Wiley Green Gadgets For Dummies
Contents
1. ay es Green nie DUNMIE Figure 1 8 Hey Joe nowwhere you goin with that green gad get in your hand ft Link to full story Green Gadgets for Dummies and smart people too MNN Mother amp 00 20 EJ M lt S O d enwn at rate laptop DC power jack repair2. At the annual Greener Gadgets Conference http greenergadgets com see Figure 1 3 people gather to learn about and discuss the environ mental impact of manufacturing distributing efficiently using reusing and properly recycling consumer electronics It s fair to say that in this book the term green gadgets is all encompassing Besides doesn t this book s title have a nicer ring than Green Consumer Electronics For Dummies PC Figure 1 3 E They don t poeroen call it the reererer MOLANA Greener u ervereonrr Consumer erorrrrnne Electronics Conference PC Defining green gadgets Just to be sure that we re on the same page let me say that green gadgets are consumer electronic products that strive to be ecofriendlier They have a few or all of these characteristics YY They contain little or no toxic chemicals or materials 1 They are manufactured as efficiently as possible using the fewest mate rials possible by companies that practice environmentally friendlier policies and processes 1 They are built with highly recyclable materials such as aluminum arse nic free glass or recycled plastic bottles for as many parts as possible 1 They draw as little power as possible and uses that energy as effi ciently as possible 1 They can power down to Standby mode or shut off and shut off other gadgets that are plugged into them if they detect that you aren t using them or after a ce
3. Carbon Footprint Toshiba s Port g R600 was ranked the Greenest Notebook by Greenpeace because of EPEAT criteria it met such as these e Is made from green materials e Is highly recyclable e Is energy efficient e Is packaged using a minimum of recycled and recyclable materials Chapter 1 Mother Nature s Green Eyed View of Gadgets 23 Restriction of Hazardous Substances RoHS This European directive restricts the use of six hazardous materials in the manufacturing of elec tronics Banned from the EU market are new electrical and electronic equipment containing more than agreed upon levels of lead cadmium mercury hexavalent chromium polybrominated biphenyl PBB and polybrominated diphenyl ether PBDE flame retardants Check out www rohs gov uk Initially computers and monitors the worst offenders were the first prod ucts to wear the Energy Star logo Since partnering with the Department of Energy in 1996 for additional product categories the label can now be found on everything from major appliances and office equipment to DVD players and set top cable TV boxes Leff ENERGY STAR Earning one of the three EPEAT ratings is sort of like winning an Olympic medal which is exactly how the three levels of accomplishment are named 1 Bronze Products meet all required criteria 1 Silver Products meet all required criteria plus 50 percent of optional criteria YY Gold Products meet all
4. Personal security that s uniquely you Other green electronics The following list describes three more green consumer electronics products that illustrate what Greenpeace calls the race to the top to produce truly green products 1 Samsung solar powered Blue Earth mobile phone Designed to look like a flat well rounded shiny pebble it s the world s first solar powered touch screen phone A solar panel on the back of the phone can gener ate enough power to make calls and charge the battery Chapter 1 Mother Nature s Green Eyed View of Gadgets Sticking your carbon footprint in your mouth It s a term that rolls off tongues whenever there s talk about the environment and being green as pervasively present in print radio and TV advertisements as fleas on a junkyard dog for which don t blame the dog mind you It s a phrase that personally bandy about in every chapter of this book carbon footprint Knowing what the term carbon footprintmeans can help you gain a better appreciation of why it matters so much to Mother Nature and the planet she oversees and on which she must wish we would responsibly dwell Simply put a carbon footprint is the total amount of carbon dioxide CO or greenhouse gases produced by humans as we live our lives For instance when you drive to the store to pick up some ecofriendly dish soap your car s engine burns gasoline which in turn produces CO emissions f
