green Archive

  • Electrolux will clean the oceans of plastic debris, then make vacuum cleaners

    Electrolux will clean the oceans of plastic debris, then make vacuum cleaners

    Did you know that, according to Electrolux, a Swedish appliance manufacturer, there are gigantic piles of plastic debris floating about our planet's oceans? Some of these are as big as the state of Texas! Way to go, humans! So, Electrolux's proposal? Collect all that trash, then turn it into vacuum cleaners. You couldn't make that up if you tried.

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  • Orange Power Wellies convert all that dancin’ to juice for your mobile

    Orange Power Wellies convert all that dancin’ to juice for your mobile

    We're coming upon festival season again, and you know what that means -- Orange is dragging their solar energy tent to Glastonbury. This year, prepare to charge your mobile phone while checking out the acts at the John Peel Stage, courtesy of your new Power Wellies. Developed in partnership with GotWind, the soles of the boots collect heat all day and, using something called the Seebeck effect, this heat is converted into electricity -- electricity that can be used to recharge your phone later that night. As if you needed an excuse to dance in the first place! PR after the break.

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    Orange Power Wellies convert all that dancin' to juice for your mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • New solar cells printed on paper

    New solar cells printed on paper

    Everyone loves the idea of solar energy. The three big challenges are that solar cells are expensive to produce, they're not very efficient, and you need some means to store the energy collected. I'd heard of solar shingles before, which are basically roofing shingles with solar cells in them, but now word is coming out of solar cells printed on paper. As usual, the technology is still years away from a marketable product, but it's an interesting development.

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  • NEC develops eco-friendly, super-efficient CPU cooling system

    NEC develops eco-friendly, super-efficient CPU cooling system

    NEC has developed an eco-friendly cooling system for CPUs, claiming the technology [JP] uses uses 60% less energy than a water-cooling system and even 80% less than an air-cooling system. The core of the system is a liquid chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) substitute, which circulates around the CPU to draw away heat and has low greenhouse effects.

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  • Plant face mask takes cutting down on your carbon footprint to the extreme

    Plant face mask takes cutting down on your carbon footprint to the extreme

    If the volcano's in Iceland keep pumping out ash, we may all need to start wearing face masks to protect our delicate lung tissues. Of course, standard fabric or paper masks aren't enough for some people, as physical filtration may not be enough in some cases. So you have this concept face mask from designer Robert Ortega.

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  • Hotel lets patrons pedal for their supper

    Hotel lets patrons pedal for their supper

    Here's a surprisingly green idea from a hotel in Copenhagen. The ultra-modern Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers has set up two stationary bicycles and attached them to generators, with an iPhone connected to the handlebars. Time to work for that dinner!

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  • President Obama wants hybrid limo, Secret Service says no

    President Obama wants hybrid limo, Secret Service says no

    President Obama wanted his motorcade to be as environmentally friendly as possible. To that end, he requested his presidential limo be a hybrid. That's nice of him. Unfortunately, the Secret Service said, "Um, no. That's not going to happen, sorry."

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  • Nissan’s Land Glider: The future of urban transportation?

    Nissan’s Land Glider: The future of urban transportation?

    This, according to Nissan, is the future of urban transportation. It's called the Land Glider (sounds a bit like a Land Rover knock-off, no?), and it's designed to city-dwellers of all ages. The idea is to make a small, energy efficient vehicle that's capable of easily navigating a city's tight spaces.

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  • New FedEx truck: it’s electric!

    New FedEx truck: it’s electric!

    Good on FedEx, for doing this. The USPS has been talking about going electric for their fleet, and it makes sense. After all, they put massive amounts of miles on their vehicles, and that's got to make for a pretty serious carbon foot print.

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  • Scientist: Don’t bother going green because there’s nothing we can do to save the planet

    Scientist: Don’t bother going green because there’s nothing we can do to save the planet

    Well, I hate to be the one to break this news to y'all, but here we are. You know the "green" movement, where companies try to say things like, "Oh, our products are more safe for the environment than our competitors' products"? I don't want to say it's complete nonsense, but the scientist who devised the Gaia theory—our planet is an organism, and we should do our best to ensure its survival—has just said that there's no chance in hell that we're going to save the planet. His advice? "Enjoy life while you can." So, so amazing.

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  • ex-Sprint and Radio Shack execs try to save the world with eRecyclingCorps

    ex-Sprint and Radio Shack execs try to save the world with eRecyclingCorps

    65,000 tons of mobile phone e-waste are generated every year. The bad news is, only 1% of consumers choose to recycle their headsets when they upgrade. eRecyclingCorps is working with carriers to integrate the recycling process into the POS sale system at the retail store. eRecyclingCorps plans on working with the carriers to offer customer [...]

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  • Add Samsung to Greenpeace’s hate list (for now)

    Add Samsung to Greenpeace’s hate list (for now)

    Greenpeacenow officially hates Samsung. The environmental organization has taken issue with Samsung's inability to remove Brominated Flame Retardants, or BFRs, from its products. BFRs have been linked to environmental damage, and specific types have been banned from Europe altogether because of the potential for human harm.

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  • Sprint suddenly gets all Captain Planet on us with green movement

    Sprint suddenly gets all Captain Planet on us with green movement

    Being eco-friendly should definitely be high on the priorities list for electronics manufacturers and service providers, so I'm pretty happy to see that Sprint is doing its part to make our planet a nicer place for future generations. Just in case you're the apathetic type when it comes to the three Rs (recycle, reuse, reduce!), Sprint has put some incentives into place for you.

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  • Toner-, ink- and paperless printer (video)

    Toner-, ink- and paperless printer (video)

    A Japanese company called Sanwa Newtec has developed a printer that works without toners, ink or (copy) paper. ThePrePeat RP-3100 is rather based on a line thermal head and special paper that's made of PET plastic and can be reused over and over again. In other words, if you have a sheet that you don't need any longer you can insert it back into the printer (where it gets "cleaned") and immediately print out a new document in one go. Each of those special sheets can be used 1,000 times, saving not only the costs for 1,000 sheets of copy paper but also 5.7kg of CO2 for the environment.

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  • WrapAgain: Save the world one boxed tie and cologne combo gift at a time

    WrapAgain: Save the world one boxed tie and cologne combo gift at a time

    This hit our radar a little late for Kwanzaa but it’s an interesting idea: reusable cloth wrapping paper. The company, called WrapAgain, offers multiple sizes and styles. The stuff is completely reusable and includes ribbons for tying. Here’s how to use them: All Wrapagains are roughly square. Each has two corners with ribbon permanently attached. Lay Wrapagain out [...]

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