Image via Akihabara News
Cold weather is rolling in and we're all starting to think about how to keep warm while walking down the street - but without giving up the ability to listen to music, right? MusiPhones offers a solution - headphones built into ear muffs. We have another solution... ...
Energy vampire. Image credit:
PeopleJam
I'm not one to dress up for Halloween, but I like to find creative ways to get on board with the spooky spirit of the holiday. If you're an energy activist like me, I think you'll enjoy these ideas:
Energy Vampires
When you sleep, when you eat, while you're hard at work, vampires lurk in the depths of your home. From morning to night they are sucking you dry.
It is called vampire power and to you it is wasted money. Energy vampires are the devices that use electricity even when they are turned off - like your home entertainment system, which can cost you up to $75 per year in vampire energy. Together energy vampires can account for up to 20 percent of your electric bill.
Give your neighbors a treat this Halloween and let them know they can improve their home's energy savings by identifying and unplugging energy vampires.
Just download this PDF, print copies, and include them with the treats you hand out, or place them strategically (in the bathroom, maybe?) at any Halloween parties you choose to haunt....
My aunt takes good care of me - sending me little treats in the mail all the time. Yesterday I got a Halloween package in a cute little envelope. When I opened it, it proceeded to howl and cackle at me - a little recorded sound track that played every time you flexed the envelope open. On the one hand, I had to laugh, thinking about how she put thought into picking out this admittedly adorable envelope. On the other hand, I had to suppress anger that this stuff is made in the first place. Exactly what are we expecting will happen to these envelopes? ...
Images via LG
After the embarrassment of being
stripped of its Energy Star labels for refrigerator models last year, LG gets vetted by
UL Environment for a SteamWasher and an LCD television set. LG is one of the first companies to have its products tested and vouched for by Underwriters Laboratories' new environmental arm. It's a strong move for both, since UL Environment is fairly new and needs to put it's stamp on products in the market place, and since LG needs the backing of a solid third party evaluator....
Images via Easy Energy
Feel like getting a little workout with your off-grid charging? The YoGen will strengthen up your forearms, charge your gadgets, and perhaps test your patience - all at once! The latest in hand-powered chargers, the YoGen generates electricity with the pull of a string. Or rather, a lot of pulls of a string. That might seem like a whole lot of fun all on its own, but the company has something even more exciting in the pipe. They're bringing on a pedal-powered laptop charger. You'll feel like a one-man-orchestra in no time!...
Images via Yanko Design
Now this could top any greenie gadgeteer's holiday wish list. It is a gorgeous little wooden radio that - to top off its loveliness - is solar powered. ...
Look, TreeHuggers, a fun widget! Put your
kid on our cover. Or your
cat. Or your
dog. Or your
weird witch doll. Go crazy
here.
And that's just one part of our brand new climate package. In fact, the November/December issue of
Mother Jones is full of important stories to read in the lead-up to Copenhagen.
Editors-in-Chief Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery
wonder what we'll tell our kids when they wonder why it took us so long to start fixing the climate. Kevin Drum writes about how
Big Ag got everything it asked for in the climate bill--and then it came back for more. And residents in one small California town ask, You want to pump
how much carbon
under our yards? Much more inside the issue.
Over at the
Blue Marble blog,
Julia Whitty lists the
five preventable health problems that shrink our lifespans the most. And speaking of unhealthy and preventable, Fiji Water might have been
burning its trash, releasing carcinogens into the air of its
beleaguered island home. Meanwhile, India gears up to go
nuclear. Cool or scary?
Lastly, some good gadget news: Soon you'll be able to charge your cell phone using
any kind of light. Windowless cube workers rejoice. ...
Photo: Apple Inc.
This Guy Says Yes, But It's More Complicated Than That...