5. postconsumer recy cled plastic Most mobile phones and desktop and notebook computers however are lagging in this regard Manufacturers have adapted quickly to new Energy Star require ments Even so a small number of products that Greenpeace evaluated don t yet meet the most recent Energy Star specifications More manufacturers track the amount of energy used to produce their electronic products Without an international standard none currently exists for comparing how the products stack up against each other this information means little to consumers Computer manufacturers are more forthcoming with in use power consumption data and comparisons for their products Monitor and TV manufacturers are lagging behind in this area i Many companies have special green sections on their Web sites These sections are meant to help consumers learn about a company s ecofriendly features and benefits That s a good thing but most of these green sections weren t prominently advertised to promote greener elec tronic products as major purchasing decisions The survey assessed more than 50 consumer electronics products scoring each on a number of factors With a maximum of 100 attainable points the total points for each product in the survey was adjusted to a possible top score of 10 See Chapter 9 for more about the survey results Of all products that were evaluated desktop computers notebook comput ers mobile ph
6. required criteria plus 75 percent of optional criteria Here are a few fun facts provided by the CEA about the badges of green gadget ecoconsciousness awarded by Energy Star and EPEAT 1 Sales of Energy Star televisions monitors audio and video products in the U S reached nearly 35 million units in 2006 24 Part I Settling into a Green Gadget Mindset 1 Seven million of those products were sold by Best Buy which according to EPA calculations e Saved consumers 100 million dollars on their utility bills e Eliminated 1 4 billion pounds of carbon emissions or the equiva lent of removing 128 000 cars from the road 1 The savings gained from purchases of EPEAT certified products in 2007 equaled e 75 5 million metric tons of primary materials equivalent to the weight of more than 585 million refrigerators e 3 220 metric tons of toxic materials which equal a stack of 1 6 mil lion bricks e 42 2 billion kilowatt hours which is enough energy to power 3 7 million U S homes for an entire year Implementing Green Living Habits with Gadgets Vou Already Own Thinking about past purchases that may not have been labeled as greener when you bought them plays just as important a role in Mother Nature s view of gadgets as choosing and using new greener gadgets in your future Getting into a greener gadget lifestyle can be as simple as making a few changes to the electronics in your life or as complex as installing a
7. Chapter 1 Mother Nature s Green Eyed View of Gadgets In This Chapter Spelling out the meaning of green gadgets Understanding the effect of the three Rs plus one on the environment Discovering what makes the greenest gadgets green Getting acquainted with green gadget standards and ratings Calculating your gadgets carbon footprints and taking steps to reduce them Keeping up on green gadget news ic is Chapter 1 so I start the chapter from the green beginning as it were and describe exactly what green gadgets are A green gadget is one that s ecofriendlier or greener than products that have a greater negative impact on the environment in Mother Nature s eyes You might already know about the three Rs of the environment reduce reuse recycle but you might not know about a fourth R rethink I tell you how all four Rs relate to gadgets and their relationship with the planet I take you on a tour of the greenest notebook available at the time I wrote this book to illustrate exactly how green gadget factors look and feel in terms of a product you can hold in your hands I also show you a couple of other notably greener gadgets explain the role that your existing gadgets play in the big planet picture and show you how you can calculate your gad gets energy consumption to figure out and reduce their contribution to the carbon footprint you generate by using them Finally I introduce you to the terms
8. Energy Star HomeCalc and Home Energy Yardstick www energy star gov index cfm c bulk_purchasing bus_purchasing Y Carbon Footprint www carbonfootprint com calculator aspx Y UC Berkeley carbon footprint http coolclimate berkeley edu vy WattzOn From www wattzon com shown in Figure 1 7 AeA WesttzOn Wattz SEE Figure 1 7 Visualizing your carbon footprint E Taking other simple green gadget steps Here are some actions you can take with your existing gadgets to help you live a greener life with your electronics right away Chapter 1 Mother Nature s Green Eyed View of Gadgets 2 7 1 Replace single use disposable batteries in your gadgets with recharge able ones that you can reuse again and again Check out Chapter 3 for the lowdown on all things battery related 1 Adjust your mobile phone s autolock and display timeout settings to lock or black out the screen after several seconds of inactivity Chapter 4 has the details 1 Adjust your computer s power saving settings to turn off the monitor when you re away for more than a few minutes and then switch the PC to either Standby or Hibernate mode if you haven t returned a little while later Part III covers just about anything you can do to reduce your computer s carbon footprint Staying Informed about Green Gadget Developments No single source can tell you everything there is to know about green gadgets not even this book By visiting Web
