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Member Articles Member Articles GREEN GADGETS | GREEN GADGETS |
| Written by Steve Greenberg | |
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There’s no doubt about it; green is the new black. As with any fashion trend, first celebrities embrace it, then the rest of us follow. Leonardo DiCaprio led the charge with his gas frugal Prius Hybrid. Al Gore followed with a movie and a Nobel Peace Prize. Today green has gone mainstream. From South Beach to Seattle, everyone is talking about global warming—and manufacturers are listening. If you’re looking to make your life a little more earth friendly, here are some things that will make your eco-friends turn green with envy. HOUSE CALL Programmable thermostats are terrific, if your life is programmed. Unfortunately for most of us each day is different adventure and our schedules keep changing. That’s what’s so cool about the Z-Wave Enabled Wireless Home Automation and Control solutions—they let you control your home from anywhere. Z-Wave enabled thermostats, light controls, and even window blinds can all be operated from the Internet or from any cell phone. So if your going to be home late, just log onto your laptop or grab your cell phone and you can adjust your thermostat and lights to save the most energy. It’s good for your pocketbook and good for the planet. Setting up the Z-Wave system starts at about $500. For more information go to www.z-wave.com ALL WET It may sound alarming but this alarm clock doesn’t plug into a wall outlet and doesn’t use batteries. It’s powered by water—or really just about any liquid. To understand how it works, you would need to review your Chemistry 101 notes. Let’s just say that the free radical electrons in water and most other liquids can be extracted by the clock and converted into enough electricity to power it. This Water Powered Alarm Clock costs about $13 and is available at http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/lights/757e/ WHAT WATTS? Did you know that many of your home electronics continue to eat power even when they are turned off? It’s true. To find out how much power snacking is going on in your home, check out Kill-A-Watt-EZ. All you do is plug in any appliance into the Kill-A-Watt and it will show you how much power its consuming. It will also calculate how much that appliance is costing you per day, per week, per month, per year. It might even get you to unplug some of your appliances when you going to be away from home for a few days. Kill-A-Watt cost about $60 and you find out more about it at: http://www.p3international.com/products/p4460.html NATURAL POWER Every night we all plug our cell phones, PDAs, and iPods into an outlet to charge them up for another day. We use electricity as if it’s a free endless supply—it’s not. That’s why solar power and wind power make sense. Solio, with its stylish fan design, can take in solar rays and save that power for future use. Bright idea, huh? It can hold enough electricity to run your cell phone, PDA, or iPod for about 10-hours. Looking to make a really green statement? You can get case for your Solio made from recycled tires. The case is called Tread and costs about $25. The Solio costs about $100, check out www.solio.com If you want your power to be easy as a breeze, then check out the HYmini. It uses wind power to charge your cell phone, digital camera and other portable electronics. Strap it onto your arm while biking or prop it up on the table while having lunch at an outdoor café. About one breezy hour will give you two hours of MP3 playtime. It’s a great way to make the most of the air that moves around us. The Hymini costs about $50, learn more at http://hymini.com/ CONTROL ISSUES Think about how much time you spend channel surfing. Each click drains those batteries inside the remote a little bit more. With the EZ-Power Universal Remote Control you can change those channels battery-free. Just crank the knob on the remote and you’ve powered it. Now, I know this sounds a bit gimmicky, but it does keep a few more batteries out of our landfills and it is a reminder to everyone in the family to think green. Take control of this remote for about $30 http://www.pogoproducts.com/batt_free.html POWER CLEANING It is not only about what you buy, it’s also about what you throw out. Tossing your old cell phone or burned out rechargeable batteries into the trash so that they end up in a landfill is bad for the planet. Cell phone and rechargeable batteries contain chemicals that should get into the soil. So when its time to toss your cell phone or anything with a rechargeable battery make sure you drop in a Call-2-Recycle box, not the garbage. You can find these green Call-2-Recycle boxes at all sorts of large retailers including Home Depot, Lowes, Circuit City, Radio Shack, Sears and many others. For more information go to http://www.rbrc.org/call2recycle/ #1 OR #2? Going green is not only about saving energy it’s also about saving water. That’s what the Caroma Dual Flush Toilet is all about. There are two buttons on top for flushing. One button uses 1.6-gallons of water for a full flush and the other button uses only .8-gallons of water for a half flush. I’ll let you figure out when to use a full or half flush. What’s also amazing about this toilet is that it has an extra-large 4-inch trap and instead of the water swirling down as it does in most toilets, here it pours straight down--more efficient use of water. Too many other water-saving toilets take two or three flushes to get the job done. With this toilet one flush does it every time. The Caroma Dual Flush Toilet comes in many styles and starts at about $250. Check out http://www.caroma.com.au/innovate/idea_1.htm THAT’S A WRAP Candy bar wrappers, soda bottle labels, food packaging. Our world is filled with packaging and wrappers. A slight misprint and a huge roll of wrappers are unusable and are toss into the trash and end up in landfill. What a waste, huh? Well, Ecoist sees functional fashion in those discarded reams of labels, wrappers and packaging. Check out their Image 3200 – Jumbo Small Clutch Confetti. It is handmade from recycled candy wrappers and is the perfect-sized clutch to take to a cocktail party or bar. It fits cell phone, wallet, keys, and maybe even a candy bar. It costs under $50. Image BR(52) – Bracelet confetti $12 The official "Stop Global Warming" Ecoist bracelets. They are adjustable for kids or adults. Ecoists plants a tree for every bracelet sold. Handmade from recycled candy wrappers, soda labels, and food packages. Fashion isn’t just a clothing accessory, check out these Image PM2 – Placemats in silver. They are perfect for that green dinner party. Made from repurposed candy wrappers, food packages, and soda labels. No need to worry about stains, these placemats clean with a damp cloth. They cost under $70. For more information check out www.ecoist.com *Steve Greenberg appears each month on NYC, Philly, Houston, Washington DC and Chicago television demonstrating innovative products. Steve’s book, “GADGET NATION: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE ECCENTRIC WORLD OF INVENTION” is on sale at Barnes & Noble Bookstores nationwide and you can read more about the book and Steve at www.gadgetnation.net                     |
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