From kitchen to car gadgets, and solar powered devices to electricity sucking ones, the Gadget Addiction website is heaven for anyone who loves to read up on news, reviews and the concepts behind popular gadgets.

Gadgets are designed to make our lives easier, whether it is quickly accessing apps or visiting sites such as O2 on your iphone, to kitchen utensils which seem to do all the work for us. Technology is evolving, becoming more advanced, intricate and creative, but that doesn’t mean it has to be expensive and electricity draining. More recently, scientists and designers are coming up with more and more eco-friendly or ‘green’ gadget ideas. These not only benefit the environment, but they make you realise how much electricity some devices need to operate. But can green devices be as reliable?

For example, prototypes of solar powered racing cars have been built and raced, which could even spark ideas for commercial cars. We already see the electric car, which uses half gas and half electricity and has proven to be more eco-friendly and quiet. However, its disadvantages have been that deaf and blind people who rely on their hearing, have trouble detecting these cars. The problem has been addressed and installing a car sound effect has been talked about. This problem could also arise for the solar powered car. In addition, it could only be used on sunny days, which poses a problem for many countries. Therefore, it is not a reliable gadget.

However, eco-friendly ideas have proven very beneficial in some cases. Take Maidstone Museum in the UK. A whole new wing to the museum was built with the intention of being totally green. The whole wing extension is heated by natural warmth, using a source heat pump. This is where rods are are placed deep into the earth which extract heat from the ground, but also provide cooling for the building. This technique helps to reduce the carbon footprint unlike a traditional gas boiler. In addition, solar roof panels will convert energy into electricity which will provide power to the museum This has proven to be a reliable and environmentally beneficial idea in Maidstone.

According to the BBC, the UK currently recycles just 3% of portable batteries and this legislation aims to raise that figure to 45% by 2016.

The recycling bins would be emptied free of charge, but many are skeptical whether consumers will be aware of the new rules or if they would go to the effort of returning batteries to stores.

Legislation like this puts responsibility on merchants.  If forces those who sell products to accept some responsibility for where those products end up.  Merchant schemes are only part of the solution and for that reason this scheme may fail to deliver.  Manufacturers, retailers, and consumers must all be complicit for a substantial impact to be seen.  While many individuals will recycle at home, but few venture out of their own backyard to recycle, unless it involves preventing a hefty landfill fee.  A first step would be better promotion to ensure consumers are aware that this program exists.  Education is part of the solution when it comes to changing peoples habits. 

There are parallels with the plastic-bag recycling facilities being offered at many grocery stores.  In most places it isn’t legislated that grocery stores offer this service, but it is a method for grocery stores to clear their own conscious.  Many of those bins sit empty and unused.  If you bring plastic bags to a grocery store, then why would you not just reuse them rather than put them into a recycling bin, walking around the counter and getting more only to put them back in the recycling bin on your next trip.  

Ireland may be an exception in the success of plastic bag recycling and this model would likely work better for batteries too.  In Ireland the use of plastic bags is legislated.  Ireland has imposed a “plastax” consumption fee on plastic bags since March 2002 where individuals pay at 15 cent fee for each plastic bag consumed at checkout.  This resulted in a 90% drop in plastic bag consumption, or approximately 1 billion fewer bags used annually.   This changed retailer and consumer behavior together: consumers used less bags and as a result retailers were required to stock less bags and could sell more reusable bags to consumers.

For the EU battery recycling program to succeed, it needs a similar consumer motivator.  A battery tax on disposable batteries might a better incentive.  Consumers would hopefully buy rechargeable batteries instead, and as a result retailers would sell more battery chargers and reduce the number of disposable batteries being shipped and stored.

 The EPBA is 

Ah, late July. The perfect time for a
little R&R. And whether that’s on the back porch, in the back yard, or in
the back woods you just might want a little music to help you relax. But you
have to admit, hanging out outdoors with your headphones on kind of defeats the
purpose to soaking in the environment. Trouble is your iPod barely has enough
juice to keep itself going, let alone crank out tunage on some dinky speakers.
And if you’re anywhere but next to the house chances are a power outlet ain’t
exactly at arms length. But don’t get out that extension cord just yet.
Consider first these nifty Solar Powered Portable Speakers.