9. and green labels you should look for when shopping for new greener gadgets and I explain what each one means 0 Part I Settling into a Green Gadget Mindset A disclaimer You know that voice that talks really fast at the end of a drug commercial It s the one that says talk to your doctor first or your mileage may vary Herewith my own speedy disclaimer of sorts read as quickly as possible to simulate the full end of the commercial effect All mobile phones PDAs desktop computers notebooks TVs and other gadgets described in this chapter and throughout this book were chosen to illustrate unique greener computing innovations and advances and are not meant to represent your only green choices nor does their inclusion here represent an endorsement of one particular brand or model over others that aren t covered in these pages Hey Joe Where Vou Goin with That Green Gadget in Vour Hand Green gadget What green gadget Do you mean the silver aluminum notebook I m typing this chapter on which Apple calls its greenest MacBook ever Or do you mean the black solar powered Iqua SUN Bluetooth headset stuck in my ear that charged itself in the morning sunlight as I walked my dog Nick on the beach and answered a call from my mom Maybe you re referring to The Energy Detective TED sitting on my kitchen counter It displays in real time exactly how much electricity my house is consuming in
10. els and almost zero watts when it s powered off in Standby mode What s more a light sensor can automatically adjust the picture bright ness to match the room s mood drawing even less energy when the lights go down and it s time to start the show Understanding Energy Star and EPEAT Green Gadget Labels Energy Star defines energy efficiency standards for a variety of products and services and qualifies specific products that meet those standards The EPEAT system helps buyers evaluate compare and select desktop com puters laptops and monitors based on their environmental attributes All EPEAT registered products are automatically Energy Star qualified You can find more information by visiting these Web sites 1 Energy Star Consumers can use the Energy Star standards to shop for products and services that meet those standards See www energy star gov For instance computers bearing the Energy Star logo must at a minimum offer three distinct operating modes Standby Active and Sleep to ensure energy savings when computers are being used as well as when they re in Standby or Sleep mode Energy Star approved computers must also use more efficient internal power supplies 1 EPEAT This system at http epeat net helps purchasers evaluate compare and select desktop computers laptops and moni tors based on their environmental attributes As I describe earlier in Following a Green Gadget s
11. erve to reduce the amount of energy being wasted by my Xbox 360 HDTV Vudu movie box notebook computer mobile phone and PlayStation Portable rechargers and laser printer Plugging devices that are on all the time such as my Wi Fi router and cable broadband modem into the pair of always on outlets means that I can surf the Web and take care of my e mail on the sofa To further reduce my gadgets total carbon footprint I can plug the Conserve power strip into a wall outlet timer that cuts the juice at bedtime every night and then turns it back on just before my usual waking time of 6 30 a m Calculating your gadgets carbon footprints You can gauge your gadgets individual power consumption by plugging them into products that feed useful information back to you The Kill A Watt energy monitor monitors individual gadgets or you can monitor your entire home s energy consumption with a product such as The Energy Detective TED shown in Figure 1 6 Using one of these products can help you better understand and reduce your gadgets carbon footprints 26 Part I Settling into a Green Gadget Mindset Calculating the estimated carbon footprint of your household or individual gadgets by using one of these Web based calculators can also help you mini mize their negative effect on the planet vy MyGreenElectronics org http mygreenelectronics org EnergyCalculator aspx Home Energy Saver http hes 1bl gov
