Nothing gets kids up in the morning like the thought of going to school – not! If your youngsters are anything like others around the world, they need something interesting to get them out of bed, and this living Bamboo Soil Clock is fascinating enough to fit the bill. It’s a great way to teach your children about alternative sources of energy because it’s powered by something kids love – DIRT!

READ MORE AT INHABITOTS >

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: bamboo clock, dirt clock, dirt powered clock, marieke staps, plant clock, soli clock

From time to time we come across some ideas that are so brilliant that it’s a no-brainer for them to be out there in the marketplace. This last year in particular we’ve seen a number of green gadgets that are so ingenious that we’re left scratching our heads and wondering why they haven’t been produced yet — especially because they are all powered by renewable energy sources. With this in mind, we present to you our top five green gadgets that we wish existed!

Read the rest of Top Five Green Gadgets We Wish Really Existed

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: concepts, green gadgets, Greener Gadgets, top 5, top five

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) recently announced a breakthrough in OLED technology that shatters all prior efficiency standards, reducing the ultra-thin lights’ energy consumption by 75%! That’s no small number – the development stands to raise the bar for energy efficient lighting by leaps and bounds. Literally (and figuratively) a cool technology, we are already enamored by the skinny profile of organic light emitting diodes, and we can’t wait to see their further integration into our everyday appliances.

Read the rest of OLED Breakthrough Yields 75% More Efficient Lights

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: energy efficient lighting, Flexible OLEDs, green design, green Interiors, lamp, Light, OLED, organic light emitting diode, sustainable design

Music becomes a sustainable experience with Shepeleff Stephen’s solar-powered, bluetooth-connected Q-Sound (quantum sound) headphones. The Romanian engineering student’s sleek design combines flexible, hexagonal solar panels, wireless technology, and rotating earpieces for a futuristic yet practical product that powers itself on the go.

Read the rest of Q-Sound: Solar-Powered, Bluetooth-Enabled Headphones

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: alternative energy, bluetooth, green design, Greener Gadgets, headphones, q-sound, renewable energy, romania, solar, solar panels, solar powered headphones, sustainable design

Imagine you’re lost in the woods, having wandered off the hiking trail. It’s looking like you may have to bed down on some pine needles with what’s left of the granola bars, when your friend whips out a little device that looks like a small fan. What’s that? It’s the K3 Charger – a compact hybrid wind-and-solar power generator about the size of a flashlight. The handy green gadget allows consumers to recharge an iPod, cell phone, PDA, or other electronic device using renewable energy!

Read the rest of K3 Charger: Solar and Wind Power to Go

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: alternative power, green design, green gadget, k3 charger, kinesis industries, portable energy generator, renewable energy, sustainable design

Here’s a brilliant invention that makes us wonder why all city sidewalks aren’t covered in piezoelectric tiles. POWERleap is a floor tiling system that converts wasted energy from human foot traffic into electricity. The magic behind that awesomeness is piezoelectric technology and advanced circuitry design, which converts pitter-patter into power. First showcased in 2007 as part of Metropolis magazine’s Next Generation design competition, we see HUGE potential from this invention. Individual footsteps might not produce a significant amount of power, but if you consider the total kinetic energy from stampedes of shoppers on 5th avenue, (or commuters in a train station, or revelers in a nightclub), it all adds up fast and could be a viable energy source to power specific applications like lights.

READ MORE AT INHABITOTS >

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: eco tiles, energy generating tiles, energy tiles, foot power, green playground, kinetic energy, people powered energy, piezoelectric, piezoelectricity, power leap, power tile, powerleap

Not to be outdone by Samsung’s Blue Earth and ZTE’s Coral-200, LG recently unveiled its own solar-powered concept cell phone at the Wold Mobile Conference in Barcelona. The prototype, which features a solar-powered battery built right into the back cover, will be able to generate enough energy for 3 minutes worth of talk time for every 10 minutes of sun it soaks in. If left in natural light for longer periods of time, the battery will be able to power the phone for longer periods of time, eliminating or reducing the need for a conventional charger.

Read the rest of LG Answers the Green Call With a Solar-Powered Cell Phone

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: lg, samsung, solar powered cell phone, solar-powered battery

Amid the flurry of high-tech wonders on display at this year’s Greener Gadgets Design Competition, Rob Podell’s Indoor Drying Rack boldly proved that green gadgets needn’t rely upon circuit boards and batteries to accomplish their function. One of the stars of the show and this year’s third place winner, the clothes drying rack contains no heavy metals, is constructed entirely out of recycled materials and bamboo, and requires no energy to use.

