Green Options » electronics

Smart Plugs (TalkingPlugs) for Your Home

Zachary Shahan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:54:46 +0000

Zerofootprint has created a new “TalkingPlug” that will help you to better monitor the energy usage of different appliances and electronics. How? By making your electrical sockets smarter.

Zerofootprint already helps corporations and governments in evaluating and reducing their carbon emissions through various methods. It also helps households through innovative technologies such as this one. This new TalkingPlug is for corporations or households (or anyone with electrical sockets) and will have an initial price tag of about $50. The price may go down considerably if it can make the product on a larger scale.

How does it work? What are its advantages compared to Google’s PowerMeter and other similar up and coming technologies?

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Mass Customization’s Role in a Sustainable Economy

Fred Etcheverry — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 20:23:09 +0000

Mass production has been used since the industrial revolution as a means of creating large quantities of standardized products. It has many advantages over one-at-a-time production. It reduces coast and provide interchangeable parts. Its disadvantages are that it can over produce and it dehumanizes labor.

Mass production will often continue to build inventory in spite of an economic slump. Large inventories can lead to massive layoffs. Unemployment reduces consumption and a viscous circle ensues.

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The Latest Medical Innovation: Recycled TVs

Lisa Wojnovich — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:22:17 +0000

Researchers at the University of York have recently come up with a method of recycling that seems like it fell from the pages of a science fiction novel. They want to turn discarded television screens into components for biomedicine.

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Recycle 100 Million Cell Phones, Power Almost 20,000 Homes

Dave Levitan — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:26:23 +0000

The Environmental Protection Agency has launched the National Cell Phone Recycling Week as part of the month-long Earth Day festivities. In 2007, the EPA estimates that only 10 percent of all unused cell phones were recycled, and if all 100 million unwanted phones were recycled now it would save enough energy to power 18,500 homes for one full year.

The week-long recycling event, running from April 6 through April 12, is the result of a collaboration between the EPA’s Plug-In to eCycling program and a number of phone manufacturers. Cell phones, as well as many other household electronics items, can contain lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium and other materials. These metals, if dumped in a landfill, do not break down easily and can pollute soil and groundwater. The metals can often be reused if the phones are recycled properly.

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The 2009 Great American Cleanup Starts Today

Sonya — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:53:01 +0000

Are you looking for a community, environmental project for your family? Keep America Beautiful is launching its 2009 Great American Cleanup today with its campaign “Green Starts Here”.

The Great American Cleanup begins today with a national launch event in Waveland, Miss., which will help restore a hurricane-ravaged town along the Gulf Coast. It will continue through May 31 with additional national events being held in New York City on Earth Day and Nashville on May 14.

Millions of volunteers will work to rid streets, waterways and public spaces of litter and illegal dumpsites. Communities will green up parks, schoolyards and other public spaces and hold recycling drives and educational events.

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TV Zombies Take Over the Consumer Electronics Show

Ariel Schwartz — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:17:51 +0000

Apparently, a group of TV zombies have taken over the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Why? Because all those supposedly “green” electronics being exhibited are actually heading to the dumpster after they’ve died.

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The Twelve Days of sustainablog: Bees, Stimulus Checks, and Biodynamic Wine

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:21:11 +0000

2008 was a banner year for sustainablog, and we want to end it as strongly as we started. So, for the next twelve days, I’ll take a look back at some of the best and most memorable posts from the past year.

Let me start off, though, by expressing my immense gratitude to all of the writers who contributed during 2008. This was our first full year as a multi-author blog, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the way it turned out. Some of the writers I’ll mention have moved on; others on coming on board. I’m grateful for the inspiration you’ve all brought to the blog over the past year, and look forward with anticipation to what the new year brings us.

January 2008

Like New Year’s fireworks, January started off with a bang. Here are a few great posts to remember:

Jason Phillip’s post on Chicago’s bottled water tax was one of our most popular ever… it’s still getting pageviews!
Maria Surma Manka wrote a very thorough (and also very popular) review of Scientific American’s “Solar Grand Plan.”
I took a look at an innovative South African whose developed a low-cost, high-yield method of generating energy from chicken poop.

