10 Best Eco Friendly Gadgets
Going Green
Looking for eco friendly gadgets gift ideas? Check out this list of 10 eco friendly gadgets that will please not just the gadget lover but the eco lifestyle lover as well.
There are many ways to live a green lifestyle. Green living means to live an eco-friendly lifestyle that cares for the environment and reducing your ecological or carbon footprint. You can do your part for the environment by adapting a greener living lifestyle by learning about and practicing conservation, recycling and sustainability.
You may imagine green living as a lifestyle that requires going back to basics and forsaking technology but that cannot be further from the truth. There are many cool gadgets and devices that allow you to adopt a greener living lifestyle by helping you to reduce energy consumption and conserving our limited resources.
This list of 10 great eco-friendly devices will allow you to satisfy your hunger for great gadgets while at the same time do your part in making our world a better place to live in.
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Nest Learning Thermostat - Save Up To 50% Of Your Energy Bill
What Is It?
The Nest Thermostat is a state-of-the-art intelligent and connected thermostat that learns from your heating and cooling preferences to optimize your home's heating and cooling requirements.
It does this automatically without requiring you to program it. Just set the temperature as you would with a normal thermostat and after awhile it will create a personalized schedule and adjusts the temperature accordingly.
Why Is It Green?
Once the Nest Learning Thermostat learns and creates a schedule, it will intelligently turn down heating (or turn off cooling) when you are not at home. You no longer have to worry about forgetting to turn off the heater when you leave your home.
The Nest Learning Thermostat is also connected to the internet which makes it easy to make changes via a browser or even on a mobile device. If you have to go home early for instance, just connect to the Nest with your smart phone and instruct it to turn on the heating or cooling before you reach home.
Using the Nest Learning Thermostat can save you up to 50% of your energy bill with its smart features. It will pay for itself in no time.
Photo credit - Nest
Amazon Kindle - Save The Trees, Read An EBook
What Is It?
The Amazon Kindle ebook reader hardly requires any introduction. It is by far the most popular ebook reader currently. It allows the avid reader to carry an entire library of over 1,400 books in a single hand held device that weighs less than 6 ounces.
Why Is It Green?
Imagine all the energy and resources that are required to produce 1,400 books. Now imagine all the energy and resources that are required to transport and distribute those 1,400 books. With an ebook, not only do you have the convenience of having all your favorite books with you all the time, you can also buy a new book without moving a single step.
While any modern tablet today also doubles up as an ebook reader, I recommend the E-Ink based Kindle as it has very low energy consumption with a single charge lasting up to one month and the E-Ink screen is much easier on the eyes compared to an LCD screen.
If you love books, you owe it to yourself and Mother Earth to get an Amazon Kindle.
Photo credit - Amazon
Some people just cannot imagine replacing a well loved book with an electronic version. Are you one of them?
Boogie Board Rip LCD Writing Tablet - The Unlimited Notepad
What Is It?
Have you ever had one of those magnetic drawing boards as a kid? The ones that comes with a magnetic stylus and a few magnet shapes that allows you to draw and erase on the board over and over again? The Boogie Board is the electronic equivalent with the added function of allowing you to save all your notes and sketches as files which can then be transferred over to your PC.
Why Is It Green?
Think of all the notepad paper you have consumed over your lifetime. You can now do away with notepads, sketch books, note books and memo pads. Best of all, you will have a electronic record of all everything that can be easily organized and searched by date or name.
Photo credit - Amazon
PowerMonkey eXplorer Solar Charger - Solar Power - The Clean And Free Energy
What Is It?
Never run out of battery power for your mobile devices with the PowerMonkey eXplorer Solar Charger. Charge the included 2200 mAh battery using the solar charger and then use the battery to charge your mobile devices. Both the rechargeable battery and the solar charger are small and portable enough to carry along with you.
Why Is It Green?
Solar energy is one of the cleanest forms of energy. With a fully charged battery, the PowerMonkey eXplorer can give you up to 96 hours of standby on your mobile, 40 hours on your iPod, 5 hours on your games console, 48 hours on your PDA and 6 hours on MP3/MP4 players.
It is an essential tool when you go camping or hiking. If the sun is not shining, you can always charge it using a normal power outlet although it will no longer be green then :)
Photo credit - Powertraveller
Alsons 655CBX Fluidics Water Saving Shower Head - Use Less, Save More
What Is It?