12. hat dispels the myths of greenwash hype In a 2008 Consumer Electronics Association CEA survey 74 percent of consumers polled said that com panies should do more to protect the environment Yet only 17 percent of consumers said they felt familiar with the policies and reputations of compa nies that manufacture consumer electronics What s more more than half of the people polled said they felt that companies overstate the environmental friendliness of their products in order to sell more of them To quote the environmental organization Greenpeace http greenpeace org electronics about the findings of its 2008 Green Electronics Survey it found no products that could claim the title of a truly green product However both Greenpeace and the CEA report that companies manufactur ing gadgets are increasingly eliminating toxic chemicals from their products while making them more energy efficient and easier to recycle Here are some of the choice nuggets uncovered by the 2008 Greenpeace survey vy Manufacturers continue to phase out the use of hazardous chemicals and more products are PVC free than in the previous year s findings Notebooks that use LED type LCD displays that draw less power and are free of mercury are becoming more popular MBER amp Chapter 1 Mother Nature s Green Eyed View of Gadgets 13 Larger consumer electronics such as TVs and computer monitors are being manufactured with significant amounts of
13. home control system that can monitor and remotely or automatically operate every powered item in your house from automatically turning lights on and off to regulating the climate to save energy when you aren t home Taking a bite out of energy vampires Forty percent of the energy used for electronics in your home is consumed while devices known as energy vampires are turned off They suck power the way the eponymous mythical creatures suck blood But energy vampires are no myth You don t need garlic or a stake to fight energy vampires though because these simple actions can be your weapons v Unplug your mobile phone s charger Y Turn off your computer monitor or set it to shut off itself and the com puter after you haven t used it for a few minutes eae Figure 1 6 Home energy The complete picture ei Chapter 1 Mother Nature s Green Eyed View of Gadgets 25 1 Program your thermostat to turn up the heat or cool things down only when you re in the house You can do all these tasks immediately to reduce energy consumption and extend the life of your gadgets Cutting off several energy vampire gadgets can be a heck of lot easier when you plug them into a smart power strip one that cuts the power when your devices are turned off My favorite is the Belkin Conserve because its remote control lets you instantly shut off eight of its outlets all at one time while leaving two on all the time I can use the Cons
14. ings in both kilowatts and in the amount of money you pay for them v Reuse If it ain t broke don t nix it Refilling your printer s inkjet or laser toner cartridges donating to charity an older but still usable mobile phone or upgrading an older PC with faster components rather than buying a new computer are all examples of applying the second R to the gadgets in your life Recycle This R can make more of a difference to the planet than any of the others Every year hundreds of thousands of old or broken computers and cellphones wind up in landfills or incinerators Tossing unwanted or broken electronics into town or city municipal trash collec tion streams is ignorant irresponsible lazy and offensive It can even be potentially life threatening if the discarded digital items wind up in an incinerator where they eventually reach the air we breathe or in a land fill where they break down and seep into the ground and contaminate the water we drink Chapter 1 Mother Nature s Green Eyed View of Gadgets 7 Adding to the problem are the thousands more discarded electron ics that wind up as electronic waste or e waste that are often illegally exported to Asia from the U S and other industrialized countries The e waste wind up in scrap yards that expose workers to toxic chemi cals and poisons Y Rethink To help minimize the disastrous long term effects of e waste picture the life cycles of future purchases all the wa
15. initiative in all aspects of the Port g series development means that the company works in collaboration with compo nent and parts suppliers to help it achieve its targeted carbon footprint a term I define in the following sidebar Sticking your carbon footprint in your mouth in case you re not exactly sure what it stands for What s more the factory in which the Port g series is manufactured recov ers and recycles waste generated during the manufacturing process includ ing silver copper and tin To quote Greenpeace Toshiba is ahead of everyone else when it comes to the elimination of toxic chemicals To browse a fuller menu of unappetizing hazardous chemical substances and find out why they re so upsetting to the planet s stomach and ours check out the Chapter 16 sidebar An e waste recipe for disaster Thoughtful manufacturing Beginning with the raw materials that go into giving birth to the notebook Toshiba lessens the carbon footprint of the Port g R600 during the manufac turing process by eliminating hazardous substances including cadmium mercury and lead from batteries and other components The elimination of those substances directly affects the notebook s carbon footprint and impact on the planet when the notebook dies and is recycled at the end of its lifecycle Choices like the ones in the following list reduce a gadget s carbon footprint before it reaches you
