green

Read your snail mail on the Web: Earth Class Mail

Editor's Note: RemoteControl mail has changed their name to "Earth Class Mail." The title and name mentions has been changed to reflect this, while the rest of the article remains in its original form.

Tired of opening letters and bills? There's a new service, Earth Class Mail, that will receive your postal mail for you, send you scans of the unopened letters and parcels, and then let you figure out what to do with your mail. Its options include physically forwarding the mail to you, recycling or shredding the mail, or opening it and scanning the … Read more

Solar boat would tire out Energizer Bunny

We didn't know that there enough of these to create competition, but the "SolarShuttle" claims to be the "UK's largest and most advanced solar boat," according to Gizmag. Plying the waters of the "ecologically fragile" Serpentine Lake at Hyde Park in London, the boat reportedly runs silently and without pollution while ferrying up to 42 passengers. It even stores more than enough power to operate at night, sending surplus solar energy back to national utility plants. That's especially comforting because it means the boat won't get stranded while rented out … Read more

Beacon lights a path to beer

It's St. Patrick's Day, of course, and we must pay homage accordingly. So even though this doesn't exactly qualify as a traditional gadget, we're guessing that it will be of some interest on this hallowed occasion.

The lighted beer dispenser is arguably a safety device as well as a practical home appliance, for its illumination can help prevent injurious mishaps. "A beacon for the thirsty," as Ubergizmo calls it, standing more than 21 inches tall.

The dispenser comes in a choice of black or chrome to avoid clashing with the rest of your decor. (… Read more

Human-powered roller coaster, welcome to the Dumb Ideas Club

This really takes the stupidity cake. Looking at the first few pictures, I thought the "Skycycle" in Okayama, Japan, was a sort of bike-ride-meets-skyway. You know, something that you could pedal around on at a nice, leisurely pace to get a birds' eye view of sights on the ground. But, no. It's a roller coaster. You get on it, and you pedal, and you go wheeeeeee.

This is scary for a number of reasons. Okay, so it might be eco-friendly because it's all done by manpower. But personally, I like my roller coasters to be automated. … Read more

Let there be lightbulb recycling

So you've popped new, corkscrew-shaped, compact fluorescent lightbulbs into every lamp at home. Fingers crossed, your next electrical bill will shrink now that those wasteful incandescent lights are gone.

Millions more people may soon follow in your footsteps. A California lawmaker wants the state to ban the sale of energy-wasting incandescents altogether, as Australia is doing. Meanwhile, campaigns such as Yahoo's 18 Seconds promote switching to CFL bulbs, which are getting more shelf space in Wal-Mart stores.

However, the funny-looking fluorescents pose a pollution problem. Their energy savings may be ecofriendly, but each bulb contains enough methylmercury to … Read more

Keep the car charged when on vacation

It's the dilemma of the modern car owner. You go on vacation and your GPS-equipped, fully automated car goes dead in the meantime because all the gadgets have drained the battery.

To this end, Canada's ICP Solar is hawking the Sunsei, a dashboard solar panel that plugs into the car lighter or can clamp onto the battery. Plug it in and it will deliver 135 milliamps to the battery, enough to keep it going. The company sells thousands of these to Volkswagen, which puts them in Beetles shipped from Mexico. (Sometimes the dealer gives them to buyers; sometimes, … Read more

The British do a fuel-cell sports car

Among the parade of green cars at the 77th International Motor-Show in Geneva, specialty sports car manufacturer Morgan announced that it's building a fuel-cell sports car with zero emissions and a wooden chassis. Fans can expect to see the car make its debut at next year's show.

The LifeCar, as Pocket-lint noticed, will run on oxygen taken from the air and hydrogen. Water vapor will be the only byproduct of the car's fuel cell, which is being designed by QinetiQ.

The car is "a wholly British partnership," according to Morgan, with funding from the U.… Read more

A jug that keeps moths in check

Michael Banfield is proud of his jug filled with insect pheromones. He's managing partner at SpringStar, which sells biopesticides that work like this: Hormones from female gypsy moths are sprayed into the air, sending the males into a frenzy as they think that females are everywhere. They fail to find a real one and die before they can breed.

It's one of the technologies being touted at the Cleantech Forum this week in San Francisco, a conference where so-called green start-ups show off their wares to venture capitalists. SpringStar is working with researchers at the University of Washington … Read more

Green laser points the way

We're old enough (unfortunately) to remember when laser pointers were new and expensive, not the kind of bargain-bin item you can find at OfficeMax. But even though they've become surprisingly affordable, we've been disappointed at the preponderance of laser-pointing objects that make little or no sense.

That's why we appreciate the "Jasper Keynote." It's a laser pointer with a built-in radio transmitter that can let you point and run your PowerPoint presentation simultaneously if used with a USB receiver. And the best part of all: It's green (our favorite color).

Thanks to … Read more