shaving Desk Tidy by UK based designer Clive Roddy is the perfect, quirky little accessory to get ready to hardcore hit the books. 

This neat and fun Desk Tidy was designed to mimic a giant pencil shaving, in which the natural spiral shape of the shavings provides a space to keep your abundance of stationary tidily stored away. Each Pencil Shaving Desk Tidy is handcrafted from sustainable Birch Plywood and can either be hand painted in any of the three primary colours; Yellow, Blue and Red, the colours you get on most pencils. 

Pencil Shaving Desk Tidy has a large storage capacity that lets you store up to 75 pencils, brushes, rulers you name it... The plywood spiral lets you organize yourself stuff in to separate sections between the layers of ply, keeping them compactly and amusingly stored. And for just £25 you can get your hands on a Pencil Shaving Desk Tidy; and I really can see these making a cool adornment to any studious kids desk, or even in the middle of the table in an art room to spruce the place up a bit. 

Pedal to the Metal

Finally Diesel have created something relevant to their namesake; a whole collection of home ware and lifestyle products aimed at the mechanical edge of design. The Machine, Transmission, Lace Race and DIY collections by Diesel use the aesthetic elements of mechanics to create an awesome display of items.

In the Transmission collection, you've got candlesticks modeled to look like actual transmission pieces with a porcelain body painted an antique bronze colour to pick out the natural industrial colours of the car parts, bringing a motor-driven edge to the art of laying your table; great for masculinizing any room. 

And if you're looking for a place to store your keys and loose change then these large porcelain jars from the Machine Collection are great for storing all your crap. The thread detail in the porcelain looks artistically extraordinary, and the theme of these jars is shared in the design of these Diesel glasses; both managing to bring a minimalist style to a warehouse and junkyard themed design. 

By far the best design in the new style is the DIY flatware cutlery, made of your bulk standard knife, fork and spoon set except for they've got an awesome spanner head and handle. They're so authentic in their design that you'll probably end up with these in the toolbox and your actual spanners in the cutlery draw. Much like a kid with their special knife and fork set, any motor head would feel young again with these to cut their stake with. 

Last but not least in Diesels range of motor themed home ware is their Lace Race collection; which is a series of different sized towels in varying colours, displaying several different car parts. You've got the dark grey bath towel with a nut and bolt car part displayed on the front, the gears in the background giving amazing detail to the towel and lending to the overall mechanical vibe of the material. 

All I know is these would make great gifts to any tinkerer out there. And if you're interested in buying some then you can get some of the newer designs at the Diesel website, whilst several special items (such as the mars plate) are available at Fancy.  

Precision Bites!

Now this Tool Pen Mini is the perfect pen pal for any crafty tinkerer out there who always gets stuck in and fiddling about with electronics, watches and other intricate objects. Tool Pen Mini is a smaller and more intricate version of Tool Pen which producers mininch ran on Kickstarter in 2014, and is there to cater to all the tiny screws out there; hence the slender tips and mini sizing of the pen that's built and designed for excellent precision. 

What makes the Tool Pen Mini innovative is it's "Pop-a-Point" nature, which allows you to pull screw-bits out of the bottom of the pen to slip them in to the top and cycle through pieces until you get the bit you need; perfect for cutting down the need to have tons of tiny screwdrivers and other tools lying around, instead compacting them all down in to one sturdy chamber. Tool Pen Mini is also light weight and portable, easy for you to carry around.

To help you tell which bit is where in the sequence of bits within the chamber the bit sizes and icons are printed on every facet of the bit, with windows in the side of the pen allowing you to see where they are in the cycle. 

The cap on the top of the pen makes it pocket perfect, with a magnetic lid that means the cap won't pop off whilst the clip on the side lets you keep it firmly in place. And the material of the Tool Pen Mini means it's more than capable of competing with the best mini tools out there; a firmly cast aluminium that can deal with every day wear and tear whilst still being an attractive accomplice.

Good things come to those who weight!

'Tis the season to be healthy and to help get you pumped and prepared for the beginning of a summer chock full of marathons, fun run's and endurance challenges here are some great fitness finds from the internet. 

