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Currently, ultracapacitors cant store as much energy as the popular Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) batteries -- more on those from HowStuffWorks -- yet they can recharge in a fraction of the time and never lose their charging capacity. Scientists are working on the storage flaw of ultracapcitors, mainly through increasing the suce area of the electrodes and using better materials to store the charge. This could spell a major breakthrough in our ability to rapidly recharge our gadgets (not to mention electric cars) and reduce or eliminate our dependence on batteries. The other major issue to contend with is pricing - they are r more expensive than Li-Ion batteries.

Charge Gadgets With Renewable Energy

Buying a pre-owned electronic accomplishes two excellent goals. First, you help to extend the lifetime of the gadget, lowering its carbon footprint, and secondly, you save money. With the rate at which manucturers churn out new gadgets, buying barely used gadgets that are in great shape is an easy task and usually is much less expensive, even for the latest gear. There are great buyback companies such as TechForward that sell refurbished electronics, and places like Craigslist and eBay are also good places to look. Of course, the manucturers usually offer refurbished gear at reduced prices as well. You might even find what youre seeking free of charge on networks like Freecycle. Read our list of buyback programs, and consider using one of them for your next purchase.

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Cell For Cash

Recycling gadgets

Dig deeper into green gadgets with these articles and resources from the TreeHugger and Planet Green archives.

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Getting greener gadgets

Make Full Use of A Gadgets Features To Avoid Buying More.

Nope, you dont have to invest in solar panels on your house, or a wind turbine in your yard. There are small, personal charging devices that use solar or wind to power your gadgets. In ct, the off-grid chargers for gadgets is a booming market already worth over $2 billion, so your choices are vast and growing. There chargers that can soak up energy all day so you can plug in and recharge your gear at night, or even solar chargers that double as iPhone skins. For wind power, check out the Hymini wind turbine that can charge your cell phone or MP3 player just by sticking it out the window or taking it with you on a bike ride. And a popular charger that uses kinetic energy is the YoGen. Note: Most everything today is rechargeable. But just in case youre checking out something that isnt, be sure to go with rechargeable batteries, and ditch the alkaline. Go with Lithium Ion.

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Sometimes it seems that architects jump through too many hoops just because they ...

Read our guide for How To Go Green: Electronics to broaden your knowledge of all things green and electronic

Fuel Cells

by Lloyd Alter in Modular Design

Get more info on green gadgets in these other sources. HowStuffWorks has an exhaustive section on gadgets and their various tricks and operations.

The environmental impact of producing replacement cartridges isnt yet known because the technology hasnt quite arrived, but it will be something to take into consideration as we find better and better alternatives to batteries.

25 Gadgets that Will Save You Money is a peek at examples of which gadgets will actually save you some cash.

The evidence keeps rolling in: when you need to clear your head, the ...

For more, check out Renewable Energy Chargers: 6 We Love and 6 That Will Never Fly

Better gadget batteries and fuel cell technology

Buy Used

Organizations and certifications for green gadgets

by Jaymi Heimbuch in Sustainable Product Design

by Jaymi Heimbuch in Health

Solar iPhone? Solar iPod? Solar Macbook? peers into the Apple empire, looking for solar versions of our vorite gadgets.

Check out these other worthwhile sites for more info on green gadgets.

CollectiveGood

For true gadget lovers, this may be the tip you enjoy most because you get to green your gadgets with more gadgets. Vampire power is the energy used by devices when theyre plugged in but not turned on. Yep, even when devices are supposed to be off theyre really not entirely off. Manucturers are getting better at reducing how much energy their devices use while off or in stand-by mode, but you can do your part too. Prevent wasted energy first by unplugging any devices not in use or that are fully charged. Then, try using devices like smart power strips that cut the power supply to devices that no longer need it. Companies like Embertec and TrickleStar have several kinds of great devices that help you save loads of energy.

Dell

Learn the 3 traits all green gadgets have in common.

GoodGuide provides lots of details and info on the environmental, health, and social impacts of your goods, including gadgets.

