10 Environmentally Friendly Gadgets & Green Concept Ideas: Smartphones & Printer Ink

These days, the gadgets we use are all about how environmentally friendly they may be. From the alarm clocks that use water to run, to the backpacks that use solar energy to recharge our smaller devices, everything simply must help save the environment in some way, shape or form. Check out these 10 best environmentally friendly gadgets and concepts that should be gadgets (or on their way to becoming gadgets) that can not only help improve the way we as a people live, but also help improve or save the environment in some way.

Real Life Gadgets: Smartphones

The gadgets we use in real life help save our environment, one watt, plastic bottle and tree at a time. No matter which product people choose to use, using post consumer recycled materials can help reduce waste while making our communications and addiction to the Internet better for the environment.

Nokia 3110 Evolve & N79 Eco

This Nokia 3110 Evolve smartphone is one of two on the list that help save what we have in this world by using post consumer recycled materials. This smart smartphone uses 50 percent renewable materials in addition to 60 percent recycled materials and still offers great features. With a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth and 3GPP connectivity and four hours of talk time using the AC-8 charger to minimize energy consumption, this is a phone that makes environmentalists and geeks alike proud. Unfortunately, something this eco-friendly is only available from Nokia Europe and was outed in 2007, making it three years old; however, it did pave the way for newer and better eco-friendly smartphones...

Samsung Restore SPH-m570 (Sprint) $45 to $50

Such as the Samsung Restore, which Sprint and Samsung recently unveiled to the world. This eco-friendly smartphone is a slider with a fully functional QWERTY keyboard and a 1.4-inch by 1.9-inch TFT display. The phone itself is made from 27 percent recycled materials and 77 percent renewable materials, meaning when a user wants to buy a new phone that consumer can recycle 77 percent of this one. The Restore is part of a short line of eco-friendly smartphones, it is the successor to the Reclaim, of which got its start with the solar powered Blue Earth. Samsung has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that a messaging phone can be environmentally friendly and functional at the same time.

Motorola Renew W233 (T-Mobile) $30 to $35

Another recent smartphone setting the standard for environmentally friendly phones and other gadgets is the Motorola Renew, which is offered by T-Mobile as a pre-paid option. This smartphone is the first to ever certified Carbon-free smartphone in the world by offsetting the manufacturing energy it uses through an alliance between Motorola and Carbonfund.org. Its casing is made with post-consumer recycled materials and is 100 percent recyclable itself. In addition, Samsung Renew comes with a recycling envelope to send the phone back when the user is ready to upgrade-it is even postage paid! With up to nine hours of talk time, 1.9 inch display, this messaging phone is priced at and available at any T-Mobile dealer.

Real Life Gadgets: Ink, Toner & Printers

Now, let us look at another area that generally eats up resources and money-ink and toner cartridges and the printers that use them. It is no secret that ink cartridges are grossly overpriced and underutilized. People even go so far as to purchase new printers instead of springing for new ink and toner because it is more economical to buy a $30 printer, than buy $30 ink or toner cartridge every time it runs out, making a total purchase amount upwards of $60 or more for one each of black and color ink or toner. This creates more waste because printers are generally non-recyclable.

So why not make more of a push into the reusable ink cartridges, such as those that are refillable? Because the companies that make them want consumers to think that they are defective in some way, and consumers simply must use brand name cartridges. Uh... No. The simple fact is they are not. Refillable ink and toner cartridges have been around for years and are perfectly safe to use, as are remanufactured cartridges, such as those from HP, but now two new kinds of cartridges have arrived along with some of the best eco-friendly printers to go with them...

HP Remanufactured Cartridges (Variable price Depending on Model)

HP took the initiative with their recycling program for ink cartridges and set the precedent by which other manufacturers would follow suit. Their program, from June 2008 to date has manufactured over 200 million original HP ink and toner cartridges using the recycling process. Over 5 million pounds of post consumer recycled plastic bottles and other post-consumer materials were used to make the Original HP cartridges, of which are sold every day still. Every HP cartridge sold uses some form of recycled material and they have set the standard for all ink and toner manufacturers everywhere. HP certainly gets top billing when it comes to environmentally friendly ink and toner-not to mention their environmentally safe and friendly printer manufacturing process as well which brings us to the...