By far the most superior product in the weights category are these Body Power Revolution Adjustable Dumbbell pair which allow for you to effortlessly turn your wrist to pick up anywhere between two to twenty kilo's of weight per dumbbell. 

That's right; no more man handling weights and fiddling to secure them to your handle, this lets you easily pump out 10 reps at four kilo before setting them down in the cradle, turning your wrist to the correct setting for you to pick up twenty kilo's! Genius! It takes the fuss out of curling and makes it so much easier for you to do a full set rather than go full speed ahead. 

With the Power Body Adjustable Dumbbell's it literally is twist and go! They're a convenient and attractive piece of gym equipment that saves you from having to have stacks of loose weight lying around. And speaking from hands on experience they really are amazing; they feel great and have a sturdy hand grip that locks the weight on firmly, balancing them correctly so you can get the most out of your workout. Sadly though is the price; at £350 they will set you back quite a bit. If you're a gym fanatic and would more than likely rack up the bills buying individual items, this is a great substitute, but otherwise I would shop around. 

Another piece of innovative fitness equipment are these products by Lucie Koldova who seems to merge everyday furniture with exercise equipment, creating pieces that can be readily used around the home and are concealed when not in use. 

Lucie Koldova's fitness furniture consists of Wardrobes that double as pull up bars, and tables that when tipped on to their legs give a space to do vertical knee lifts and other core, back and arm focused exercises. One of the best quality's of the designs is their modern black colour and subdued curves which make for attractive furniture on your lazy days. 

So it's bikini season and if you're thinking about getting your skin out but not quite happy with your abs, the Ab Coaster PS500 Exercise machine is perfect for you. It targets your core; working your upper and lower stomach muscles as well as your obliques by training the muscles from the bottom up - unlike traditional crunches - redefining the way we tone our bodies.

The steel rails of Ab Coaster provide a sturdy and very durable platform for your to continuously work out your core, letting you go at your own pace so that you can control your stomach muscles better. A digital workout counter attached to the machine will keep track of your progress. Ab Coaster works your abs without any neck damage, painful tail bone rubbing and is great for anyone who suffers with back problems. An ideal piece of work out equipment for all ages.

If you're a climber who loves to get involved with your exercise whole heartedly using feet and hand eye co-ordination, then the Jacob's Ladder would be an awesome challenge for you. Jacob's Ladder is a climbing machine with ladder type runs on a non motorized treadmill, which allow you to climb at your own pace; the faster you go the faster it goes, Jacob's Ladder is an ace piece of equipment for cardio and strengthening workouts, increasing heart rate quicker than other machines so that you enjoy a full on workout with a lowered risk of impact damage on joints and back due to the natural 40 degree incline angle.

Jacob's Ladder also has a digital readout, telling you your elapsed time, number of feet climbed, calorie burn and heart rate. Promoting good health and a steady exercise rate through fun exercise.

Tip: The best way to work to your goal is to sign up for a marathon or some sort of run; even though you're not ready to do one, it gives you something to work towards. And with a number of awesome runs such as Tough Mudder, The Big Colour Run, Spartan Race and Zombie Run all happening over the summer season you've got a great selection of crazy races to take part in that allow you to do your bit to raise money for charity! Incentive is a great way to get out there and motivated!

Craighton Berman

Designer Craighton Berman really impresses with his prototypes, products and sketch ideas so I thought I'd talk about some of his awesome inventions and what makes them so amazing and innovative. 

First of all is the Coil Lamp which is a genius design composed of only a laser cut acrylic lamp frame and a long length of electrical wire, designed to coil around the frame to make the volume of the lamp's shape. The lamp challenges convention by making the electrical component the main attention, the coiled design doing all of the aesthetic work as well as the functional. Coil Lamp is so well proclaimed that it's a permanent fixture in the Art Institute of Chicago as part of the "Rethinking Typologies" Exhibition which features many creative designs. 

