Posts by Category: Eco Friendly

All things green and planet saving.
Awesome July 21, 2009 posted by
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The 3D Printer comes of age – making parts you can’t get anywhere else

I stumbled across this amazing story of US television host Jay Leno using a 3D scanner and printer to create obsolete spare parts for his car collection and was immediately transported into a world of science fiction wonder. How cool is this technology? OK, so the parts have to be relatively unsophisticated, but just think of the potential as these printers advance in capabilities and the price comes down. We’ll finally be free from the constraints of obsolescence and will…


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Eco Friendly July 20, 2009 posted by
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Solar Powered Travel Bag – plain and fancy, earthy and bleugh…

We’re complete suckers for tech that looks like tat, and this Solar Powered Travel Bag fits the bill to a T. Just look at it. A more nondescript, almost pig ugly carrying implement you’ll be hard pressed to find this side of the Urals, and as for utility, is anyone seriously going to believe that this tiny solar panel will charge anything larger than an electric toothpick in under 3 months? No, thought not. Still, if you’ve got a spare £14.99…


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Eco Friendly July 16, 2009 posted by
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6-in-1 Solar Robot Kit – eco bargain lets you play with light

The 6–in-1 Solar Robot Kit promises to deliver hours of happy fun from nothing more than some plastic, a few gears and the output from any nearby solar object. Not only can the kit be assembled into a Mars Rover clone, with its own funky solar power source, but also a fan, windmill, boat or nuclear submarine capable of sustaining life under the polar ice cap. OK, so we lied about the last bit, got a little over excited. Best…


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Eco Friendly July 15, 2009 posted by
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TrickleSaver – save power by forcing your gear to collaborate

The TrickleSaver device hooks up between your television and A/V equipment and when you switch off your TV will automatically turn off all your other kit.  Sounds great, just what we need to save the planet, eh? One slight problem, what happens with stuff like a satellite or cable set top box which needs to phone home at night to download EPG data or update firmware? Ah well, let’s not quibble, after all it does let you keep all your old power sockets, which is v useful….


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Awesome July 2, 2009 posted by
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Riversimple Hydrogen Eco Car – not just green but awesomely open source too

The Riversimple car may look a bit like a Batmobile that’s shrunk in the wash, but this tiny vehicle may well change the way cars are made in future times. It’s not just the fact that it’s a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle that you can’t buy, but only lease (with fuel).   Nor even that it is aimed at car clubs rather than individuals in order to try and reduce the total number of vehicles on the road. Nope, the big…


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cool tech June 25, 2009 posted by
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Orange Solar Tent – if you go down to the woods today…

For camping lovers who can’t live without their eco-friendly gadgets, the solar tent is a must have. UK mobile company Orange has created this cool tent with photovoltaic fabric – specially coated solar threads woven into conventional fabric – plus a heated groundsheet that triggers heat automatically once the interior temperature falls below a set level. There’s also a magnetic induction charging pouch and a wireless hub which displays energy generated and consumed and provides a wireless internet signal. All…


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Orange Solar Tent – if you go down to the woods today…
Eco Friendly June 15, 2009 posted by
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SolCHAT – solar powered hands free unit provides eternal comms

The SolCHAT solar powered hands free system, lets you chat away while keeping your eyes on the road, all the while knowing you haven’t killed any trees, spent any fuel rods or burnt the carbon dry in our fragile ecosystem. In other words the sun is your friend. No news on night time talking, so maybe it’s good to get in some quality silence? $99.99.  Talking on your cell phone and driving safely just got easier–and greener. Mount the solCHAT…


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Eco Friendly June 15, 2009 posted by
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Wind powered motorbike helmet helps you power your way through traffic

 (image – Flickr) In the “so wacky it just might work” category, Taiwan students at Cheng Shiu University have invented a motorcycle helmet with five integrated wind turbines to power the bike’s headlights, turn signal lights and tail lights. The helmet starts generating energy when the bike’s running and distributes the power using a Bluetooth transmitter. Four batteries embedded into the helmet store the electricity generated by the fans. The gadgets in this bizarro product will cost around 1,000 Taiwan…


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Wind powered motorbike helmet helps you power your way through traffic
Eco Friendly June 9, 2009 posted by
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FILEminimizer Office compresses files and creates space

Need more space on your jammed up computer? Balesio’s FILEminimizer Office helps you do just that by compressing all Microsoft Office files mightily. The software compresses pictures and embedded objects up to 98%, including PowerPoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets and Word documents. The makers claim you can reduce a 50MB file to less than 1MB while keeping the file format intact and easily readable. Best of all, folks receiving files via FILEminimizer Office don’t need to have the software to view…


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FILEminimizer Office compresses files and creates space
Eco Friendly June 9, 2009 posted by
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GE Hybrid Electric Water Heater – world’s first Energy Star water heater

The new GE Hybrid Electric Water Heater – set to premiere in late 2009 -gives you the hot water you want, using half the energy you’d expect. The system takes natural heat from the ambient air and transfers it into the water, thereby saving around $250 per year in heat-up costs. The electronic control system gives you set and forget control, and the onboard sensors enable the device to self-monitor and notify the homeowner of potential problems. This trendy looking…


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GE Hybrid Electric Water Heater – world’s first Energy Star water heater
Eco Friendly June 8, 2009 posted by
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Eco Mouse – green rodent also calculates your value to the planet

This Eco Mouse features a small green button which instantly punts your computer into stand-by mode. Apparently this little innovation will help save the planet, and in order to prove it the rodent comes with a bit of software which calculates just how much energy and money you’re saving. Fast route to a rosy, self-satisfied glow. £15.66.  This nice design mouse has an ECO button; when pushing this button the computer will automatically go into the “stand by” mode. A computer…


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cool tech May 29, 2009 posted by
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EyeStop – the ultimate Star Trek tech bus shelter

Apparently they’re about to deploy these EyeStop high tech bus shelters to the streets of Florence in Italy. Heh, where I come from these solar powered marvels of electronics would be trashed within 30 minutes of being erected, but Italians are clearly made of better stuff. And it glows with different intensities as the next bus approaches? Awesome!  EyeStop… aims to enrich the city with state of the art sensing technologies, interactive services, community information and entertainment. The project is partially…


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Eco Friendly May 25, 2009 posted by
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Solar & Hand Cranked AM/FM Radio – big wheel keep on turnin’

This Solar & Hand Cranked AM/FM Radio is definitely green. I mean, lookatit. Totally green. We think this is the future of eco gadgets in general. A nice little solar charger for daylight and a hand crank for night. All the bases covered, see? $24.95.  Never be miss an important game or your favorite NPR show again with this handy AM/FM radio. Powered by the sun’s rays it will play for seven hours when fully charged. Or use the hand…


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diy May 22, 2009 posted by
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Pedal Gen – DIY power generator gets you fit and saves the planet

The Pedal Gen is a DIY power generator based around a discarded bicycle motif. You get on, you pedal, you light up a city. Or something. The plans – sans bike of course – will cost you £4.99/$10.00. Rush out and help us all. While we order another Latte.  An average reasonably fit human being can generate a constant 100 watts of power in 20 minute sessions – a great cardiovascular workout. If this generated power is stored in a…


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