Greener Gadgets Showcases New Environmental Technology

Greener Gadgets 2009, held on February 27th, once again proved to be a showcase for creativity and vision, and provided a glimpse into the future of environmental technology.

Those present at the event watched and listened as an expert panel discussed the merits of their top 13 gadget picks, before the ultimate winner, Tweet-a-Watt, was chosen.

Environmental News presents a run-down of these 13 gadgets, describing them along with the environmental benefits they potentially offer. The bracketed names highlight each gadget’s inventor(s).

Photovoltaic Technology

• Blight (Vincent Gerkens) – Blight is a photovoltaic blind that takes in daylight, and then uses it to provide illumination at night. Styled in the mould of a traditional Venetian blind, its blinds move so as to make optimum use of the sun’s relative position.

Environmental Electronics

• Power-Hog (a collaboration involving Mathieu Zastawny, Mansour Ourasanah, Tom Dooley, Peter Byar, Elysa Soffer and Mathieu Turpault) – The Power Hog is basically an educational tool - a piggy bank with a power meter, and one that is entirely recyclable. Its main purpose is to highlight to children how cost relates to electricity consumption.
• Recompute (Brenden Macaluso) – Recompute is a desktop computer that incorporates recycled cardboard into its outer casing. It retains traditional features like USB ports, meaning that it can be introduced into a standard network. According to promotional literature, when finished with, Recompute can be taken apart by hand, facilitating the recycling process.
• RITI Printer (Jeon Hwan Ju) – The concept of the RITI Printer is that of using a different kind of ink than before. With traditional ink cartridges being linked to high cost and other negative factors, this printer can produce prints from tea or coffee sediments. It is also powered by hand, meaning no electricity is needed whatsoever.
• Social-environmental Station - Environmental traffic light (Hernando Barragan) – The environmental traffic light is no traditional traffic-controlling device, but one that – displayed in a public area - measures and displays climatic information. Its developers highlight how it could be installed not just in cities, but greener areas too.
• Standby Monsters (Rachel Turner) – Standby Monsters are small lenses intended to be attached onto standby lights on electrical appliances – their cartoonish, glowing eyes a reminder of the need to avoid leaving items on standby and, thus, to save power.
• Tweet-a-Watt (a collaboration involving Limor Fried, Adafruit Industries & Phillip Torrone and MAKE magazine) – The Tweet-a-Watt is an adapted Kill-a-Watt device that produces data on how much power is being used by the online information exchanging service Twitter. A statement released by its developers draws attention to the importance of having this information included within individual profiles, suggesting that it could spark friendly, power-efficiency rivalry.
• Wattblocks (frog Design) – Wattblocks is a system designed to reduce the amount of electricity consumed when an electrical product is on standby, using a foot pedal to control individual blocks that sit between the device and the plug. Its developers claim substantial price savings can result from using it, and that it is easy to install and understand, as well as being low-cost.

Energy Consumption and Emissions

• Bware Water Meter (Ariel Drach) – The Bware Water Meter is a device that highlights how much water has been consumed during a particular task, such as taking a shower or washing-up. Its construction incorporates recycled materials (specifically the thermoplastic ABS - Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) and it works on hydropower. The purpose of the Bware Water Meter is to encourage consumers to be more aware of the volume of water being used in a domestic setting and, thus, to consume it more efficiently.
• Fastronauts – Powered by Play (Sara Paculdo) – Fastronauts are children’s toys which are basically self-powered, drawing on the kinetic energy created when played with. They are didactic as well, with LED information displaying the level of power created, the idea being that children will better understand conservation practice whilst having fun too.
• Indoor Drying Rack (Rob Podell) – The Indoor Drying Rack is a piece of apparatus that incorporates recycled materials and that, itself, can be recycled. It is meant as an alternative to electric clothes drying, the use of which is costly and energy-consuming.
• Laundry POD (RKS Design Team) – The Laundry POD is a portable, hand-operated device for small laundry loads that is especially useful for washing underwear and items requiring a hand-wash. On the construction side, it takes in recycled materials and, from the environmental perspective, uses less water and consumes less energy than larger machines.
• Thermal Torch (Gunnar Kramp) – The Thermal Torch is designed to be used as a means of highlighting parts of buildings where insulation is poor, which it does when its beam is shone across an area. Its developer highlights how the Thermal Torch has both domestic and corporate applications, and how its use can, ultimately, reduce emissions of carbon dioxide.

Enviro-News intends to provide further coverage of these and similar environmentally-geared designs in future News Items.

Blight image provided courtesy of the Consumer Electronics Association and copyright Vincent Gerkins