Sundance Channel

Electronic waste recycling via “ATM”

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 20:36:33 +0000

Got old cell phones or other electronic devices laying around because you plan to recycle them... one day? Yep, so do I... There are options out there for recycling electronics past their prime, but none of them are quite as convenient as curbside pick-up of other materials. The ecoATM is one approach that's attempting to close that convenience gap... and also to pay users for recycling their old electronics. If you've used a Coinstar or Redbox kiosk, you already understand the concept: one machine can not only accept those old cell phones, but also figure out their value, and pay the user with cash, a gift card, a trade-up certificate, or even a charitable donation. The video above demonstrates how the ecoATM works.

Green tech finds (1/6/11)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 20:17:31 +0000

The mother of all electronics trades shows -- CES -- starts today, so lots of new on that front this week... plus another green Groupon, and hornets that harvest solar power.

CES' green cred for real?: CES is promoting itself as green this year; Heather Clancy at GreenTech Pastures and Matthew Wheeland at Greenbiz dig into the claims, and the impact, of the monster trade show.
Bob Marley comes to CES: The House of Marley, a company founded by the legendary musician's family, is debuting its eco-friendly lines of earbuds, headphones, and docks at CES.

A green Moore’s law? The Story of Electronics

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 19:19:58 +0000

Moore's law, the idea that computing power should double every eighteen months, may be the ultimate sign of progress for a techie... and there's no doubt that much good has come from our ability to process more amounts of information faster. But what's the environmental cost of this progress? Annie Leonard deals with that question in the latest video from The Story of Stuff Project: "The Story of Electronics."

Green tech finds (10/28/10)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 19:34:06 +0000

Electricity from beer, DIY electric bikes, and purple wind turbines... it's green tech finds time!

Beer power: Suffolk, UK's Adnam's Brewery will be contributing waste to an anaerobic digestion plant which will create enough power for 235 homes in the area. (via Green Upgrader)
Florida utility offers solar hot water option: Lakeland Electric became the first utility company in the country to offer fixed-rate solar hot water service this week. (via The Ledger)

Green tech finds (10/21/10)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 19:43:03 +0000

Hybrid CFLs, more convenient e-waste recycling, and Steven Chu on Youtube... this week's green tech finds.

Floating wind turbines pay off: A new study from Energy Technologies Institute finds that floating offshore wind turbines are both technically and economically feasible because of stronger, more consistent winds. (via Cleantechnica)
Grades are out on electronics takeback...: And while no one'd doing a stellar job, Dell, Asus, and Samsung received the highest marks from the Electronic Takeback Coalition in their new Recycling Report Card. (via Mother Jones' Blue Marble)

Green tech finds (5/27/10)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:20:08 +0000

Energy to ice, and cardboard to energy... and much more. Here are your green tech finds for the week:

Nokia still tops in greener electronics: That's the word from Greenpeace, which released the latest update on its Guide to Greener Electronics. The Finnish company has stayed ensconced in that position; the biggest mover this time was Toshiba, which dropped from 3rd place to 14th. (via Fast Company)
Alabama airships: 21st Century Airships, a division of E-Green Technologies, will build its updated versions of the blimp (they prefer airships) in Alabama... so another win for the green jobs push. The vehicles can be used for transporting cargo and people very efficiently, and could even be employed by the military for high-altitude observation.

Green tech finds (1/21/10)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:47:18 +0000

Glitter-sized solar panels, green electronics, and cow fat... your green tech finds.

Lubing your engine with cow fat: Green Earth Technologies' G-OIL, a "bio-oil" created from cow fat, has been named the official motor oil of green racing series American Le Mans.
Design your own electric vehicle: Trexa has created a concept platform for electric vehicles, which could allow specialty vehicle developers to create cars much like tech developers create iPhone apps (via Auto Blog Green)

Suntrica’s solar charger: not just cool and wearable

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:42:44 +0000

If you follow green gadgets at all, you may have already heard of Finland-based Suntrica's solar-powered charger for personal electronics. Numerous blogs wrote about the company and its products last May after the company won second place in the CTIA's E-Tech Awards' "Green - Consumer Hardware" category, and nearly all framed Suntrica's solar chargers as cool, cutting-edge, green consumer technology.

After listening to a presentation today from company VP of Sales Kenneth J. Jönsson as part of the Finnfacts cleantech blogger tour, I realized the company was meeting one of its marketing goals -- receiving recognition from consumers with green values. That's great... and I'll definitely enjoy using the charger Suntrica gave to me. But I was even more intrigued by some of the other markets for which the company wanted to create value.

Green tech finds (7/6/09)

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:01:36 +0000

If fireworks and gas grills didn't feed your techie jones last weekend, here are some of the latest stories in the green tech world.

Drive time: Danielle Brigada, social media guru at the National Wildlife Federation, just loves the '10 Ford Fusion hybrid.
Wearable lighting?: That's one potential use envisioned by art students for GE's planned "flexible, paper-thin lighting panels" featuring organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). (via OLED-info.com)