Eco fashion: Edinburgh Zoo pandas gets edible bamboo t-shirts
Hippyshopper's eco Christmas guide: gifts, food and decorations
SUSTAINATION: The new online service for local food businesses to talk and trade in a more sustainable way
Can a personal eco-concierge make it easier to go green?
The trend for 'green' PCs continues apace, with this new model from Fujitsu Siemens that achieves its stated aim of rock-bottom energy consumption primarily through its lack of a standby function. That's right: once it's off, it's off, and there's no need to yank the plug out at the mains when you finish using it.
Related: Green Tech: Advent's new 'Eco' PC | New Dell PC is made of 'bamboo, bottles and jugs
Nokia has been leading the way in the greener phones market for a while now, and in a recent move, has opted to put an end to unnecessary wastage by scrapping the charger that comes with the N79 (dubbed the N97 Eco) when you buy it online, meaning minimal packaging and plenty of green points for Nokia (which should keep them at the green end of the Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics). Nokia will also be donating £4 of each phone sold to WWF, the global conservation organisation.
This seems like a sensible move to me, as I know I personally own three chargers and have no need to accumulate new ones.
Related: Video review: the Nokia 3110 Evolve | New Nokia chargers tell you when you're fully charged
It's CES this week, which means fewer tech bods in the office, twitter crashing under the strain of a rush of gadget news tweets and lots of companies trying to out-do each other over their claims to greenness.
One of those companies is LG, which has installed a solar charging station at the event in the shape of a pyramid. Oh the things they'll do to get into Greenpeace's good books...
Our techy friends over at Shiny Shiny reckon we're going to be seeing *a lot* of environmentally friendly gadgetry this year and to get the ball rolling, here's the MOTO W233 Renew from Motorola (could this move be a sign that they're trying to get out of the red zone in the Greenpeace guide to greener electronics, I wonder?)
So what's green about this phone? First, its outer casing is made from our old friend the PET bottle; a selling-point that might not immediately grab those seeking the must-have handset of the moment, but novelty seekers will be impressed to learn that this is the first time recycled bottles have been used in phone technology. And if being kind to the environment ranks pretty high in your books and getting "the quality you expect from a Motorola device while empowering you to reduce your carbon footprint" sounds befitting to your lifestyle, this could be a smart mobile option.
Related: The 3110 Evolve: Nokia's new greener handset is 60% recycled | Eco mobile phone cases
The rate at which our gagdet bloggers draw my attentino to greener products has shot up dramatically this year, and it's really encouraging to see how the tech and entertainment industry is greening up its act.
Only today, Zara over at Shiny Shiny spotted these speakers, and seems to have been rather taken with them: "They look like something a bored origami artist might have created, and I think the cardboard looks rather retro", she says. They're compatible with any device which works off a 3.5mm jack and are created out of 70% recycled material. And you NEVER need batteries either. A great gift idea for anyone who likes music on the go.
£19.99 from 02
This is the 'Universal Charger', which O2 will be selling in its high street shops. It kills two birds with one stone - firstly the annoyance of trying to find the right charger on some dodgy market stall if you happen to lose yours, and secondly, the annoyance of not being able to charge your phone in someone else's house.
O2's also touting the energy-efficient nature of the device. It consumes 70 percent less power than a standard mobile phone charger, and meets the strict energy efficient guidelines of the US Energy Star rating system. If every single phone in use in the UK was charged with one of these, it would save the country nearly £31.4 million, and cut the carbon emissions of the equivalent of 36,000 cars.
Whether you're planning on hiring a tree, growing your own or making one out of books, a tree without lights just isn't a Christmas tree. Traditional lights guzzle a lot of electricity, but a far greener solution is to buy a set of lights made from low energy LEDs.
Will this cost you a fortune? While LED lights used to cost a bomb, the situation is changing as the technology improves.
Read on for the best deals on LED Christmas lights
Related: Oliver Heath's eco-friendly LED Christmas lights | Dreaming of a green Christmas but can't afford it?
I've been banging on about Asus's trend-setting bamboo laptop for ages now, but it wasn't until this week that Shiny Towers finally got to play host to this long-awaited PC.
Tech Digest's Duncan had a play, and gives his views in the video below.
Greenpeace continues to keep tabs on the world of consumer electronics with the publication of the latest version of its 'guide to greener electronics' scale. Nokia has not conceded its position as the greenest-rated company, while Nintendo has failed to progress from its zero score. The reason given for Nokia's outstanding score is its commitment to recycling, energy efficiency and policy on toxic chemicals, whilst Nintendo fails on e-waste, C02 emissions and lack of clear targets. Apple has jumped marginally towards the greener end of the scale after removing PVC and BFRs from its iPods
For more information on how the companies currently line up, visit the Greenpeace site.
In the video above, Lucy takes us through Asus's all-new, very green, energy-saving Bamboo laptop. It's made almost entirely of recycled materials, and everything in it can be recycled after the laptop becomes obsolete. [Via Shiny Shiny]
In the first of a series on how to green up your home, we look at one kitchen appliance it seems us Brits can't live without: the kettle. Kettles use big bursts of energy to heat water up to boiling point, but the good ones will do this quickly, with as little energy loss as possible.
Eco kettles tend to fit into one of two categories: the first work by heating the water with as little energy as possible (sometimes to a temperature that's not quite boiling); the second are designed with in-built features to try and stop you boiling more than you need.
We've tried all sorts, and from an office that has far too many kettles for its own good, I bring you our roundup of kettles we've tested, and our verdict on which one offers the greenest cup of tea.
Follow the jump for the results
This week, I've been testing out the Baylis Revolution media player; the new and more streamlined version of the world's first wind-up MP3 player. The Revolution, which is available for £129 at Ethical Superstore, is similar to its predecessor, but has more memory and comes in a sexier-looking case that doesn't scream "I'm an eco gadget" too loudly.
Follow the jump for the rest of the review
As our resident energy saving 'expert' Gary Cutlack recently pointed out, the washing machine is in many ways the scourge of the modern home. Most machines are fairly inefficient, and my own investigations into electricity usage made it quite clear to me that washing is one of the most energy guzzling activities we get up to on a daily basis. So it's well worth investing in a 'greener' washer now to save on C02 and cash.
That's what LG are hoping we'll think as they launch their state of the art 'green steam' washing machines; limited edition works of wonder that guarantee a greener wash.
Related: A waterless washing machine | Eco-friendly washing machine is 'fastest in world' with 14 minute cycle
This is one patch of grass you'll definitely need to keep off of! The idea of the Lawn PC is so seriously far-fetched that it's obviously a concept -- a concept of the futuristic solar powered sort. It's a completely wireless PC that gets rid of the need for an electrical outlet. This is where that peculiar patch of lawn comes in. As long as it's catching some rays, the grass will collect and store its own power from the solar cells embedded in it. Now the grass isn't the same stuff you'd find in your back garden, it's made form natural cotton fabric (so they're biodegradable) which carries inkjet printed solar cells.
[Via Shiny Shiny]
We've been waiting a long time to meet the legendary bamboo laptop that Asus first showcased last March, but the arguably-eco notebook is finally here, and following a series of tweaks, Asus say it's every bit as green as the initial hype had suggested it would be.
Follow the jump to find out what's green about it
Related: Asus N-Series notebook scoops EPEAT eco gold award | The Asus Ecobook bamboo laptop
From: Green graffiti - It's all in the mossage