Another of Craighton Berman's witty designs is the Daily Aspirations collection of bedside trophy's created to inspire daily aspirations. 'Fiscal Responsibility' is the trophy made to keep your wallet at hand and remind you of your monetary duty's, whilst 'Honest Communication' provides a neat space to keep your mobile docked, helping to remind you to be friendly, and last but not least 'Civic Engagement' which provides a nice nest to keep loose keys in place. These trophy's act as a gentle reminded to stay happy throughout the day and to live up the message on each trophy. Although they do also make an attractive trio of functional trophy's to keep your gadgets in. 

The last of Berman's stylish products I'd like to talk about is his highly practical 'Stimulation' mug and ash tray combination. Stimulation is a helpful stack-able mug and ash tray which allow you to get your daily fix of legal drugs in the form of caffeine and nicotine. It's a simplistic design that allows for an easy stimulation boost and can be tidily stacked. 

You big softy

If you're worried about your precious cups and saucers getting chips and cracks, then fear no more because the Soft Cabinet by Dewi Vani De Klomp offers a way for you to softly store all of your precious china, editions and cactus plants. 

Soft Cabinet comes in four varities; the Soft Cabinet Green, Soft Cabinet High, Soft Cabinet Small and Soft Cabinet Classic, allowing you to pick a style to suit you. 

These Cabinets are constructed from a thick foam rubber that is strong and sturdy enough to keep the cabinet vertical, whilst also offering a little bit of give so that you can push the foam aside and place your cups and saucers safely away. 

Clever incisions through the middle of the foam material provide space for storage which has been crafted to replicate the traditional storage of a wooden cabinet. They're funky, soft and functional and offer a unique way to store your damageable items. 

Study Cubby

I know what I'm like when there's a deadline to meet; a cluttered, flustered mess with papers lying everywhere and a desk of textbooks laid about in disorganized chaos. Well, thank heavens there's finally an aesthetically pleasing solution. I introduce to you Homework, a table which helps you do what it says in the title. 

The Homework table is a clever wooden table with a metal rim running all the way around three sides of the table allowing for you to prop pictures, documents and books upright ready to use, storing all your important items so that you remember what to do next. It's perfectly formed so that your opened textbook can be propped upright - no more straining to lean over the desk and read - for you to take reference from. Pure study genius! 

Designer Tomas Kral utilizes this "moat" like lip around the table to help you store and prop to all your study delight whilst looking modern and sleek in a metal layer sandwiched between wooden panels. 

That's a Wrap!

It's often a pain to dig through your wrapping paper rolls to find the right one for the occasion (admittedly I have nothing wrong with wrapping birthday presents in Christmas paper) and you're left with a store cupboard full of miscellaneous half used wrapping paper sheets. But with Wordless Wrap Wrapping Paper, the quandary is solved as this word-search style wrapping paper allows for you to circle out the correct greeting for a variety of occasions. 

For example you can choose from: / MERRY CHRISTMAS / HAPPY BIRTHDAY / HAPPY VALENTINES DAY / HAPPY EASTER / HAPPY THANKSGIVING / I LOVE YOU / I MISS YOU / HAPPY NAME DAY / CONGRATULATIONS / HAPPY RETIREMENT / RECOVER SOON / GREETINGS / WITH LOVE / YOU ARE THE BEST / FOR DAD / FOR MOM / ENJOY / ALL THE BEST / IT IS NOT A TIE / IT IS NOT A PERFUME.

And if you're not too great at your word-searches the solutions are on the inside of the Wordless Wrap wrapping so that you can easily locate the intended greeting and circle it without having to turn your gift around trying to find the answer. 

CDBITS

We're living in a digital age, and with CD's near enough disappearing to make way for mp3, what is there to do but use the plastic discs as ninja stars?!? Well, with CDBITS, you can turn your old and scratched CD's into a construction power house. 

These cleverly designed, 3d printed clips allow you to sandwich your CD's in to series of different shapes and designs, making boxes and sturdy storage mechanisms from something you'll otherwise chuck in the bin. CDBITS turn your old compact disks in to modular units that are both decorative and functional, and what better way to inspire upcycling than to let your child build in a more creative way with disused discs and tiny 3D printed clips. 