16. kilowatts and in dollars and cents Is that the green gadget you re talking about I probably should mention that The Energy Detective is housed in white plastic Ohhh now I get you You mean that green gadget the big round pulsat ing ecobutton sitting next to my Eee PC 1000HE that with a single touch can instantly make the mini notebook go to sleep by switching it to ecofriendlier Suspend mode And yes although the photo of the gadget in Figure 1 1 is in black and white I can attest to the fact that the ecobutton s base is green and the pulsating lights inside are absolutely positively 100 percent green green green or my name isn t Joe A Figure 1 1 A snooze button to put your computer to sleep C Chapter 1 Mother Nature s Green Eyed View of Gadgets But my name would be Pinocchio if I told you that the ecobutton is in spite of its green color and light a green gadget It s not Neither is the MacBook a solar Bluetooth headset or a home energy monitor But all four represent considerably ecofriendlier or greener gadgets what I refer to simply as green gadgets throughout the book than products that are less sensitive to the planet So what is a green gadget Nothing Because there s no such thing Wait Before you double check this book s cover to make sure that you re reading the book you thought you were reading assuming that you didn t fling it across the room le
17. nt after all is said and done so to speak and both the phone and its charger which draws fewer than 0 03 watts after it charges the phone are free from toxic substances including brominated flame retardants BFRs beryllium and phtha lates The Eco mode feature adjusts the brightness backlight duration and Bluetooth energy efficiency settings they re a single touch away The Eco Walk function counts your steps with a built in pedometer and cal culates how much CO emissions have been reduced by hoofing it rather than driving HYmini wind powered charger Cranking or winding rechargers turns your energy into power you can use to charge your gadgets Relying on the wind rather than on you is how the HYMini wind powered charger at www hymini com generates power to juice up your MP3 player digital camera mobile phone and other gadgets 21 22 Part I Settling into a Green Gadget Mindset What no wind today No worries Connect the HYMini to your bicycle s handlebars or strap it to your upper arm with optional accessories and start peddling or running to make a little wind as you go about your merry ecofriendlier way 1 Sony Bravia VE5 Sensing when you re no longer in the room and watch ing the Sony Bravia VE5 Series www sonystyle com can turn itself off to save energy Come back in and the HDTV turns itself on again Sony says that the set draws 40 percent less power than other LCD mod
18. ones smartphones PDAs televisions and computer moni tors the highest ranking product was the Lenovo L2440 wide display shown in Figure 1 2 which scored 6 90 points The Acer TravelMate 6293 notebook landed at the bottom of the scale with a score of 3 44 and topping the category was the Toshiba Port g R600 I introduce you to the Port g in the later section Following a Green Gadget s Carbon Footprint Although you can see that no single absolutely positively 100 percent super green gadget exists increasingly greener mobile phones notebook computers wireless network routers Blu ray DVD players high definition TVs HDTVs and other consumer electronics products do exist That s what I talk about in this book 14 Part I Settling into a Green Gadget Mindset EEE Figure 1 2 Displaying the high est level of gadget greenness i Defining gadgets You may want to ask Since when Mr Green Gadgets For Dummies is some thing that s too big to fit in my pocket such as a humongous high def TV considered a gadget green or otherwise Well it s not Okay an HDTV isn t a gadget per se but it incorporates many elements that gadgets such as mobile phones and MP3 players have for example inte grated circuits speakers and liquid crystal displays LCD albeit on a gigan tically bigger and wider scale Chapter 1 Mother Nature s Green Eyed View of Gadgets 15