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Sony’s Traveling Electronics Recycling Program

Becky Striepe — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:00:07 +0000

[Image credit: Jason Penner at Flickr under a Creative Commons license]

Americans produce millions of tons of e-waste each year. Our old computers, cameras, VCRs and so on are full of toxic substances that, if disposed of improperly, are terrible for our ecosystem. Sony is teaming up with Waste Management to help consumers responsibly dispose of e-waste. They’re hosting events across the U.S. and accepting TVs, computer monitors, computer systems, VCRs, DVDs, cameras, phones and other consumer electronics.

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Future Electronics Could Be Powered by Sugar

Ariel Schwartz — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:08:04 +0000

Finally, scientists have come up with a way to combine my two favorite things: music and sugar. Japanese researchers report in the latest issue of Energy and Environmental Science that they have created a biofuel cell that uses enzymes to break down sugars. Four of the cells combined produce 100 milliwatts of power— enough to run an MP3 player with speakers or a remote-controlled car.

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Five Green Ways to Dispose of That Old Cell Phone

Becky Striepe — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:00:28 +0000

[image by IamSAM]

The average American replaces an old cell phone with a new one about every year and a half. With around 256 million cell phone users in the U.S., that’s a lot of electronic waste. Because we replace them so often, cell phones are major contributors to the “wireless waste” in this country.

Cell phones contain a number of toxins that build up in the environment over time, like arsenic, antimony, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc. These chemicals are linked to all sorts of nasty health problems, such as neurological disorders and cancer. That’s the bad news. The good news is, there are lots of free, easy ways to safely dispose of your old cell phone and keep it out of the landfill. Rather than pitching your old phone in the trash, check out a few ways you can use your old phone to do good or even score some cash!

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Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics: Nokia Leads the Pack, Nintendo Falls Flat

Ariel Schwartz — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 21:47:35 +0000

It’s that time of year again—Greenpeace has released the 9th edition of The Guide to Greener Electronics. The guide scores companies based on a set of criteria for chemicals, e-waste, and energy.

This year, Nokia regained its first place crown with a rating of 7 out of 10 points. The company performed well in a variety of areas— it has an excellent take-back policy in India, and all new products since 2005 are vinyl-plastic (PVC) free. Additionally, all models released after 2009 will be free of brominated flame retardants (BFR) and antimony trioxide.

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Pirated DVDs Sold in Peru Will Pollute the Country for a Long Time

Levi Novey — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 05:02:33 +0000

One of the great things about living in a developing country like Peru is that you can buy DVDs of new movies for a very low price. For instance, if you want a DVD of The Dark Knight, the new Batman movie, you can already buy it here. Not too shabby, eh?

Of course, you cannot be a stickler for quality with such DVDs, or you will be sorely disappointed. But if you like laughing along with audiences, wearing a hearing aid while watching movies, or pride yourself in your non-humble ability to tell people to sit down and shut up in the theater, then I’ve got a Kungfu Panda DVD that will be perfect for you.

It will probably come as no surprise to you that these kinds of DVDs are made by pirating businesses who use digital cameras to record new movies in theaters. They then distribute them quickly to the masses for profit. Peru, as well as many other developing countries where pirated DVDs are sold will unquestionably suffer over time from the pollution these DVDs will cause. To better understand why the environmental effect of DVDs will be proportionally greater in Peru than in a country like the United States, read on.

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Erasing Electronics Buyer Remorse

Paul Smith — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:39:57 +0000

Recycling as an everyday practice has become more and more common these days. But what about all those gadgets you accumulate? What happens to them? There are many options out there, but for most, they involve more cost, effort, and time then our busy schedules or motivation will allow. Sure, there are some newer options such as Second Rotation, the company I profiled in January that quotes you a value for your product based on the condition you claim it’s in, then they inspect it, and either give you that amount, or a different agreed upon one. But even there, with the free shipping and the possibility of getting cash rather then spending it to recycle, it’s based on current market value, a wildly fluctuating amount, as the new half price twice the speed iPhone exemplifies.

What if you could guarantee exactly how much you’d get, based on how long you’ve owned it, at the time of purchase? This is now a reality, via the company Tech Forward. You can buy a product at any store you like, then purchase their Guaranteed Buyback service, which covers a wide range of electronics, from MP3 players to desktop computers.

