Sustainability is one of the biggest buzzwords across the entire tech industry this year, with just about every gadget maker on the planet touting big commitments to saving the environment. But how much is marketing hype and how are companies actually using their resources to make the world a better place?
With Earth Day – April 22nd – just around the corner, we reviewed more than 30 so-called “green gadgets” to shine a light on the ones actually making a positive impact. Honestly? What we found is nothing short of amazing with just how much money these latest tech tools can help save on monthly household bills like electricity, water, heating and cooling, and a myriad of other increasingly expensive utilities.
What’s even more impressive though, is just how much the tech industry’s evolved past smart thermostats, lightbulbs, and power plugs in the past few years. The latest smart gadgets and appliances can help save the planet — and a whole lot of money — on everything from food waste to lawn care, and even drastically lower costs on niche things like swimming pool maintenance and handyman services.
Take a look, and let us know what you think!
HP ENVY Inspire 7955-E + Instant Ink & Paper Add-on Subscription
Let’s start with something that really surprised me — a printer. This is the HP ENVY Inspire 7955-E with its Instant Ink and Paper Add-on Subscription Service is made from more than 45% recycled plastic — and that’s cool — but it’s HP’s own recycling program that’s making some of the biggest impacts overall.
They’ve used nearly six-billion recycled plastic bottles to manufacture new ink cartridges — they also use plastic clothes hangers — and — their latest milestone — they’ve successfully recycled and reused more than one billion HP original ink and toner cartridges through their Planet Partners recycling program. If you lay that many cartridges side-by-side along the equator — it’s enough to wrap around the Earth 3.7 times.
— COST: $270 for printer, less than $1.80 for the cartridges and paper — and — they’re having an 3-day flash sale for Earth Day April 20-22 on HP.com.
HP Personal Computer Lineup
HP’s the second-largest personal computer maker in the world, but holds the number one spot for world’s most sustainable PC portfolio. That including the its 24 and 27 inch All-in-One PC’s. they actually use recycled coffee grounds to make the design accents here. It hits store shelves in May starting at just under $850. For the the HP 14 inch Laptop PC – Eco Edition – they use recycled plastics — and even recycled cooking oil to make these. What’s really amazing is that they use things that would otherwise end up in the ocean, like old bottles and plastic hangers, so again, it makes a really big impact. Go to HP.com for more details.
BEKO Refrigerators with HarvestFresh
This Beko refrigerator aims to solve a billion dollar dilemma. It keeps veggies fresh for 30 days and can even extend the essential vitamin content in the vegetable itself. It uses new tech the company calls HarvestFresh. That’s a three-color light technology tucked into the temperature and humidity-controlled crisper drawers. It glows blue to simulate dawn, green at midday, and red at sunset to mimic the natural 24-hour sun cycle.
This is incredibly relevant. Statistics show Americans waste more than $218 billion each year on food, with a family of four tossing out $1,600 a year in produce alone. A recent survey shows nearly 70% of Americans throw food away once a week and 8-in-10 said they would invest in an appliance that preserves food longer.
HarvestFresh now comes in 20 various Beko fridge models starting at $1,300. That means you can buy a brand new refrigerator that pays for itself in the first year.
Irrigreen Robotic Lawn Sprinkler
Here’s another one of the coolest new technologies I’ve seen in as long as I can remember: It’s called Irrigreen, and it’s a new supersmart robotic irrigation system that actually “prints” water only to the areas of your lawn that need it most. It works like an inkjet printer, with next-generation tech embedded in each sprinkler, so there’s no more overspray or waste, and it cuts back on the average outdoor water use by about 50%, and can cut your water bill in half too.
It digitally maps out your lawn to get water precisely where it needs to go. It also uses live weather data so it doesn’t water when it’s going to rain, and it knows when it needs to make up for a hot spell too and water at night versus during the day when it evaporates. There’s a free tool on the Irrigreen website you can use right now to get an estimate of how much water you can save and how much it costs to install — but we’re getting ready to put one in at our own house and it costs less than a traditional sprinkler system.
Water rates have gone up nearly 50% in the last decade — higher than any other utility bill — so this is another area just about everyone is looking to cut back to save money — and the planet.
WaterGuru Sense Smart Pool Sensor
Speaking of water — if you’re one of the 10-and-a-half million people who own a swimming pool in America — the Water Guru Sense can also save you tons of money and hassle. Stick this sensor in your skimmer and know in real time from an app on your smartphone exactly when to run pumps, add chemicals — I interviewed one family recently who cut back on their electricity bill by $1,500 in the first year after getting this gadget. Normally it’s $325, but last we checked, it’s on sale for $260!
Hunter Douglas Smart Blinds with PowerView Gen 3 Automation
Did you know that up to half of your home’s energy might be leaving through your windows? Smart shades push window efficiency to the next level by working in sync with the sun to let just the right amount of light (and heat) in or out when needed. Smart shades from Hunter Douglas with the latest PowerView Gen 3 Automation — let you press a single button, use a voice-enabled helper like Alexa, or use an app to set a schedule to keep your warm during the winter — or cooler during hotter summer months. We lowered our energy bill by nearly 50% since putting these in — they were remarkable keeping the house warm in the winter and cooler during the summer.