CDBITS are the invention of design company Avooq Creations, and can be downloaded from MyMiniFactory to be 3D Printed from home as well as purchased online. They're the cheapest and most readily available new building block on the market, and a great way to re-purpose and hack your stack of hoarded CD's. 

Current Local Time:

For the travel happy out there or those who have family abroad, the World Clock by ElevenPlus would be a great companion to keep on your desk. Asides from having a sleek cylindrical body with a glossy transparent plastic head, the World Clock can do much more than your average clock, as with a simple rolling motion you can find out the time in a different country. 

Independent working hands make this whole function possible, and by easily rolling the clock until it displays the name of the desired country on the top, the hands will be manipulated so that they correctly display time down to the last second. 

It's an inconspicuous and functional desk aid for the travel dreamer out there and World Clock comes in three matte colors of crimson, navy and slate grey, so you can know the time in all 24 different time zones.  It'd make a perfect gift for a loved one who's moving away, so they know what time to call.

Functional Beauty

This is the perfect workshop companion for those who are short on space and who still want a table to work on when the mood strikes. The Wall Clamp by Brendan Ravenhill is nothing more than a pair of sturdy C clamps made of cast iron with two drilled holes in the frame that allow them to be affixed to any wall using a couple of screws. 

Probably the best feature of these clamps is that you can pick out your own shelf material, allowing you to pick different sizes and thicknesses, meaning it can also be a table too. You could also use the clamps to store your wood by stacking layers and clamping them in; therefore getting use out of the materials you'd otherwise keep leant up against the wall getting in the way. Or if you think they'd make a nice industrial accessory to the house, you can do as in the picture and use the clamp as a bedside table to hold up your books and denture glass.

The Wall Clamp's are on sale online at Areaware, who also sell an assortment of kitsch and modern home accessories.

Lofty Expectations

IKEA took advertising to a whole new level with their climbing wall billboard this September. To celebrate the opening of their 30th store in France, IKEA took the layout of their showroom and made it into a vertical climbing structure for people to interact with. 

They teamed up with agency Ubi Bene to erect this awesome installation that lets people climb and explore on a different axis whilst looking at furniture in a unique way. 

Suck UK

Despite the name this clever, company, SUCK UK, pays homage to unique design with their range of gifts, accessories and items for the home. I've decided to name some of my favourites as they truly are amazing stocking fillers with Christmas just around the corner (hint-hint).

For those who venture far and wide, this Cork Globe is perfect for pinning all of your travels down in 3D and marking everywhere in the world you've been. It plots your globe trotting for all to see and gives challenge in every empty space. 

This is the suitable gift for a gap year student or a traveller who's proud of their air miles and is set for many years more of adventuring.

For this next one, you may be able to make it yourself but if you haven't got the time or the skill, this Playing Card Notebook can be yours for under £5. 

Bound along one edge, these 52 cards are blank on one side and ready for you to fill with notes. This quirky item can be used to impress colleagues at board meetings or as a cute companion for a budding gambler. Whatever the need, it still makes a unique gift.

 As a born doodler this last gift is my personal favourite. The Tattoo Notebook; where the pages are skin and you have the freedom to doodle and draw your own tattoos.

100 pages of hairy arms, backs, belly's and hands for you to ink on. It's an ultimate buy for those with some artistic talent or for someone who's considering drawing their own ink work.

You can go cliche with your doodles (you can never go wrong with 'I heart mum') or go ornate and fancy if you're up to the pen work.

Stick with me kid!

I've gone a bit tape crazy as of late and after finding a roll of moustache tape at my local Tiger Store I went online to dig around a little and see if there are any other quirky tapes out there that I can cover practically everything I own in.

And so when I came across this store called 'Nothing Elegant' on Artfire.com I went a little bit overboard with asking for sticky tape on my Christmas list. But when there are an assortment of tapes that really bring life to everything how can you not? My favourite by far of the tapes on this craft store is the baseball stitches tape as it is perfecting for cutting the harsh lines of boxes and making them more playful. Tape should be fun and from henceforth I will cover every package I send in quirky tape!