Designed to work with most music phones as
well as iPods, iPhones, and mp3 players this solar powered sound system means
you can cut the cord and keep the music. The built-in rechargeable battery
soaks up the suns rays and provides a return of up to 8 hours of music for 6
hours tanning time. Not only is such a device ideal for a trip to the cottage
but it’s small enough and light enough to toss in with your camping gear should
you want to leave the trappings of this modern world behind but not your Boz
Scaggs.

Now, admittedly these speakers aren’t going
to be busting ear drums or pulling in noise complaints. But given its
portability, usability, and rechargeability this system has a lot of
capability. The fact that the manufacturers went to the lengths of supporting
additional music phones like Sony Ericcson, Nokia, and Samsung makes these speakers all the more useful.

Specs:

USB cable

3.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable (headphone jack)

Sony Ericsson Fast Port / Nokia 2.5mm stereo and Samsung 20pin (G600)

Technical Specifications

Amp Power: 1W x 2

Output Power: 2w x 2w RMS

Dimensions: 195mm x 112mm x 50mm (l x w x
h)

Rechargeable Battery: 1000 mAh Li-ion

Battery Running/Charge Time: Up to 8 hours play time for 6 hours charge

Weight: 290g

Packaged in environmentally-friendly
materials

Source

Musgrave refers to those
manufacturers that feign sustainability as ‘greenwashers.’ They
would be the ones slapping ineffective solar panels on obscure devices or
working a minute amount of bamboo into a product to convey a sense of
environmental conscience. It’s a pet peeve of mine and we’re seeing it more
and more these days as companies scramble to convey the politically correct
impression of a sustainable market. To rectify this heinous trend Musgrave
proposes a ‘green unit’ to measure the actual attention to sustainability of
the product. Ideally such a unit, printed on the side of packaging, would
function in the same way miles per gallon betrays fuel efficiency. You can call
the new Ford F150 the ‘most fuel efficient pickup ever’ but the mpg will reveal
just how efficient that is.

The trouble, however, is how one measures
sustainability. The scope could range from simply grading the materials
contained in the product to monitoring the power consumption of the factories
and docking points for workers who don’t commute. You could even then expand
the scope, taking a factories geographical location into account and computing
the environmental impact on the basis of longitude and latitude. But then of
course you’re getting into political issues. Ideally consumers would buy the
‘greenest’ products but I think one could make the case that if we’re going to
be environmentally sound we should do the same on the humanitarian front as
well. After all, North America has been clothed in the fruits of underpayed labour for ages. Or
how about we consolidate the whole thing into an ‘ethical unit’ and adopt the
scales of justice as the symbol. Five scales and you’re in the moral clear.

Sarcasm aside, being environmentally sound
is an ethical issue and as consumers it’s our responsibility to educate
ourselves on what is moral and immoral. If companies see consumers making
informed choices they will, invariably, adjust accordingly. And if we pressure
them to disclose their practices, be it on their treatment of employees or their
environmental sustainability, then we just might get the answers we’re looking
for. But those answers cannot be reduced to a few checkmarks or bamboo icons on
the side of some package. By that logic the most environmentally heinous of
companies could also be the manufacturer of the ‘greenest’ product. Buy a
sustainable lamp, fund illegitimate oil refineries.

No, the greatest combatant to environmental
recklessness is not some five-star grading scale. It’s an informed consumer.

At its most basic PecoBOO uses a
rudimentary form of facial detection via a webcam to determine whether you’re
present or not. This is not to be confused with facial recognition which analysis facial characteristics to detect
identity. Rather this software determines whether or not someone is sitting in
front of the computer and it’s fully configurable. PecoBOO allows you to set:

Range—how far away a person can sit to be
considered ‘using’ the computer

Sample Rate—how often the software checks
for your presence, scalable between a half second to two seconds

Idle Time—how long before energy saving
options are enabled

Mode—choose between ‘Hibernate,’ ‘Sleep,’
and ‘Stay Awake’

Off Time—how long you want these options to
be in effect for

Given the more active capabilities of
PecoBOO the company recommends that you disable your other energy saving
software to prevent interference.

The software itself comes from VeryPC.
“Ecology, Economy, Performance” is the slogan for this U.K.
computer company, who’ve made it their business to make your business greener.
And PecoBOO could very well be the next step forward in energy saving solutions
as it takes the guess work out of automatic ‘sleep’ and ‘hibernate’ commands.
Though some with invariably be turned off by the thought of an ever-present and
watchful eye, even though it’s an eco-minded one.