ShareA blogger recently claimed that his new Mac Mini would be paying for itself within two years because his power bill had been slashed by half (see the screen grab below). His headline ("Free Apple Mac Mini. No Strings Attached!") was of course sensationalistic, but there is an important truth behind it: People too often forget to look at the total cost of ownership (TCO) when they're buying computers and other electronics, and making them more aware of it is a good opportunity to encourage good green practices....
Image via: Earthtechling
The sleek design of the
Regen ReNu offers customers a solar panel charger, that looks like well a solar panel, but also looks like it would blend into the background of a modern, chic, loft apartment. Styled similar to many iProduct docking stations, the Regen ReNu can recharge a variety of electronic gadgets and get several charges off of one battery. But will it be
available in time for the holiday rush?...
Images via Ecouterre
It's about time we see a piece of solar clothing that you'll
want to wear. The
Zegna Ecotech Solar Jacket looks slick, stylish, has a good cut, inconspicuous solar cells that (almost) don't look like a bad reference to the 80s. And, it's made from recycled plastic! ...
Images via LG
The latest entry into the market of cell phones with embedded solar cells is the POP from LG. The slick phone - very similar to the LG Dare - boasts an optional battery cover that is a solar cell, letting users charge up the battery with sunlight. ...
Image via Greener Computing
(re)blog ripped into this week's episode of
The Amazing Race, and rightly so. In one of the challenges, contestants were to hunker down in a e-waste dump and - in the rough, panicked manner that the contestants usually have during challenges - disassemble discarded electronics, exposing themselves and everyone working in the dump on a daily basis to dangerous toxins. Rather than treating it as a frightening lesson in how terrible these e-waste dumps are for people and the environment, the challenge was labeled by the show as a primer in electronics recycling. They got more than just that wrong.
...
Images courtesy of ecoATM and AMagill
Could gadget recycling get easier than this? In a similar vein as ATM-like change machines, where you bring your bucket-o-coins, dump them in and out pops a far more convenient currency,
EcoATM wants to buy back your old cell phones with this cool kiosk. Insert cell phone, withdraw currency. ...
Credit: Photos courtesy of Al & Ed's Autosound
The all-electric Tesla Roadster is a green car without the dinky green look (Sorry Toyota Prius).
Some audiophiles at
Al & Ed's Autosound in West Hollywood, California, decided the Tesla needed a non-dinky radio system, too.
So they've have revamped the $100,000 Roadster, refurbishing the interior and installing a new sound system. ...
Image via Greenpeace
Greenpeace has released its latest iteration of the electronics guide ranking manufacturers on the sustainability of their products and processes. Turns out there was a reason for HP to get a little huffy about
Greenpeace tagging their roof - they had a nearly PVC- and BFR-free computer up their sleeve. Greenpeace is rewarding them with higher points in their new gadget guide, as well as Apple, which
just released carbon footprint data on their website. Check out where they rank along with other big name manufacturers, and see who is still languishing at the bottom of the list. ...
An EAR on the reef in Kimbe Bay. Credit: Mark Eakin, NOAA via Nature Conservancy
Putting EARs in the water among the bustling life of coral reefs could help us monitor the health of coral reefs around the worlds. EAR is an
Ecological Acoustic Recorder, a device developed by NOAA and the University of Hawaii, listens in on the sounds of coral reefs and helps determine the overall health and changing status of reefs. It looks to be a promising technology, and the first one to be deployed in the
Coral Triangle has just been installed. ...
Ship leaving Bay Area. Image via: Derell_Licht on Flickr. com
With more countries tightening down on their e-waste disposal and exporting regulations and requirements, and with communities in the US requiring special disposal of E-Waste, but no follow-through on where it should go, US State Department officials are having to give trash another look, reports the
New York Times. With more e-waste being collected in communities, will the US finally sign the Basel Convention?...
We'll be working on better category archives soon. In the meantime, take a look at the
if you really want to dig around, or use the search box at the top of the page.
on 11.18.09
Image via 
Image via 
Image via 