Personal Solar Chargers and Wind Chargers for Gadgets

Top Green Gadgets Tips

Lenovo

Ready to charge up with the sun? Check out our series entry for Getting Ready for Earth Day: Save Electricity with Solar Gadgets and bask in the warm glowing warming glow of solar charging.

Green gadget manucturers

Portable wind-powered chargers

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Green gadget retailers and buy-back programs

Alcatraz Island is home to more than just ledgends and the ghosts of ...

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For an idea of what is available for laptops and smaller devices, you can check out our buy green guide for solar chargers, Gadgets, which includes DIY battery hacks as well. But more and more, solar cells are being integrated into devices and options are expanding daily.

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Here are some handy tips for turning old gadgets into cash through recycling.

Ultracapacitors: The new battery?

Green Gadgets: Tech, Renewable Energy &p>Get Expert Input Before Buying

Slay Vampire Power.

While our ability to use the sun and wind to power our gadgets is increasing, so too is battery technology. Improved batteries that hold charges longer and maintain the ability to charge to full capacity are coming out of labs regularly. Additionally, alternative batteries are being created. These come in the form of ultracapacitors and fuel cells.

You might be thinking that your vorite electronics are now becoming a headache. But dont despair! We can definitely enjoy our devices while still helping to lighten their footprint. Doing things like charging properly, checking out Energy Star and Consumer Reports for input before purchasing, taking advantage of free recycling programs, or even some money off our old devices are all ways we can seamlessly shift into eco-friendly gadget use. You dont have to ditch your well-loved cell phone or vorite game player to still go green. In ct, hanging on to your old devices for as long as possible before upgrading is one of the greenest things you can do.

Many of our gadgets are multifunctional so the bestGadgets way to cut down on gadget consumption is to actually use all those features. This helps not only extend the usefulness of a gadget and make it fully worth the money you put down for it, but it also cuts down on the number of gadgets you feel you need or want in your life. Additionally, it cuts down on how many things you need to continually charge up. For instance, most cell phones can now act as alarm clocks, calculators, PDAs, cameras and music players. Theres five gadgets no longer needed by full use of your cell phone. We call people who make smart use of a small handful of devices Gadget Minimalists, and they save a TON of money of Gadget Gottahaveits.

Not only do we have to look at energy use while were running them, but at their entire life cycle. Measuring the impact our devices have on the environment means looking at them from cradle to cradle. Using the most environmentally friendly materials, manucturing processes, and power sources, as well as ensuring they are properly recycled or repurposed at the end of their lifetimes are all essential elements of greening up our gadgets.

Our Greener Gadgets Wrap Video takes a retrospective look at the first annual Greener Gadgets Conference.

Individually, gadgets might not seem like such energy hogs. However, take a moment to count how many gadgets you use. Gameboys and Play Stations,new york asian escort cell phones and Palm Pilots, alarm clocks and digital cameras. When we start to add up how many things we use on a regular basis, recharge by plugging in to the wall or popping in new batteries, or toss into the trash when they break, we realize that they make a serious impact. The sheer volume is enough to make us think twice about our consumption -- over 5 billion cell phone subscriptions (and r more cell phones) worldwide, about 1.4 billion television sets worldwide, well over 1 billion computers worldwide, and so many more devices we can barely count them. The environmental impacts are equally as difficult to tally.

EPEAT Participating Manucturers

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A second alternative to batteries that researchers are working on at a lightning pace is fuel cells for gadgets. Mobion is a company at the leading edge of this technology, and is working with Toshiba to create laptops, cell phones, GPS devices and other hand held gadgets that run on small fuel cells. They hold their capacity for a charge r longer than Lithium Ion batteries, are highly efficient, and hold the potential for a power supply that never needs a cord. The issue with this, of course, is that users will need replacement cartridges of methanol.

Buying and Using Green Gadgets

by Michael Graham Richard in Cars

Quote of the Day: Chris Jordan on Greener Gadgets is artist Chris Jordans insightful take on how greening our gadgets can help save the planet.

