HP Introduces A Recycled Printer

One of the areas that has recently been getting a lot of attention from environmental groups is the technology sector. As you know, many tech items are made from eco-unfriendly plastics and there are quite a few old mainframes and monster sized monitors littering our landfills.

HP recently introduced a printer that is made out of 83 percent recycled plastic. The new D2545 Deskjet model is the first product within the green line called HP Eco Highlights. This line of peripherals will also include three LaserJet printers (P4015x, P4515x, and P4515m models).

Not only are the printers made from recycled plastic, the ink cartridges are also made from recycled plastic resins. For all of us eco enthusiasts, these HP printers won’t set us back financially too much since the D2545 retails for only $45.

HP hopes to extend this to all products offered in the future.  Sounds like a great idea since the company recycles tons of retired technology products each year and it makes sense to use the recycled materials to make new products. HP has stated that by 2010, 100% of its Deskjet printers will made from recycled materials. Hopefully they are exploring using recycled materials for their computers and other products requiring plastics too.

Some manufacturers like Fujitsu have already been experimenting with alternatives to plastic. They are testing a hybrid 50% corn-based and 50% regular plastic laptopright now in Japan to see how the consumer responds to it.

Anke Corbin recently left her corporate career as VP marketing for a major media company in order to launch an eco-marketing consulting agency and to design her first environmentally responsible indoor-outdoor furniture collection called Anke C.- Real Living launching spring 2008. To network, for consulting or just to chat, contact Anke at ankecorbin@gmail.com

Dell Eco PC

Dell CEO Michael Dell unveiled a new Eco PC at last week's Fortune Green Conference.  The new mini Dell runs cool thanks to some design innovations and makes heavy use of post-consumer #2 HDPE plastic.

According to Dell the new PC is 81 percent smaller than a typical PC and up to 70 percent more energy efficient.

The technology site earth2tech published photos of the version of the Eco PC Micheal Dell previewed at the conference.  The PC appeared to have a case made from bamboo.  It is not clear if that version will be publicly available or is a "eco-version" of the system shown above.

A Dell spokeswoman told Sustainable is Good Products, "There are some pictures that were taken at the event circulating on the internet and I can confirm that is the system version that Michael previewed."

The packaging for the new Eco PC will be environmentally responsible as well; the majority of the material is recycled and recyclable.  The internal protective “cushions” are made of 100 percent recycled plastics that can include milk jugs, bubble wrap and bread bags.

 

Moixa Rechargeable USBCell Battery

How many batteries are rolling around in your house? If you’re anything like my family, it’s hard to remember which ones are used and which are still charged up.

Once their relatively short lifespan is all up, then what? Just another toxic product to be thrown into our landfills, right?  Well, Moixa Energy has designed an eco-friendly rechargeable alternative called the USBCell.

This rechargeable battery plugs right into the USB port on your computer and the plug screws off when the battery is in use.

Functioning just like a regular battery, the handy little USBCell comes in AA, AAA, C/D, 9V, and various phone models. Touting that it can be reused hundreds of times; the $19.95 price is an eco-friendly and affordable option.

With over 15 billion alkaline batteries being made and thrown out each year, the USBCell is one of the more innovative little solutions to saving money and greening your everyday life.

Sony odo

stiven over at Sustainableday ran an interesting piece the other day on a new line of products called odo that Sony is developing.

There are a lot of conceptual solar powered cell phone prototypes and hand cranked chargers popping up in response to the strong consumer interest in more environmentally responsible products but in general consumer electronics usually lag behind in the development of green alternatives. In todays world where large OEM’s usually handle most of the manufacturing even for competing corporations, it’s very difficult for a company to deviate from the standard commodity electronic parts such as LCD screens and rechargeable batteries and still stay price competitive in this market.

Sony, traditionally has been a leader in paradigm shifting technology with their large research and innovation design budgets all though they have lost a lot of ground in the last 5-7 years to companies like Apple and Phillips. Today Sony looks to regain some of that innovation leadership through the development of their fresh out of the oven “odo” concept line of environmentally friendly products. The “odo” line of products do not require any AC adapters or chargers because they are mechanically powered. There is the Spin N’ Snap camera “no display”, the Push Power Play viewer, the Crank N’ Capture video camps, the Pull N’ Play headphones, and the solar array Juice Boxes for powering other devices.

My favorite hand cranked consumer electronic product continues to be the first version of the OLPC but with Sony coming into the picture, it probably wont be long before we can actually buy a human powered consumer electronic product.

via sustainableday

Dell's Goal Become the Greenest Technology Company

Austin-based Dell Computers wants to become the "greenest technology company on earth," according to a recent company news release.  The comment comes as Dell has rolled out its Plant a Tree for Me campaign to Europe.

European customers can now have a tree planted for them with the purchase of a new Dell for 1 GBP (1 Euro fifty) for a notebook and 3 GBP (4 Euro fifty) for a desktop system.  The Plant a Tree for Me campaign is designed to offset the carbon generated by the electricity needed to power the computers for over three years.

The campaign, along with comments by the company regarding its greenness, are part of a commitment to reduce the "carbon intensity" of their operations by 15% by 2012, and a pledge to review their suppliers to demand that they too follow green practices.

In the United States, Dell has partnered with the Conservation Fund and Carbonfund.org to administer the Plant a Tree for Me program.  It is unclear whether they too will manage the initiative in Europe.