green devices

GreenTech 101: WaterSense Helps You Save Water

jplatt — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0500

Every product that claims to be green seems to come with a half-dozen logos on the package to back up their eco-claims. But what do they all mean? Well don't worry, we're going to tell you.

Today we're focusing on the WaterSense logo. The WaterSense program is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and identifies quality, water-efficient products for home and business use. Products that earn the WaterSense logo use less water, and help to protect the environment.

Only products that have been independtly tested by a third party to show that they meet the EPA's specifications can carry the WaterSense label. Qualifying products include bathroom sinks, toilets and urinals, irrigation systems, showerheads and a whole lot more.

How you can benefit from WaterSense:

1. Use the WaterSense website to find water-efficient products.

2. Read tips for saving water (along with plenty of reasons why you should conserve water).

3. Find WaterSense resources in your part of the country.

4. Find local rebates offered for purchasing WaterSense products.

There's a ton of great information scattered around the WaterSense site, so give it a read, and then, the next time you're buying a product that uses water, look for the logo to make sure you're doing your part to help the environment.

Motorola Introduces First Phone Made From Recycled Water Bottles

jplatt — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:00:00 -0500

At last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Motorola introduced its new MOTO™ W233 Renew phone -- what it billed as "the world’s first mobile phone made using plastics comprised of recycled water bottles."

Of course, the entire phone isn't made of recycled plastic -- they're only really talking about the exterior. The guts of the phone -- the parts that make it work -- are still all metals that need to be carefully recycled when the phone is at the enf of its lifecycle.

But still, there's more good news. As Motorola writes, "Not only is the plastic housing of Renew made from plastics comprised of recycled water bottles and 100 percent recyclable, but it is also the world’s first carbon neutral phone. Through an alliance with Carbonfund.org, Motorola offsets the carbon dioxide required to manufacture, distribute and operate the phone through investments in renewable energy sources and reforestation. The phone has earned Carbonfund.org’s CarbonFree® Product Certification after an extensive product life-cycle assessment."

The phone comes in smaller-than-usual packaging, which is made entirely of post-consumer waste. It also comes with an envelope so you can mail your old phone in for free recycling.

The W233 Renew will be available from T-Mobile later this quarter.

Now that You've Unwrapped Your Gifts...

jplatt — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 09:00:00 -0500

Ahhh...Christmas day. The gifts are unwrapped, dinner is in the oven, and the credit card bills are in the mail. What next?

Well, if you bought any electronics this holiday season, there are several things you can do to make this Christmas even greener.

1) Properly recycle your old electronics. Too many old devices end up in the garbage, or are improperly recycled. You don't want your old TV to end up as e-waste in some third-world country do you? Click here to find out more about recycling old TVs, and check the Green Tech archives for info on recycling other devices.

2) Buy recyclable batteries -- or try solar powered chargers. Too many toys and gadgets run on disposable batteries. Break that chain by investing in rechargeable batteries and a plug-in charger -- or try a solar-powered charger to power your cell phones, MP3 players and other small devices.

3) When you're not using your new gadgets, unplug them. A lot of electronics (not all, but more than enough) keep sucking juice out of the wall when they're idle. If you're not using something for a while, unplug it -- especially your gaming platforms. Your savings will vary depending on your gadget, but trust me, they'll add up.

There -- just three little steps and your Christmas gifts will be much greener today and in the new year. So enjoy, and keep thinking green!

Design Competition Offering $5k for Greener Gadgets

jplatt — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:55:09 -0500

Designers, students and electronics enthusiasts worldwide are eligible to enter the 2nd annual Greener Gadgets Design Competition, sponsored by Core77 and Inhabitat.

Organized in conjunction with the Greener Gadgets Conference (itself organized by the Consumer Electronics Association), the competition seeks "extraordinary designs for green gadgets that offer innovative solutions to the issues of energy, materials, product lifecycle, recycling, and social development."

The top 50 entries will be published online for voting and commenting by the public. The finalists will be showcased live at the Conference for judging by an expert panel.

The awards -- $3,000 for the top prize, and $1,000 each for 2nd and third place -- will be given out at the end of the conference program, and winners will be showcased on Core77.com, GreenerGadgets.com, CE.org, and Inhabitat.com.

The conference itself will be held in New York City on February 27, 2009, and will focus on:

Emerging energy technology
Real solutions for e-waste recycling
New inventions in energy generation and efficiency
Future forward recyclable gadgetry
The business case for going green

Here's a look at last year's winners to help inspire you.

Ready to enter? Get moving. The deadline is January 15, 2009.

iPod Green: Try a Sustainable, Handcrafted Wood Sound System

jplatt — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:00:00 -0500

As the proud owner of my very first iPod, I'm in the market for a few accessories that won't break my bank or the environment. The first item I found that matched both criteria is an organic wood iPod docking station called the Vers Audio 2X iPod Sound System.

Available from Organic Bug, this great little speaker set comes in four types of sustainably grown wood, including bamboo, and ranges from $180-$200 (with free shipping). Here's how Organic Bug describes it:

Using the most environmentally friendly bonding agents available, each Vers 2X is 100% RoHS-compliant (Restriction of Hazardous Substances). It has an energy saving power supply; even the plastic components are PVC & BFR free. Units are designed for complete disassembly so all parts can be recycled. Packaging is from 100% post-consumer recycled content. Small footprint, big sound!

My next challenge is to find a sustainably designed carrying case. But I'm on the hunt!

What are your favorite "green" iPod or MP3 player accessories? Let us know!

