Hello again, like many others I have the occasional weakness for ‘gadgets’ although I’m more tempted to just say ‘that’s pretty cool’ as opposed to purchasing one it doesn’t change the fact that I admire the innovation. On the other hand we have gadget consumers, those of us who live to purchase new tools and ideas that change the way we do things and hopefully make life that tiny bit more efficient. Today I thought I’d look at some fairly simple but certainly innovative gadgets that have a legitimate green benefit – each of which has yet to be released on the market. Off we go!

Wireless mouse – you can’t beat a wireless mouse once you’ve made the transition from the more common garden variety of mouse with a cord. It does make me wonder though is it still a ‘mouse’ when it no longer has a tail? At that point isn’t it more like a chipmunk or a marmot. However, if you love your wireless mouse but tire of replacing the batteries every 3 months or so there is now a green option. Meet Corky – he/she is made entirely of recycled cork and doesn’t need batteries. The kinetic energy caused by normal use when scrolling and clicking provides the energy source of our keyboard accomplice. No more batteries and plastics needed – what a great idea.

Discarded car tires/tyres – a blight of rubber wastage and something you rarely see any innovation attached to. This sounds like a bet an inventor took and won as he created the Automan 500 – which is an ottoman speaker (subwoofer) made from a standard automobile tire. In addition to being very eco friendly in design it apparently does the task assigned to it very well:

Designers Carolyn Butts and Hans Honegger say that the circular/cylindrical shape allows the subwoofer to have a better sound quality, and its unique construction helps it to emit all the bass notes.

The non audio components include a car tire, bicycle tire and wheat straw fiber board. This ranks as one of the more unlikely gadgets I’ve seen and when did you last see a round speaker?

Finally how about something a little different for the children which will serve a dual purpose by being eco-friendly while helping educate the kids about green issues and clean energy. You can accomplish both at once if you meet ‘Rocco’ the eco-rocking horse. That’s right a rocking horse made from 100% post consumer recycled plastics that looks great and provides functionality too. The kinetic energy caused by the child rocking on the horse will charge the horses handles on his head (let’s play along and call those ears). The ears serve a dual purpose as they are also LED flashlights which charge each time you ride. They grow more brightly as they charge and the child will know when he or she has fully charged his horse. The horse ears can even become a night light. What more could you ask for? A great eco-friendly idea for the kids which is educational too.