HP LaserJet P2055 d/dn Monochrome Energy Star-qualified Printers $200 to $400

This set of HP eco-friendly printers, released in early 2010, comes with a free download called HP Eco Solutions Print Console of which helps consumers manage various environmentally unfriendly aspects of printing. Some of the printer's green functions include "instant-on" 50 percent reduction in energy, paper settings, Carbon Footprint calculator and automatic duplex (two-sided) printing, saving even more paper. While this series of HP printers are made for the small to mid sized office, anyone who does a lot of printing may want to consider using one for its eco-friendly features.

Dell Next Life Ink Cartridges

Dell, a popular manufacturer of computers, laptops and peripherals has come together with Next Life Inc. to produce these environmentally friendly and sustainable ink cartridges. Offering ink cartridges that are compatible with HP, Canon, Lexmark and Epson, Next Life cartridges cost 30 percent less and print 20 percent more pages than original brand name cartridges. Additionally, according to studies by Dell and Next Life, the cartridges use 43 percent to 62 percent reclaimed materials in the manufacturing process. The packaging used for the cartridges is 100 percent recyclable and uses at least 50 percent post consumer materials in the packaging construction.

Soy Print Cartridge Toner (Price TBA)

Sustainable printing has become a reality with the use of soy-based toner called SoyPrint, manufactured by PRC Technologies and according to a press release dated July 8 2010. This toner, unlike ordinary oil based powder toner products, uses powdered soybeans, which is a renewable resource, in place of the petroleum-based powders that are dwindling rapidly. This usage of soy not only reduces consumption of oil overall, but reduces the harmful emissions from heating the toners during the bonding process. Additionally, when consumers purchase the SoyPrint product, they will receive periodic reports on sustainable printing and other environmental news. Pricing and more information about this product is available by calling or emailing Rick Greenlaw at the SoyPrint Sustainable Printing website.

Environmentally Friendly Gadget Concepts

The next three products are just concepts, but very well could be on their way to saving the environment very soon. These concepts are some of the most environmentally friendly ideas yet and they do more to save the earth than the ones already manufactured to date.

Riti Printer Concept by Jeon Hwan Ju

Everyone drinks coffee and everyone uses printers at some point in their lives, right? Well, Jeon Hwan Ju, as part of the Greener Gadgets Design Competition developed what he thought was the perfect marriage between the two; a printer that uses used coffee or tea grounds to print. This conceptual printer, according to the designer's concept, has an ink casing on the bottom on the printer and the user places a coffee or tea dreg into the casing. The user than places a piece of recycled paper into the machine and moves the ink casing from right to left and back again, which facilitates the "ink" printing on the paper. Neat, huh? For anyone who drinks coffee and uses a printer as much as this writer does, one would surely appreciate a gadget this eco friendly. I could probably fund enough "coffee ink" for 10 printers a day using this concept... A nice, simple idea the makes use of the sustainable ink concept very well, don't you think?

Camera Projector Feature Phone

To stay within the basic lines of smartphones and printing, why not use a device that does both and more? This concept phone/projector/printer/game controller, designed by Hideo Kanbara of Barankan Design, has met the task of designing a fully functional, multitasking smartphone fit for the most environmentally conscious kings. With the slim profile and numerous functions, using it in conjunction with the SoyPrint toner or ink cartridges would make this a serious environmentally friendly concept gadget.

Vac from the Sea Concept by Electrolux

Now, to stray from the smartphone/printer gadgets, this concept truly takes the cake for most innovative green idea ever-an idea that will soon become a reality. This Electrolux concept vacuum is a revelation is green cleaning technology. Not only can this Vac from the Sea help put an end to the littering of plastic bottles and other materials in the world's seas and oceans with the help of 5GYRES, but it will also clean a carpet just good as the rest of the Electrolux vacuum line does. These two corporations plan to travel across the world's oceans and collect plastic debris from which Electrolux will make their upcoming line of limited edition vacuums from the plastics they collect, thus reducing plastic littering one vacuum at a time. For more information on the project and on how you can help and get involved, visit the Vac from the Sea or 5GYRES websites.

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Chris Zeigler, "Nokia eco-friendly 3110 Evolve," Engadget
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Taeho Lim, "SoyPrint Expands the Market for Soy-Based Ink and Toner," Cartridge News
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