News Blog

Sure, recycled paper is nice, but what about feeding it through a recycled printer?

Not as in refurbished and resold, but a new Deskjet that is composed of 83 percent recycled plastic. Hewlett-Packard is introducing a new green-focused label for some of its peripherals, and one of the first items under that label is the aforementioned D2545 printer.

(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)

HP hopes to tempt the environmentally conscious as well as those looking for a bargain with the D2545, which retails for $45. Even the ink cartridges it uses are made of recycled plastic resins.

The printer is one of several products that will fall under the HP Eco Highlights label. So far it also includes three LaserJet printers (P4015x, P4515x, and P4515xm models). HP says the label will list the environmental attributes of the product, and will eventually encompass all products the company offers.

HP recycles tons of dead tech products every year, so it makes sense that it's able to make products from the materials it recycles. So while consumers are becoming much more aware of the environmental impact of the products we use, and even businesses are beginning to see the boon that green policies are to their bottom lines, why not make this standard instead of an outlier?

HP responded that by 2010,100 percent of its Deskjet printers will contain some recycled materials, and will increase by three times the number of inkjet printers made from recycled materials.

If HP can do this with printers, why not make their PCs and other products from recycled materials too?

They wouldn't be the first to make eco-conscious PC casings. Fujitsu has been experimenting with corn-based resins in some of the laptops it is selling, and for the same price as the non-corn-based models.

Michael Dell says he aims make his company "carbon neutral" in 2008, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal.

The computer giant is looking to zero-out its carbon emissions through a number of initiatives, such as offering small businesses and consumers curbside recycling of their old computers, stuffing small recycling bags with free postage into new printer-ink cartridge boxes, and operating a "Plant a Tree for Me" program. Companies implementing carbon-neutral programs can adopt pollution- and energy-management practices in their own operations and/or purchase carbon-reduction credits from other businesses, which, in turn, offset the level of pollution their products or services generate.

Dell apparently is of the same mind as Will Wynn, the mayor of the company's hometown, Austin, Texas. The city is taking steps to slice its greenhouse emissions by developing sustainable-energy practices in a state known for industries heavily reliant on fossil fuels.

Dell is offering a new service to recycle tired electronics for small businesses. The program, which will wipe sensitive data from hard drives in the process, will cost $25 each of up to 10 pieces of hardware. Dell also offers companies the option to resell old equipment that remains valuable.

The company began its free curbside recycling pickup for consumers last September. Greenpeace and other environmental groups have given the company high marks for its takeback program. The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition lists Dell as one of the nation's "responsible recyclers" that does not send e-waste to developing countries for unsafe dismantling. Hewlett-Packard also recycles goods in the United States.

Dell has accelerated efforts to green its products and practices over the past year. In addition to designing more energy-efficient PCs, in January Dell announced that it will plant trees to make up for carbons emitted from its computers.

San Francisco currently recycles 15 percent of the asphalt that gets churned up when streets get repaved, but the city has a new machine that will help boost the total to 35 percent, according to Mayor Gavin Newsom.

The city has bought a mobile recycling unit that goes to sites where streets are being ripped up and recycles it, he said while chatting with reporters at a press event for Tesla Motors.

There has been concern about the quality of the recycled asphalt, he said, but it seems to work now. The city unveiled the machine yesterday at a press conference.

On other green notes, the city will look into free or subsidized parking and other perks for electric car owners, he said. Newsom used to own a General Motors EV-1, the all-electric car that GM briefly marketed.

"It was the greatest thing in the world," he said. He did, however, run out of power twice. Once the meter said he had three miles to go, but it conked after one mile. "It was my fault, not the car's," he added.

How many of us have the equivalent of a consumer electronics museum cluttering up our home?

Second Rotation, which launched its Web site on Monday, buys back old consumer electronics and sells them on eBay for you. If you're diligent, there are ways to recycle that cell phone or iPod gathering dust in your closet. But this sounds like a convenient way to recycle and get money for your stuff at the same time.

(Credit: Second Rotation)

The process is designed to be very simple: You sign up on the Web site, find what price you can get for your unused gear, and then print out a DHL shipping slip and send it away. You get paid by check or PayPal transaction.

Behind the scenes, Second Rotation is mashing up data from eBay to check current prices. It makes money by buying your goods a bit cheaper than what it thinks it can sell them for on eBay, according to company Chief Operating Officer Israel Ganot.

Right now, Second Rotation lists about 2,500 items and intends to expand to about 5,000 items in the coming months. The categories are cell phones, digital cameras, digital music players, camcorders and GPS devices.

