Well, the Midsummer Place Shopping Centre has decided to stomp out this abuse of power this year by putting a pedestrian crosswalk next to their giant tree that uses the kinetic energy of holiday shoppers to provide the lighting.

According to the press release, “The slabs, made from low-carbon steel and recycled rubber, will power hundreds of LED Christmas lights for the Midsummer Place Christmas tree by capturing energy from this season’s holiday footfall.”

It is also rumored that when the mall closes and midnight both Santa and his elves are using the kinetic walkway like a treadmill to get in shape for delivering packages soon. With the amount of light put out by the tree as reported by the janitorial staff, the fat man may be rather svelte come game time.

But, all in all, this goes to show, not only how much energy is waste every year on holiday cheer, but also the people-power may be the answer to restoring the balance of power.

Trikke

And to some this may not be new news especially if you’ve seen some of these Trikke vehicles on the boardwalks near the beaches in California. But, if you’re trying to go a little greener and get a little more exercise than the Trikke is the way to go.

The Trikke is a cross among a scooter, a bicycle and a skateboard. The motion is more like one uses when skiing downhill, however. There is no peddling and you don’t have to go all Flintstone and put your feet on the pavement to make it go.

Just wiggle your hips from side to side and Trikke will do the rest. If you can’t get psyched for a bike ride try a Trikke ride this summer (or whenever). Like the skiing motion I mentioned, the company even has a model on ski blades for those who want a little different experience.

So, to sum up, if traditional exercise is boring and you’d like to go a little greener, try a Trikke for a new experience and something that will get your friends and neighbors talking.

The HumanCar is the brainchild of inventor and CEO Charles Greenwood, who decided that people power was more environmentally friendly that perhaps any other vehicle. For going up hills, the HumanCar also has an electric assist that kicks in so this modern day Flintstone Mobile doesn’t roll backwards and hurt someone.

The HumanCar is powered by two sets over people, back to back, plus two electric motors and regenerative braking to recharge the batteries. This biometric input vehicle all told gets over 100 mpg and can travel at 60 mph. This street legal low mass vehicle uses a self-generating 1,000 watt sine wave AC output and can also be used as a power unit for one’s home.

The HumanCar is the next logical step upwards from a bicycle with electric assist and a velomobile with electric assist. Just grab three companions and off for a Sunday drive you go. The price tag is a bit hefty at around $15,000, but then again four health club memberships for nine years may cost you this much.

The HumanCar combines a stroke of inspiration with two strokes of perspiration to form a practical ride that will give you a workout and leave things a bit greener in your wake.

In the past, I’ve talked about MIT students using pedal power to supply electricity to their computers. I’ve also talked about velomobiles and electric-assisted bicycles. But, there are vast other areas where human power has been greatly wasted.

Every couple of days, when I work out at the gym I see people along side me on stationary bikes, treadmills or using other equipment that is not connected to any kind of power generator and our efforts (in regard to recapturing energy) are wasted.

This is why I was most thrilled to see today’s article about the floating, human-powered gym. Not only can people work out but they can take a peaceful tour up the river (similar to a paddleboat) by using their human power.

A couple of weeks ago there was another story that caught my eye about a London nightclub that was using the human movements upon the dance floor to supply electricity for the lights. The more people moved to the music, the more electricity was generated and not wasted.

This brings to my mind all sorts of places where humans move their bodies and the energy is not captured, but could be. For instance, humans move up and down steps in incredible numbers. These steps are in office buildings, in front of national monuments or just a part of urban and rural landscapes. Most of this “step” energy is never captured.

Humans also like to jog outside on nice days and many take the same trails day, after day. Like the dance floor that captures human impact and coverts this energy into electricity, jogging trails could use similar technology to generate electro juice as well.

Another place that human power could work is in the water. Rowboats, canoes and paddleboats are typically designed to move people from point A to B efficiently, but while not capturing the energy from human exercise.

Now, these are just some of the ways that we need to start thinking about capturing human power into renewable energy. Waste is not an integral part to a sustainable future and even if human power will account for a small part of the overall picture, it will certainly bring public awareness in the journey we all share together.