Environmental consideration has become an integral part of product design for IT manufacturers. This can be seen through many of the new and exciting devices that have been released in the first half of 2008. This technology provides insight into how manufacturers are tackling the issue of sustainability and are working to incorporating green design in their traditional product line-ups. They also provide us with a glimpse of what we can expect to see in the future as manufacturers continue to work towards sustainability goals.

Here are some of the highlights from 2008:

NEC’s "Eco Mode" Monitor Calculates its own Carbon Footprint

The MulitSync EA19M monitor from NEC is both EPEAT silver and Energy Star 4.0 certified, consuming only 38 watts while active and 2 watts on standby. It is also RoHS compliant, which means it’s free from heavy metal toxins. However, basic environmental friendliness is not what separates this monitor from the pack. NEC has introduced a new feature they call “eco mode”. On start up users can choose this eco option of reducing brightness to 60 percent. And to make you feel good for choosing the eco mode the monitor has a built-in carbon footprint meter that informs you of your reduced impact.

HP’s Deskjet Printer Made of 83% Recycled Plastics

HP has launched a new Eco Highlights Label to help customers understand the environmental attributes of a specific product, tool or service. Under this umbrella they also released the Deskjet D2545 Printer, the company’s first printer made almost entirely from recycled plastic material (83% of the printer's total weight is made from recycled plastics). Even the ink cartridges it uses are made from recycled resins and the packaging is 100% recyclable. The printer also features HP Smart Web Printing, which lets users easily combine portions of numerous web pages onto one page to save paper. Moving forward HP has committed to having 100% of its Deskjet printers contain at least some recycled materials by 2010.

The Bamboo Laptop from Asus

This is the first functional notebook made entirely out of bamboo. Well…maybe not entirely, but it is sheathed in a nice coat of pressed recycled bamboo with the keys being made from recycled plastic. Bamboo is a great choice for product design, as it can be grown steadily and the process of its procurement is pollution free in comparison to metal casing. There were some early concerns about the wood casing being so close to a hot CPU, however Asus has preformed vigorous testing and has disproven any concerns. They even have proven the EcoBook’s ruggedness by embarking it on a successful journey up Mount Everest and back again!

Targus EcoSmart PVC-Free Laptop Bags

Targus has released a line of EcoSmart notebook carrying cases. The line-up is made of PVC-free material, which makes production of the cases less harmful to the environment. In addition the plastics used on the cases are recyclable and all metal hardware is nickel free, making these cases the perfect companion to an EPEAT certified laptop.

D-Link's Green Ethernet Routers Save Energy

As part of their Green Ethernet initiative D-Link recently released a series of environmentally friendly routers. The routers detect both cable length and link status and then adjust power accordingly. They also incorporate a functionality called Wi-Fi Scheduler, which allows users to adjust start and end times for WiFi signal emission. Last but not least, the technology detects when a computer is turned off and will respond accordingly by powering down into standby mode and reducing power used for that port. According to D-Link this router line-up will save you anywhere from 31-41% in energy consumption. Originally, D-Link had introduced Green Ethernet technology in their networking switches lineup, which also shows considerable power consumption savings.

SimpleTech's External Hard Drive Made from Bamboo & Recyclable Aluminum

SimpleTech recently released what they deem to be the world’s most energy efficient and resource conscious, Turbo USB 2.0 external storage and back up drive. The SimpleTech [re]drive is made with a bamboo and recyclable aluminum enclosure, automatically powers on/off with your computer, has reduced packaging, and an Energy Star Level 4 power adaptor. The total power savings could equal up to 90% when compared to traditional external drives or the equivalent of reducing approximately 475 lbs of carbon dioxide emissions over the life of the drive.

And if that wasn't enough, here are some other products in development…

Self-Erasing Paper from Xerox

Xerox scientists have invented a way to make the ink on the paper disappear after a day. They started the project with the hopes of reducing the number of wasted pages in the office environment. Xerox estimates that 2 out of every 5 documents printed in the office are for what it calls “daily” use, like emails, Web pages, and reference material for a single viewing. Although it has proven it can be done Xerox believes the technology is still a number of years away from being commercially viable.

Fujitsu's Zero Watt Monitor

Fujitsu is the first manufacturer to release a monitor that consumes no power in standby mode. They call it the Zero Watt Monitor for obvious reasons. This monitor addresses the issue of phantom power and eliminates the small stream of electricity constantly drawn by electronics. It achieves this by using a clever switch that shuts down the monitor when there is no signal from the computer, and turns it back on when there is one. Although not yet available, Fujitsu say that it will be sold for the same price as conventional monitors.

For more information on any of these products email us at ecotech@softchoice.com, or contact your Softchoice Account Executive.