I sift through a lot of information, opinions, and ideas in the course of my work. Last week two of them dovetailed in an interesting way: One was talking about excess consumption, how it's not about making greener gadgets, it's about making less things to begin with. The old saw of less is more, cut back on your life, it's the only way to save the planet. They even mentioned, as though it was clearly a symptom of things gone wrong, that there's a Greener Gadgets conference coming up.
I don't think it's about wagging your finger and telling people to change your behavior. It's like expecting a smoker to quit by telling them it's a bad thing. It's about giving consumers a way to look smart, be conscientious, and still meet their needs in an affordable way.
And at the same time, there is value in continuing to educate people on the impacts of consumption, while giving them options to do it differently, allowing for a natural, more durable movement in a more sustainable direction.
So it was ironic that a few days later, I learned about such an option came from the design competition sponsored by the above mentioned baddies the Greener Gadgets conference.
The Recompute is a cardboard housed PC that in a nod to the always evolving nature of personal technology has 8 USB ports, allowing for complete customization and upgrading without needing to get a whole new computer.
In choosing cardboard rather than the energy intensive ABS plastic, giving you the ability to migrate whatever you want from your current computer into it, and making it capable of being disassembled entirely by hand at the end of its lifecycle, Recompute truly is a "greener gadget."
While no product can claim to be impact free, smartly minimizing it in a way that consumers will positively respond to, green product or not, is a wise move all around.
Readers: What other products, existing or prototype, do you see that are truly greener gadgets, capable of making a positive impact? What's your take on consumerism, electronics, and the greening of them? I look forward to your comments, below.
