Entries by Gayle Leonard

Creative Thinkers Hit the Bottle

www.instructables.com, in partnershp with Tap’dNY, is running a “Keep the Bottle” Contest calling for great ideas to recycle and reuse plastic bottles. Tap’d is an organization that has been very active in promoting tap water as the preferred, smart choice as well as aggressive recycling of bottled water empties. Have a look at the entries, some […]

Smiley, Facebook Cause Célèbre

UPDATE: Feb. 17, 2009, a sad day for Smiley. “After repeated stays of execution during the past two years, the Grand Forks City Council decided Tuesday to pull the switch on the 77-year-old water tower.” The rest of the story here. UPDATE: Smiley gets a reprieve…On Feb. 2, “Council members spent more than an hour Monday […]

How the Party Crashed: A Corporate Fable

Illustration: Business Party by Keat Teoh I was genuinely enthused to be invited, and when I got there the party was in full swing. Leadership met me at the door with a nice welcome; he was an exceptional host, really working the room, shaking hands and chatting with everyone. Smart and Popular were there with all […]

I Wooden Drink This

We don’t need to tell you, again, to read labels, do we? Daniel did, and discovered that his water was bottled by an Indian plywood company. (Photo from his Picasa album India May 2008.) Some might like the subtle oak-y aroma! But it’s certified, right?! JAS-ANZ is the government-appointed accreditation body for Australia and New Zealand. […]

Who’s Smiling Now?

Grand Fork-ers (North Dakota) are ambivalent about the future of their two-sided smiling/winking water tower, despite the fact that it hasn’t held water in years. Now, city leaders are struggling with the rising cost of indecision–about 108% higher in just two years. (Makes that winking seem more like mocking!) Now this is the sort of […]

Be not ignoring warnings, you Americans

And as reclaimed and graywater systems become more than an oddity in the United States, we will be not wasting expensive potable water treatment for our loos, and we will be not needing these signs as we travel internationally. petebrunelli on Flickr be sharing his photo taken in China.

Flip this Tower

Another opportunity to quench your thirst for one-of-a-kind digs. For £100,000 (that’s about US$135,000) plus renovation expenses, you could turn this abandoned concrete tower into a 4-story monument to to your exceptional design instinct. From the Jan. 16, 2009, Northampton (UK) Chronicle & Echo, The massive concrete tower in Great Doddington comes with planning permission […]

Educating the Public on Water Issues

An oldie but goodie from my collection. The challenge for people in the water business is to clarify “this bit” for the public.  At www.cartoonchurch.com, this cartoon carries the note, To those surfing in looking for a water cartoon. I’m sorry, you caught us at a bad time. It isn’t normally like this here. Usually […]

I do solemnly swear, to uphold the water…

During this historic inauguration, if it can be sold as a souvenir, marketed as a memento, cashed in as commemorative, then it is. Here, a few examples seen ’round the capital. And special honors go to this one, the “preferred” Water ‘N Faith no less, for the shockingly fake-o ‘shop job. Thanks to Flickr sharers […]

Trendy Store, Trashy Decor

It’s one thing to claim “trash to treasure” but it’s another to greet your customers with it and hang it from your ceiling. And have all be in awe of your cleverness. In Montevideo, Uruguay is a high end shopping destination, the Punta Carretas Shopping Center, which is housed in a striking building that was […]