Computer energy saver
www.eco-button.com
In the U.S. alone, computers that are left on while idle leave a footprint of millions of tons of carbon dioxide a year....[More]
Virtual Sleep
Computer energy saver www.eco-button.com
In the U.S. alone, computers that are left on while idle leave a footprint of millions of tons of carbon dioxide a year. The Ecobutton ($22) plugs into your computer’s USB port to make power saving easy. Press the button, and the included software turns off everything in your computer except crucial memory, shrinking its power use to a mere 1.8 watts—a much deeper sleep than standby mode. Touch the keyboard, and all programs quickly return to normal. For an intriguing extra, Ecobutton software also tracks how much you have decreased your computer’s
carbon footprint. Currently PC-compatible only.
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
The Sound of Music
Power-free speaker
www.charlesandmarie.com
Amplify your music using no energy at all. Science and Sons’ Phonofone II ($500), inspired by the days of yore, boosts the sound emanating from earphones using nothing but clever acoustics, requiring no batteries or wires....[More]
The Sound of Music
Power-free speaker www.charlesandmarie.com
Amplify your music using no energy at all. Science and Sons’ Phonofone II ($500), inspired by the days of yore, boosts the sound emanating from earphones using nothing but clever acoustics, requiring no batteries or wires. The ceramic horn takes design cues from the tuba and classic Gramophone to passively amplify sound waves up to 55 decibels—about as loud as laptop speakers. Just press play on any portable music player and place its earbuds into the Phonofone’s earphone cradles. Expensive, yes, but perhaps a showpiece. Limited edition also available in black ($600).
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
Bug Buster
Ultraviolet sterilizer
www.zadro.biz
Why clean with chemicals when an ultraviolet (UV) light wand kills E. coli , Salmonella , staph and bird flu, along with the eggs of dust mites, lice and fleas?...[More]
Bug Buster
Ultraviolet sterilizer www.zadro.biz
Why clean with chemicals when an ultraviolet (UV) light wand kills E. coli, Salmonella, staph and bird flu, along with the eggs of dust mites, lice and fleas? The Nano UV Wand from Zadro Products ($160), which measures 22 inches long when unfolded, uses a combination of UVA, UVB and UVC rays. Hospitals, water treatment plants, food-processing plants, air cleaners and toothbrush sanitizers all employ UVC light to help with cleaning. —Larry Greenemeier
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
Pouch of Pouches
Reclaimed tote bags
www.terracycle.net
Paper, plastic or drink pouch? TerraCycle turns junk into gems by recruiting community brigades to collect nonrecyclable materials such as wine corks, yogurt cups, cookie package wrappers and, in this case, drink pouches....[More]
Pouch of Pouches
Reclaimed tote bags www.terracycle.net
Paper, plastic or drink pouch? TerraCycle turns junk into gems by recruiting community brigades to collect nonrecyclable materials such as wine corks, yogurt cups, cookie package wrappers and, in this case, drink pouches. These totes ($9.99) arise from more than 7,200 groups that collect some of the five billion nonrecyclable drink pouches thrown away every year. TerraCycle donates two cents per pouch to charity. Then the company sews the trash into bags, backpacks and pencil cases. Tote available only at www.Target.com
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
Think Globally, Hoop Locally
Recycled basketball
www.wilson.com
Sometimes recycling knows no bounds. The cover of Wilson’s Rebound ball ($14.99) is made from 40 percent recycled rubber....[More]
Think Globally, Hoop Locally
Recycled basketball www.wilson.com
Sometimes recycling knows no bounds. The cover of Wilson’s Rebound ball ($14.99) is made from 40 percent recycled rubber. Together about 70 of the basketballs save the equivalent of one automobile tire. Extra shot: The ball’s packaging contains 80 percent pre- and post-consumer recycled paper.
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
Pickin' Wheat
Biodegradable music accessories
www.wheatware.com
More than 100 million guitar picks are made a year, and although their disposal might not kill the planet, there is no reason they should spend decades in landfills....[More]
Pickin' Wheat
Biodegradable music accessories www.wheatware.com
More than 100 million guitar picks are made a year, and although their disposal might not kill the planet, there is no reason they should spend decades in landfills. Wheatware has turned to an American staple crop to make its biodegradable music accessories: wheat. The company’s guitar picks ($4.20 for 12) and tree-free drumsticks ($14.99 a pair) are fashioned from a wheat resin and compost into plant fertilizer in about 90 days. Apparently, they don’t sound bad either.
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
Burning Grounds
Coffee firelog
www.java-log.com
Oh, the fire is so delightful, but the carbon dioxide is frightful. The Java-Log ($3.50) burns cleaner than wood and just as long as standard firelogs....[More]
Burning Grounds
Coffee firelog www.java-log.com
Oh, the fire is so delightful, but the carbon dioxide is frightful. The Java-Log ($3.50) burns cleaner than wood and just as long as standard firelogs. Jarden Home Brands claims that its product produces only one fifth as much of the airborne particles and carbon dioxide as the traditional dead-tree variety does. The logs are fashioned from compressed wax and postindustrial coffee grounds that companies ditch after making coffee-flavored foods. And Java-Logs reportedly save 20 million pounds of coffee grounds from the garbage dump every year. No, they won’t make your living room reek of espresso.
