High Tech Gadgets Can Be Environmentally Friendly Too

What do you think about when you consider the latest high technology gadgets? It will vary from person to person. Some might think that they’re cool. Others might think that they’re expensive. Maybe you think that they’re confusing and often difficult to operate. It very much depends on your own individual viewpoint. However, it’s probably a fair bet to say that you almost certainly don’t associate the latest “must have” electronic gadget with doing your bit for the environment – but electronic devices can, in the right circumstances, be environmentally friendly.

Digital photo frames for example have become very popular over the last two or three years. As a result of fierce competition, prices have reduced considerably and you can now pick up perfectly serviceable digital frames for more or less the same price that you might expect to pay for a traditional photo frame. There are a variety of perceived benefits associated with digital frames, one of these is their capability of displaying hundreds of different photographs using a single frame.

A lot will depend upon how many photographs you take in an average year, but if you are in the habit of getting a bit snap happy then using a digital frame to display your photo collection could have a positive environmental impact. Whether you remove the need to have hard copies of photos developed at a processing lab or if you just print out less using your computer, you will wind up consuming fewer materials.

Another good, and very topical, example is the current trendy gadget – the e-book reader. These have actually been around for quite a while, but they really took off in 2009 and look set to make even more sales in 2010. The Kindle reader is currently the most popular by a long way and Sony have also established a good market presence.

125 million trees are cut down every year to provide the paper required to supply the U.S. book, magazine and newspaper industry sector. Large amounts of water, energy and a whole host of chemicals are also required to satisfy the nation’s reading habit. On top of that, since books are a physical product they need to be delivered from the publisher to the book store – generally using road transport. The gas used by customers who drive to and from the retail outlet is also a factor in determining the carbon footprint of a typical book.

Of course, e-books do not consume large quantities of paper, ink etc. in their production. Also, as they are not a physical product, they can be delivered over the internet rather than using the road transport network.

Of course, as both e-book readers and digital photo frames are themselves physical products, they do require both materials and energy for their production. They also require delivery to the point of sale or direct to the final customer. Nevertheless, studies have shown that, even when these materials are offset against the savings in paper, energy, ink etc. that such devices can be better for the environment (though it will depend, to a certain extent, on how many books you read or how many photos you process each year).

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