E-waste | We made our bed, now we’ll sleep in it.

This is by no means an attack on Apple, but the picture of the little girl is just so heartbreaking because sadly it represents what we’re leaving over for our kids. We’re all contributing to the big problem of electronical waste and should be aware of what happens with the out-of-date appliances.

Electronic waste, “e-waste” or “Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment” (“WEEE“) is a waste type consisting of any broken or unwanted electrical or electronic appliance. It is a point of concern considering that many components of such equipment are considered toxic and are not biodegradable. (from Wikipedia)

Belkin Rockstar 6 Port Audio Hub

At the 2008 International CES Belkin introduced this little gadget. It’s cute. And… yeah two thumbs up for the cuteness. But what happens when me and my friends to this – especially the part at 00:17? I like to move it move it too Belkin. I like to move it move it too. Now go stand in the corner and think about what you’ve done.

Napkin PC | Alert all Doodlers

I doodle a lot. On napkins, on the back of the bill, on the table… And I like trees. Connect the dots and you can guess that I’m happy to find out that some design student, Avery Holleman, came up with a napkin PC. I hope the product will hit the market soon because I need to get one in case it is indeed as sustainable as they say it is. Recycable and all. My brother has the Wacom Bamboo which is a relative of the Napkin PC, but I don’t like it too much. Probably because I suck at using it but mostly because it takes way too much resources to make it and way too much effort to recycle it. Oh – and you have to plug it into a PC which I don’t carry around with me in my pocket/ purse. Call me weird. This thing however is an inductively powered device, you can recycle it and you don’t have to waste paper for your sketches anymore. Good ol’ paper. I do love it and I am skeptical about the Napkin PC being completely ‘eco’. It could be great but the whole thing could just result in more e-waste.

/more after the jump (cool renderings btw)

Portable Solar Panels – Freeloader

There are portable products on the market like Energi To Go and TuneJuice 2 that will charge cellphones and other mobile devices but they use standard batteries that get tossed. We’re happy to announce that Solar Technology in the UK is selling a small solar panel charger called Freeloader. As an iPhone user without a swappable battery and a frequent traveler, I was immediately excited. Alas, the e-commerce sites we found didn’t ship to the United States yet. No pressure from across the pond but we’d love to get our hands on a few for user testing…

For more info on the Freeloader and it’s accessories visit www.solartechnology.co.uk.

(via: ecolect)