It’s a simple premise: innovation through
competition. And Core77.com and GreenerGadgets.com is putting that premise to
good use in the second annual Greener Gadgets: Design Competition that wraps up
at the end of this month. After a plethora of entries the competition has been
narrowed down to fifty proprietary green gadgets. Through online voting that
list of 50 will be narrowed down to just 10. The grand prize winner will then
be chosen live at the Greener Gadgets Conference on February 27th. We’ve
already touched on a few here at Gadget Addiction (Tweet-a-Watt, RITI Printer)
but let’s look at those gadgets leading the popular vote:
For some, water consumption is
just…natural. But we’re rapidly approaching an age scarcity and good habits now
will pay dividends later. Perhaps that’s why the BWare Water Meter is so
popular in the competition. Users attach the circular meter as a connection in
their sink or shower plumbing and an LED screen displays the amount of water
consumed in a session. The device itself is powered by the water pressure, so
you don’t have to worry about batteries or wanton power consumption.
The Bware Water Meter joins a growing list
of ‘knowledge is power’ gadgets that seek to combat bad habits with hard facts.
And like the Tweet-a-Watt, the designers intend to include wi-fi support to
better track results and consumption in the large scale.
This submission is currently in the middle
of the pack of voting. The design calls for a solar powered LED garden light
with a twist. Rather than your standard moonlight aesthetic, the Lightimus is
an hourglass shape, intended to emphasize the cyclical nature of mother nature.
During the day the Lightimus is positioned so the solar panel is facing the
sun, but at night users flip the unit over and a series of LED lights simulate
the passing of time as they ‘decline’ overnight, mimicking sand falling through
an hourglass.
Certainly an artistically pleasing approach
to garden lighting but with a market already saturated with solar-powered
units, it will be interesting to see if the judges find such a design ‘unique’
enough to warrant first prize.
