diy Archives – The Green Optimistic

20 free and cheap ways to improve energy efficiency at home

Matias Prieto — Mon, 13 May 2019 16:18:31 +0000

A simple attitude towards improving your home energy efficiency is to start with simple and cheap actions. Believe it or not, simple solutions might generate a big impact on your water or energy bill. So with the money saved, you can go on working on more ambitious projects. First, gather all your gas and electric […]

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How to Build the Greenhouse of the Future

Matias Prieto — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 16:36:02 +0000

Living in a sustainable way is one of our generation’s biggest challenges. Nowadays, most people living in major cities have to spend a lot of money on food with high levels of pesticides on their daily diets. Moreover, most of the electric systems are still powered by non-renewable energy sources. To generate an alternative to […]

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How to Build a DIY Bicycle Powered Generator

Arsenij Percov — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 20:04:28 +0000

The Instructable user henrycaleb wrote a guide on how to create bicycle powered generator using a bike, an alternator, a car battery, a belt, and a wooden frame to connect all of the components together. Step 1: Gather Materials Tools: Drill Drill bits of many sizes Lug nuts Ratchet and socket set Large amount of […]

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DIY Wind Turbine From a Cardboard Roll

Arsenij Percov — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 14:24:39 +0000

Instructables user ahmedebeed555 found a way to build a DIY wind turbine from a cardboard roll. He explained how he did it in his post on the website. Ahmed successfully made a rotating simple wind turbine out of recycled materials. Step 1: Materials and Tools Materials: Motor – Wind turbine motor/generator. He used a 120 […]

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Solar Panel That You Can Make at Home For $30

Arsenij Percov — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 20:02:36 +0000

Solar panel and solar power are among the hottest topics in social media right now. However, the majority of people think that they are very expensive. Instructables’ user BrotherJames8765 doesn’t think so, he built a solar panel for less than $30. It doesn’t include all the downstream gizmos of the panel’s output such as regulators, […]

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How to Build a DIY Aeroelastic Flutter Energy Harvester

Arsenij Percov — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 19:37:53 +0000

Aeroelastic flutter is the back and forth motion of an object caused by the air flow. An example is the shaking of a plane’s wings during turbulence. This phenomenon has been used by Instructables user DylanD581 to produce electricity and is even more effective than a wind turbine in low winds. Wind turbines only work […]

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3 Toy Electric Vehicles to Build With Your Kid

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 06:45:07 +0000

Electric vehicles are something that fascinate more and more people each day. But until an engineer gets to work at Tesla, he has to have that spark planted in him/her. The video below builds, with an amazing ingenuity, three toy electric vehicles from stuff everyone has around the house. Even more: they’re built from scrap […]

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How to Make a Pedal Powered Smoothie Maker

Mila Luleva — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 16:41:10 +0000

Would you like to take “healthy living” to the next level? Follow this tutorial and make your own pedal-powered smoothie maker. We all know that the key to healthy living is doing regular exercise, eating healthy food full of fruit and vegg, and of course trying to reduce our personal carbon footprint and promote renewable […]

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Anyone can Build this DIY Cheap Solar Energy Concentrator

Annika Tostengard — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 04:42:00 +0000

If you’re looking for a cost-effective way to get some DIY solar energy right now, we may have just the solution for you. Go.Sol, a company dedicated to spreading cheap, sustainable solar energy throughout the world, has released a design for a solar concentrator that can be built for just $79-$145. Called the Sol1, it […]

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How to Build a DIY Toy Wind Turbine for Your Kids

Annika Tostengard — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 06:44:21 +0000

This fun DIY project is easy enough to make with kids, and is a great way to get them excited about renewable energy. It doesn’t produce a ton of power, but kids will be amazed at their ability to illuminate a light bulb all on their own. 1. What You’ll Need Some parts can be […]

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How to Make a Battery From a Coke Can

Mila Luleva — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 12:15:19 +0000

Making your own coke can battery is often seen as extremely unnecessary and not at all cost effective, simply because of the availability of energy storage technologies on the market. But if you have some spare soda cans, and want to turn them into power generators, here is the coolest and most simple tutorial. […]

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How to Make Shiny Roof Shingles From Recycled Aluminum Cans

Mila Luleva — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 15:06:11 +0000

Aluminum pollution has attracted quite a bit of attention lately, especially since the concentrations of the element in cosmetics and shampoos were found to be much higher than our bodies or the environment can handle. Another major source of polluting aluminum is cans that are dumped in landfills, when they can be recycled easily. Here is […]

