Rechargeable Solar Flashlight Shines Green and $reen

This flashlight uses a rechargeable solar-power collector and a long-lasting, recyclable lithium battery. It offers a piercing 40 lumens of light and performs reliably in general home use, the great outdoors, law enforcement, emergencies, and alike.

According to the company who sells the Hybrid Solar Lite, the rechargeable solar-power collector can hold charge up to 3 years and the backup lithium battery can hold charge up to 7 years. Don’t worry about broken light bulb either, the LED bulb can burn continually up to 11 years.

The Hybrid Solar Lite is waterproof up to 80 feet, and the best of all, it floats. It’s rechargeable through outdoor and indoor light via its embedded solar panel. It’s made of recycled plastic, and it employs alternative energy.

No more wasting our money to replace old batteries in our flashlights, and less batteries will end up in the landfills! Two birds with one stone, or in this case, should it be more like… two birds with one say… flashlight? [Hybrid Solar Lite]

Subscribe to RSS feed

This idea came from a guy named Knut. He combined flexible solar cells with regular rechargeable batteries and the “SunCat” was borned. The solar cells on the battery serve as a trickle charger which can charge the battery slowly and indefinitely. Attached solar cells keep the battery “topped up” but never overcharged when it’s not in use. These solar batteries are still in prototype stage. Further development is in the working according to Knut. Now, don’t you dare calling this “a man of vision” nut! [Notes from Knut]

Subscribe to RSS feed

Fisker Automotive’s debut model, the 2010 Fisker Karma, is anticipated to be the first plug-in hybrid car to market when early production vehicles come off the assembly line late this year.

The 2010 Karma, planned to retail for $87,900 before tax credits, is designed to travel roughly 50 miles emission-free, powered by a Lithium-ion battery that can be charged in a few hours from any 110- or 240-volt household outlet. After 50 miles, a 2.0 liter gasoline engine runs a generator that can power the car’s electric motors for another 250 miles before refueling.

Most people don’t drive more than 50 miles for a typical roundtrip between home and work, so the gasoline generator may never kick in for a common workday. This balance of electric and gas range makes it possible that Karma drivers who charge their car in the evening and commute fewer than 50 miles a day will achieve an average fuel economy of 100 mpg over the course of a year. [Fisker Automotive]

Subscribe to RSS feed

Smith Electric Vehicles U.S. Corporation (SEV U.S. Corp) recently announced its plan to assemble all-electric zero-emission commercial vehicles in the US. The very first green commercial truck is scheduled to roll out of assembly line in third quarter of 2009. The company will initially focus its production on battery-electric-powered vehicles for depot-based predictable-route delivery.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thousands of pounds of plastic end up in our landfills every day. Much of the plastic comes from one time use of bottles and plastic bags. As we know it, most plastic can last up to 1,000 years in an enclosed landfill!

Using lunch bag made from 100% bamboo is another great way to live green and do so affordably. These bamboo lunch bags are light, soft, and tough. Best of all, they are renewable, reusable, and easily decomposed.

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on earth. A 60 foot cut takes only 59 days to re-grow. It can regenerates without planting. Furthermore, bamboo never requires chemicals and pesticides to keep it growing healthily. [New Wave Enviro Products]

By simply replacing fluorescent lighting with high-efficiency LED in frozen food reach-in cases and refrigerated dairy and beverage cases, a single Kroger store in Peoria, Illinois is anticipated to slash annual energy costs of more than $9,000.

“Kroger is to be congratulated for their aggressive electric energy efficiency initiatives, which will benefit their customers, employees and the communities they serve,” said Stan Ogden, Ameren Illinois Utilities vice president of Customer Service and Public Relations.

The utility company presented Kroger with a $5,000 incentive check for participating the program called Act On Energy™. In addition, Kroger will receive incentive payments totaling more than $100,000 when the company finishes the installation of LED high-efficiency lighting in a total of 22 Central and Southern Illinois stores serviced by the utility company. It pays to be green! [Act On Energy]

The newly redesigned Stella keyboard mechanism has earned Cradle-to-Cradle Silver Certification. Almost all keyboard systems have assumed a cradle-to-grave life cycle, what it means the you use a product until it wears out and then bury it in the landfill. Cradle-to-Cradle certification confirms that a product has been developed to be eco-friendly and designed under the assumption that it eventually will be recycled. The Stella keyboard system made by Details is the second keyboard support mechanism from the entire industry to earn C2C certification.

This year at Oscars™, many celebrities will trade in their luxury limos for hybrids and alternative energy vehicles. Stars such as Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio, Rosario Dawson, Adrien Grenier, and many others will ride in the new 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid collaborated by Toyota and Econation green ground transportation.

The new Prius includes a solar panel on the roof to power cooling fans when the car is not running is among a long list of upgraded features. Although the cooling fans may not come to good use in this time of the year, the biggest names in show business will sure make a strong environmental statement with style. [Toyota, Econation]

A leader in the hot water heater industry, A. O. Smith Water Products Company, has a full line of high efficiency products to help consumers go green and save green, including ENERGY STAR(R) models. The company worked in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to institute and adopt the ENERGY STAR criteria, which went into effect on Jan.  1, 2009.

“The ENERGY STAR program empowers consumers to make smart energy choices that will save money and energy, and reduce our carbon footprint,” said DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Andy Karsner. “Expansion of the ENERGY STAR program to include water heaters will give Americans yet another way to more efficiently use energy in their homes and, in the interest of increasing energy security and addressing climate change, help further the President’s goal of fundamentally changing the way this nation uses power.” Read the rest of this entry »