The YikeBike electric bike is designed for city journeys of up to 9km, reaching a top speed of 20km/h with zero emission. It weighs only 9.8 kilograms and comfortably folds to 67×56×12 cm to fit into your backpack. A small powerful 1.2 kW electric motor replaces all the traditional mechanics. The YikeBike currently costs $4860. The hype around all electric […]

Forbes.com: In 2007 Lisa and Jeff Peri developed and began selling environmentally friendly bottled car wash called Lucky Earth. Its main offering – a mixture of water, coconut byproducts, sodium carbonate and water-soluble silicone – comes in a 32-ounce bottle and retails for $14.99. Today 200 stores carry Lucky Earth, helping this company bring in $325,000 in revenue in the […]

Springwise: Feather Down Farms are small-scale, working farms that offer cottage-style tents with “traditional interiors” including feather beds, wood-burning stoves and flushing toilets. A far cry from a rustic tent, the spacious accommodations feature master and bunk bedrooms along with an extra canopy bed—sleeping up to 6 in all. There is no electricity in Feather Down tents, but oil lamps […]

CNN.com: London’s newest hotelier Mark Fuller is showing commendable bravado for someone about to open a luxury hotel during a global recession. “F*** the recession, let’s get on with it,” he says, while sitting on the roof terrace of the Sanctum Soho, a 30-room establishment dubbed the rock’n’roll hotel, as much for its “anything goes” service philosophy as the pedigree […]

Associated Press: People who like riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles are likely to have an affinity toward a Ford truck. That’s the thinking at Ford Motor Co. at least, as it furthers its collaboration with the motorcycle maker with the introduction of a new F-150 truck. The 2010 Ford Harley-Davidson F-150, set to be unveiled this week at the Chicago Auto Show, […]

Springwise: Urban bike-sharing is coming to North America in the form of Bixi, the new high-tech public bike system developed for the city of Montreal. Bixi follows the standard bike sharing principles: users take a bike from a stand, ride it to where they want to go, and drop it at another stand when they’re done. To make the concept […]

TrendWatching.com: Pedal-powered taxis have been around for years, but Dublin-based Ecocabs has come up with a FREE LOVE twist: free eco-taxi rides throughout the city. Ecocabs are pedal-powered (but battery-assisted, when necessary) tricycles that can accommodate three people for emissions-free transit through congested urban areas. The brand-sponsored vehicles are customized with brand-specific colors and imagery, and drivers can also hand […]

stuff.co.nz: It’s a trend pre-dating the global slowdown: big hotel chains are moving into the quirky boutique sector to tap into a niche of profitable growth. What’s not clear now is how many can succeed. Hotel revenues have fallen sharply since last October and shares in hotel groups in Europe fell by more than 30 percent in 2008 as investors […]

Springwise: Guidebooks and recommendations are all very well, but there’s very little point in discovering a new activity, restaurant or shop if you’re not in the right headspace to enjoy it. Enter I Feel London (or Toronto, or New York as is appropriate), a site that lets users search for things to do based on their mood. Currently in beta, […]

The Cool Hunter: Thanks to the jet-set generation, demand for boutique hotels is increasing around the world. The first boutique “chain,” W, started the trend for a network of branded urbane-style properties and has just launched its latest edition – W Hong Kong. Located in West Kowloon, the hub of the buzzing financial district of Hong Kong, the new W […]