green tech
”Best Buy Testing Free E-Waste Recycling Program (No Catches, So Far)
It's rare we get to write something positive about Best Buy, but here goes! It's testing a free e-waste recycling program in 117 stores in eight states (Update: Here's the detailed list, thanks Loop!). You can bring in two items a day, like computers, monitors, TVs up to 32 inches, etc., even if it didn't originally come from Best Buy. They'll also take away your junk if you have a shiny new thing delivered. Okay, two gripes. More »Jacket Powers Gadgets With Your Hot Body
You know how in the Matrix humans were grown in farms to harvest bodies to power machines? The kids at Berkeley Lab (Giz trivia: Chen's a Berkeley grad) are making a jacket that does the same thing, but it powers gadgets like laptops and cellphones instead of futile resistance to Keanu Reeves. Basically they're going to interlace thermo-electric silicon nanowires with the fabric, and they'll transform excess hotness into energy. Send these to Adam Frucci, and our energy problems are over. [Rich Media Info via New Launches]Hands On Batman Retrofuturetastic H2Go Fuel Cell-Powered RC Car
I always wanted an RC car that didn't eat batteries like
green tech
Best iPhone App Ever: Current State Makes You Mini-Captain Planet
Unfortunately, it's still a concept, but Current State is amazing—behind its glowing, sexy UI, it's a real-time power management app that monitors consumption and lets you play with your power from anywhere. Devices are jacked in through plug-ends that bridge the plug and power socket, and after you sync everything, you can turn gear off and on or activate shutdown timers remotely. The monitoring app is pretty sophisticated too, showing you "hotspots" of suckage—I don't think there's an adapter for the Patriots yet, though. [The Greener Grass via Uberphones]
that's pretty dark
Darkest Material Ever Is Almost Blacker Than Karl Rove's Soul
Is there anything you can't do with the wonderful stuff that is nanotubes? A scientist at Rice University has created the world's darkest material ever with pure carbon nanotubes, reflecting only .045 percent of all light shined on it. To put that in perspective, it's 100 times darker than the paint on a black Corvette, or roughly 27 percent as dark as the viscous substance running through Karl Rove's veins. But this stuff is useful, since its ridiculous light absorption would be great for solar panels. [Houston Chronicle via MAKE]
green tech
Cheap, Solar-Power-Everywhere Nanosolar PowerSheets Go On Sale, Really Are Cheap
Unlike a lot of other energy-crisis solving tech that bursts into vapor at the last minute, the award-winning and groundbreaking Nanosolar PowerSheets are actually on sale today. They're super cheap, ultra-adaptable solar panels that can be printed on the side of pretty much anything, promising solar power anywhere you want it. At today's launch, they still slide under coal's $2.1-a-watt energy cost, though they're not mass produced at the scale needed to bring it to the 30-cents-a-watt level they're aiming for yet. But if they prove themselves on the field, the clamoring demand would quickly materialize for that kind of output. [NYT]
green tech
Green Plug Is Promiscuous and Energy Efficient Like a Lady of the Night
As much as we loathe the thought of yet another kind of plug, we do like the idea of a universal one that'll hook up with anything like Paris Hilton but is energy efficient like Nicole Ritchie. The idea behind the green plug's a lot like the energy-saving chip Marvell showed us. Green plug hubs—which can have multiple gadgets jacked into it—have a microcontroller chip that chats up devices with the green talk protocol to intelligently deliver juice so none's wasted. More »Greenpeace Clash of the Consoles: Corny, Vaguely Informative and Pointless
Never one to take a PR opportunity lying down, Greenpeace is fashioning the hooplah over its goose-eggs for Nintendo on its green company survey into even more media fodder. (And we're covering it!) Its latest gamer attention-grabber is Clash of the Consoles, a site that ranks the big three on their greenness with hokey, popcorn-y copy ("Master Chief won't be winning any green battles with lame recycling and big power use sucking down his energy score") and pretty much rehashed info from the green company survey. But, they've got fun form letters for you to send your company of choice begging them to go green!
More »
Four-Minute Hourglass Shower Timer for Drought-Stricken Georgia Folks, Smelly Hippies
Unlike the rest of the Giz crew (especially Chen), I shower daily. But I'm also currently located at ground zero for god's wrath. Despite the governor's public missive for divine relief, Georgia's still got less moisture than scarecrow, which is really the only reason this four-minute shower timer in hourglass form interests me. It's only three bucks, and I'd probably mostly ignore its silent screaming, but I feel like I might shower just a little bit faster. Every drop counts right? [Envirosax via Green Deals Daily via Crave]
green with envy?
Another Reason Mac Users Are Snobby: They're Greener Than You
According to Forrester Research, while 53 percent of US adults are concerned about the environment, only 12 percent are willing (or can afford) to pay more for green products. We don't have access to the full report—it costs $279, which we need to buy green gear, natch—but the excerpt notes (ironically?) that among major computer companies, Apple's customers are the "greenest," with 17 percent willing to pay more to go green. More »
green tech
Sony Ericsson and Samsung Top Greenpeace Green List; Nintendo Worse Than Exxon on Crack?
For consumer electronics companies, going green (and vocally so) is the new going Apple white, though Apple's only halfway on the train. Greepeace's sixth guide to greener electronics tells us just how well they're doing. They're a bit nutty, but they are using definite criteria in this survey. Topping the list are Sony Ericsson, Samsung and Sony—not so surprising. Shocking: Nintendo's dead last, the first "global brand" to net zeros across the board. Does Greenpeace hate Nintendo more than Apple or something? No, Nintendo just gives out zero information about any of their policies or practices with toxic chemicals or green plans. Hence, FAIL. More »"Recycled" Electronics from U.S. Poisoning Workers Abroad
We ship 50 to 80 percent of the 300k to 400k tons of electronics that actually make it to recycling each year—out of 2 million tons tossed—overseas. The "recycling" part happens when workers in places China, Nigeria and India bust up old gear with hammers, gas burners or their bare hands to pull out metals, glass and "other recyclables," taking a toxic shower in the process. And the most likely stuff to make its way over there is what's collected at free drives.
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al gore is ecstatic
Nanosolar PowerSheets Promise Cheap Solar Power Everywhere, Unlimited Gadget Energy
Winning the Green Tech Grand Award and "Innovation of the Year" nods from Pop Sci, Nanosolar PowerSheets pack a whole lot of potential into their Paris Hilton-cheap, Nicole Richie-thin panels—we're talking solar power for 30 cents a watt, compared to the $3 it costs now, without silicon or laying the panels on glass. "You're talking about printing rolls of the stuff—printing it on the roofs of 18-wheeler trailers, printing it on garages, printing it wherever you want it." If you wanna know more about the black magic coating the panels, check out Pop Sci's spectacularly detailed coverage. [Pop Sci via BBG]Hippies Using Human Hair to Soak Up Oil Spills
If you've given more than a second glance to your greasy IT guy's matted, oily hair—or just don't wash your own that often, you might pick up that our hair holds onto oil like gas'll hit $100/gallon tomorrow. Gross, yeah, but apparently useful! Some hippies are taking mats made of human hair to mop up oil on SF beaches, which are then packed with oil-eating shrooms that turn the pads into compost for lovely landscaping. See, Exxon helps the environment! [Pop Sci]
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