This New Year, make a resolution to reduce your carbon footprint by switching over to a more eco-friendly lifestyle. And by saying this, I don’t mean that one needs to retire to the mountains and lead a saint’s life. These days it isn’t a tough call as we can obtain assistance via high-tech technology that promise to lure users to develop clean green habits. The latest buzz is about the Z-Wave-enabled Nokia Home Control Center. With just a simple smart phone kind of device, Z-Wave ecosystem can help the user to control and reduce his/her consumption of electricity, gas, water as well as carbon dioxide emissions.
By now we all know that chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) is a prime culprit for the depleting ozone layer from our environment. Though it has many other vital applications, one of them is for respiratory related ailments. Prescribed for those suffering from wheezing, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Albuterol inhalers contain CFC. The propellants push the albuterol out of the inhaler allowing patients to then inhale the medicine. However since U.S. is stopping all production and sale of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) including CFCs from 2009 onwards, its time to switch over to the eco-friendly inhalers that replace CFC with hydrofluoroalkane (HFA).
Since solar powered laptops are still out of reach, most of the eco-geeks can switch to Hewlett-Packard’s new line of “Enviro” batteries for laptop. These batteries not only boast of long-lasting power but are also exceptionally eco-friendly. Eliminating the use of PVC plastic or heavy metals like cadmium, arsenic, or mercury in the manufacturing process, the company asserts that the batteries can also be recycled. Also the fact that it can last for at least three years makes its clear that such batteries reduce the e-waste burden on landfills. It has also received a number of “green” certifications.
This Christmas, steer clear of gadgets and gift your little one with a plaything that can captivate her green senses in a playful manner. If you intend to instill eco-friendly habits in your kids from a young age then the Eco House is the best bargain. Fitted with a solar panels and wind turbine on the roof, the beautifully designed house also features a rain barrel and a recycling bin. It also includes handsome energy- and resource-saving furnishings. Playing with such an eco-friendly doll house, kids will grow up thinking that with such green features are a must for every house. Crafted out of renewable rubberwood and recycled wood, natch, it is up on Heartsong for $150.
Usually, we don’t place our gadgets like music players to scorch under direct sunlight as it may harm the functioning. However this habit can be changed with the solar powered media player from Singapore’s Shiro Corporation. Christened as Shiro SQ-S, it is caked with solar cells on the backside. to juice up this doodad, all you need to do is place it under the sun with the rear facing the heat. Within four hours, Shiro will be full of energy that can last for 35 hours of music or up to seven hours of video. Roll over to know about its other techie features…..
This festive season, are you short of ideas to gift someone with a green thumb? Why don’t you grab the Memorex’s Eco-Friendly 7″ Widescreen LCD Digital Photo Frame and be assured of reviving green memories. The eco-friendly tag can be attributed to the medium-density fiber wood substrate frame and the packaging that made of 80% recycled material. Also the manuals and other leaflets are made of 100% recycled paper. Discounted down to $70, this digital frame boasts of excellent picture quality with 480 x 234 resolution; 400:1 contrast ratio and 200 cd/m² brightness.
Though flying across countries and continents on solar powered planes still seems to be a distant dream, the aviation industry of U.S. is moving ahead with a green objective for sure. America can now boast of the greenest airport hangar as the 60,000-square-foot structure at Bob Hope Airport opens its doors today. Believed to be the world’s greenest aviation facility, this hangar is capable of powering a Boeing 757 jetliner with solar energy while the aircraft is on the ground for maintenance. Known as Hangar 25, its roof is caked with photovoltaic panels that provide enough juice to operate the building’s lights. This green energy can also recharge electric-powered ground equipment such as forklifts and tow vehicles.
Japan is gearing up for a green exhibition, the tenth Eco-Products 2008 scheduled from 11th-13th December. Touted to be one of the largest green events in Japan, this green fair will house all kind of eco products as well as services at the Tokyo International Exhibition Center. It is an ideal platform to showcase the green business ideas and lifestyles concepts. This year’s exhibition is based on the theme of “We Can Do it! Eco-Lifestyle with a 50% CO2 Reduction.” Now that sounds very motivating…..if only all of us can actually modify our habits and lifestyle to bring about this green change. This eco-exhibition aims to accelerate the expansion of green markets by exhibiting environmentally friendly products and services.
Yesterday we reported about the NASA’s move to keep a tab on the CO2 levels and today its time to cover the European Space Agency, a.k.a., ESA’s strategy to do the same. The Europeans are working on laser based technology to measure accurate atmospheric CO2 levels. Here the A-SCOPE (Advanced Space Carbon and Climate Observation of Planet Earth) space mission is the well-matched answer for the NASA’s Orbital Carbon Observatory (OCO). The scientists at ESA maintain that atmospheric column CO2 can be measured from space using two short laser pulses emitted at adjacent wavelengths. As a result of the pulses, CO2 is absorbed by one of the wavelengths. The other wavelength is used as a reference point, and the comparison between the two shows the total column concentration of CO2.
Time to find an affordable alternative for silicon-based photovoltaic solar cells and trust our scientists at Harvard and IBM to come up with such green solutions for a clean future. They are up on a revolutionary project that will enable them to harness the power of a million idle computers to develop a new, cheaper form of solar power. Based on the IBM’s World Community Grid project, Havard guys are hoping that the project will allow them to discover a combination of organic materials that can be used to manufacture more efficient, affordable, and flexible plastic solar cells. Intending to harness the sun’s energy from every corner, such a technology could be used to coat windows, make backpacks or line blankets which in turn can turn out electricity.
