It’s been a long and interesting competition this year to see who will get top honours for the best green gadget design. Now in its second year, the Greener Gadgets Design Competition was finalized to 50 submissions last month, with just a handful of those making it into the finals. Now the results are out and the number one greenest gadget of 2009 has been announced. But first, the finalists:
The Laundry Pod
This hand operated washing machine is highly portable, providing
an easy to use and environmentally sound way to clean your clothes. It was also
one of the only mechanical (as opposed to electronic/digital) submissions to
make it into the finalists and in many ways it represents a more ‘traditional’ approach
to going green.
The Drying Rack
Speaking of traditional, the drying rack falls outside of
both digital and mechanical realms in its simplistic approach to saving power. Jill
Fehrenbacher, co-creator of the Greener Gadgets conference and one of this year’s
judges, claimed they were drawn to this particular submission because of its
anti-gadget status. Nevertheless, it is almost too simple. Despite its
environmentally friendly bamboo design, there’s a far more common and
eco-friendly product readily available, as judge Saul Griffith noted “a piece
of string does this awfully well.”
The Power Hog
This device comes from `the awareness` school of thought with
the basic premise of coin-operated power consumption relaying to kids that
electricity isn’t simply a free, abundant resource. However, keeping this swine
from being above the bottom nine was a matter of manufacturing. The plastic design irked
some of the judges as well as the fact that such devices have already been
conceived and constructed.
And now, without further ado, your 2009 Greenest Gadget is:
Tweet-a-Watt
At first glance the Tweet-a-Watt might not seem that
different from the Power Hog; both instill a sense of environmental cost and
awareness but the former has far more potential.
The basic premise of the Tweet-a-Watt is a power-consumption
meter that is embedded with a wi-fi transmitter. Ideally, you’d plug the meter
as an intermediary between the socket and some of your more energy-variable
gadgets (like a home PC). The device then reports via Twitter various updates
on your power consumption, with the grand idea of stat tracking and the
potential for a little healthy community-driven competition. And perhaps best
of all the entire device is Do-it-Yourself by design (you can grab the plans
here and get started on one yourself).
Filling out the rest of the finalists:
RITI Printer, Recompute, Blight, WattBlocks, Bware, Fastronauts,
Social Environmental Station, Thermal Torch, Standby Monster
