Nevada’s legislature is considering banning decorative grass. But really we should be banning most lawns in the country. The movement to ban unnatural turf lawns, particularly in America’s arid regions, has been around for a while, and for good reason. The Nevada policy would not actually affect most private yards, but many environmentalists would argue that it should. Read more (TSB)
Category Archives: home
The Evolution of the Bathroom
The evolution of bathing goes back thousands of years, from religious ritual and social life – to today’s wellbeing haven and place of peace and solitude. Read more (BBC)
Elon Musk Says Cybertruck Will Power Off-Grid Tiny Houses and Campers
Off-grid living is a reality for a number of people globally, be it by choice or not. So for those looking to live off the grid with some creature comforts, it appears the Cybertruck will be an option to tow and power a tiny house. Read more
Amazon to Offer Telehealth Service to Other U.S. Firms This Summer
Amazon said it has started to offer its Amazon Care program to employees and other companies throughout Washington state and plans to make the program available throughout the U.S. this summer. Launched in 2019 at its Seattle headquarters, Amazon Care started by offering virtual primary-care services to Amazon employees in the city. The service also has an at-home care option, where medical professionals are dispatched to perform medical services such as blood draws or listening to a patient’s lungs. Read more (WSJ)
The Promise and the Peril of Virtual Health Care
During the coronavirus pandemic, telemedicine looks like the future of health care. Is it a future that we want? Read more (New Yorker)
Kicking Back With La-Z-Boy
For the uninitiated, La-Z-Boy (an eponym on par with Band-Aid and Kleenex) makes a reclining easy chair—the first and, after nearly a century, still the leader. “La-Z-Boy has a 90-year heritage build on providing quality and comfort,” said the brand’s marketing vp Eli Winkler. “Those values are no less important to consumers to day than they were 90 years ago.” Spoken like a true marketer, but the comfort isn’t just a talking point—it’s the reason the brand is famous. Read more (Adweek)
The Tale of the Nauga’s Hide
The Nauga is a fictional creature. It was an advertising gimmick created to help Uniroyal Engineered Products promote their soft vinyl-coated fabric that feels like leather but is more durable. The product, Naugahyde, was used primarily as upholstery in the furniture industry, but also was used for clothing, shoes, accessories and other home goods. Its success spawned many imitators. In the mid-1960s, Uniroyal hired legendary ad-man George Lois and designer Kurt Weihs to craft an advertising campaign to differentiate their product from the competition. And what did Lois and Weihs create? The Nauga. Read more (Henry Ford Museum)
COLGATE IS A COOL MOM WITH IRIDESCENT NEW TOOTHPASTE LINE FOR GEN Z
Classic toothpaste brand Colgate is one of these companies. This week, the brand launched CO. by Colgate, a new oral care collection aimed at Gen Z. Using the empowering, self-care language that has come to dominate beauty marketing, the new collection is described as one that “transforms the simple act of brushing your teeth into a ritual for feeling good”. Read more Read more (Dazed)
How Ikea created a ‘ScrapsBook’ that turns kitchen waste into culinary wonders
“By inspiring our customers to live more sustainably at home in an easy and simple way, we’re doing our part as a business to have a positive impact, from our supply chain through our retail stores, and into our customers’ homes,” explains Johanna Andren, head of marketing for IKEA Canada. Read more (Drum)
What is the dining table really for?
Dinner happens everywhere now: on the couch while streaming a television show, hunched over a kitchen countertop, on a commute home. The shift happened right under our noses — in a 2019 survey about cooking at home, while 72 percent of respondents grew up eating at a dining room table, only 48 percent of them still do so now. The American dining room is dying a slow death, and we’ve barely batted an eye. For the sake of convenience, we don’t sit down for capital-D dinner anymore. What has this fade into obsolescence done to the dining table, and to the people who once gathered around it to share a meal? The dining table hasn’t disappeared — there are plenty next to my family’s on Facebook Marketplace — but its meaning seems to have been altered forever. Read more (Vox)