PecoBOO is available for XP and Vista users. It is included
with every VeryPC computer as well as available in the U.K. with
the purchase of a webcam.

 PecoBoo via Source

Let’s face it: the future is grand and
today is the future. We have the entire body of human knowledge (aka the
internet) at our fingertips wherever we are. Every piece of music ever
produced can be had at the touch of a button while on the bus (I’m referring
to one of those gianormous iPods, you know which one I mean). On a plane you
can watch the entire Monty Pythons series (a circumnavigation flight with a few layovers). But
they’re all for naught when faced with a power electronmagnetic blast. Luckily,
those don’t happen all that often. What does happen all too often is the
low-battery light coming on the midst of your favourite concept album. But
never fear, portable green energy is here to save the day.

Many a technophile is well aware of the
energy that can be had from the simple, everyday motions of the wrist. Citizen
has made carved a niche in the watch market with their Eco-Drive line that
converts kinetic movements into the time of day. But what you may not know is
that your wrist is good for another kind of energy as well. I’m talking of
course about the Seebeck effect. Huh? Well, it seems that when two contrasting
temperatures encounter one another there is electricity to be had. The Dyson
Energy Bracelet capitalizes on that effect by collecting the energy to be had
between your skin temperature and the temperature of the surrounding air. The
proposed device would be worn on a user’s wrist, passively collecting energy.
After several hours the bracelet is then easily plugged into a portable device,
such as a cell phone or mp3 player, with no additional cables or attachments.
Unfortunately, the energy return in this early version is rather minimal. We’re
talking several hours of wear for a handful of minutes of talk-time.

But that’s okay. In an emergency, it could
be indispensable. What’s more, it makes for a nice eco-friendly fashion
statement. It even sports a nifty LED indicator so you know how much power
you’re packing on your wrist. Perhaps even more promising is the thought of
pairing this technology up with a kinetic converter. Maybe my wrist are
destined for greater things after all!

There’s no official word on when the Dyson
Energy Bracelet will be released or what it will cost but we’ll keep you
posted.

Source

There are numerous reasons to ditch your
old 4-stroke lawn mower; the ever present fear of escalating fuel prices,
maintenance, the environmental impact. But my number one reason to ditch the
gas powered mower has to be that damn blasted pull chord. How many cuss words
has this archaic form of engineering induced? How many backs have been thrown
out or hernias endured? Sure the newer mowers sport more effective pull-chords but
if you’re going to upgrade why not ditch the gas can and do away with
spine-wrenching altogether? Enter the Neuton CE 6 Lawn Mower.

‘Cut’s a 19” Path!’ Neuton proclaims about
their battery powered eco-mower. On a single charge you can cover 15,000 sq ft
or 1/3 of an acre. But with a second battery included you can double that
number before you have to put the grass-cutting on hold for a recharge. This
lean-mean-green-cutting machine utilizes 360 watt-hours of battery energy,
dissuading those from thinking this is your grandma’s eco-mower. This kind of
power means thick, wet grass is no match.

Concerned that the fuel savings will be
offset by hyrdo consumption? A single recharge costs but a pittance at 10 cents, meaning you
can mow an acre of grass for a third of dollar. The batteries themselves are said to
last 5 years, recharge in 12 hours, and are made from over 95% recyclable
material. What’s more, a battery operated mower means no hearing protection
required (no if only they could do the same for vacuum cleaners…)

But, the real issue is: How does it start? The answer: You squeeze the handle. You just squeeze the handle!

The mower comes with a safety key and a
grass collection bag. But the CE 6 also supports add-ons, including a trimming/edging
attachment (for $84.99) as well as the Fenway-inspired striping attachment (for $39.95) )(both sold
separately).

The CE 6 costs $499 and is available now. Minus the cost of gas and oil, of course.

CE 6 Website via Source

Tired of “arriving at work hot and sweaty,
having to change from cycle to office clothing, getting dirty chain grease on
his pants, fixing a messy flat tire, having to bicycles stolen within six
months, and being heckled for riding ‘one of these funny looking fold-up bikes’”?
Richard Thorpe was. So he designed and built a bike to fix those problems. And
you, what did you do?