"The premise of the business is that in the last two years the pace of innovation and upgrades is getting faster and faster," said Ganot. "We're trying to plug into the faster pace and help move things from one place to another."

People could sell these items themselves but the idea behind Second Rotation is to make it really easy for casual sellers.

The company also intends to let people recycle consumer electronics that don't have any resale value. Rather than sell them on eBay, it will salvage parts and potentially work with recyclers, Ganot said.

In the next few weeks, Second Rotation will announce partnerships with retailers where they will let customers turn in their old gear when they buy something new.

Carbon footprint, energy use, green tech: some phrases that won't be going away. From gasoline prices to global warming, we're likely to become more aware of what energy we burn up, just as most of us now have some sense of whether we're eating wisely (or not).

Front page of carbon calculator

(Credit: earthlab)

Just today the Live Earth concert folks e-mailed me a link to their carbon calculator. This one walks you through several pages of simple questions about how you live, and especially how you travel. This calculator was built by Earthlab.org. They want to know the size of your dwelling, your car if you own one, energy bills, airplane and daily travel. After going through their process, I can't imagine how bad an airline pilot would look, environmentally speaking.

My score on the Earthlab quiz: 301, and 11 tons of carbon. So I'm clearly doing my bit to warm the planet. Live Earth folks say they'll post overall test scores and more information on 7-7-07.

Then there's this site, which gives you the really bad news--how many planets humanity would need to supply energy if everybody lived as you do. My score: 6.3 planets. I think that translates into a couple more solar systems 'cause I don't get the sense there's a whole lot of oil, coal or biofuels to be had out beyond Venus. I could probably do nicely with a tiny sun, however.

Then the Yahoo folks have built a carbon dioxide emissions calculator. My score was pretty much the same as what I got from Earthlab...until I added in my infrequent air travel. From a few plane trips: 21.8 tons of carbon dioxide. Where are the calls for solar planes? Or goose-powered, or human-paddled balloons, or something? How about those Star Trek transponders that would beam you up? Could they be energy efficient? No crappy airline "food" either.

Altogether these sites are: depressing, educational, geared to getting you to do something about your consumption patterns. Turn off your work computer when you are done for the day (or night). Carry your own shopping bags. Use alternative energy when possible. Use efficient bulbs and appliances. Walk more. Freak out over air travel. All good advice. And aimed at making each of us less of a carbon bigfoot.

Thinking about getting green? Really green? Well, today The New York Times profiles some folks who are removing themselves from the American market whenever they can. Dumpster diving. Using wasted food and free stuff thrown off by the rapid spin of our consumer culture. They call themselves "freegans."

"After years of trying to boycott products from egregious corporations responsible for human rights violations, environmental destruction and animal abuse, many of us found that no matter what we bought we ended up supporting something deplorable. We came to realize that the problem isn't just a few bad corporations, but the entire system itself." That's part of the front-page manifesto on the Web site that seems to exemplify freegan living. Another popular Web site for free stuff is Freecycle, which advises you to recycle to other people who live nearby.

How does a freegan get Web access? Could you be lucky enough to find a working laptop in a dumpster and then tap into Wi-Fi?

(Credit: Sun)

Presenting a new generation of blade servers at a presentation in Washington Wednesday, Sun talked a lot about speed and open source and efficiency of operation. The company mentioned saving money several times. And, of course, there was much about competitive advantage.

Then, not for the first time, but with significant emphasis, Sun talked green. In this video we hear how the servers save energy, and that they contain no plastic. Sun's CEO Jonathan Schwartz says the new Sun-engineered blade servers are 100 percent recoverable materials.

Staples is giving customers an alternative to trashing unwanted electronic equipment or sticking it out on the sidewalk with a "for free" sign.

Starting Monday, the office-supply chain will accept any brand of used desktop and notebook computers, monitors, printers, fax machines and all-in-one devices with a fee of $10. Smaller items like keyboards, mice and speakers are free to drop off. TVs will not be accepted because they are not sold by the chain.

The fee offsets Staples' cost to collect the unwanted items from its retail outlets to electronic waste recycling plants. Staples worked with the non-profit Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) and the Environmental Protection Agency's eCycling program to test the process in 2004. The project was a trial to see if Staples' product distribution model could be used in reverse, where the trucks that brought in new inventory could take back the recyclable items. During that test, conducted at several New England-area stores, 57 tons of e-waste were collected and recycled, according to PSI.

PSI says the Staples example shows that retailers should be able to take used products back in the same manner as products that have been damaged or returned.