{"id":2647,"date":"2010-08-05T10:38:46","date_gmt":"2010-08-05T14:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uncommongoods.com\/?p=2647"},"modified":"2018-01-04T14:16:14","modified_gmt":"2018-01-04T19:16:14","slug":"cool-green-inventions-part1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/2010\/cool-green-inventions-part1\/","title":{"rendered":"Cool Green Inventions (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For the green-eyed and bushy tailed, nothing beats the next clean thing. Read on for five fresh stunners hitting the green market today.<\/p>\n

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Bright Idea<\/strong><\/p>\n

A contender in the US Department of Energy\u2019s L Prize competition (and a top-five invention-of-the-year pick by Time<\/a><\/strong>Magazine<\/a><\/strong>), Philips\u2019 brilliant LED bulb runs on less than ten watts, but beams the same luminosity as a 60 watt bulb. With 25 times the lifespan of generic bulbs, it could save enough energy to illuminate 17.4 million homes a year. Census crunch<\/a>: That\u2019s 7.4 percent of all U.S. homes! Now that\u2019s mega-watt energy conservation.<\/p>\n

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Greener Cleaning<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recently, the market seems to be exploding with biodegradable products meant to protect our streams with\u00a0chlorine- and petroleum-free suds. Eco-friendly product pioneer Seventh Generation<\/a> has been ahead of the curve, developing resource-conscious household cleaners since the late \u201880s.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Their latest laundry detergent<\/strong> is a movement in its own right. This big-picture product leaves out petroleum, a detractor wasting at least 96,000 barrels of oil a year through generic powder detergent. If U.S. homes replaced one box of petroleum-packed powder detergent with a veggie-based product, we\u2019d save enough fuel to heat (and cool!) 5,500 homes a year. And that\u2019s just with one box.
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Hooked On \u2018Tronics<\/strong><\/p>\n

An upgrade from flat panel displays, high-tech electronic paper by\u00a0E Ink<\/a><\/strong> looks and acts like the real thing. It\u2019s flexible, legible at almost any angle, requires zero trees, minimal power and updates information on command. If it were a movie prop, you\u2019d peg it as a stand-in for The Daily Prophet <\/em>(the animated newspaper) in Harry Potter. On the street, you\u2019ve likely seen electronic paper without even realizing it\u2019s the physical screen driving so many portable readers.<\/p>\n

Project Gutenberg<\/strong><\/a> evangelized the need for digitizing literature in the early \u201870s with an electronic library. It wasn\u2019t until late 2007 that early adopters embraced the Amazon Kindle. In the past three years, E Ink offspring have grown to include Sony\u2019s PRS-500, the Iliad, Barnes & Noble\u2019s nook and the latest niche knockout, the iPad.<\/p>\n

It can fold, roll and mimic paper\u2019s every move \u2013 but long-term durability hasn\u2019t yet caught up with electronic paper’s technology (it\u2019s delicate). Until sturdier models hit the market, mainstream e-paper will likely circulate through devices.<\/p>\n

On July 1, E Ink announced the launch of Pearl<\/a><\/strong>, a suped-up version of its original Vizplex display. Offering 16 levels of gray for improved readability, more efficient energy consumption and a contrast ratio that\u2019s roughly 50 percent sharper than before, E ink inches closer to mending the user experience gap between page and screen. Though multiple Pearl displays are set to hit devices late this year, the brand new Kindle DX<\/a><\/strong> remains the exclusive host to its groundbreaking technology.<\/p>\n

Ready to make the e-book leap? Click here to see our novel solution for idle hardbacks.<\/a><\/p>\n

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It\u2019s Electric <\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ll be able to give up the gas this November with rechargeable rides like the Nissan LEAF<\/a><\/strong>. That\u2019s a snappy acronym for Leading, Environmentally Friendly, Affordable, Family Car. It\u2019s a fully-equipped, zero emissions car running a 100 miles on a full charge. The best part? It powers up just like your iPod – sort of.<\/p>\n

A three-level home charging system lets you choose your speed\u2014owners can opt for docking times from 8 to 20 hours to kick this car into gear. The catch: You\u2019ll need garage-style access to an electrical outlet, making this a tricky ride for city dwellers.<\/p>\n

Until then, there\u2019s always the Honda Hybrid Civic<\/a><\/strong>, a style so successful on the international market that Japan\u2019s planning on discontinuing regular Civics in 2011 and introducing as many as five hybrid models by 2013.<\/p>\n

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Sun Dial<\/strong><\/p>\n

What rural India lacks in electricity, it makes up for in sun. And now, cell phones. In an effort to increase market penetration in rural segments, Mumbai-based mobile phone company Vodafone Essar debuted the VF 247<\/a><\/strong>, a solar-powered mobile phone, on July 27. Considering nearly thirty percent of Indians live without electricity, it might swiftly address topical issues of connectivity and investment in less developed areas.<\/p>\n

Priced at 1,500 rupees \u2013 say, $32 \u2013 it offers 240 minutes of chatter on an eight-hour charge. Its debut this month is sure to spike sales among affluent networks and excite the development of sustainable solutions in the Indian marketplace. And with its added features – an FM radio and trail-blazing flashlight \u2013 this solar phone seems destined to rule traveler wish lists to come. Just one caveat: With a p<\/a><\/strong>er capita income of\u00a0$1,030<\/a><\/strong>, most Indians \u2013 rural or not \u2013 earn roughly $2 a day. There\u2019s a deep disconnect between the product and the population\u2019s income.<\/p>\n

The international market, however, is a different story. Here\u2019s hoping a sustainable \u2013 and affordable \u2013 option debuts domestically.<\/p>\n

Click here to see our pick for getting your charge on.<\/a><\/p>\n

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For the green-eyed and bushy tailed, nothing beats the next clean thing. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":2657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[742],"tags":[30,172,171],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2647"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64713,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2647\/revisions\/64713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}