High Tech Gadgets Can Be Environmentally Friendly Too

Posted by Rolf Joho on February 7th, 2010 filed in Uncategorized

What do you think about when you consider the latest high technology gadgets? It will vary from person to person. Some may think that they’re trendy. Others might think that they’re more trouble than they’re worth. Maybe you think that they’re confusing and often difficult to operate. It very much depends on your own individual viewpoint. However, it’s probably a fair bet to say that you almost certainly don’t associate the latest geeky electronic gizmo with doing your bit for the environment – even so, electronic devices can, used properly, be environmentally friendly.

For example, digital photo frames have greatly increased in popularity over the last two or three years. As a result of fierce competition, prices have reduced considerably and you can now pick up perfectly serviceable digital frames for more or less the same price that you might expect to pay for a traditional photo frame. Digital frames have a number of perceived advantages, one of which is their ability to display hundreds of different photographs using a single frame.

A lot will depend upon how many photographs you take in an average year, but if you are in the habit of getting a bit snap happy then using a digital frame to display your photo collection could have a positive environmental impact. Whether you avoid having photos printed out at a processing lab or if you just print out less on your computer printer you will wind up using fewer materials.

Another good, and very topical, example is the current trendy gadget – the e-book reader. These have actually been around for quite a while, but they really took off in 2009 and look set to make even more sales in 2010. The Kindle reader is currently the most popular by a long way and Sony have also established a good market presence.

125 million trees are cut down every year to provide the paper required to supply the U.S. book, magazine and newspaper industry sector. Large amounts of water, energy and a whole host of chemicals are also required to satisfy the nation’s reading habit. On top of that, since books are a physical product they need to be delivered from the publisher to the book store – generally using road transport. The gas used by customers who drive to and from the retail outlet is also a factor in determining the carbon footprint of a typical book.

Of course, e-books do not consume large quantities of paper, ink etc. in their production. Also, given that there is no physical product, electronic books may be downloaded from the internet instead of using road delivery.

Needless to say, both digital photo frames and e-book readers, being physical products themselves, do consume materials in their production. They also need to be delivered to the retail outlet or direct to the end user. Even so, according to studies have shown that, even when the materials consumed are offset against the savings in paper, energy, ink etc. that devices of this type can be better for the environment (though it will depend, to some extent, on the number of books you read or how many photos you usually print each year).

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