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Dell’s Green Design Idea Contest

Deb Hiett — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 08:01:14 +0000

Scary news: Electronic waste is growing at three times the rate of other household waste, and at a higher toxicity. With the rapid and widespread use of computers and electronic technology in the past thirty years, the impact of all the heavy metals (arsenic, mercury, cadmium, copper, lead, etc.), batteries, plastics, LCD and other screens, etc. going into our landfills and water tables has yet to be determined.

What we do know for sure is that computer companies have to start designing with more environmental concern and foresight.

Good news: Dell has sponsored a “green” design competition, and we get to choose the winner. As part of their “ReGeneration” program, Dell invited design students and individuals “to create a broad range of design concepts and innovations for technology products that demonstrate refreshed approaches and responsible solutions for green computing technologies.”

The five finalists’ designs run the gamut from “Lawnpc,” which creates all the power it needs to operate, to “Sense,” an in-store scanning system that tells you everything about a product’s sustainability and green quotient by its bar code. Take a look, cast your vote (before May 7), and find out more about Dell’s “ReGeneration” aspirations.

Let’s hope Dell puts their considerable power behind even more green solutions when creating their next computing solutions.

[Photo courtesy of Dell, Inc.]

One for the Books, Hopefully

Max Lindberg — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:30:55 +0000

With an eye to making it in the record books, Mr. Tan of Songyuan city in China, spent the last six months creating an exact, 48 lb, fully functional replica of his cell phone with camera and internet access included.

He did, however, leave out the vibrate function, which was probably a good idea, and he couldn’t find a battery big enough to power the phone, so he has to plug it into a wall outlet.

Source

Five Electronics Fixes: Keep Them Running, and Out of the Landfill

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:48:05 +0000

Electronic waste is a big environmental issue, and we’ve covered numerous ways that both electronics companies and consumers can reduce the amount of e-waste headed for landfills. While most recent efforts focus on reuse and/or recycling (which are both important), Israeli site FixYa harnesses "crowd power" (ie, social media) to help people fix their electronics rather than disposing of them. The main motivation behind FixYa was the increasing lack of technical support provided for consumer electronics, but Yaniv Ben Saadon told us that there’s a green element to the site’s mission:

By allowing more and more consumers to successfully operate and mend their products, FixYa decreases the number of products that are discarded and eventually pollute our environment. Although globalization and competition drive the average consumption of consumer products to increase over time, the usability of these products decreases as they become more technologically advanced and challenging to operate. Moreover, since manufacturers are under growing pressure to release their products to their markets, often these products are mass produced before they are properly designed. The result is that the products we buy are cheaper than they were before, yet more challenging to operate.

From gaming systems to washing machines, FixYa’s user have already provided a wide range of "fix-it" advice. Ben Saadon shared with us some of the most popular problems, and the highest-ranked solutions, addressed on the site.

1. A Clacking Xbox with Three Flashing Red Lights

User Carl26 walks a panicked gamer through the process of fixing this problem with the GPU memory.

2. Another Flashing Light… on a Kenmore Dish Washer

Expert qqwweer shows how to reset the light.

3. Ipod Keeps Displaying "Do Not Disconnect"

User Yung offers four different approaches to this problem.

4. Sansa MP3 Player Won’t Turn On

User chrism provides a really simple solution to this really aggravating problem.

5. DVD Player’s P-SCAN Split-Screen Keeps Coming On

User spyder99 shows that sometimes a solution is as easy as flipping a switch… if you know where that switch is located.

These are just a few examples of how FixYa’s brand of social media provides solutions for users’ pocketbooks and the envionment. Ben Saadon notes

Through the collaboration of a community of consumers, FixYa encourages its users to learn from the experience of others on how to properly use and fix their products. The result is that more and more consumers are able to successfully operate their existing products rather than replace them with newer ones, and thus help to reduce the number of products that ended up polluting our environment.

And, if throwing your problem out to the community isn’t your style, FixYa also features a massive collection of manuals and troubleshooting guides.

Daily Tip: Safe Battery Disposal

Amy Stodghill — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:17:15 +0000

All batteries contain heavy metals, which are useful for providing power for our portable devices, but aren’t so great for the environment. When your batteries run out of juice, or just won’t keep their charge anymore, be sure to dispose of them properly.

