The Ego Electric Street Scoota is the eco-friendly commuting solution
In today’s congested cities and towns, a scooter can seem an ideal transport solution, able to nip in and out of traffic and far cheaper to run than a car – but, as a scooter still uses petrol, it’s not the most environmentally friendly option. That isn’t true of the Ego Electric Street Scoota – this little runaround is completely electric! Simply plug the scooter in overnight to charge it with enough electricity to run it for 40 miles – more than enough for most people’s daily commute. Even better, it will cost only pennies to run. With a 1400-Watt motor, the Street Scoota can reach speeds of up to 30mph (though, in today’s traffic, you might not need to go that high!) and is a nifty ride that enables you to manoeuvre traffic with ease. Although not cheap – it retails at between £800-£1000, depending on colour and finishes – given that the average person spends nearly £2,000 a year on petrol, it will pay for itself in less than a year! Also, because it is electric, you do not need to pay road tax or the Congestion Charge, so the savings keep adding up. But the most important saving of all is environmental – as our fossil fuel reserves dwindle and the environmental and social costs of using petrol rise, it is increasingly important that we develop eco-friendly modes of transport. The Ego Electric Street Scoota is the perfect eco-solution to city commuting. Plug in yours today!
Electrickery and Revolve turn old circuit boards into great gifts
We live in a world where we are constantly encourage to upgrade our electronic equipment to something newer, smaller, shinier – and that can have a terrible impact on the environment. Waste from electronic and electrical equipment is growing year on year as we replace items faster and faster – an estimated 50,000 tonnes of printed circuit boards alone are scrapped every year. One company is helping reduce landfill by using old circuit boards and recycling them into unusual and stylish gifts. Electrickery are based in Fulham, London – so no air miles to worry about! – and have been recycling circuit boards since 1999. They produce a range of fun products including recycled circuit board cuff links, recycled circuit board lamps and recycled circuit board business card holders, and because they use such a range of boards, no two items are the same – ensuring completely unique gifts. Meanwhile, on a similar theme, Revolve takes items destined for landfill and turns them into fun and contemporary gifts. These include recycled circuit board coasters, recycled circuit board notebooks, and recycled circuit board mousemats. Like Electickery, Revolve is a UK company – they are based in Huddersfield – so as well as ensuring that you are saving items from landfill, you can also be assured that your products don’t clock up the air miles. Also like Electrickery, Revolve create products based on their supply of destined-for-landfill circuit boards, so every product is different, giving each its own unique charm.
Music with a conscience with sustainable and environmentally friendly guitars
Simon Lee Cyclotron recycled guitars are beautiful, top quality instruments that also manage to be eco-friendly. Combining traditional design and with cutting edge environmentally friendly materials, these guitars are truly a thing of beauty. Unlike many traditional instruments, the guitars do not use endangered hardwoods in their production. Instead, they have a maple neck and a body made from recycled plastic, featuring top-quality hand-wound Bare Knuckle picks ups (as used by some of the world’s most famous guitarists). This allows the guitar to be eco-friendly without sacrificing the top level sound you would expect from a high quality guitar. Each guitar is handmade to order and comes in a range of finishes, depending on the material used: ‘marble’, which uses reclaimed plastics from the food industry; snow, which uses factory-reject yoghurt pots (complete with foil fragments, giving a stone-like material that polishes to a hard shine; chilli, which uses off-cuts from industrial pipes and superfresh, a mix of domestic bottles and containers, and espresso, made from recycled coffee cups. Or there is pirate, which uses crushed CDs – which were seized by Trading Standards during a raid on illegal CD production factories – suspended in the blue plastic of office water cooler bottles, if you want a guitar with a history as interesting as the songs you play on it! The guitars aren’t cheap – you wouldn’t expect instruments of this quality to be – but if you want to invest in an instrument that is beautiful, unique and will last a lifetime but doesn’t cost the earth, then Simon Lee Cyclotron guitars may be playing your tune.
