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!
We hate untangling the cords to our headphones when we pull them out of our bag, so we love these Q-Sound headphones that are Bluetooth enabled and don’t have any wires to get tangled up in. As an added bonus, these sleek headphones are completely powered by the sun via a set of flexible hexagonal solar panels.
2. Kinetic and Flexible OLED Phone
Our current cell phones get dropped on the ground all the time, but if we had a flexible phone it wouldn’t get nearly as beat up and we could easily fit it into our pocket. Kyocera’s concept for a flexible OLED cell phone is fascinating not only because it is slim and sleek with a fabulously wide screen — it’s also powered by kinetic energy, so all it takes to charge it up is a walk around town.
We’re convinced that solar cells will eventually be integrated into a variety of household objects (especially the surfaces of our homes), so venetian blinds that are covered in solar cells makes perfect sense. During the day these Solar Blinds are angled to capture sunlight with flexible solar cells, while at night the stored energy is transferred to a layer of electroluminescent foil that provides energy-efficient light.
4. Solar Powered Bracelet Phone
For those that tend to loose their phones, this wearable bracelet phone might just do the trick. It’s a relatively simple cell phone with calling, texting and address book features, except it is flexible and solar powered — it reminds us a bit of those slap bracelets from when we were kids.
We all wear sunglasses to shade our eyes from the sun, so why not put them to good use soaking up those rays to generate power? These solar sunglasses feature dye solar cells that are integrated into their lenses, which can collect and convert enough energy to power your handheld gadgets, like phones and ipods. A little wire on the back of the frames connects to your devices and charges them on the go.
Wish is the operative word… When are we going to realize that solar is not the universal catchall for making something green. Is the power consumption really the major issue with most of these devices?
To me all five items are silly and nothing more than excessive consumption of junk.
Not one will ever see the light of day in the commercial world.
You’re bith right Brenden and russ! And it’s more worrying that the blogs and websites that are (or seem to be) on the green side, often go terribly wrong like posting such posts as this. It’s so shallow and simple to think this kind of design will indeed save the world. Annoying that I do not only need to convince people out there that do not care about nature, but also convince ‘green people’ of going totally into the wrong way. And it is not that difficult people, just consider the mentioned concepts in this post.
A resounding VIVA! to Brendan, Russ and MJW. Developing Green technologies should indeed not consist in fueling our current gadget mania by green energies, nor should they be promoted in any way such.
As Einstein said “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
If the prevailing consumerist thrust isn’t thwarted by the imminent demise of the planet Earth then by what can it be thwarted?
I’d say it’s the expense of the materials and of producing all of these things that keeps them from being on the market. That OLED phone, for example, would currently cost several thousand dollars.
The OLED phone and other upcoming designs would cost everyone a fortune to afford and also is a sort of waste because the cost would be so high just to have a solar powered phone or gadget or go green appliance…….yeah your going green but your also spending alot of green…so to me the proce matters…..that’s when I will decide to go green……