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Free Heating – Two Effective DIY Projects

Mila Luleva — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 13:30:34 +0000

Free Heating? Really? Oh yes, and there is not only one way to get it. Here are two of them- fast, cheap, effective, and bill-free. It is that time of the year again, at least for us in the Northern hemisphere, when the air is crisp, the temperatures are below zero, and all we want is […]

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Nigerian Student Turns VW Beetle Into Fully Electric Four-Wheeler

Mila Luleva — Tue, 13 May 2014 11:15:43 +0000

Yes, we talk about climate change, the devastating impact it has on our environment and us, and we criticize governments, scientists and energy companies for not acting as fast as needed. But what do we, as individuals, do about it? Do we all cycle to work? Or recycle garbage? Or have an EV, or an energy efficient […]

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How to Make Graphene from Pencils and Washing Liquid

Mila Luleva — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 19:33:31 +0000

There is not a single week that passes without the magic word, graphene, making its presence in the news. Ever since the discovery of the material, researchers and engineers continuously show new properties and even more uses for it. Yet, scientists are still looking for a cheap and effective way to produce defect-free graphene, as […]

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How to Build a Wind Turbine for Under $30

Mila Luleva — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 16:01:23 +0000

The best way to save yourself a bit of money and at the same time do something good for the environment, is definitely to roll up the sleeves and take on a DIY renewable energy project. Over the past few years, we have shown you quite a wide range of things you can do in […]

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Top 10 Best Do-It-Yourself Green Projects

Mila Luleva — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 13:13:57 +0000

We all love Instructables, the site that can never let us get bored for even a second, with the numerous ‘Do-It-Yourself’ ideas often going beyond our imagination. This is why, as soon as I came across the winners of the Green Living and Technology Challenge, organized by the user ‘Danger is my middle name’, I […]

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TABBY: The DIY Open-Source Electric Vehicle That You Build in an Hour

Danny Harper — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 08:37:13 +0000

As automobile technology becomes more complex and proprietary, the task of building your own vehicle becomes a tall order. Expensive and time-consuming, DIY cars are currently the realm of only the most dedicated and knowledgeable among us. This all could change, and in a big way, with the help of automobile company, OSVehicle. With two models currently in […]

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How to Make Paper at Home from Recycled Materials

Mila Luleva — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 14:48:58 +0000

This tutorial should enable anyone interested to make paper at home from recycled materials and put them to good, green use. “Recycle paper, save a tree” is motto that has become increasingly popular over the past few years. It is used to raise awareness and stimulate more people to care and protect the environment. Taking […]

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DIY Electric BMW CS – Over 800HP Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Benji Jerew — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 22:48:57 +0000

If you saw this car running down the street with your radio on, you’d fail to notice it makes almost no sound as it passes. And if you, in your fancy supercharged Honda Civic, dared to challenge the owner to an impromptu race at the next traffic signal, well, let’s just call it now and […]

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DIY: Home Built Steam Powered iPod Charger

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:49:05 +0000

What can you do with a steam powered engine, a LEGO toy kit, some wood sticks and a USB cable?

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DIY Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Design (VAWT) from PVC Pipes

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:15:40 +0000

In this consumerism ruled times, the world needs to know ways to do stuff. When electricity generation is predicted to become more expensive (it's like they predict an invasion of electric vehicles), people need to build their own power generating systems for their independence.

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DIY: How to Make a Wave Powered Boat

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 06:47:16 +0000

You may use small wood boards, or toy boats "borrowed" from your kids. Or as well you may teach your little ones how to build a free energy device.

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Homemade Solar Panel with Cells Bought from eBay

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:08:13 +0000

Today I stumbled upon a web site made by a guy (he's an astronomer) who did his own very cheap solar panel. He has a remote property in Arizona and there isn't any power source, so he had to improvise it by himself.

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Build a Joe Cell Hydrogen Generator from a Silicone Tube! (video)

Ovidiu Sandru — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:31:21 +0000

In the times when gas prices rise and rise, and there’s no optimistic future for our pockets, hydrogen and Brown’s gas generation look more and more viable than ever. Check out these videos and experiment yourself with hydrogen generation, if you like the idea.

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Build a Can Stirling Engine in 10 Easy Steps

Ovidiu Sandru — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:51:38 +0000

Can stirling engines have fascinated me and not once was there will to put them into action, but no time. Here’s how you can build a can stirling engine out of materials you can find in your home. #1 – Prepare the materials To build the most simple Can Stirling Engine you need: 10mm-thick wood board 10mm-thick […]

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