Greener Gadgets Conference

Presented by Inhabitat and Marc Alt + Partners

On February 1st, 2008 in New York City industry leaders, entrepreneurs, journalists, and designers gathered to discuss the business case for the greening of the consumer electronics industry. Greener Gadgets is a one day conference featuring key representatives from some of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world, innovators from academic thinktanks, members of startups focused on renewable energy, and some of the leading minds in the word of sustainable design and business. Topics addressed included: design for sustainability, product life cycle management, take-back and recycling programs, energy efficiency, greener materials, and green lifestyle and product marketing. An attached gallery space featured a green prototype office display and technology exhibits from companies on the cutting edge of green tech.

The Greener Gadgets conference showcased revolutionary design and tech innovations that will shape the future of the consumer electronics and change your world... for the better.

The green movement has taken off significantly in virtually every industry. Visible examples include the success of hybrid vehicles, alternative energy, and green design and architecture. The fashion, food and building industries are all embracing sustainable design with fervor – establishing new organizations, new criteria, and finding new business strategies in "going green." Consumer interest in greener goods has retailers scrambling to fill their shelves with sustainable products in almost every category. With Wal-Mart's announcement that in 2008 their buyers will begin evaluating consumer electronics products with sustainability scorecard the $150 billion dollar consumer electronics industry is poised for rapid transformation.

We've seen the phenomenal growth of green in almost every other industry, and are convinced that there are unparalleled opportunities right now for the consumer electronics industry. Tremendous growth opportunity exists for companies that position their products to meet the global shift towards sustainable products and socially responsible supply chain practices.

The event is over and we will be posting videos of the sessions both here and on Inhabitat.com where you can gain insight from thought leaders in the consumer electronics, computing and mobile space. Presenters included representatives from HP, Nokia, Sony, Philips, Intel, EPEAT, the Green Electronics Council, IDEO, Engadget, Earth2Tech/GigaOm, Solio, Hymini and many others.

To contact the Greener Gadgets team, please e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Press coverage of the event, hi-res images and press-releases can be viewed on the Press Page - http://www.greenergadgets.com/press 

NEWS UPDATES

GREENER GADGETS PARTNERS WITH CEA
The organizers of the Greener Gadgets Conference are excited to announce a partnership with The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA ) to help raise the visibility of myGreenElectronics.org , a consumer education initiative focused on responsible recycling, use and reuse of electronics.  CEA is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $161 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry. CEA also sponsors and manages the International CES and the website myGreenElectronics.org .

GREENER GADGETS PARTNERS WITH CLIMATE SAVERS
Greener Gadgets is also proud to announce the participation of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative , a nonprofit group of eco-conscious consumers, businesses and conservation organizations dedicated to improving the power efficiency and reducing the energy consumption of computers. By using power management and selecting an energy-efficient computer for future PC purchases, individuals can help minimize wasted electricity and reduce harmful greenhouse-gas emissions. This effort is estimated to lead to a 50 percent reduction in power consumption by computers by 2010, and committed participants could collectively save $5.5 billion in energy costs.

ON-SITE CELL PHONE RECYCLING
Greener Gadgets is excited to announce a new partnership with ReCellular , the nation's leading responsible cell phone recycling
company, to collect and recycle attendants old cellphones.  ReCellular will have a booth in the Greener Gadgets Showroom where they will collect and recycle used cell phones from attendees.

GREEN TECHNOLOGY DISPLAY AND EXHIBITS
An adjoining gallery space to the conference will feature exhibits from participating companies. Material ConneXion , a longstanding leader in providing sustainable material solutions, and HP , a technology industry environmental leader for decades, are teaming up to present "Work Smarter". This model green office space will present options for those looking to make their place of work a more sustainable and productive place to be. Cell phone leader Nokia will be on hand to display their latest phone the 3110 Evolve which is manufactured with renewable bio-plastics and which features reduced energy consumption in recharging.

Representatives from small renewable energy startups will be exhibiting examples of their products that incorporate renewable energy including solar, wind power and kinetic energy.  Companies include:  Boston-Power, Inc . an emerging portable power company answering the call for safer, longer lasting Lithium-ion batteries, Hymini/MINIWIZ , manufacturer of the first portable recharging device to harness both wind and solar power to recharge portable electronics, and Project H Design , a non-profit organization promoting humanitarian design will be exhibiting the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), the BogoLight, a solar charged flashlight designed for developing countries, and a variety of other humanitarian electronics initiatives.

DESIGN COMPETITION
As part of the initiative, Greener Gadgets has partnered with Industrial Design website Core77 to create the Greener Gadgets Design Competition, seeking out design innovations for greener electronics.This design competition will engage established design firms,
emerging designers, and design students to come up with new and innovative solutions to address the issues of energy, carbon
footprint, health and toxicity, new materials, product lifecycle, and social development. The top entries will be showcased live at the Greener Gadgets Conference for judging by a panel and the audience, and awards will be given out at the end of the night.

GREENER GADGETS 2008 VIDEOS POSTED!
Videos of the Greener Gadgets conference are being posted at Inhabitat.com and Scribe Media .  Please check back often for new videos over the next week.

You can subscribe to the Podcasts to the videos on iTunes here .

If you don't have iTunes, use this link .