Shine a light with eco-friendly desk lamps
Stylish but eco-friendly and energy efficient design is hard to come by, but this eco desk light from Luminair manages to beautifully combine high end style with the latest in eco-friendly thinking. The shade and frame of the light are made from black walnut wood, from sustainably managed forests with stringent environmental policies in place. This means that for each tree harvested, more are planted, making this one of the most sustainable materials around. These forests are also in the UK, which cuts down on air miles, often a concern when buying wood-based products, as some imported wood can have environmentally questionable provenance. The light itself incorporates an energy efficient LED light drive, meaning that using the light saves you money and energy – reducing your bills and your carbon footprint! As befits a light made to the highest design specifications, it offers all the features you would expect, including touch sensitive switch and dimmer, and precision machined and turned silver aluminium fittings. The light is also available in a Superflux version, which is similar but offers an ultra-bright 3W ‘super-flux’ LED light head. This Superflux light, too, is energy efficient and eco-friendly, made to the same exacting sustainable and environmentally friendly standards and out of the same beautiful black walnut wood. Either one of these super stylish lights would look great on any desk, making them ideal, eco-friendly gifts.
Stylish solar-powered Sun Jars provide eco-friendly lighting for home and garden
Solar powered lighting is many things, but it is rarely beautiful. However, eco-friendly designers Suck UK Design have come up with an innovative lighting solution that manages to be both green and stylish. Their Sun Jar lights combine solar technology with classical design to provide energy efficient lighting. Made with a traditional Mason jar, the lights contain a solar cell, rechargeable battery and low energy LED lamps. Simply leave in direct sunlight to charge up the Sun Jar, and it automatically activates when it gets dark or when the lights are switched out. (There is an override switch located inside the lid so you can turn it off and conserve the power). Because the Sun Jar uses warm coloured LED lights and the glass is frosted, it gives a warm glow – looking like sunlight diffused through the jar. With no visible external switches, it will intrigue and impress visitors! The Sun Jars are also watertight, so make ideal garden illuminations as they can be left outside whatever the weather. As they give a warm rather than harsh glow, they are also ideal energy efficient and safe nightlights for children. Suck UK Design produce the Sun Jars in a range of colours including pink and blue (the Moon Jar) so you can combine them to beautiful effect. For anyone who likes a more high-tech looking lighting solution, though, Suck UK Design also produces Glow Bricks, which use the same technology placed in an actual lightbulb, encased in an acrylic brick. Available in green and blue, these sharp designs give a contemporary look to your lighting, as well as saving you energy and money.
An eco-friendly commuting solution from Powabyke
Cycling has become an ever-more popular mode of transport as people try to cu transport costs and lower their carbon footprint, but you do require a certain level of fitness to cover any significant distance, which puts many people off, especially beginners. Powabyke Electric Bikes offer an ideal solution. The bikes’ Lithium-ion power pack and 250 watt electric hub motor gives you a fast boost up to 15mph, even in headwinds or going uphill, allowing you to effortless cover longer distances and making your daily commute less of a struggle. Designed to be used in a city and as a real alternative to traditional modes of transport, the Powabykes combine greener thinking and stylish design with state of the art technology to offer a real eco-solution. While they aren’t cheap – they retail at between £800 and £950 – compare this investment with the cost of running a car or buying an annual travel card and they suddenly look like a very sound investment. Even better, the Powabyke qualifies for the Government’s ‘Cycle to Work’ schemes, whereby you can purchase the bike and offset the cost against your income tax (your employer should be able to advise on this). Powabyke recommend their European Electric bike for women, and their men’s bikes come in either a six-speed or 24-speed versions. So there has never been a better time to get on your (electric) bike.
Standby solutions save you energy
Leaving devices on standby – instead of switching them off – wastes energy and costs you money, but it’s a habit that many of us have fallen into. The Bye Bye Standby Energy Saving Kit is aimed at reducing your energy bills and your carbon footprint by simply cutting the power to devices that are plugged into it when they are not in use. The device is easy to use – simply plug a Bye Bye Standby Smart Socket into a mains wall switch and plug your electrical appliance such as a DVD, TV, stereo or TV into it. You then just make sure your remote control (included in the pack) is set to the same ‘house code’ as the Smart Socket and you can switch off your devices from up to 30m away. Working on the same principle, the Intellipanel for desktop computers allows you to plug your PC into the master socket and all peripherals into the other socket, so that when you power down your computer, power to the peripherals is cut at the same time. There is also an Intellipanel for laptops available. Another smart eco-solution – designed for both PCs and laptops – is the Ecobutton. Pressing this clever little device puts your computer into energy saving ‘eco mode’, saving you energy – and when you want to start working again, you simply press the Ecobutton and your PC or laptop is reactivated at exactly where you left off! With all of us worrying more about energy bills, as well as our carbon footprint, these standby solutions offer an easy and eco-friendly way to save energy and money.
