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Earth-Friendly Tech

by Phillip Crandall on April 17, 2007 at 05:30 AM

Earth-friendly Tech
Earth Day is three days away (April 22). Sure, we could bring you to tears with frightening figures about our rock's climate crisis, but we think it's more helpful to show you the coolest innovations happening in the realm of eco-friendly gadgetry, and hopefully inspire you to stop and think about the products you purchase in the future.

Most of the electronics in your house probably already have the ENERGY STAR sticker slapped on them -- in fact, if they don't you should replace them. ENERGY STAR is a voluntary labeling program that was launched by the EPA in 1992 to promote the use of energy-efficient products. According to the ENERGY STAR site, in 2006 alone the program saved consumers $14 billion on their utility bills.

The gadgets we feature here go way beyond simply being ENERGY STAR-compliant. Some are flat-out hippie-like.

Sony Reader

Earth-Friendly TechReading books may be good for the old vocab, but it's murder on Earth's forests. 'Digital books' have been around in one form or another for a few years. But where those systems use old-school CRT or LCD displays, the Sony Reader ($390) uses a technology called E Ink, which doesn't require battery-power to maintain its image and does an incredible job of replicating the look of ink on paper. The result is eBooks, which you read right on the handheld Sony device. Once you've soaked up the vast catalog of thousands of eBook titles -- everything from Hemingway to Rhonda Byrne's 'The Secret' -- you can use the Reader to enjoy newsfeeds, photos and MP3s.


Tags: climate, energy, environment, friendly, green

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