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
Acre of Hair
Fair-trade shampoo
www.saveyourworld.com
Save Your World sells all-natural, fair-trade bath and body products in accordance with a benevolent business strategy....[More]
Acre of Hair
Fair-trade shampoo www.saveyourworld.com
Save Your World sells all-natural, fair-trade bath and body products in accordance with a benevolent business strategy. The company saves one acre of South American rain forest for one year for each product sold, even if it’s just a teensy tube of lip balm. It achieves this feat by supporting Conservation International’s deal with the Guyana Forestry Commission to lease land for 15 cents an acre per year. To take part, you can lather up your mop with Save Your World’s shampoos featuring nutrient-rich yerba maté and organic aloe vera. Then try the coconut and avocado oil conditioner. Hair products ($9.98 and up) available in rain forest, oasis fruit and regal blossom scents.
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
Meet Your Sheep
Organic clothing
www.icebreaker.com
Icebreaker’s merino wool clothing comes with a fully transparent supply chain. Enter the “baacode” on your shirt’s tag online and meet the New Zealand farmers who care for the sheep whose wool you are wearing....[More]
Meet Your Sheep
Organic clothing www.icebreaker.com
Icebreaker’s merino wool clothing comes with a fully transparent supply chain. Enter the “baacode” on your shirt’s tag online and meet the New Zealand farmers who care for the sheep whose wool you are wearing. Then watch videos that trace the renewable fiber’s journey into yarn, fabric and clothing to see the company’s working conditions and environmental ethics for yourself. Prices vary with product.
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
Being Green does not mean buying and consuming even more pointless products. Conserve, sustain, contain yourselves. Live simply on the Earth. Reduce: population, consumption, impact. That's Green. Sleep or hibernate button function already exists on most all PCs. Power free speaker a total waste of plastic and money. Ultraviolet sterilizer? For what? People are already getting sick from being too sterile. Unless it will actually sterilize people it's worthless as a green product. Reclaimed tote bags? Better to recycle the plastic, and get a nice canvas tote which will last longer and be stronger than the plastic one anyway. Plus it takes more energy to collect clean, and sew-up the bags than they save. Cute? maybe, if you want to be a walking advertisement for unsustainable food products full of chemical additives. Recycled basketballs? Whatever... no real savings in energy, and lots of better places for the rubber to go. Wheat plastic guitar picks, and drum sticks? Not much carbon savings there, I mean, you don't exactly see the landfills overflowing with guitar picks... Besides the wheat takes substantial hydrocarbon to grow. There are better alternatives to bio plastics, like cutting way down on packaging and throw away products in the first place. Java logs? Put them in the compost where they belong. Green hair products? I applaud the attempts to save rainforest, but weren't the avocado orchards and coconut plantations once rain forest too? And finally, since when did sheep become biosphere friendly? The grazing of sheep and goats has destroyed more wild lands than probably any other farming practice, and continues to turn sub Saharan Africa into a desert incapable of supporting life. Sorry guys, these products are all duds. Try again.
It is really a nice progress to address the topic of our ecological foot-print. To do it correctly one would, however, have to make a complete calculation before advertising a new product. If it takes more resources to make a power-free speaker or a hibernate button than you will ever save by using it then it is a waste of time and money to produce and sell it - our environment will not be ahead if we use it. It would therefore be helpful if this aspect is addressed and clearly communicated when you advertise these products.
Blue-Green Acres
Full-size Unmanned Aircraft Flies on Hydrogen Fuel
Recycling Could Replace Mining for U.S. Iron Supply
3 Comments
Add CommentBeing Green does not mean buying and consuming even more pointless products. Conserve, sustain, contain yourselves. Live simply on the Earth. Reduce: population, consumption, impact. That's Green.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSleep or hibernate button function already exists on most all PCs.
Power free speaker a total waste of plastic and money.
Ultraviolet sterilizer? For what? People are already getting sick from being too sterile. Unless it will actually sterilize people it's worthless as a green product.
Reclaimed tote bags? Better to recycle the plastic, and get a nice canvas tote which will last longer and be stronger than the plastic one anyway. Plus it takes more energy to collect clean, and sew-up the bags than they save. Cute? maybe, if you want to be a walking advertisement for unsustainable food products full of chemical additives.
Recycled basketballs? Whatever... no real savings in energy, and lots of better places for the rubber to go.
Wheat plastic guitar picks, and drum sticks? Not much carbon savings there, I mean, you don't exactly see the landfills overflowing with guitar picks... Besides the wheat takes substantial hydrocarbon to grow. There are better alternatives to bio plastics, like cutting way down on packaging and throw away products in the first place.
Java logs? Put them in the compost where they belong.
Green hair products? I applaud the attempts to save rainforest, but weren't the avocado orchards and coconut plantations once rain forest too?
And finally, since when did sheep become biosphere friendly? The grazing of sheep and goats has destroyed more wild lands than probably any other farming practice, and continues to turn sub Saharan Africa into a desert incapable of supporting life. Sorry guys, these products are all duds. Try again.
The earbud gramophone is pretty cool, but for $500 I can't imagine it being too popular. Why do so many "green" products have such large price tags?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is really a nice progress to address the topic of our ecological foot-print. To do it correctly one would, however, have to make a complete calculation before advertising a new product. If it takes more resources to make a power-free speaker or a hibernate button than you will ever save by using it then it is a waste of time and money to produce and sell it - our environment will not be ahead if we use it. It would therefore be helpful if this aspect is addressed and clearly communicated when you advertise these products.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this