O2 goes green with its new eco-friendly handset
Mobile phones are often seen as an eco-menace, but O2 is aiming to help customers reduce their carbon footprint by launching a new, greener handset. The Sony Ericsson Naite is the first of the manufacturer’s GreenHeart range and reduces its carbon footprint by 15%. The Naite offers a greener solution without compromising on quality, packed with all the hi-tech features consumers would look for, including a 2 mega pixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, an FM radio and an expandable memory up to 8GB. But it’s in the design that the Naite is a green revolution: it is made from recycled and recyclable plastics and comes complete with a low power consumption charger. Sony have also reduced the outer packaging and, by using an e-manual rather than a paper one, the phone reduces paper usage by around 90%. If that isn’t enough to tempt, consumers who buy the Sony Ericsson Naite are being offered a choice of a free eco-friendly gift (such as a solar powered charger, organic food hamper or family eco day out) or the chance to donate to a charity. So, by purchasing this phone you can not only reduce your own carbon footprint, you can support initiatives such as paying teachers or supporting children in Africa. Let’s hope other manufacturers take note, and that this is the first of a green wave of eco-friendly mobile phones.
The Sony Ericsson Naite is free on selected pay monthly tariffs and £97.86 on Pay & Go.
The Solargorilla gives you more solar power
Solar power is a great eco-friendly solution, but the problem with many solar powered chargers is they simply aren’t capable of charging more energy-sapping devices. The Solargorilla solar laptop charger takes solar power to the next level. The Solargorilla is the latest solar charger from Powertraveller and comes with two solar panels. It is capable of charging most laptops, notebooks, games consoles, music players and mobile phones: it even comes with two sockets, so you can charge up your laptop and mobile phone at the same time! Designed for travel, the Solargorilla has tough, durable solid panels but folds up into its Neoprene case when not in use. It even has a special slot allowing it to be hung from a tent, caravan or vehicle, so it’s perfect for travelling. If a Solargorilla is more power than you need, you can always try the more compact Solarmonkey. Also designed by Powertraveller, the Solarmonkey is a smaller device which is ideal for recharging mobile phones, Ipods, and even some digital cameras and games consoles. This device also offers the ability to save energy into a smaller capacity device, the Monkey Nut. This allows you to still use the charger when the sun has gone in, and stores extra standby power – so you’ll always be able to make that vital call! Like the Solargorilla, it comes with a selection of connector tips and a travel case. So whatever your energy requirements, you can go nuts for these solar devices!
Upgrade to a greener wash with Whirlpool Aquasteam
Washing clothes is a fairly energy-intensive and water-intensive process, but there are ways of making your wash greener. One of the most important is to select the right machine. Many modern washing machines come with a range of eco-friendly options aimed at lowering the eco-impact of your laundry. Take for example the Whirlpool Aquasteam.
This Whirlpool Aquasteam washing machine comes with an energy rating of A+, showing that it has exceeded the highest assigned energy rating standards (the scale, aimed at helping consumers choose more energy efficient products, runs from A down to G). It also offers a selection of eco-friendly options.
One of these is a variable temperature setting – so you can wash clothes on cooler settings, which not only saves energy but – as many garments are now designed to be washed at 30 degrees or lower – can also extend the life of clothes, thereby cutting waste even further.
The Whirlpool Aquasteam also has a half-load function, allowing you to wash with less water, again saving energy and reducing water usage. A quick wash setting similarly allows you to save the amount of energy you use. Over time, these can add up to significant savings – both of energy and money!
Even better, many retailers offer a recycling service, where for a small charge they will remove your old appliance for recycling when they deliver your new machine. This allows you to upgrade to a better, more eco-efficient model, without worrying that in doing so you are simply creating more waste for landfill.
First published 4 October 2009. Please note that blog posts remain live, and any offers or information may no longer be current when you view this page.
