Low-emission locomotives; Roll-up solar panels; Green riding lawnmower; Motorcycle helmet that generates power; Recycle your home for $100,000

New Jersey getting new low-emission locomotives. As someone who uses the train for all my long-distance travel needs, this is welcome news. Anything that helps the rail industry become even cleaner is good in my book! (PS-If you haven’t taken the train across the country, I highly recommend it – it’s the only way to travel.)

Roll-up solar panels on the way. Xunlight has developed large, flexible solar panels that are incredibly thin and could be used on roofs of cars or integrated into buildings. The downside? They aren’t all that efficient because of how thin they are. But it is a start!

A plug-in electric riding lawnmower. Husqvarna has unveiled a concept riding lawnmower – that runs on electricity. Did you know that lawnmowers can emit as much as 43 new cars each being driven 12,000 miles? We NEED this electric mower to replace those big hulking machines that people ride around their lawns on.

Motorcycle helmet with a wind turbine inside. You are going to take the bike out for a spin anyway, so why not generate electricity from all that wind? Some students at Cheng Shiu University have invented a helmet that comes equipped with wind turbines, which in turn power headlights, taillights and turn signals. Not sure how the Harley guys would look at you, but it sure sounds cool, no?

Recycle your home for cash. While I have always preached the great stuff that the Habitat Restore does with recycled materials, who knew you could recycle your home for this kind of cash? They had their 2,250 square foot house torn down and they were paid $100,000 to let companies recycle the useful materials into new houses. Although, one has to wonder why they had the house torn down in the first place…