Archive for the 'PCs and Gear' Category

Save power, money and earth with your power strips

Tricklestar power strip Tricklesaver
Found via, the Alternative Consumer, this device called the Tricklesaver plugs into your computer peripheral power strip and your computer. It will then sense when your computer is in shutdown or standby mode, and then power down the power strip accordingly! Excellent as most of your peripherals use power when your computer is in hibernate or shutdown mode. Power adapters for peripherals waste a lot of energy and have no off switches.

It has been estimated that while there is a small amount of waste energy per household in the U.S., it does add up to 10% of household consumption. Estimates say that there is enough wasted energy in the U.S. from standby power to power the countries of Vietnam, Peru, and Greece!

For now there is still no price, but it will go on sale in January. There will be a model for other electronics such as your living room home theater too or other appliances. Check Tricklestar.

Bamboo laptops benefit the environment

Treehugger had a good article on whether bamboo laptops are beneficial to the environment. Besides the eco friendly looks that wood gives there are benefits to using bamboo.

Bamboo is more biodegradable than plastic, and bamboo can be harvested in a sustainable way since it grows very fast like a weed. Plastic uses too much chemicals and is difficult to biodegrade. You can recycle plastic, but we must develop computer components in a way that they can be taken apart for recycling. Until then we are just going to see these hazardous electronic parts back in the landfill.

Anyways there are more options for bamboo computers such as the:
Asos Eco book bamboo laptop

Asus Eco book is $2000 but only includes 1 GB of ram.

Dell studio Hybrid with bamboo case
Dell has the Studio Hybrid which has a bamboo sleeve option. Ultra sleek design with power efficiency. Its get just about the same features as a regular pc except its 80% smaller and uses 70% power. These cool laptops are portable and affordable. Go Dell!!

Cedar wood Fujitso prototype laptop
The Fujitsu laptop is actually made with cedar wood. Even the plastics are made of bio-based plastics! It’s only a prototype, but it could be the future for us. In 2002, Fujitsu became the first computer manufacturer to develop corn-based plastic and adopt the environmentally friendly material for PC parts. Original bio-based plastic has been used for a limited number of smaller parts and gradual improvements to its properties to satisfy various manufacturing requirements and increase the percentage used in its notebook PCs. The newly developed bio-based plastic accounts for about 30% of the plastic material in the housings of 2 of their prototype laptops.

Gaiam.com, Inc

USB stick made of recycled newspaper

USB stick made of recycled newspaper
recycled newspaper usb stick closed
A USB memory stick made of recycled newspaper. Very simple and compact. It will hold for 512 MB to 16 GB.

Via Ecofriend.com

Gaiam.com, Inc

Eco recycled rubber mousepads for HBO shows

Eco friendy mouse pads featuring your favorite shows from HBO.COM Show your support for your favorite shows from Bill Maher, Entourage, Sex and the City and the Sapranos. Made from recycled rubber.
eco friendly recycled mousepads from HBO

Check HBO.

Eco-Friendly Handbags

Earthdrive recyclable USB drive

eco rycyclable flash usb driveYou can store up to 8 gigabytes on this recyclable USB drive. Named the EarthDrive, its made of biodegradable materials like corn! The first of its kind. Plus, in partnership with American Forests, a portion of sales also go to the planting of trees. Other features of the USB drive include waterproof, shock proof, and dust proof.

Via EarthDrive. Available at Costco, and Walmart as well. You can get them from 1 GB to 8 GB, from $20 to $100.

Eco-Friendly Handbags

Laptop pillows made of eco friendly materials

organic laptop pillow
Eco laptop pillows are very comfortable on your lap while they absorb the heat away from your lap. The stacked design allows for ventilation. Plus the materials are all sustainable being biodegradable, organic, natural or recycled. The outer material is made of natural hemp, while the inside is made of organic cotton twill.

Check out more eco designs at IntelligentForms.net or IF. These laptop log pillow are not available at stores yet, but they will cost a whopping $160 USD/CDN. Made in Canada.

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Ec friendly USB webcam and Hub

Recybled USB webcam and hub
Cute eco friendly gear for your pc. You can get a little 1.2 megamixel webcam that looks like an octopus or a starfish usb hub with 5 ports.

They are made in a fair trade shop in Vietnam and come in recycled packaging. These pc accessories are made mostly of natural materials including sand, tree fibres, and paperboard. At the end of their lives they can be dismantled for easy recycling.

Check this UK Company Website: United Pepper

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