This week, I’ve been involved with Entrepreneurship Week at Stanford University. Along with lots of lectures, panels, and events, there was a big innovation challenge in which students from around the globe participated. The students were given an everyday object and then asked to create as much value as they could by innovating around it. Value could be defined and measured monetarily, socially and even environmentally. Students had to produce a video on Youtube to document their project and what impact it had. This year, the object was a rubber band and while there were a lot of interesting projects, I was most interested in those that dealt with the environment. Some of my favorite went on to be recognized:

Rubber Band Resistance
In this video, students used rubber bands to force faucets in university bathrooms to shut off when pressure was not being applied. I thought it was an effective use of a pretty difficult object that tackled a very timely subject. One of the judges (Jeff Hawkins, inventor of the Palm Pilot) didn’t like the fact that they made people work (bad user interface design I guess). Isn’t solving environmental problems going to be slightly painful (I thought to myself)? Techie geniuses are great at making our lives easier, but will solving environmental crises be an easy task? Later, I was comforted to see Jeff ride away from our building on a bike… probably not the primary means of transportation for every Silicon Valley big shot.

Use the rubber!
Another great video (albeit non-environmental) with a social message that touches on rubber bands, cooking and sex:

I just finished watching the DVD of The Real Dirt On Farmer John. It’s a touching story of an eccentric Midwest farmer’s struggle to save his family farm from development and economic recession. He eventually converts to an organic Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model and his farm survives and thrives. Plus, the DVD features include a music video with a girl dressed in a bee suit ala Blind Melon. Check out the preview:

For our first episode, we visit our good friends at the Crissy Field Center. The Center is a certified green business and an awesome place where kids learn how to protect the environment.