19. r hands and you then use it Chapter 1 Mother Nature s Green Eyed View of Gadgets 9 The R600 LED type LCD display helps eliminate additional mercury More and more computer makers are offering this type of mercury free display in their products Less mercury means less potential harm to the environment when the display reaches its end of life and is broken down and disposed of or recycled 1 The notebook is packaged in the smallest yet still protective box Smaller packaging means that more boxes can be packed into fewer shipping containers 1 The entire unit is packed in antishock cushioning made from partially or completely recycled materials Using recycled materials in the pack aging translates to fewer new resources taken from the planet to box the computer It also means that the packaging can be more easily broken down and recycled either after receiving the computer or by someone you later give the computer to In addition to the Greenpeace assessment the R600 ranks high in other green terms including its 1 Energy Star 4 0 compliance 1 Number one ranking in the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool EPEAT Gold category at the time this book was written 1 Compliance with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive RoHS These kudos translate to better energy efficiency when you use a notebook like the R600 which means a further reduction of its carbon footprint s impact on the en
20. rom the muffler and into the air More efficient cars produce fewer emissions than gas guzzlers whereas walk ing or riding your bike instead produces none And although your bicycle or walking shoes don t contribute to your carbon footprint when you re using them the mining and harvesting of The gadget is made from recycled plastic extracted from water bottles materials for manufacturing and the manufac turing process itself play a part in increasing the world s greenhouse gases Manufacturing packaging shipping shelv ing buying using maintaining and eventually disposing of gadgets all contribute to the total carbon footprint over the life of the product Adding each of your gadget s individual carbon footprints to the others in your life that you gen erate when you drive fly to on an airplane ride the roller coaster at an amusement park flush the toilet make coffee pray in church or a nondenominational meeting hall and rest your head on a pillow and curl up with a paper back thriller at the end of the day total the personal carbon footprint which doesn t stop growing until the day you die Come to think of it your carbon footprint doesn t quite come to a complete halt when you die because firing up a crematorium or digging your grave and conducting your funeral ser vice not to mention all the travel and energy expended by those who attend all contribute to your grand total carbon footpri
21. rtain amount of time has passed vv They use a rechargeable battery pack or batteries rather than dispos able ones 16 Part I Settling into a Green Gadget Mindset They can be recharged or can recharge other gadgets from sources other than electricity such as by absorbing sunlight with solar panels or by winding a crank to generate power 1 They can help you save gas and produce fewer carbon emissions by plotting the most efficient route to your destination or by monitoring and analyzing your driving style and then offering tips to help you drive more efficiently 1 They are packaged as efficiently as possible in packaging made of par tially to 100 percent recycled materials 1 They can be easily recycled ideally through hassle free take back or trade in programs offered by the manufacturer Relating the Four Rs to Green Gadgets Most people are probably familiar with the eco aware mantra known as the three Rs of green gadgets Reduce reuse recycle I now introduce you to what the Consumer Electronics Association Web site at MyGreenElectronics org refers to as the fourth R rethink to help you make green gadget pur chases I discuss the four Rs in detail in Chapter 2 but this list sums them up Reduce Less is more Using less energy by turning off gadgets and devices when you aren t using them as well as adjusting their power set tings to run more efficiently when they re on can provide more sav
22. sites and blogs that cover the topic of green gadgets or that have sections that cover them you can 1 Find out about the latest ecofriendly efforts and products being made by consumer electronics companies 1 Read reviews and features of those products so that you can make more informed purchase decisions 1 Find out how to get the most from the gadgets and gear you already own Communicate with other people who are also interested in living a green gadget lifestyle I include on the Cheat Sheet in the front of this book ten useful Web sites focused on green gadgets and environmentally friendly technologies Don t forget that you can always get the latest green gadget words of wisdom brought to you by yours truly at these fine worldwide Web locations 1 NYTimes com Green Inc http greeninc blogs nytimes com vv My own blogs gGadget org and JoeyGadget com as shown in Figure 1 8 28 Part I Settling into a Green Gadget Mindset SESE JOEyGADGET Hey Joe where you goin with that gadget in your hand Google On gGadget org Green Gadgets for Dummies and smert people too l MNN Mother Nature Network Web JOEyGADGET Joe Hutsko on Tue pm in Green Gadgets Uncategorized gGadget org Sardi green gadgets for dummie Sea Over on sister site gGadget org MNN com tech blogger Karl Burkart s Interview with me about Green Gadgets For Dummies at the Greener Gadgets 2009 Conference in