Many small electronics, like cell phones, iPods, computers and digital cameras use rechargeable batteries. These are often nickel-cadmium, metal-hydride or lithium-ion batteries. Then there are single-use alkaline batteries used for remote controls, alarm clocks, and other small devices. And of course there are the big lead-acid batteries that sit under the hood of your car. (For more on different battery types check out Earth911.org.)

Don’t throw batteries away. When the battery casing corrodes in a landfill, the heavy metals leak out and contaminate soils and groundwater creating a real toxic mess. This is why batteries (and other electronic items containing heavy metals) should be disposed of safely. While recycling batteries isn’t as easy as recycling a soda bottle, it is easy to find a place to drop them off.

A drop off site may be closer than you think. Many hardware stores, drug stores, and electronics retailers now act as collection points for batteries. Call 2 Recycle, a rechargeable battery recycling corporation, lists small and large retailers that offer this service to customers. You can also find battery drop-off locations near you at Earth911.org. For car batteries, check with your local auto shop or solid waste management company for safe disposal details.

Amy says: When my AA batteries die I’ll throw them in a drawer that holds some other electronic odds and ends (but you can use any kind of container). Once I’ve built up a stash of used-up batteries, I take them to my locally-owned green retailer, 3R Living. They collect the batteries and send them off to a company for recycling or safe disposal.

More on battery recycling from GO:

Daily Tip: Keep Going and Going and Going to Recycle Your Batteries

Daily Tip: Rechargeable Batteries

Daily Tip: Recycle Auto-matically

Be SAFE When Disposing of Hazardous Waste

Red, Green & Blue: Green Gadgets or Just More Gadget Garbage?

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 00:02:27 +0000

Technophiles often like to point out how their gadgets help save the planet by, say, eliminating the need for CDs (think iPod), DVDs (TiVO) and other wasteful products because everything’s going increasingly digital. However, the fact that more and more gadgets are produced and purchased every year, and thrown away more frequently as they quickly become obsolete, negates some of those environmental benefits. In fact, Greenpeace estimates that, globally, we throw away between 20 and 50 tons of electronics every year.

Then there are the unintended other consequences: all the resulting waste generated by gadget catalogs, gadget manuals, gadget bills ( i.e., the 300-plus-page printed iPhone bill) … again, not exactly Earth-friendly.

Yes, it’s possible to recycle these gadgets after they outlive their cutting-edge usefulness, but many consumers don’t: the old electronics end up either languishing in closets and basements, leaching heavy metals into landfills, or piling up in Chinese scrap heaps until they are, maybe, recycled.

So how can the situation be improved? Yes, going digital eliminates a lot of extraneous waste, but should we do more to encourage — or even mandate — electronics recycling? What is the best way to reduce all this waste?

EcoGeek of the Week: Scott Cronce, CTO of EA

EcoGeek Blog — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 23:38:17 +0000

Editor's note: EcoGeek.org's "EcoGeek of the Week" interview series is a relatively new feature over there, but we've been impressed with the subjects they lined up. When Head EcoGeek Hank Green asked us if we'd like to run the feature, we happily obliged."EcoGeek of the Week" appears every Tuesday at EcoGeek.org… and now also at Green Options.

Just because I love the actual world doesn't mean I'm not a pretty big fan of virtual worlds as well. Some have said that actively seeking out fake worlds to explore and enjoy is be a symptom of alienation from or even disdain for the environment. But I can't help but feel that's absolute crap.

And today I've got someone who very likely agrees with me, and he happens to be one of the biggest gamers in the world. Scott Cronce is the Chief Technology Officer of Electronic Arts. Scott's worked on dozens of video games over the last two decades and when I noticed his name pop up on the EcoGeek mailing list (don't you want to join too) I had to get in touch with him.

I was excited to learn that he's an even bigger EcoGeek than I am, and was happy to oblige us with an interview.

EcoGeek: CTO of Electronic Arts eh? That sounds a lot like "Head of Video Games for the Entire World." What are your responsibilities with EA?

