Greener Gadgets Conference 2010

On February 25 the Greener Gadget Conference will kick off in NYC where executives and entrepreneurs of the green industry gather to discuss the future of a greener life. The conference will also feature up-and-coming inventors and designers who will showcase their green, sustainable products for a group of panelists. It is simply green innovation at its best with ideas ranging from solar camping tents to electricity-generating rocking horses. Below are descriptions detailing a few notable designs as voted on by the public.

Corky (Battery-less, cordless mouse developed by Adele Peters)

Corky

Say hello to Corky, the brown little mouse, a creative approach to cutting back on battery waste. Made of 100% recycled components, this revolutionary mouse is powered by the motion of your hand. The energy used as your hand guides the mouse across a surface is captured by elements within the mouse simultaneously powering and charging it. Additionally, the wheel and buttons on the mouse both produce and store energy effectively leaving no movement wasted.

Go Mechanical Charger (Portable phone charger developed by Elephant Design)

With the mobile phone market growing ever larger and having significant impact on developing nations around the world, this device will prove to be absolutely invaluable. Much like hand-powered flashlights this portable phone charger features a hand crank and a bonus a roll-on wheel feature. Essentially, the power from the Go Mechanical Charger will be grid-free and user-generated. Additionally, the charging port will support universal adaptability allowing use across all cell phone carriers. Although the charger can certainly be used for high-powered executives on-the-go its target consumers are those without immediate access to outlets on a regular basis. As such the engineers at Elephant Design have made the prototype an affordable $8 and an additional $1.50 for adapters.

Smart Grid Home Controller (Home energy monitor developed by BuLogics Inc.)

Smart Grid Controller

A good portion of our energy consumption in the home goes largely unnoticed, but certainly not unaccounted for which is where the world’s first Smart Grid Home Area Network (HAN) controller comes in. Uniquely designed to bridge the communication gap between utility companies and their customers the Z-Wave HAN will allow users to reduce energy consumption and save money with no effort on their part. The interaction happens in three stages starting with the utility company sending an energy change request regarding energy usage during peak hours and subsequent price increases. The information is received by Z-Wave’s HAN automatically shutting off appliances based on user preferences. The HAN then relays the changes made to the user’s cell phone or email detailing the event and effect on their energy efficiency. The result? It allows consumers to save money and conserve energy to help erase our carbon footprint.

Turbine Light (Car-powered highway lighting developed by TAK Studio)

Turbine Light

The growing number of cars on the road has led to an ever-increasing demand for electricity to light up highways. TAK Studio’s ingenuity has led to highway lighting powered by the wind from passing cars on the freeway. The concept is fairly simple: as cars zoom down highways they create wind which is then harnessed by the turbines in these lights and generates electricity used to power the lights itself. Ultimately, the Turbine Light will create a wonderfully symbiotic relationship between the two by effectively allowing each to give and take energy from one another.

The consistent theme throughout all these products is empowerment of the consumer. If we truly hold ourselves accountable for the environmental mess we are in then these products will provide a great way to take responsibility. Government policies and regulations are only part of the equation, the green revolution must start from the bottom and permeate through every level of our society in order to truly change our destructive ways.