23. t me explain what I mean Before I do however I want to take a bigger picture view of how the gadgets and electronics in your life affect the planet in a number of ways as calcu lated by the article How to Go Green Home Electronics at The Discovery Channel Planet Green site http planetgreen discovery com go green home electronics 11 2 Part I Settling into a Green Gadget Mindset v 15 percent The percentage of money spent on powering computers worldwide the rest of the 250 billion is spent on energy wasted from idling 1 70 percent The percentage of all hazardous waste that s composed of discarded electronics 1 529 pounds The amount of fossil fuels needed to manufacture a 53 pound computer system including the monitor along with 49 pounds of chemicals and 1 5 tons of water 1 15 billion The number of batteries produced annually worldwide 1 40 percent The percentage of energy used for electronics in your home while the devices are turned off 1 billion The number of kilowatt hours of power each year that can be saved by using energy efficient battery chargers in the United States This in turn would save more than 100 million each year and prevent the release of more than a million tons of greenhouse gases Assessing green companies Just because a company says that it and its products are green doesn t necessarily make them so as I explain further in Chapter 9 the chapter t
24. vironment throughout its usable lifecycle In the later section Understanding Energy Star and EPEAT Green Gadget Labels I explain these and other assessment standards or ratings to look for when considering new gadget purchases Ecofriendly features The following list describes some of the other green features that help lessen the carbon footprint of the R600 and its impact on the environment Thin lightweight 2 4 Ib design This translates to less stress when lug ging it in your shoulder bag and less resources taken from the planet Y Rechargeable battery The battery can last more than 7 2 hours Finally you can leave the charger at home 20 Part I Settling into a Green Gadget Mindset Transreflective display You can see and use the display outdoors with the backlight turned off Who says that a park bench isn t a truly greener home office Solid state drive SSD option Say goodbye to moving parts and typical hard drive crashes Think of it as the same kind of memory that s in your mobile phone The R600 also boasts James Bond like features such as a fingerprint scanner for securing your identity and passwords as shown in Figure 1 5 and a built in webcam with face recognition for added protection Okay these features aren t exactly green but they sure are cool say Cheese T Truetiate Acces Manager lingerennt sommare s toe Z mabo O wa Truesuite Access Manager a Figure 1 5 be
25. y to the recycling bin Consider this In a 2008 survey conducted by the CEA nearly 90 percent of consumers said energy efficiency will be a determining factor in choosing and purchasing their next televisions Yet less than half of the people polled said that they understand the ecofriendlier attributes associated with consumer electronics and gadgets How do some or all of these factors tie together cleaner living cleaner breathing green gadgets in the real world Let me show you Following a Green Gadget s Carbon Footprint Visualizing how a gadget s carbon footprint affects the environment is easier to understand by taking a closer look at how a real product that you can hold in your hand relates to the four Rs as it moves from the stage of raw materi als and components to being 1 Manufactured and packaged in a factory 1 Shipped to resellers or directly to you the consumer 1 Used by the consumer 1 Given away or repurposed by the consumer Discarded by you or someone you gave it to 1 Recycled So that you can follow a gadget s carbon footprint I take you on a guided tour of the Toshiba Port g R600 ultralight notebook computer shown in Figure 1 4 This notebook earned the coveted title of Greenest Notebook in the 2008 Greenpeace Green Electronics Survey 18 Part I Settling into a Green Gadget Mindset a Figure 1 4 The Toshiba Port g R600 Toshiba s green procurement
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