UL Environment

Renewable energy chargers that are portable and not extraordinarily expensive are thankfully getting more commonplace. These make charging up your gadgets with sun and wind possible. While they dont provide energy as cheaply as plugging into the wall when you ctor in their purchase price, the energy used for your gadgets is at least clean and will, eventually, be free.

Simultaneously modern and rustic, this ntastic chair is an entry in the Instructables ...

EnviroGadget has info on gadgets for the eco-warrior.

BuyMyTronics

Technology is an essential part of daily life, from cell phones to televisions, music players to laptops. Yet our reliance on electronics also has a significant impact on the environment. But dont despair! There are countless ways to green up your gadgetry--or even use your gadgets for environmental causes--and we have information tips, guides, fix-it solutions and cts all in one place to help you go green with your technology.

Energy Star Home Electronics

In this guide, well talk about easy things you can do to green up your gadgetry, some of the seriously cool science behind advancements in better gadgets, and ways to get more involved in cleaning up all those devices we use on a daily bases and often dont even think twice about.

In ct, there are even more ways to earn rebates when you recycle your old gear.

myGreenElectronics helps enlighten consumers to proper ways to use, reuse, and recycle their gadgets.

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Gadgets: Life cycle impacts

The number of portable wind-powered chargers for gadgets is growing. Back in 2007, we saw the Hymini make its debut and it was one of the rare few. Now we have other competitors, including the MiniKin, or the Kinesis solar and wind hybrid. Wind chargers are irly inexpensive, but not necessarily as powerful or convenient as solar chargers. Plus, despite concepts and prototypes like the microBelt, solar chargers are already available in a wider variety of energy generation capHow to Go Green Gadgets,abilities with different pricing that can fit many budgets.

How To Go Green:See All TreeHugger Green Guides

How to: Recycle Your Computer is a quick-n-easy, step-by-step guide for sure your old computer doesnt end up where it doesnt belong.

Gadgets: The green impacts

Portable solar-powered chargers

Before your recycle it, get some tips on how to troubleshoot and fix your gadgets.

by Jaymi Heimbuch in Natural Sciences

Another company getting a lot of attention is Horizon Fuel Cells, with their table-top generators. Fuel cells use methanol cartridges for energy. But again, their products also require cartridges -- non-refillable cartridges.

Popular Mechanics reviews all the eco-friendly and green gadgets from CES 2008.

Buy Recycled and Recyclable Gadgets

Avoid Ooh-Shiny Syndrome &p>Photo by nan palmero via Flickr Creative Commons

Great Green Gadgets is a whole site devoted to -- you guessed it -- great green gadgets.

Check out what materials are used in the product and go for gadgets that use low impact materials that are recycled or sustainably obtained. It is tough, so r, to find new gadgets made of recycled materials, but not impossible. If the device youre purchasing isnt made with any recycled materials, at least ensure that it is recyclable. If you want to go a step further, write to the company that makes the product youre after and let them know youre only interested in purchasing if they make greener choices in their production.

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Take a look at Energy Star ratings, EPEAT ratings, Consumer Reports, and other expert sources to help you make comparisons among gadgets before purchasing. This will help you find the most energy efficient and eco-friendly items available to you.

As if things werent going well enough for Tesla Motors today, they just ...

The easiest charger to obtain is a solar charger because there is a wider selection -- you can find anything from a small, portable solar unit that will give you a modest trickle charge in emergencies, to large blanket-like solar fold-outs that can power up laptops. While there is a large variety, most solar chargers youll come across can easily handle gathering the energy needed for cell phones, music players, digital cameras and other smaller handheld gadgets, which is most likely what youre looking for. Charging more energy intensive electronics like television sets and home entertainment systems would make it more practical to look into a solar array for a home. But gadget-wise, youre pretty well covered with what is available on the market.

Ready to get your hands on some green gadgets? Read our 5 questions to ask when buying gadgets, and then check out our green buying guides for laptops and notebooks and desktop computers.

Interesting Facts About Green Gadgets

Photo by Jaymi Heimbuch