CherryPal's 'Green' Computer Finally Ships Next Week

jplatt — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:07:48 -0400

Months after it was first announced, I'm sure many people had given up waiting for the CherryPal, a desktop PC with no moving parts that promised to use just 2 watts of power.

Well guess what? The CherryPal SSD C114 ships next week -- at a bargain-basement price of just $249.

It will take some time for reviews to come in, but until then, let's look at the innovations that are expected with this tiny-but-powerful machine:

It uses just 2 watts of power -- 98% less than the 114 watts used by the average desktop computer.
It has no moving parts, so the company says it will last for up to ten years.
It uses 80% fewer parts, so less waste is created in its manufacture.

The CherryPal has a few other features of note. It boots up in just 20 seconds (no more wasted time and energy during the start-up phase). Most of the software isn't located on the hard drive; it's on the Internet, so you have fewer worries about upgrades and downloads (good luck using the PC if your Internet is out, though). It comes with a wide range of open-source programs, so it's ready for use right out of the box. And it doesn't make any sound, which is something I wish could be said of all computers.

Obviously, with a price of just $249, the CherryPal doesn't come with a monitor, and you can't seem to buy one directly from CherryPal, so that's one more item that needs to be packaged and shipped, but if you're buying a green computer, you probably have a green monitor in mind, too.

Worth a look!

Meet Europe's Top Cleantech Companies

jplatt — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:00:00 -0400

You may not have heard of companies like Odersun, CamSemi, Atraverda and Pelikon, but chances are you will in the days to come. These four companies and 96 others were named to The Guardian and Library Houses's CleanTech 100, listing the best European companies involved in clean technology.

The firms run the gamut of green technologies. Some are involved in solar, wind or tidal power. Others are developing efficient power systems for a variety of devices. Some are trying to turn waste into energy. And that's just scratching the surface.

About half of these companies' products are either in development or beta testing. The rest are already on the market.

To get on this list, the companies faced a pretty tough selection process. Ranking factors included companies' capital history, positive media stories about them, the size of their management team, and independent analysis to make sure that the technologies the companies were developing was actually credible. (In other words, no vaporware allowed.)

The companies were also asked about their environmental vision, what they saw as the size of the market for their products, and the impact they expected their technology to have on the world.

Give the list and the accompanying articles a read. They give me hope about the technologies we'll be seeing in the next few years.

Apple Continues Greening Trend with Newest iPod

jplatt — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:54:41 -0400

Apple isn't the greenest company on the planet -- but it's constantly making improvements.

The company's latest step is this week's announcement of its "cleanest" iPod yet, the newest version of the iPod nano. The device is manufactured with arsenic-free glass; contains no Brominated Flame Retardants (BFR), mercury or PVC; and is said to be highly recyclable because it is made with aluminum and glass.

"We want to be just really environmentally sensitive with these products. We ship a lot of them," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. "We're constantly worried about reducing the size of the packaging and the transportation carbon that we spend to move these around the world. But the biggest thing we worry about are the toxics."

Greenpeace has long criticized Apple for not being environmentally friendly enough (see their old "Green My Apple" campaign, a name Apple itself has co-opted to embody its environmental mission). But the environmental group praised Apple's announcement, while also calling on Apple to continue to go greener with their computers and iPhones.

The new fourth-generation iPod nano will be available this month in two models: 8GB for $149, and 16GB for $199. Macworld has a complete review.

Track Your Energy Use by the Second with The Energy Detective

jplatt — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:48:00 -0400

How much electricity do you use when you turn on a light? When you're watching TV? When you wash your dishes? How about if you're doing all three at once?

The Energy Detective ("TED" for short) from Energy, Inc., can answer these questions, helping you not only to see how much electricity you are using in your house at any given moment, but also to predict the size of your monthly electric bill.

Once hooked up, TED monitors your electricity usage, with just a two-second real-time delay. It also tracks your monthly usage, and calculates the exact amount you are spending on your electricity.

The basic TED unit costs $139.95 (more advanced models run up to $209.95) and can be installed in 10-15 minutes ("by an experienced homeowner or qualified electrician"). You can also order additional software called Footprints ($44.95) which allows you to track your usage on your PC.

So why install a TED? An energy monitor like this allows you to see exactly how much juice your house is using. Hook it up, and then you can walk around your house to see how much difference your TV makes, or find the "phantom loads" of so-called "vampire devices," the ones that keep using energy even though you think they are "off." The company says a well-aware homeowner can use the information from TED to make the device pay for itself in a matter of months.

Mobile Fun Announces Solar-Powered Case for 3G iPhone

jplatt — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:15:41 -0400

With more than a million 3G iPhones already on the streets, it's no surprise that companies are announcing accessories to help make the new phones even more fun -- and even greener.

The latest will soon be available from the UK-based company Mobile Fun. Their Apple iPhone 3G Solar Charging Case not only protects your precious phone, it comes with a solar panel to charge your device.

The solar panel isn't the only green option in this neat little case. It includes a high-capacity 1500mAh battery, so you can store solar energy until you need to use it. You also get a mini USB to USB cable, allowing you to use the case to charge any other small device that has a USB port.

Mobile Fun says its carrying case will charge an iPhone in just three hours, and it works in any lighting situation without needing to placed in direct sunlight.

Available later this month, the cases will sell for £27.95. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Mobile Fun ships to the U.S., which kind of figures. Other countries always seem to get the best green toys before we do. But keep your eyes peeled -- it probably won't be long before this device or something like it is also available in the States.