All things green and planet saving.
Or: Recycled Credit Card No. 1 Recycled Credit Card No. 2 Tags: 1+sec+emergency+smartphone+stand, gadget, ecological, iphone, smartphone, youtube+video
Seems that every time you turn around there is another annoyingly noisy electronic kids’ toy requiring batteries to be replaced. The Ecotronic Eco Phone is an annoyingly noisy electronic kids’ toy with a difference – you can’t silence it by pulling the batteries out. When it goes quiet all you have to do is shake it to restore its charge. Not that any kids I know would ever shake a toy to see what noises it could make. Around €12…
Anyone who’s ever worked out in a gym knows the elliptical machine. It works your muscles til you beg for mercy. Well Precor have devised the EFX Range of commercial elliptical machines and made them self-powered. You’re the one to make it work. It stores the power you generate as you huff your way through your workout. Your burned calories drive its electronic display while it measures your heart rate, keeps your time and calculates your distance. A great idea…
This Multipurpose Solar Vent works on a pretty simple system: If the sun’s out, sealed things get hot. Designed to be installed on caravans, boats, sheds, conservatories or anywhere else that’s contained and exposed, this solar vent is a great idea. It has 2 replaceable AA NiMH batteries that allow the vent to continue running at night, which when fully charged will work for 48 hours. It’ll move 28m³ of air per hour, the vent can be sealed to keep…
If you love indoor floating rainbows, then the Solar Powered Rainbow Maker is a must-have. A simple solar cell powers and turns a genuine Swarovski crystal – world-renowned for its clarity and sparkle – refracting sunlight into brilliantly colored rainbows. You don’t need tons of sunshine to enjoy the light show and this lovely bauble is easy on the electric bill too. Measuring 151 x 50mm x 25mm, this endless display of color is available for around $25.00 on Amazon…
The Solar Powered Courtesy Light is a great stand-alone fixture for those dark areas near garages, walkways or front porches. No more fumbling for keys in the dark! With solar panels to charge internal batteries the LED light gives over 26 feet of bright light, equal to a 60 watt bulb, and provides 60 seconds of light when triggered by walking in its 100 degree infrared motion detection field, or turn its 3-way switch to “on” for all-night security. Easily…
This Solar Powered Battery Charger Box will power up your AAA or AA cells in three to five days depending on available sunlight. Now we’re not saying that speed is everything, OK, we’re just thinking that maybe you’ll need to start planning your flashlight requirements if you’re gonna invest in one of these puppies. Let’s see, we’ll need to go down to the basement sometime next week, clear skies permitting… $39.00. Solar 2A/3A Battery Charger Box # Charge up 3…
Is your garden over producing this year? Got more tomatoes, zucchini or fresh herbs than you can possibly eat or give away? Never fear – Veggie Trader is here! Founded by East and West Coast foodies in the US, this novel start-up trading group has signed up over 7,000 folks so far. You can buy, sell or trade Nature’s bounty. For a free resource of local produce, this sounds like a real winner! It’s local, affordable and sustainable, but we’ve…
The Picnic Plus Cooladio Solar Cooler keeps food cool AND charges those electronic gadgets we just can’t live without. A nifty food and beverage thermal-insulated cooler, the Cooladio also has a built-in solar-power docking station, great for charging up your MP3 player. With two speakers and headphones, it’s the perfect outdoor-techie lover’s dream. US$84.99. Via Chip Chick. The Cooladio solar cooler from Picnic Plus is a thermal foil-insulated cooler and a solar-power docking station in one! You can plug in…
Gardeners rejoice! Now you can have the best of all worlds – great plants that rotate automatically to catch the sun. The Solar Powered Hanging Plant Basket Rotator uses a weatherproof, timer and internal solar cell to power the weight-activated turning mechanism. Attach a plant to the basket and the carousel rotates 360 degrees twice a day. Totally solar powered, there are no batteries to change and it holds up to 12kg (27 lbs). Great for heavier plants, especially when…
Fit a Pedal Power AC Dynamo Charger to the front wheel of your bicycle and you’re guaranteed juice for your phone, GPS and any other electrical gadget. Just as long as you keep pedalling to keep it all topped up. Jolly innovative. There’s no word yet on whether a tandem will be enough to keep a television and fridge working, but we’ll let you know as soon as we hear. [Video] PedalPower+ is an innovation that allows bike riders to…
This Solar Power Shower is a bit clever, seeing as in bright sunlight the base can heat 8 litres of water up to 140 degrees F in around 2 hours. Plug in your garden hose, adjust the mixers and you’ll have a nice temperate shower for very little energy cost. Thank you Mr Sunshine. $199.95. Just connect to your garden hose to fill the base to its 8-liter capacity. In less than 2 hours of sunlight, the water reaches 140°F!…
The new Reclaim cell phone – courtesy of Samsung and Sprint – will launch on August 16th. Billed as an “eco-conscious phone, at $49.99 it features a case made of 40% corn-based biodegradable plastic. Another eco-friendly feature – when the phone’s fully charged, the charger lights up, reminding you to unplug it and save electricity. Available in Blue Ocean and Green Earth colors (who thought of those names?), it features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, e-mail and Web access, a 2.0…
The Power Pouch is a universal solar charger for your gadgets and gizmos. The neat bit is the fact that the adapters are contained inside the charger bag (pouch, geddit?) which makes it all a very compact unit. It comes with a separate rechargeable battery which you can keep juiced up for night time re-charging, and enough adapters to cope with most bits of kit. £25.97. The Power Pouch is a fast (double the speed of some products on the market) universal solar…
This long but interesting ieee Spectrum article takes an in-depth – and very scientific – look at the mystery surrounding the drive to make our LED lamps more efficient. The problem, known as droop in the trade, means that LEDs cannot be manufactured to emit more light, because the output drops off significantly above a certain wattage. That’s apparently why most household LED lamps only go up to 20W or so. It’s a fascinating, albeit geeky, tale which shows how much science…
