Tag: environment
Spotify provide the soundtrack for 2009's Earth Hour
Want to go greener than the Spotify logo, but missing some symbolism to give your choice meaning? Well, join Spotify and the WWF (the panda people, not the wrestlers) for Earth Hour.
And what is Earth Hour exactly? Well, it’s the WWF’s message to world leaders that people are serious about climate change by encouraging millions of people to turn off their lights at the same time for 60 minutes – on Saturday 28th March at 8:30pm. Spotify’s involvement? An hour long playlist of darkness themed songs to keep spirits up while you keep tripping over bits of cabling.
Nintendo issues sniffy response to Greenpeace's environmental criticism
Every year or so, eco-terrorists Greenpeace compile a report on which technology companies are friendliest to the environment and which really aren’t. Nintendo and Apple routinely score very low, and Nokia routinely scores well, but this year, Nintendo has issued a wonderfully haughty response:
“Nintendo has not been badly rated by Greenpeace. Greenpeace chose to conduct a survey which graded companies based on the voluntary submission of information. Nintendo decided not to take part in the survey and were therefore ‘ungraded’.
“Nintendo provides detailed information regarding its compliance to environmental laws and directives via the Consumer Information section of the Nintendo website and therefore felt it unnecessary to take part in the Greenpeace survey.”
So there you go. Nintendo isn’t environmentally unfriendly, it just doesn’t want to play nice with Greenpeace. In all honesty, I’m not sure I blame them.
Greenpeace Report (via TechRadar)
Related posts: New MacBooks to contain LED backlit screens, boost Greenpeace’s opinion on Apple | Greenpeace accuses Nintendo of not playing eco-friendly ball, in Greener Guide to Electronics report
Energy & Efficiency, episode 10
By simply making a few changes to how we live our daily lives, it’s possible to save energy – and therefore also money and the world.
In a system I’m calling the Modern Energy Efficient Lifestyle (2.0) I shall outline two simple techniques designed to get mankind more in synch with the planet and therefore assure the survival of both man and environment. Here’s how.
To summarise – go to bed at 4.30pm tonight…
Amazon offers 'frustration-free' packaging on top products
We’ve all been there – that headphone cable that takes two pairs of scissors, a kitchen knife and a bulldog clip to get out of its packet, but still manages to nearly take off your finger. Well, if Amazon gets its way, that experience will be no more – it’s announced a ‘frustration-free packaging’ and launches today on 19 of Amazon’s best-selling products.
The goal is to make it easier for customers to get to the stuff they’ve paid for, and it also has the side-benefit of reducing use of plastic, which sticks about for bazillions of years once discarded. Amazon are initially focusing on two things – the aforementioned plastic bubble clamshells and those with plastic-coated wires tying them in place…
Carbon Hero – track your carbon footprint on your phone, no guitars in sight
Carbon footprints are difficult. They’ve received a lot of attention in the press, and they’re firmly stamped (no pun intended) on the public psyche, but they’re not actually very accurate. Given the complexity of power generation in modern life, it’s something that’s incredibly difficult to calculate, and very easy to underestimate.
This device, the Carbon Hero, was designed by an art graduate named Andreas Zachariah. It tracks your phone signal, and if you’re moving at train-ish speed, on a train track, then it assumes you’re on a train, works out the distance you travel, and gives you a number for your carbon footprint. Simple, right? Well, there’s about a billion things wrong with the idea…
Samsung push their green credentials with the E200 Eco
Samsung have announced that they’re going a bit green – and have illustrated this in as literal way as possible by actually colouring the phone a lovely shade of green.
The E200 Eco is going to be revised version of the E200 and will obviously contain more environmental friendliness than it’s predecessor. Apparently it’s cased in “bio-plastic”, which is made from corn and apparently emmits 2.16 less tons of carbon dioxide during the manufacturing process when compared to regular plastic. The phone will also be sold in a recycled paper box…
Ikea to sell solar panels. Some assembly required?
IKEA must be feeling a bit guilty about cutting down all of those trees to manufacture flat-pack furniture, as they’re pouring €50m into ‘GreenTech’ projects and will be selling solar panels, water conservation and purification devices and “alternative light sources”…
Nokia: just three percent of people recycle their old mobile phone
Despite the fact that nearly three-quarters of people said that recycling makes a positive difference to the environment, almost the same number don’t think about recycling their old mobile phones, with just three percent doing so.
Mobile phone junk is an increasing problem as many people strive for the latest handsets, and as phone companies encourage their users to upgrade handset every year. Nokia’s global study of 6,500 people in 13 countries (Finland, Germany, Italy, Russia, Sweden, UK, United Arab Emirates, USA, Nigeria, India, China, Indonesia and Brazil) found that nearly half didn’t know it was possible to recycle their old mobile phone…
O2 expects high demand for iPhone 3G: one per customer only
O2 has just announced that, due to expected high demand for the iPhone 3G, orders will be limited to just one per customer on a strictly first-come-first-serve basis. It’s not clear whether the Carphone Warehouse will also impose this restriction, but it’s likely.
Unlike our American friends, who have now been told by AT&T that the handset will go on sale from 8am local time at AT&T stores, all we have to go on is the 11th July date. Rumours of O2 stores opening at 7am may be true, though we never saw preregistration begin yesterday…
Barclaycard goes green with launch of "Green-O-Meter" Facebook application
Barclaycard has announced the launch of its “Green-O-Meter” Facebook application, which tests how environmentally friendly your life is by answering a range of questions on household, shopping, food, and travel.
The application also offers suggestions for greener living, and users can compare their scores with friends much as per other Facebook applications. In the future, additional quizzes will be added to the application…
