This post was written by Sahra Bean
Nokia has announced the launch of its ‘Take Back’ campaign to be effective from January 01 which is aimed at creating awareness on the issue of recycling of old mobile phones. As part of the initiative, Nokia will ask mobile consumers to dispose off their handsets and accessories irrespective of the brands at Nokia Priority dealer shops as well as Nokia Care Centres. Nokia said that it will plant a tree for every handset disposed at its centres and also give a surprise gift.
Innergie has announced that it has teamed up with Green Plug on the first implementation of Green Plug’s open systems intelligent power interface. At 2009 International CES, in Las Vegas Jan. 8-11, Innergie and Green Plug will demonstrate the Greentalk-enabled mCube90G powering a variety of consumer electronic devices, each with unique power requirements. The Innergie mCube90G features an innovative two-piece design, in which the smaller Auto/Air adapter can be detached, enabling use of an even more compact adapter when getting power from DC power sources, such as automobiles and airplanes.
AVAYA believes the online energy saving calculator which it has launched will help businesses determine how much energy they can save. The Avaya energy saving calculator establishes how many kilowatts of energy, tons of carbon and litres of petrol or diesel can be saved annually. This is based on the number of home working days a company permits its staff. Among the results include the amount of energy saved by reductions in heating and lighting at office locations and by staff not travelling back and forth to work on a daily basis.
Office Depot has opened its first “Green” store, located in Austin, TX. Office Depot’s “Green” store has been pre-certified for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards by the USGBC. The store will use less water and energy during its daily operations and increase recycling efforts to diminish the size of its “overall environmental footprint”.
Canon Middle East builds on the success of the popular i-SENSYS MF4100 series and i-SENSYS MF4270 with the launch of the i-SENSYS MF4300 series. Comprised of six All-In-Ones, each delivers professional-quality black and white A4 document printing and copying at speeds of 22 ppm/cpm. With compact low-profile designs and – uniquely in this segment of the market – double-sided printing as standard, the new range presents a perfect solution for a variety of home and personal office users, as well as small businesses.
GE Water & Process Technologies has released a white paper, Addressing Water Scarcity Through Recycling and Reuse: A Menu for Policymakers, outlining the policies and best practices currently being used to increase and implement successful water conservation programs in water scarce regions of the world. GE also announced its own commitment to reduce its own fresh water use by 20% by 2012. The new initiative is one of the world’s most aggressive corporate water target to date and is expected to free up 7.4 million cubic meters (2 billion U.S. gallons) of fresh water annually. This is enough water to fill over 3,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. A great quote from the piece:
Hewlett Packard Inc. has launched new research initiatives aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the technology sector. The company’s newly redesigned labs will focus sustainability research on three major areas: an industry-leading initiative to reduce the carbon footprint of data centers by 75%; efforts to replace copper wiring in servers with laser beams; and tools for measuring and managing the amount of energy used to develop products.
HP has introduced improvements to the HP Eco Solutions program with the launch of the new HP Eco Printing assessment service and new capabilities added to the HP Carbon Footprint Calculator, aimed at helping enterprises better understand the impact of their printing on the environment. HP also showcased customers who have achieved environmental benefits, including cost and energy savings, through HP Managed Print Services. Through the new HP Eco Printing Assessment, enterprises can better understand the impact of printing on the environment.
Telefonica O2 UK has announced the launch of an energy efficient universal mobile phone charger - the O2 Universal Charger. Apparently the first product of its kind to be launched by a UK network, O2 says its Universal Charger is amongst the most energy efficient in the UK cutting energy consumption by as much as 70% compared to standard mobile phone chargers. The charger has a power control system that considerably reduces charge to the mobile phone once the battery is fully charged, even if the charger is left switched on in a plug socket.
Hewlett Packard Inc. has agreed to license its transparent transistor technology to solar panel start-up maker Xtreme Energetics (XE), stepping up its push into the green technology space. The company has also unveiled new plans to reduce the environmental impact of IT. The transparent transistor technology, co-developed with Oregon State University, will enable XE to build low-profile panels which are not required to mechanically track the sun. The transparent transistors have been developed to improve the overall efficiency of the panels by allowing more light to penetrate the solar cells. Promising energy yields at twice the efficiency and half the cost of traditional solar panels, the technology comprises thin-film transparent transistors, which would allow for higher mobility, better chemical stability and easier manufacture than panels using silicon.