Green Brier Place

Green Wordpress Theme

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:18:39 +0000

I’ve been toying with the idea of changing my wordpress theme. My current wordpress theme is my second one. The first one also has something to do with green technology though I had to change that because I couldn’t find it anymore when I upgraded to the latest version of wordpress. Don’t get me wrong, I love technology though there are some bits that confuse me, like making a wordpress theme. I wanted to make my own wordpress theme, I thought that would be simple but making a wordpress theme is a bit complicated. First you have to make a mock-up using photoshop then convert the output psd to wordpress template. You convert it by slicing and then coding it. I tell you, it’s a lot of hard work. Of course, there are a lot of readily available wordpress themes but none of them really matches my blogs’ theme.

Someone suggested that I just hire someone to make my own wordpress theme for me. That seems reasonable but the really professional ones charge a lot that it’s like hiring a software development Eastern Europe company. Yeah, it’s THAT high. I mean, it’s not like I’m actually making money out of this thing, right? So I guess I’ll be sticking to browsing through the thousands of free wordpress templates to find my next theme.

Tree hugger’s Dream Mobile Phone: The Sony Ericsson Aspen

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:35:34 +0000

Wouldn’t it be nice if all businessmen would have a green phone? I mean, I’m not saying they carry a solar powered phone but something like the Sony Ericsson Aspen.

The Sony Ericsson Aspen has a Blackberry-like look, has a touchscreen (which is really popular these days) and the most important: it’s made from environmentally friendly materials and waterborne painting. There’s no manual, just an electronic one so a lot of trees are saved.

Best of all, it’s not a bad looking phone at all. There’s no word as to when the Sony Ericsson Aspen will be available state side.

Speed Bumps that Generate Electricity

admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:15:39 +0000

Well, here’s something that would make speed bumps less annoying. The Motion Powered Speed Bump isn’t your ordinary cement speed bump found near schools, it’s a flat metal plate with long thin pedals on top. As a car passes over it, the pedals turns gears and generates 2,000W of electricity per car.

So, what uses can there be for these speed bumps? Well, a little more research and this speed bumps could be powering street lights. Just imagine how much energy that would save if street lights on a freeway no longer comes from the grid.

Via: Envirogadget

K2 Etu Eco Skates

admin — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 02:24:10 +0000

Want an eco-friendly activity for your kids so that they won’t waste their time (and your electricity bills) playing video games at home? Well, you can get them to skate outdoors. Skating is good for their health and what better way to be more green than buy the K2 Eco inline skates which are made from sustainable and biodegradeable bamboo. The Liners and lacers are also made from eco friendly materials, specifically, 100% recycled PET.

These skates are priced around $189.95.

Via: EnviroGadget

LG Arena a Green Phone according to EISA?

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:17:11 +0000

So I’ve recently talked about a green mobile phone like the Samsung Reclaim, right? So I thought that this was a REALLY green phone considering that its made of almost all recycled materials. Apparently, EISA thinks that the greenest phone out there is the LG Arena.

Now I’ve heard of the LG Arena and I don’t think there’s any mention about the phone being made from recycled materials or if its solar powered or any of the green stuff but EISA has given it their stamp of approval. Okay, so maybe the Samsung Reclaim can’t enter because it’s not yet released but didn’t Motorola have a phone that’s made of recycled water bottles? Now that has to count for something.

Oh well, I better get a look at this LG Arena and see if it truly fits the “green” bill.

The Nissan Leaf

admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 09:47:10 +0000

As its name suggests, the Nissan Leaf is a green car. How is it green? Well, the Nissan LEAF’s power train has no tailpipe so there’s no way it would be emitting CO2 or other greenhouse gases. And while some of you might not opt for electric cars because it would be hassle charging them, the Nissan LEAF can regain 80% of its power on a 30 minute quick charge. Of course, using a regular 200 volt outlet in your home would take around 8 hours before the car regains its full power.

The Nissan LEAF’s lithium-ion battery and regenerative breaking system enables this car to go 160km on one full charge. Not bad for an eco-car. If you’re thinking of going green with the Nissan LEAF, you have to wait until 2010 before this becomes available.

Via: Gadget-Reviews

Samsung Reclaim

admin — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:04:58 +0000

Now this is what I’m talking about: Earth friendly consumer electronics. Thanks to Samsung and Sprint, I think we now have the most earth friendly mobile phone in the form of the Samsung Reclaim. The Samsung Reclaim is made up of 80% recycled materials which are PVC and BFR free. The packaging is also made up of 70% recycled materials and soy-based ink is used in printing the packaging.

The tip of the organic icing? $2 of the profit will go to the Nature Conservancy’s Adopt an Acre Program. The Samsung Reclaim is also a beautiful piece of mobile phon with a slider mechanism and QWERTY keyboard, 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth with A2DP, microSD slot, and come with Sprint navigation.

The Samsung Reclaim is another green gadget you can add to your earth-friendly gadgets.

via: Cellphone-Reviews

Mimo USB Monitor

admin — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:48:33 +0000

I don’t get what’s the deal with portable monitors. I mean, isn’t the purpose of portable netbooks and laptops is so that you don’t have to lug around heavy equipment? So why would you bring along a USB monitor? Anyways, the Mimo 7 inch USB monitor is one classic example of a useless gadget that is not environmentally friendly. The Mimo 710-S monitor would take up twice as much power on your laptop battery, making you charge your laptop more and consume more energy. Very bad for our environment.

The Mimo 710-S costs $149.99 and you only get 800×480 resolution and 400:1 contrast ratio. Save your money and just stick with your old netbook.

NMCNNIC

Wireless OLED Digital Clock

admin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 02:07:46 +0000

Now this is just one of those eco gadgets that are oozing with style. This wirelss OLED Digital clock is still in conceptual stage but I really do hope that it finds its way to retailers soon. Going by the name Black and White clock, this gadget can be stuck on any wall and uses OLED to display the time. The clock will change colors depending on the lighting conditions so that it can be viewed any time of the day.

There are no wires needed and you can change the time settings by touch control. Pretty cool and this would look great in my bedroom.

Via: Inhabitat

Hydrogen from Pee?

admin — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 03:19:32 +0000

Okay, so this news is green but a bit weird. It seems that scientists are attempting to harness a lot of hydrogen from urine. They say that taking hydrogen from urine is a lot easier than doing so with water. This is because of urea, a component of urine, which scientists say has four hydrogen atoms and two nitrogen atoms compared to wat’er which has only two hydrogen atoms. Urine also requires 97 percent less electricity to release hydrogen from the urea molecules.

Wow, I just hope they’ll find a way to get the urine odor out.

Via: Crave

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