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Office Workers rejoice! No longer shall sweet Spring breezes and the splendid Summer sun tempt thy shade-drawn domain! Shirk off thy cubicles, thy mouse and keyboard manacles! Too dramatic? Well, at any rate, this solar powered outdoor workspace by Mathias Schnyder offers an attractive office alternative for desk-bound drones seeking to brighten their work environment.

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We have seen mobile media players go green by utilizing the wind, the sun and our own muscles, what about when we use those gadgets in our home? Vers Audio has taken on the task to provide our homes with a more sustainable sound, with a more sustainable design. Vers Audio’s Vers 2x uses a sustainably harvested cherry wood veneer, providing your mp3 players with a sleek green home.

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Imagine your next summer backyard party: the sun has just gone down, the music is playing, and, as the breeze picks up, the lights come on from a string of solar powered, wind-lit LED lights. This innovative design for enchanting outdoor lighting is from Yoshihiro Shimomura, a circuit designer design lecturer at Chiba University in Japan. Shimomura first used battery powered prototypes for his wind-lit creations but has since upgraded to tap into the sun’s energy to light up summer nights.

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Portable green power sources are steadily gaining momentum as alternative energy tech gears up to help shoulder the strain of our overloaded energy grids. This recently released generator, dubbed the PowerCube 6000, is showing plenty of potential as an all-inclusive clean energy system. Whether you’re greening your home’s energy sources, preparing for an emergency, or opening up a Black Rock smoothie stand, the PowerCube offers an enticing (if expensive) way to break free from the grid.

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Today’s microchips, while tiny, still use a fair ammount of power. This means that batteries have to be large and don’t usually last very long. But what if microchips were just a little bit more efficient? That’s what a team of engineers at MIT was thinking when they set out to redesign the microchip to make it even more efficient. The result is a microchip with a power consumption that is so low it can be recharged by your very own body heat.

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It’s no secret that we’re fans of greener gadgets here at Inhabitat. When you want all the functionality of your favorite gadget and can enjoy it in a more environmentally-friendly manner, it’s the best of both worlds. And on that note, we are excited to announce that now there’s a new environmentally-friendly, solar-powered option for portable media players! The eMotion Solar PMP, a solar powered mp3 and video player, just hit the market for all your off-the-grid, green energy powered media needs.

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We love our kinetic energy here at Inhabitat, and we are excited to announce inventive use of human kinetic power: The brandnew 2 GB Eco Media Player is hand-crank portable media player can play music, video, and even charge your cellphone, all from a few seconds of cranking! What’s more renewable than human power? We love that someone finally had the brilliant idea to mix renewable energy generation with music & video - all the best things in life in one cute little package.

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Here’s a great idea for a cell-phone that is thoroughly green in every way: from its biodegradable bamboo materials, to its thoughtfully considered lifecycle, to its ingenious use of kinetic human power to charge the battery with renewable energy. The ‘Bamboo’ phone, by Dutch designer Gert-Jan van Breugel was one of the finalists shortlisted at this year’s 2008 Greener Gadgets Design Competition (and Jill’s personal favorite). Although this design didn’t end up winning one of the coveted top three prizes in the competition, it certainly caught our kinetic-energy-loving eye.

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Ever wished you could charge your cell phones and laptop on the go - in your car, on a train, or just walking around? There are many new gadgets for mobile renewable energy: from solar gadget chargers, to kinetic energy chargers, to mini portable wind turbines. Check out this video to learn a bit more about some of the companies behind the most future-forward new mobile renewable energy devices.

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If all of the ideas and concepts that were highlighted at the Greener Gadgets Conference were rolled into one product it would look and operate like the LINC Lifestyle Concept Phone from The Greener Grass. This team of forward thinking conceptual designers has envisioned a touch screen smart phone that puts complete connectivity into the hands of the mobile consumer without the social and environmental burden of e-waste.

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If you thought rechargeable batteries were a good green idea, the USBCELL rechargeable battery will blow your mind- it plugs into any computer’s USB port to recharge. It’s a standard AA battery which will fit into all your every day uses. We’re not the only ones amped up about USBCELL- today at CEBIT, the green battery was awarded a Gold award at the IF Product Design ceremony. Produced by Moixa Energy, has a flip cap top that houses the USB port, and can be used like any regular AA battery. Not to mention, it cuts back on the nearly 15 billion Alkaline batteries made and thrown away each year.

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Gravia, a gravity based kinetic energy lamp concept, wowed our panel judges and the crowd at the Greener Gadgets Conference, earning a second place accolade in the design competition. Created by Clay Moulton, Gravia evokes the lines of a classic timepiece in a modern aesthetic and uses human powered kinetic energy to light an ambient LED floorlamp. It’s a fantastic concept - but one that has stirred up some debate across the blogosphere recently in regards to whether or not it is possible to build such a lamp right now with the technology that exists today.

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Ever wished you could do away with all those annoying cell phone chargers that are cluttering up your space? Have you ever taken to cursing cell phone manufacturers for their extremely wasteful and inconvenient policies to manufacturer different types of batteries and chargers for every make and model of phone known to man? (We certainly have). Well here’s a design that promises an eco-friendly end to the hassles of multiple batteries and chargers - by offering up a single standardized battery that can fit in every type of personal electronic device. The Green Cell battery is safe, environmentally friendly, made without toxic chemicals, and — here’s the best part — when it runs out of juice on the go, it can easily be exchanged for a freshly charged battery at a local vendor machine.

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Sometimes the best designs out there are not ‘products’ that can be purchased — but big ideas made accessible to all through the power of Do-It-Yourself design. The award-winning EnerJar takes the important concept of home energy monitoring, and brings it to the masses in a fun, interactive way through a handy, downloadable DIY design that can be put together using a jam jar and other household objects. By turning energy monitoring into an engaging DIY project the Enerjar took first prize in our recent Greener Gadgets Competition. Designed by Matt Meshulam and Zach Dwiel, this little downloadable DIY kit uses common household materials to monitor the energy output of a variety of everyday devices, allowing a user to take personal responsibility over energy use.

