This morning, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) released its first annual report of the eCycling Leadership Initiative, a program that was launched one year ago to encourage nationwide electronic recycling. When the initiative was launched in 2011, the CEA and about a dozen consumer electronics companies set a goal of responsibly recycling 1 billion pounds of electronic waste — enough e-waste to fill an entire football stadium — per year by 2016. Although it still has some work to do to reach that goal, the CEA says it has made serious strides over the past year, increasing e-waste recycling by 53 percent.

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Post tags: Best Buy, CEA, cell phones, computers, consumer electronics, E-cycling, eCycling, eCycling Leadership Initiative, electronics, electronics recycling, gadgets, Greener Gadgets, rare earth metals, recycling, samsung, TVs

Electronics company Samsung has made a $7.04 billion commitment to the government to construct a massive eco-friendly production facility in South Korea. The reclaimed wetland area of Saemangeum has been awarded to Samsung by the South Korean Government for the development of the facility. The green town will boast a wind-power generator, solar battery house, research headquarters and 20,000 employee homes.


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Post tags: "wind power", eco design, eco development, green city, green design, OCI, reclaimed wetland, Saemangeum, samsung, solar battery system, south korea, sustainable design

Samsung has announced that its new line of recyclable smart phones will feature an Android phone called the Replenish and a feature phone called Restore. The Replenish is an energy-efficient phone made of 34.6 percent post-consumer recycled plastics and is 82 percent recyclable itself, also claiming to use fewer environmentally sensitive materials such as PVC, brominated flame retardants, beryllium, and phthalates. A battery cover with solar cells on the back can be purchased as an accessory and the phone is packaged in recyclable materials that are printed with soy ink.

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Post tags: eco design, eco-friendly phone, green design, green phone, Re:Store, recyclable phone, Recycled Plastic, Replenish, samsung

Imagine living in a poor rural area or urban slum with sporadic or no electricity: the reality is, you would still need a cell phone. Today, Samsung India launched the first solar-powered phone, the Solar Guru, which allows users to charge the phone anywhere the sun is shining — and in India, that’s most places. The Guru is the first solar mobile phone to hit the market, and, at $60, it’s designed to be affordable as well.

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Post tags: cell phones, India, mobile phones, samsung, samsung solar powered phone, social design, solar guru

Built in the Gyeonggi Province, the Green Tomorrow house is a stunning self-sufficient emission-free residence with a fossil fuel consumption of zero. Not content with just making an incredibly low greenhouse gas-emitting house, the team at Samoo Architects achieved the first LEED Platinum rating for any building East Asia!

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", blackwater, demonstration home, eco design, green design, green house, green residence, green tomorrow, greywater, LEED platinum, samsung, solar panels, sustainable design, Zero energy, zero-emissions

The Reclaim – Samsung and service partner Sprint’s newest green phone – has innovative features that go beyond the bare bones that similar products like Motorola’s W233 Renew phone offers. This eco-conscious smart-phone is 80 percent recyclable and made mostly of corn-based bio-plastics, but that’s not all this compact phone has up its green sleeves.

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Post tags: bioplastic, Cooper Hewitt, corn-based bio-plastics, eco cell phone, eco-phone, green cell phone, green gadget, green phone, phone packaging, reclaim, recyclable cell phone, recyclable materials, samsung, samsung reclaim, smartphone, soy ink, sprint

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.

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Post tags: lg, samsung, solar powered cell phone, solar-powered battery

Walking the showroom floor at CES this year, we’re overwhelmed by the products on display, but underwhelmed by the lack of design innovation from a sustainability perspective. However, one innovation that got our attention is Samsung Electronics Super Thin 31” OLED TV Screen, one of the largest and thinnest OLED TV screens to date. Based on organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology, this product offers brighter, more vivid pictures while using less power than a regular TV. The best part is that OLED technology allows for a super thin and sleek package, proving that sustainability can be sexy – even in consumer electronics!

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", 31″ Active Matrix, consumer electronics show, electronics, energy conservation, flat screen, OLED, organic light emitting diode, samsung, Technology, TV