Last week I mentioned the new Earth Class Mail. This week another snail mail service is making the news. ProQuo reduces your junk mail (and the amount of energy and raw materials used to produce it) by removing your name from direct marketing lists. A free service, ProQuo provides an online dashboard where you can choose which lists to remove yourself from. There's also a section for opting out of telemarketing calls. Somewhat ironically, ProQuo is supported by online advertising and displays ads from the companies you've chosen to remain subscribed to. [via Mashable]
Another option for reducing your junk mail's environmental impact is GreenDimes, one of Buddylube's newest clients. Unlike ProQuo, which requires you to return often to unsubscribe from new lists, GreenDimes is full-service. For $20 a year, they will remove you from direct marketing lists and monitor new lists to make sure it stays off. Members can also login to the Catalog Screener to opt-out of catalogs and non-profit mailings while still receiving the ones they want. A year's membership covers all of a household's members (and their various misspellings), names of past tenants, and mail addressed to "Resident," "Occupant," etc.
In addition to rescuing trees and water destined to end up as a ValPak, GreenDimes also partners with three reforestation initiatives (American Forests, Sustainable Harvest International, and Trees for the Future) to plant 10 trees on behalf of every new member - 5 for signing up and 1 for each of the first five catalogs canceled.
As I've mentioned in previous posts (here and here), all the green Web 2.0 sites I blog about require electricity to power them and a computer to view them. Technology is all about gadgets, which are not necessarily great for the planet, but are certainly not going away anytime soon. The solution? Make them greener! I've already mentioned the Solio portable electronics charger and the Voltaic Systems Generator bag - here are some creative ways to get your Web 2.0 fix without feeling too guilty about supporting the local coal-fired power plant:
The Twirl N' Take Camera (above), part of Sony's ODO series of hand-powered electronics, requires no electricity and is recharged by rolling the green wheel across a flat surface. Indicators around the wheel light up as the camera, which is located in the handle, charges. In order to cut down the amount of power necessary, the camera Twirl N' Take has no display screen, which might make it less attractive to photographers used to viewing pictures immediately. Although the ODO products are still in the prototype phase, Sony has announced plans to produce them with recycled plastic. [via Treehugger]
If the Twirl N' Take Camera looks familiar, it's probably because you've seen that color scheme before. The One Laptop per Child Project's XO computer (pictured above) was designed for use by children in remote area without consistent access to electricity. Features such as a screen that consumes 14% of the power used by a traditional LCD (2.7% in black and white mode) and a CPU that requires only 10% of the power used by most laptops mean that the XO can recharged by a child using a foot pedal, hand crank, or pull cord. A solar option is also available. Additionally, the XO contains no hazardous materials or toxic heavy metals, which means it can be recycled safely.
Similar claims are being made by the brand new Macbook Air, which flaunts its green cred with changes such as a recyclable aluminum frame, PVC and bromide-free circuitry, LCD screen free from mercury and arsenic, and 50% less packaging. [via EcoChick]
Laptops are, as a rule, a more eco-friendly choice than traditional desktop computers, and 2007 marked the first year when their sales outpaced those of desktops. According to Treehugger, the benefits of this are two-fold: "Less 'stuff' is needed to get online and fewer watts needed to stay there," a situation which results in "reduced resource consumption all around. " [via Treehugger]
-Annalisa
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