At The Green Radar, we're big fans of firms that put design first. Our belief is that design -- when used as an intrinsic function of the overall product, when it is educated by human insight and a keen understanding of a given problem -- can scale up to alter behavior itself.
And with matters of personal sustainability, we feel it's going to be products like Nest's thermostat (pictured here) that will go a long way in helping achieve this.
Nest is a smart meter that learns your energy usage habits and can help you optimize and minimize any losses in energy use. It knows when you wake up, when you leave for work, when you get back, and adjusts the temperature accordingly. They also haveother products in the works, like* a humidity control mechanism called Airwave.
It also helps to know that Nest was designed by Tony Fadell, the guy who designed the first iPod. A firm to watch for the future, certainly.
The renewable energyindustry moves fast and it is well known that solar energy is one of the most trendynowadays. Probably we all know of a city, an organization or even a neighborthat is investing in this technology (to use it in a building, car or otherassets) not only because the renewable sources like the sun provide free energybut also because they are eco – friendly. I think it worth to mention that theinitial cost of implementation and other required systems might be quiteexpensive but at the end this alternative is very convenient because its regularusage has no cost.
Furthermore, thisindustry has been evolving at the same time that portable electronics. That iswhy we can find companies like Goal Zero that has a very interesting offer of productsthat by means of portable solar panels allows us to charge our devices whereverwe are. They have even developed chargeable backpacks, lanterns and “powercontainers” and they are prepared to connect to the devices by USB, DC, AC. Theprocess seems easy:
1.Collect Power in a “power pack”: Depending on the devicethat you are looking to provide power to in the future it may take a while.Imagine that you can consider from an iPod, iPhone, tablet, laptop, TV to a 12Vrefrigerator!
2.Store Power: Once the power pack is charged, you can takeit wherever you want and have it available for whenever you need it.
3.Power your device: Use your power pack to power orrecharge your device.
Once again, the initialcost is not that cheap and the size of some products is not comfortable, but Iam sure that as much as we get used to this technology, it will keep improvingon the go faster and faster.
In general, this sustainable technology, trendy and available worldwide, is very recommendable foradventurers that like to camp or hike, travelers that stay long hours waitingin the airports or train stations, students that carry several electronicdevices at the same time, and for every eco – friendly user that wants to depending on electric power at home or office.
Very motivating to all of those who wants to be part of the "green revolution" that is coming... actually, that is already around us now.
Having recently looked into NASCAR and it's ongoing efforts to spread EPA program awareness, I thought it might be helpful to see what other firms have adopted sustainable initiatives.
HASBRO has created it's own environmental programs, and has been doing so for quite sometime. Since 2002 Hasbro has been reporting environmental performance of it's US operations when it joined the EPA's Climate Leaders Program (now ceased) to reduce green house emissions.
Which begs the question that is often asked when companies take on green initiatives; is it a trend?
I recall the BMW 750 HL Hydrogen vehicle early in 2002. Car enthusiast or not, you could not help but wonder if this was a formidable step forward in a new age of car manufacturing adopting cleaner energy sources to power engines. Because after all, this was BMW, a major player. And it's influence many hoped would influence others.
