As we wrap up the year, it is exciting for us to note that there are now more than 10,000 EcoGeeks who are subscribed to this newsletter. We hit that level a few weeks ago, and the number doesn't seem to be falling. We thank you for your interest and support.
Now that the selling season is drawing to a close, we may finally get some relief from proclamations of the greenness of everything. While many manufacturers and retailers are adopting greener production methods and materials, we're really getting tired of pitches for every nostrum and widget using green as an excuse to buy. If you need something, it makes good sense to get the greenest version you can. But just because something is green doesn't mean you need to go out and buy it.
At our sister publications, Envirovore has news about dioxin contaminated beef in Ireland; and Envirowonk brings more information about the Tennessee coal ash slurry disaster.
$1B Per Year Wasted by PS3s and XBoxes
Chances are you live in one of the 40 per cent of American households that owns at least one video game console. The Wii, XBox 360and Playstation3 all consume vastly different amounts of power but, all together, gaming consoles eat up enough energy to power the city of San Diego. We've got nothing against gaming, of course, but we think, maybe, we could do it a bit more efficiently.
Sunlight Can Illuminate New LCD Panel
LG Display has introduced a new LCD panel that can be illuminated by sunlight when outdoors instead of the backlight. The LCD is 14.1 inches and will be installed in select notebook PCs. The LCD panel uses "backlight data signal switching technology," which means the backlight panels can be switched between reflective mode in sunlight to transmissive mode indoors, by hitting a button. When the outdoor mode is in use, energy consumption falls by 75% compared to the indoor mode, significantly extending the life of a computer battery.
Testing Out Ace Hardware's CFL Recycling Program
For a while there, I was getting worried. While 90% of me hoped that the world would immediately switch over to compact fluorescent light bulbs, there was 10% that was getting very worried that recycling them would never be easy, so they would end up breaking in landfills, and increasing the amount of elemental mercury loose in the world. It seemed that some companies would launch pilot projects, and then I'd never hear of it again. I feared that the expense of recycling CFLs would forever keep it inconvenient. Then ACE Hardware launched their recycling program, which seemed a little too good to be true. So I grabbed a couple of CFLs before I went to ACE to get a couple of screws I needed. I didn't see any bins, or signs advertising the effort, which is a little discouraging, but when I asked an employee, he simply opened his palms, and I passed off the bulbs.
First Solar Achieves Grid Parity! (depending on how you define grid parity…)
The holy grail of all renewable is to reach grid parity – the point at which buying green power is no more expensive (or even cheaper) than buying power from, say, a coal burning plant. And it seems that one solar power plant in a desert in Nevada – built by First Solar – has reached that momentous mark. At least according to one analyst named Mark Bachman. What do I mean, “according to one analyst”? Well it all boils down to how you do your math and how you define “grid parity”.
NYC Moving Towards LED Streetlights
Four years ago, the City of New York held an international competition to design the next generation of streetlights for the city. The winner? A lighting design firm from none other than the Big Apple itself – a company called the Office for Visual Interaction. If their prototype makes it through the testing stage, it will become the standard streetlight across the whole city. It looks nothing like ordinary streetlights. Because its head contains 100 (relatively) small LED bulbs, rather than one giant bulb, the designers had much greater flexibility in choosing a shape.
Don't forget to check out the news on the other EcoGeek Network blogs, too:
Carectomy - http://www.carectomy.com/
EnviroWonk - http://www.envirowonk.com/
Envirovore - http://www.envirovore.com/
And be sure to check in for more information about all the latest green technologies at EcoGeek.org
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