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Electronics are Going Green, Part Two
Going Green

Going Green: Electronics are Going Green, Part Two

Consumers and activists are looking for greener electronic products.

“We're looking for manufacturers to phase out the use of toxic chemicals, to run their products energy efficiently, help combat climate change and we're looking for free and global take to these products don't end up as e-waste in developing countries around the world,” said Casey Harrell, Toxics Campaigner for Greenpeace International.

Manufacturers at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas had several greener products on display, like a battery that can be thrown away with regular garbage.

“Throw them in the garbage, have no fear. In a time when too much of the wrong stuff is getting into the (waste) stream we felt we had to make something that will kind of bridge the gap while people are using $14 billion worth of throwaway batteries a year. We better get something you could throw away,” said Jeff Kreidenweis, Fuji EnviroMax.

There are also television sets that don't contain mercury and use 40% less energy. Or, even ways to conserve on energy use at your workstation with a power center.

“What this product does, it automatically senses when a product like a cpu for your computer goes to sleep, which is a normal thing you would set-up, it turns off the peripherals. With electricity costing 15 to 30 cents a kilowatt-hour, a person can spend several hundred dollars a year for standby power when their products really aren't doing anything for them,” said Vern Smith, Monster Cable.

You can see the kilowatts needed to power this set-up with a computer, monitor, music system, printer and then what happens when it isn't in use for awhile. So there's progress toward green but is it enough?

“We're seeing a lot of green products being niche, a side project for a large global company. We want these products to be replacements. We want green products to be the products,” said Harrell.