Alsons 655CBX Fluidics (sounds really high tech doesn't it?) Water Saving Shower Head is a patented shower head that controls and shapes the water spray that comes out of it to give a full-body spray that feels like a normal high-flow shower head while saving you water.
Why Is It Green?
The Alsons 655CBX Fluidics Water Saving Shower Head is designed to save about 36% of water compared to a normal shower head. The shower head also uses thermal technology to produce a larger spray that stays warmer longer.
Besides saving you money by using less water in the shower, you are also doing your part by reducing your consumption of clean water, a treasured and limited resource.
Photo credit - Amazon
Save The Environment By Taking A Shower
Aerobie 80R08 AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker - Aromatic Coffee Without The Acidity
What Is It?
If you are a coffee lover who would like to enjoy a good espresso at home without buying an expensive espresso machine, you can now do so with the AQerobie Aeropress Coffee and Espresso Maker.
It looks rather similar to a French Press but it works more like an espresso machine although it operates like a French Press. Just mix coffee with hot water and then press down the plunger to push the coffee through a filter.
Because it uses less heat, water and time, the coffee produced is less bitter and sour.
Why Is It Green?
Besides the obvious benefit of enjoying a good espresso without the need to buy an espreso machine, the Aerobie AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker saves energy as it only requires hot water and coffee. No electricity required.
It is also ideal for those who only need to make only one cup of coffee at a time. Less energy is wasted by not making a whole pot of coffee. Last but not least, you can carry the AeroPress Coffee Maker together with you when you go to the great outdoors.
Photo credit - Aerobie
Coffee Or Espresso At A Press
Bedol Water Powered Clock - Just Add Water
What Is It?
Bedol Water Powered Clock does exactly what its name says it does. It is a water powered clock. It does not need battery or electricity. Just open the cap and fill it with water and it will run for about 3 months before the water needs to be changed.
Why Is It Green?
While it won't save you a whole lot of electricity or batteries, it is a step towards green living. You also have the convenience of never ever have the need to run out for batteries with the Bedol Water Powered Clock.
Photo credit - Amazon
Time Powered By Water
Frostfire 16 Bright LED Wireless Solar Powered Motion Sensor Light - Let There Be Light
What Is It?
Ever have to grope for your keys in the dark? If you have the Frostfire Wireless Solar Powered Motion Sensor Light, you can get illumination when you need it most and it doesn't consume a drop of electricity neither.
It can also be used as a security light as at night, it will light up once its motion sensor detects any motion. It will also turn off automatically after 30 seconds once the sensor detects no motion.
Why Is It Green?
During the day, the Frostfire Wireless Solar Powered Motion Sensor Light charges its batteries using solar power which is then used at night to power up the 16 LED lights. It requires no other source of power thus you save power while keeping you home safe at the same time.
Photo credit - Amazon
Wind 'N Go Mini LED Lantern - Just Add Elbow Grease
What Is It?
The Wind 'N Go lantern is a great accessory to provide ambient lighting in a tent, car or even home. It is powered by a hand crank and an hour of winding provides up to one hour of light.
Why Is It Green?
Hand cranking may be a bit more work compared to popping in a couple of batteries but you are doing the environment a big favor by relying less on batteries that pollutes the Earth.
A hand cranked lantern also means that you will never need to hunt for batteries or have the batteries die on you when you need them the most - in an emergency. As an added bonus you can claim to have a Green Lantern :)
Photo credit - Amazon
Beware My Power, Green Lantern's Light
USBCELL AA Rechargable Battery - Easily Charge From Any USB Port
What Is It?
Rechargeable batteries including the AA/AAA rechargeable batteries are usually a part of any gadget user's arsenal. However, they require the use of an additional charger to charge them up after they have drained out.
Wouldn't it be great if you can just plug the rechargeable AA battery itself into a USB port to recharge? Now you can with the USBCELL AA Rechargeable Battery. Just remove the cap to expose the USB connector and plug it into any powered USB port. Once it has charged up, just replace the cap and it is ready to use. It couldn't be simpler.
Why Is It Green?
While it doesn't use some sort of green energy to recharge, the USBCELL AA Rechargeable Battery does save the environment from the pollution of discarded dry cell batteries.
Of course, if you really want to be green, just use a solar charger to charge up the batteries instead to reduce your carbon footprint.
Photo credit - Amazon