Scott Cronce: This October I’ll celebrate my 19th anniversary at Electronic Arts. In 1988 I joined EA as a Technical Director for the simulations group were I was very fortunate to work on many types of games from military simulations to a little group of games we now call EA Sports. Over the years my responsibilities grew from project level to company level technology management. During console transitions I also have the extra fun of heading up our engineering efforts on new game machines. As EA grew I had ‘title creep’ to the point where it would no longer fit on a standard business card without multiple abbreviations.

EG: Do you think there's an interplay between the virtual worlds of gaming and the actual world of environmentalism.

SC: As a game play mechanic, of course there is. Just like in the real word, the virtual world is made up of resources to manage. A game designer can use elements of adverse environmental effects to balance out game play.

EG: When and how did you end up as an EcoGeek?

SC: It was mainly by accident but was accelerated by the California Energy crisis. My interests in the latest and greatest technology long ago earned me the title of ‘alpha geek’. For example, I ordered my Segway off Amazon the day they went on sale. At the time I didn’t consider it an Eco purchase, just a really cool toy. I have a strange desire to constantly beta test anything electronic, much to my wife’s dismay. I live in California and we went through a period huge increases in our energy bills. All those gadgets were starting to cost me upwards of $800 a month. Before that I never really paid much attention to my energy usage. I wasn’t about to stop using all those cool toys, it just meant I had another problem that I was sure could be solved by technology. I think it’s very natural progression for people to go from gadget geek to EcoGeek.

EG: Do you have any personal environmental achievements that you think are particularly awesome.

SC: I think I got a little obsessed with my electricity usage. I filled up my roof top with 56-220w solar panels. It finally dawned on me how big the system was when my Solar company put pictures of the array on their website in industrial section. I guess I went a little overboard. We then changed out our gas components to electric and swapped out all our incandesce lights for compact fluorescent. I was amazed how high tech they had become, I could even get dimmable ones! Next came the electric scooter, what a great way to get around town. Not satisfied with my new electric hobby, I hunted for an electric car that I could use for my 45 mile round trip commute. I found a 1995 U.S. Electricar (basically a Geo) that had just enough range to get me to work. After a 10hr charge I was ready to drive it back home again. It was fun but not that practical. I was then lucky enough to find a 2002 Toyota RAV4 EV. Now that’s a real electric car. With its 120 mile range It not only became my daily computer but my main car. My wife liked it so much that I found another one for her. We still have our gas car as backup but rarely need to use it. I haven’t needed to by gas since last December. It’s really a shame that consumers can’t walk into a dealership today and buy an EV. Maybe companies like Tesla Motors will change that.

EG: Do you think EA might get in on the current environmental craze in any way?

SC: There are many more people like myself at EA. I think you’d be surprised to see how many hybrids are in our parking lots and how many employees are environmentally active. As a corporation we have always been very environmentally conscious. Our games are pure entertainment. We have had many games were some environmental element to them but we haven’t made one entirely themed on the environment. Maybe in today’s heightened awareness we’ll have more opportunities to do more.

EG: What makes you hopeful for our world's environmental future?

SC: We have a history of reversing and rectifying problems we have caused to the environment so I see no reason why we won’t continue. What gives me extra hope today is the extent of investment I’m now seeing put into green technologies. That means there is actual money to be made. We are going to see big boom in new ideas and technologies over the next few years.

EG: What do you think are the best ideas and innovations we've got to save the world.

SC: That’s a hard one. I’ll stay away from miracle inventions and instead just deploy the ones we already know work. To start with I’d like to see all new construction use solar (like thin film shingles). We could drastically cut down energy costs for the average home owner while eliminating the need to build new power plants. I’d like to see us bring back the plug in electric car. We have thousands of homemade plug in hybrids now, sure would be great if a consumer could buy a new one. Nonprofit organizations like www.pluginamerica.com are staring to make some headway, I just wish auto manufactures along with local and federal government agencies would help.

DIY Solar Generator

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 22:41:00 +0000

Cyndy at mousemusings points out a web site with instructions on how to make a small solar power generator “for $250 to $300.” I’m interested in what some of you with some electronics know-how think — would this solar diy project work as a reliable means of producing power in small amounts, or is it more appropriate for school science fair projects? Ryan, if you get bored with the biodiesel experiment, you should try this out for us…