To be fair, Thorpe is an educated and
experienced race car designer. And yet, something was lacking in his life. So
he quit his job at McLaren and started working a new, greener form of
transportation. He’s dubbed this bike-redux the GoCycle, which he designed in
his London flat. This “new class of powered-two wheeler” uses an electric
‘turbo boost’ system it ranges between 6 and 20 miles, with the variable being
how much you’re willing to help. The idea here is that you can take a bit of
stress out of your daily ride by getting some assistance on those troublesome
inclines (thus reducing the number of times you have to arrive at work ‘hot and
sweaty’).

Another business faux-pas is having chain
grease on your pant leg but the GoCycle has you covered there as well;
literally. This also prevents bikers-pants which see your pantaloons reduced to
shreds in ill-conceived attempts to pedal with your pant leg down.

The GoCycle has only recently debuted in
the U.K. but will be coming stateside in the near future. As for the price,
GoCycles are available to purchase for a hefty £1,198 ($1,950 US). However,
leasing is actually another option the company is offering. And due to certain
tax benefits, it can actually work out that the British government actually pays you to
bike.

If you’re even remotely interested be sure to check out the Flash-y GoCycle website which provides detailed information on the individual components via a nifty interface.

Source

AutoBlogGreen speculates that one likely
candidate is a hybrid version of the Honda Fit (pictured above). This
diminutive automobile would be able to provide great fuel efficiency based on
its compact design. And with a rumoured price of just $15,800 it would be one
of the most affordable hybrids on the planet. Such a move, it is hoped, would
mark the beginning of an affordable, entry-level hybrid market, one that both
cash-strapped citizens and environmentally conscious drivers are in dire need
of (the all electric market, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter).

The second model Takeo Fukui referred to
could be the CR-Z hatchback (pictured below). This hybrid coup is speculated to sport a 2.5-liter
four cylinder engine with direct injection and is currently slated to join the
Honda line up in 2011. However, it would be difficult to believe that such a
sleek, sporty vehicle would fall into the under-$20,000 range. That being said,
few other hybrids are in the system at Honda, at least that we know about.

Either way, this has the potential to be a
watershed moment, not just for those waiting for affordable hybrids but for the
environment as a whole. It’s time to divest the words ‘hybrid’ and ‘status
symbol’ once and for all, lest the two get too comfortable with one another.

Source and Source

2-in-1 Solar Charger/USB Hub

Have you been lugging around a clunky USB
hub and a solar charger? Well,
today’s your day. Thanks to Brando the two indispensable gadgets are contained
in one single cube. Featuring 4 USB ports, the aptly named USB Solar Charging
4-Port Hub provides portable connectivity for the gadget aficionado. Bu wait, there’s more! On the go
and off the grid? Why not plug-in your cell phone (6 different connectors
supplied*) or most any other USB-charging device and recharge nature’s way. The
whole shebang only ways 56 grams, has a built in lithium-ion battery to store
juice for later use, and can also charge from a wall outlet, tripling its use
as an emergency backup power source. All this for a scant $20.

* (Connectors include: Nokia II (2mm),
Nokia I (3.5mm), Mini USB (for Motorola/HTC/Dopod/MP3/MP4) LG, Samsung i900,
Sony Ericsson)

Source

Windows 7

So just how does an OS from Redmond make it on
the Greenest Gadgets of the Week? Well, it has apparently been a design decision from day
one to make the latest version of Windows significantly easier to manage power
consumption. To that end engineers have built Windows 7 to provided greater
accessibility to the power management features, as well as offering more
customization options to end users. This means a streamlined power-management
interface, allowing users to access it by merely hovering over the power icon.
Microsoft believes that with this small addition alone users will be more prone to fine-tuning their power settings to get the most out of a charge. What’s more, 7
will be more intelligent when it comes to running applications and accessing devices,
such as the DVD drive. All this means the new vista is looking a lot greener. 

Source

Alternative Fuels Get Mapped

Google Maps makes everything easier.
Whether you’re planning a trip or tracking a viral outbreak, Google Maps is
there for you. But now the DOE and the National Renewable Energy Labs have
teamed up for a greener kind of map. This one displays alternative fuel
stations across the U.S. of A, complete with a legend to filter between
Hydrogen, Propane, Electric, LNG, CNG, E85, and Biodiesel. You can also view
vehicle density by which alt-fuel they use (clicking Hybrid-Electric, for
instance, reveals some interesting patterns developing on the coasts). All
said, it’s a great way to show that there are alternative-fuel users out there
and they’re growing.

Source