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Just when we thought the idea of solar-powered backpacks couldn’t get any better, Voltaic goes and ups the ante with new recycled materials. The solar bag company showed their backpacks and laptop bags at Greener Gadgets, and have now announced they’re moving to use 100% post-consumer recycled PET plastic based fabrics.

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Mary Lou Jepsen’s keynote presentation of One Laptop Per Child at our Greener Gadgets conference was without a doubt one of the highlights of the event.

“By trying to do the right thing and by designing for the poorest people in the world, we’ve made the greenest laptop in the world. And that’s not just the color!”

The OLPC laptop, known as XO or the $100 laptop, is a feat of energy efficient engineering, consuming just 2W of energy - whick makes it able to be powered through solar cells or hand cranks. In the video above, Mary Lou illustrates how the XO laptop is a new model for energy-efficient electronics, and inspiration to look at new ways of powering our devices.

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Despite it’s suspicious name, the Hymini really has nothing to do female naughty bits! Instead it is an extremely promising new portable wind charger. One of the biggest crowd-pleasers at our Greener Gadgets conference last month, we love this cute little portable renewable energy gadget and think you will too. Check out this video from Treehugger on the HYmini. We’ve covered the HYmini before here, but learning about the fab little device at Greener Gadges only made us love them more! Thanks to George Spyros for the video.

+ HYmini
+ Greener Gadgets

+ Inhabitat Greener Gadgets Event Coverage

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Nokia has caught our green design attention once again with the recent unveiling of ‘Remade’, a concept phone made almost entirely of recycled materials. The prototype was introduced at Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona last week revealing Nokia’s vision for recycled material use in mobile phones of the future. From the looks of ‘Remade’, Nokia’s products of tomorrow will consume less natural resources, reduce landfill waste and be more energy efficient.

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GREEN DEETS 013 Greener Gadgets Wrap from George Spyros on Vimeo

Since we’re on a video rampage today, we’d love to point you to a fabulous video of our Greener Gadgets Conference that we just spotted over at Treehugger. Check it out above, and pop over to Treehugger to read the full write-up >

+ Treehugger Greener Gadgets Video

Thanks George for your slick editing and deft cover up of how exhausted and fried we were when we shot this!

Following his inspiring keynote at the first ever Greener Gadgets Conference, we were lucky enough to sit down one-on-one with photographic artist Chris Jordan to talk about his work, e-waste, and the future of mass consumer culture. In his conversation here with Jill Fehrenbacher, Chris talks about whether or not we will be able to stem the growing tide of consumerism, and the issues of collective versus individual responsibility for environmental problems. Hear Chris Jordan’s provocative thoughts in this great interview video.

We have a ton of other great Greener Gadgets videos as well, including Opening Remarks, the Greener Gadgets Competition winner selection, and Chris Jordan’s Keynote. And more to come!

+ Greener Gadgets Conference

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Our recent Greener Gadgets Conference featured speakers from a wide variety of backgrounds and disciplines. Not only did we invite inventors, engineers, and representatives from the world’s biggest consumer electronics manufacturers, but we also made a conscious decision to spice up the Greener Gadgets dialog with artists, educators and environmental advocates. Nowhere was this diversity better represented than in the Greener Gadgets opening keynote presentation from environmental artist Chris Jordan, whose presentation you can watch in the video above.

Although our short video sadly doesn’t do justice to Jordan’s massive, mind-boggling photographs, (which take up entire walls in galleries), the video provides insight into the vision behind the art, and the innovative method Jordan uses to visualize statistics as fine art. Watch the full-length version of Chris Jordan’s inspiring keynote here, and be sure to check out our other Greener Gadgets videos as well >
(New videos are being added daily).

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The absolute highlight of our recent Greener Gadget Conference was our end-of-day presentation and live-audience judging of the Greener Gadgets Design Competition. Our favorite Core77 Editor-in-chief Allan Chochinov MCed the highly entertaining event, and we never realized the man was so funny (okay we had an inkling of Allan’s comedic talents, but they really shine in the above video, so check it out).

Using a very high-tech “clap-o-meter” system, judges and audience members debated the various entries to the green gadgets competition, and then selected winners through volume of cheers and claps. Panelist/judges included Ryan Block from Engadget, Valerie Casey of IDEO & The Designers Accord, and me, Jill Fehrenbacher. We’d like to thank everyone who entered, and congratulations to the winners… (read on to see the winning entries!)

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Our first-of-its-kind Greener Gadgets Conference took place yesterday in New York City, and was a smashing success! We were thrilled to get such a great and diverse line-up of speakers, representing not only business and industry, but also academia, non-profit, students, environmental activists and designers. Not only did we completely sell out of our tickets, but we got people turning out from a wide variety of different industries and backgrounds. THANK YOU so much to everyone who attended and was involved in making the whole event so interesting, fun and fabulous!

To see our photos from the event, check out our flickr feed >

To watch videos and download podcasts from the event, click here >

To read a thorough Inhabitat overview of the event, please read on >

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FRIDAY FEB 1st - LIVE WEBCAST OF GREENER GADGETS CONFERENCE HERE >

The groundbreaking Greener Gadgets Gadgets conference opened up this morning in New York City and of course we are on the scene first hand to cover it for you. Many of you have asked about videos and webcasts for those of you who aren’t in the area — and we are happy to announce that we are doing a LIVE WEBCAST of the event today, and you can catch it here >

Live Inhabitat coverage of Greener Gadgets Conference after the break >

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