You could almost see the future in this crystal ball-like lantern from windup power pioneer Trevor Baylis. Let's hope it's a future where renewable power reigns supreme, and small innovations like this one have become part of everyday life!
With its 5 x 5mm LEDs, the windup and rechargable lantern gives 4 hours of constant light when on full charge, 3 days of standby time on full charge. It's also weatherproof, so would be an ideal companion on camping trips.
£24.95 at the Green Apple Store
It's not exactly super portable, but this hand-cranked USB charger offers a new way to charge your phone or other mobile gizmo of choice without having to resort to the national grid.
Unlike solar chargers, this gadget will work at any time of day or night provided you've got a pair of hands to turn the handle. Great for camping and festival trips, it might just help you avoid those notorious 'chill and charge' tents this year!
$39.95 at National Geographic store
[Via Popgadget]
It may seem strange that a printer of any sort should get the thumbs up from an environmental body, but the Energy Saving Trust has just granted Epson its energy saving recommendation label; the first to appear on a printer.
The recommendation was based on three criteria; energy (Watts) used when the printer is on-ready to use, energy used in sleep mode and energy used when on standby. The only question in my mind is should the EST really be endorsing a technology that uses paper where greener alternatives may be available?
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Now that she's an international fashion icon, it's only right and proper that everyone's favourite Japanese cat should embrace the green lifestyle. And that's exactly what she's done with the launch of an official Sanrio licensed solar-power charger!
The pocket-sized charging device will juice up your mp3, mobile phone, DS-lite and other gadgets after a six hour soak in the sun. Whether you love or loathe La Kitty, it sounds like a great way to get young, fashion conscious girlies into the eco way of life. It's yours for $159.99.
[Via Ecofriend]
The ecological impact is obvious - fewer trees cut down and a whole host of other benefits fall into place. My worry for self-erasing paper is the practical application. If I've taken the time to type up a document and print it out, why do I want the copy to disappear?
The way Xerox's new invention works is that each of the sheets contains coded molecules which respond to ultraviolet light emitted from a special printer. The molecules react to form the copy on the page and slowly fade over a period of 24 hours or faster if exposed to heat. Each leaf can be used 100 times although I'd place bets on most not making it beyond 20. It's not that I think the technology is flawed. I doubt it is but what happens when the self-erasing paper gets mixed up with normal paper? What if it gets ruined with standard ink, and then I'm back to the original question of why do we want disappearing ink anyway?
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This week, I've been testing the Nokia 3110 Evolve; the greenest phone currently on the market. Watch the video below to find out how I got on with it!
You can always trust Firebox to come up with groovy gadgets to capture the imagination, and its range of solar powered toys is growing all the time.
Just in time for summer are these funky, Chinese-style LED lanterns, which soak up the sun during the day and give off a gorgeous glow as night descends. Each lantern is equppied with a dusk sensor so you need do nothing more than hang them in an eyecatching position and wait for the evening to begin. Each pack contains three red lanterns and three white ones. But here's the clever bit: the white lanterns contain colour changing LEDS that gently cycle through a kaleidoscope of entrancing colours. Trippy! £29.95 at Firebox
You could almost see the future in this crystal ball-like lantern from windup power pioneer Trevor Baylis. Let's hope it's a future where renewable power reigns supreme, and small innovations like this one have become part of everyday life!
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