TreeHugger makes an interesting point about this gadget – it seems that solar cells are being placed on everything these days. While I’m not sure how well the solar cell would charge considering you’re likely to be using in a car – where light might not reach – I totally promote the idea of a solar cell on everything, why not? Even if they won’t meet all our charging needs, every little bit counts, and when your out in the middle of nowhere and need to charge your device, it can be a lifesaver.

In any case – this is the SolarVoice 908. Should the solar cell provide the device with all the power it needs, I think it’s brilliant. The headset I have now sits in my car, almost permanently. While it rarely needs charging, it’s a huge pain to bring it inside to charge – then forget it and not have it when I’m driving around. The solar cell would eliminate this providing it with unlimited free power. Again, mostly it would be used inside a car which most likely wouldn’t have direct sun, but we’ll see.

The SolarVoice can be purchased at Amazon for $66.15

via TreeHugger

Popularity: 1% [?]

Treehugger has put together a great list of over 100 iPhone apps to green every part of your life. From measuring footprings to carbon offsets to green shopping, it seems there’s nothing the iPhone can’t do.

Some of my favorites:

Carbon offset your phone – $2.99

This app claims to put a portion of the purchase price towards carbon offsetting your iPhone. While treehugger wisely tells you to be wary of this claim, it’s a fantastic idea. I highly doubt the $2.99 purchase price does much in carbon offsets, but here’s an idea for a developer. Find out exactly how much it costs to completely offset an iPhone, and make an app that charges that. I bet there’s a lot of people out there who’d pay $20 or more to make their iPhone completely carbon neutral.

Green Outlet – $2.99

Enter your appliances, and the app will predict your power bill. It will suggest ways you can reduce your energy usage and show which appliances cost you the most. Interestingly as well, you can buy carbon offsets through the app from TerraPass.

Solar PV – $2.99

Want to go completely off-grid? Solar PV shows you what kind of system you need. It will tell you the number of panels you need, amount of space, cost estimate, etc. This will help you get a better idea of the reality of going off-grid.

Path Tracker – $1.99

Path tracker tracks your walks, bikes, runs, etc, using your iPhone’s GPS. It will give you stats like travel time, average speed, etc. This is a great way to track your exercise or just to make it a bit more fun. Walk, run, bike – don’t drive!

These are a couple of my favorites, but the TreeHugger article has over 100! Go check it out at the link below:

More Than 100 iPhone Apps For Green Shopping, Eating, Travel and Fun : TreeHugger.

Popularity: 1% [?]

With the constant upgrading that has become the staple of modern technology, we tend to end up with a lot of electronic garbage – I know I have a couple of iPods sitting around and quite a couple cellphones.

Enter the EcoATM – the ATM that pays you for your old technology. It’s cellphone-only at the moment, but you just pop in your cellphone, the machine gives you a real-time valuation, and out comes some cash. Much easier than a pawn shop and about a million times better than throwing it out.

In addition to the obvious benefit of actually recieving some money for your old gadgets, the EcoATM fights e-garbage pollution by keeping old cellphones out of landfills or other garbagey places- the company re-sells them to other consumers or companies that have a need for old phones.

Not all phones are worth something however – the machine can detect things like missing keys and cracked screens, but if you’re unlucky enough not to recieve some cash for your donation, the company will at least plant a tree for you, which isn’t bad considering you’d have just thrown it out anyway.

Future machines will extend beyond just cellphones to things like iPods, cameras, and laptops – and we can’t wait!

via CNET

Popularity: 1% [?]