Read the rest of GREENER GADGETS: Indoor Drying Rack

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: greener gadgets design competition, Indoor Drying Rack, Rob Podell

After an exciting round of live judging last week at the Greener Gadgets Conference, we’re thrilled to announce the winners of the 2009 Greener Gadgets Design Competition! Drumroll please……

And the winner is….Tweet-a-watt

Congratulations to Powerhog for second place, the Indoor Drying Rack for third place, and the Laundry Pod for fourth, and read on for more highlights from the judging at the Greener Gadgets Conference.

Read the rest of Tweet-a-Watt Wins the Greener Gadgets Design Competition!

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: Greener Gadgets, tweet-a-watt

Last week’s Greener Gadgets Conference was a smashing success, and if you missed it, you missed out. Inventor Saul Griffith gave a provocative and rousing keynote presentation, with a call-to-action to consumers to start measuring their energy use and designers to start changing the way they make things. The panel discussions were lively and interesting, and as always, the Greener Gadgets Design Competition live-judging was the hit of the conference with spirited debate between audience and judges, and hilarious commentary by Core77’s Allan Chochinov. But if you weren’t able to be in attendance at our fabulous conference – fear not – you can catch up on all the important highlights here on Inhabitat. We live-blogged the whole thing on Friday, and we’ll be posting videos soon. The live-blog is pretty detailed, so if you are looking for a short synposis of the event, read on for highlights >

Read the rest of GREENER GADGETS 2009!

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: green gadgets, Greener Gadgets

The Greener Gadgets Conference made for an exciting end to the week yesterday, and as you know, Inhabitat live-blogged the whole thing HERE >. The conference was a chance for gadget geeks and electronic companies alike to think about the role of gadgets in our lives and how we can engage in more sustainable solutions for the future. Topics of discussion ranged from personal responsibility for energy consumption to how companies can track their carbon footprint to the role of sustainable design in improving people’s lives. We hope you joined us for our live blogging yesterday, but if you missed it– you can still read it here! The event certainly provided much to think about and we are happy to report that there has been plenty of buzz around the interwebs:

Grist contemplates keynote speaker’s, Saul Griffith, use of the phrase Planet f&%#ers >

PC World put together a slide-show about the Greener Gadgets Design Competition >

CNET reports that gadgets need a green design revolution >

Dwell blogged the Greener Gadgets Design Competition, with an analysis of the top four finalist designs >

Ecogeek summarizes Saul Griffith’s calculation of how many watts he used in his life and how you can find your own.

Zdnet wonders are the terms green and gadget mutually exclusive?

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags:

Attention gadget geeks!

The 2009 Greener Gadgets Conference kicked off today in NYC, and Inhabitat is on the scene, bringing you up-to-the-minute news from this groundbreaking event! We’ll be live-blogging the whole event – right here in this post — so stay tuned (and read below) for frequent updates!

Read the rest of Live-blogging Greener Gadgets TODAY!

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags:

Just last week we brought you news of the Blue-Earth, Samsung’s new solar powered touch phone. Well, it turns out that they are not the only company with solar dreams. Chinese mobile manufacturer ZTE recently revealed the Coral-200, a solar-powered handset with one very unique characteristic that sets it apart from its competitor: it will only cost 40 dollars!

Read the rest of The Coral-200: A Solar Powered Phone for the Masses

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: cheap solar phone, digicel mobile phone, green phone, mobile phone, Solar Power, solar powered phone, zte mobile phone

LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER FOR GREENER GADGETS!

Calling all Green Gadget Geeks!

This is it – today is your last chance to pick up a ticket for this week’s Greener Gadgets Conference! Taking place on Friday, February 27th in NYC, this year’s event is pulling out the stops with presentations by acclaimed electronics designers Saul Griffith and Gadi Amit, a cutting-edge lineup of exhibitors, and the exciting live judging of this year’s Greener Gadgets Design Competition. Don’t miss out on this chance to catch a glimpse of the future of consumer electronics – register today and don’t forget to enter the coupon code GGBLOG for $45 off your ticket. We hope to see you there!

REGISTER FOR GREENER GADGETS >

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags:

ATTENTION GADGET GEEKS!

Due to popular demand, the registration deadline for Greener has been extended! We were going to close ticket sales yesterday, but we’re now going to give you until next Tuesday, February 24th to register for tickets.

The Greener Gadgets Conference takes place next week on Friday the 27th, and this weekend marks your last chance to pick up a ticket! We couldn’t be more excited about the upcoming conference, from the incredible lineup of speakers to a cutting-edge array of exhibitors to the exciting live judging of this year’s Greener Gadgets Design Competition. Don’t miss out on this groundbreaking event – register today and don’t forget to enter the coupon code GGBLOG for $45 off your ticket. We hope to see you there!

REGISTER FOR GREENER GADGETS >

Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg
Post tags: