Green Gadgets For Dummies

Joe Hutsko is a technology enthusiast, a journalist, an author, and a consultant. He contributes to the New York Times blog Green Inc., and has covered the latest tech trends for Fortune, MSNBC.com, Wired, the Washington Post, Newsweek, Time, Macworld, PC World, TV Guide, and others. He runs the green gadget blog gGadget.org and his personal Web site, JOEyGADGET.com.

• Foreword xixIntroduction 1About Green Gadgets For Dummies 1Foolish Assumptions 2Conventions Used in This Book 3What You Don’t Have to Read 3How This Book Is Organized 4Part I: Settling into a Green Gadget Mindset 4Part II: Getting Green with Gadgets You Own 4Part III: Minimizing Your Computer’s Carbon Footprint 4Part IV: Acquiring Green Gadgets and Gear 5Part V: Ridding Yourself of Gadgets the Green Way 5Part VI: The Part of Tens 5The companion Web site 5Icons Used in This Book 6Where to Go from Here 6Part I: Settling into a Green Gadget Mindset 7Chapter 1: Mother Nature’s Green-Eyed View of Gadgets 9Hey, Joe, Where You Goin’ with That Green Gadget in Your Hand? 10Assessing “green” companies 12Defining gadgets 14Defining green gadgets 15Relating the Four Rs to Green Gadgets 16Following a Green Gadget’s Carbon Footprint 17Thoughtful manufacturing 18Ecofriendly features 19Other green electronics 20Understanding Energy Star and EPEAT Green Gadget Labels 22Implementing Green Living Habits with Gadgets You Already Own 24Taking a bite out of “energy vampires” 24Calculating your gadgets’ carbon footprints 25Taking other simple green gadget steps 26Staying Informed about Green Gadget Developments 27Chapter 2: Practicing Green Gadget Living 29Evaluating Your Energy Waste, er, Usage 30Reducing Your Gadgets’ Carbon Footprints and E-Waste 33Reusing Your Gadgets and Electronics Gear 34Recycling Gadgets the Green Way 35Rethinking Your Gadget Purchases 36Sharing Your Gadget Greenness with Others 38Part II: Getting Green with Gadgets You Own 41Chapter 3: Saving Money (and the Planet) with Rechargeable Batteries 43Understanding Basic Battery Pluses and Minuses 44Hunting and Gathering Battery-Powered Gadgets in Your House 44Sorting Out and Choosing Rechargeable Batteries and Chargers 46Gauging matters of size, type, power, and price 47Picturing how long battery types last 50Getting a charge out of chargers 50Choosing rechargeable batteries and chargers 53Finding Rechargeable Battery Packs 55Buying rechargeable batteries for less 56Replacing rechargeable batteries in iPods, iPhones, and other sealed gadgets 56Properly Disposing of Dead Batteries 57Disposable batteries 57Rechargeable batteries 59Chapter 4: Maximizing Energy Savings for Your Portable Gadgets 61Getting a Grip on a Gadget’s Energy-Saving Settings 61Battery-draining items 63Cellphones and smartphones 65MP3 and media players 69Digital cameras and camcorders 71Running Mobile Applications to Monitor and Adjust Power 72Chapter 5: Energy Savings All Around the House 75Practicing Green Living in Your House 75Reviewing Energy-Saving Opportunities in Your House 77Televisions 78Computers and peripheral devices 79Mobile phones, MP3 players, GPS trackers, and other personal gadgets 79Adjusting Power-Saving Options on TVs and Entertainment Gear 80Taming TV power 80Reducing power consumption in DVD, video game, and other types of players 82Part III: Minimizing Your Computer’s Carbon Footprint 87Chapter 6: Your Computer’s Energy Use 89Quashing Computer Power Myths 89Evaluating Your Everyday Computer Needs 93Understanding Computer Energy-Saving Settings 94Changing your computer’s energy settings the easy way 97Taking greater control of your computer’s energy settings 98iPods, Printers, Hard Drives, and Other Connected Devices 101Chapter 7: Reducing Energy Consumption in Windows 103Minimizing Windows Energy Use On-the-Fly 106Adjusting the Windows Automatic Power Options Settings 107Choosing and customizing Windows Vista’s power plans 109Customizing Windows Vista’s advanced power settings 112Choosing and Customizing Windows XP Power Schemes 113Power Schemes 114Alarms 115Power Meter 116Advanced 116Hibernate 117UPS 117Making Additional Windows Vista and XPPower Options Adjustments 117Windows Mobility Center (Vista only) 118Brightness 118Screen saver 120Keyboard brightness 121Wireless networking 121Bluetooth 122Sound 123Indexing options (Vista only) 124Chapter 8: Conserving Power with Your Mac’s Energy-Saver Settings 127Minimizing Your Mac’s Energy Use On-the-Fly 128Adjusting Your Mac’s Automatic Energy- Saver Settings 129Making Additional Mac Energy-Saving Adjustments 132Brightness 133Screen saver 134Keyboard brightness 135AirPort 136Bluetooth 136Sound 138Spotlight 138Part IV: Acquiring Green Gadgets and Gear 141Chapter 9: Knowing the Difference Between Truly Green and Greenwash Hype 143Paying to Be (Seen As) Green Is Big Business 143Reviewing the Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics 145Tapping In to the Greenpeace Electronics Survey 147Considering Another Take on Green Gadgets: The Consumer Electronics Association 149Taking Companies at Their Own Green Word, Sort Of 151Browsing gadget-makers’ ecocentric Web sites 151Seeking a second, third, or tenth opinion 154Chapter 10: Choosing Green Mac and Windows Computers 155Considering Upgrades to Make Your Computer Feel New Again 156Upgrading hardware 156Upgrading operating systems and applications 158Choosing and installing upgrades 158Getting Up-to-Speed on Computer Energy Standards and Ratings 159Evaluating Computer Manufacturers’ Levels of Greenness 160Getting a Handle on Green Computers 161Picking Green Macs 163Breaking down the MacBook, piece by piece 164Considering other Macs and products 165Looking at Green Windows Computers 166Two green Windows desktops 167A pair of green Windows notebooks 169Chapter 11: Buying Green Mobile Phones and Handheld Gadgets 173Getting Up to Speed on Green Gadget Matters 173Dialing in to Green Mobile Phones 175Motorola MOTO W233 Renew 177Samsung SGH-W510, SGH-F268, and E200 Eco 178Nokia 3110 Evolve and N79 eco 179Looking at Green MP3 and Video Players, and Other Entertaining Gadgets 181iPod nano 181Shiro SQ-S solar-powered media player 182Baylis Eco Media Player 182eMotion Solar Portable media player 183Saving Trees by Reading E-Books 184Mobile phone and computer e-book readers 184Dedicated e-book readers 187Electronic bookstores 190Getting Wound Up Over Green Windup Gadgets 191Chapter 12: Getting Green Gadgets for on the Go 195Driving Your Car More Efficiently 195Tricking Out Your Car with Efficiency Gizmos 197Tapping into GPS and Mobile Phone Applications for Green Getting-around 199Talking mobile phone GPS navigator apps 201Portable GPS navigators 202GPS and green mobile phone apps 203Tracking Green Gadgets for Fitness and Outdoor Activities 206Staying in Charge with Portable Power Chargers and Extenders 208Leafing Through Green Garments, Bags, and Cases 211Chapter 13: Adding Green Gadgets around the House 215Considering Green Gadgets for Every Room in the House 215Monitoring and Controlling Household Energy Usage 217Turning Things On and Off Automatically 219Controlling Your Entire House with Home Automation Systems 221Looking at Green HDTV, Music, Movie-Watching, and Audio Products 225Fiddling with Other Ecofriendly Home Gadgets 229Part V: Ridding Yourself of Gadgets the Green Way 233Chapter 14: Donating, Gifting, and Selling Unwanted Gadgets 235Determining whether an Unwanted Gadget Is of Use to Anyone 236Weighing the Risks and Rewards of Donating, Gifting, and Selling Unwanted Gadgets 238Giving the Gift of Unwanted Gadgets 240Doing Good by Donating Computers and Other Gadgets 240Trading In or Selling Gadgets for Greenbacks 243The basics of the trade-in process 244Finding a trade-in site for you 246Selling Your Old Electronics on Craigslist 249Auctioning Unwanted Gadgets on eBay and Other Auction Web Sites 251Chapter 15: Erasing Your Personal Information before Getting Rid of Gadgets 255Deleting Your Personal Stuff — The Short Way and the Long Way 256Considering Trust to Decide How to Erase Personal Information 258To know you is to trust you 258I want to trust you, but I’m just not sure 259Deauthorizing Computer Programs before Giving Away Your PC 260Deleting Your User Account Files before Getting Rid of a Computer 264Deleting your Windows XP user account and creating a new one 265Deleting your Windows Vista user account and creating a new one 267Deleting your Mac user account and creating a new one 270Restoring Computers to Factory-Fresh Condition 273Formatting and restoring a Windows hard drive 273Formatting and restoring a Mac hard drive 277Completely Erasing Deleted Files and Hard Drives 279Wiping Windows hard drives 279Wiping Mac hard drives 280Chapter 16: Recycling and Properly Disposing of Hopelessly Useless Gadgets 283Understanding E-Waste and E-Cycling 284Finding E-Cyclers 286Reputable or not? 286Local or from a distance? 286Finding a local e-cycler 288National and corporate e-cycling programs 290Erasing Personal Information 296Deciding Whether to Break Down E-Waste or Leave It Whole 297Keeping useful parts 297Peripherals and other parts and pieces 298Part VI: The Part of Tens 301Chapter 17: Ten Cool Green PC Peripherals and Accessories 303PC TrickleSaver 303Ecobutton 303Bamboo Laptop Stand Workstation 304SimpleTech [re]drive R500U 500 GB Turbo 304Lenovo ThinkVision L197 Wide 19-inch LCD Display 304Apple 24-inch LED Cinema Display 305Ink2image Bulk Ink System 305Canon Generation Green Printers 305D-Link DGL-4500 Xtreme N Gaming Router 306Netgear 3G Broadband Wireless Router 306Chapter 18: Ten Green Gadget Designs 307Bware Water Meter 307Laundry Pod 307Social-Environmental Station: The Environmental Traffic Light 308Indoor Drying Rack 308Thermal Touch 308Fastronauts 308Tweet-a-Watt 309Standby Monsters 309Power-Hog 309WattBlocks 309And the Winners Are 310Chapter 19: Ten Green Gadget Buying Tips 313Don’t Buy! 313Do Your Homework 313Buy Recycled and Highly Recyclable 314Buy Reconditioned or Preowned 315Buy Small, Think Big Picture 315Take a Bite Out of Energy Vampires 316Make the Most of Multifunction Gadgets 316Charge Your Gadgets the Green Way 317Get Rid of Gadgets the Green Way 317Buy Carbon Offsets to Minimize Your Carbon Footprint 318Chapter 20: Ten Frequently Asked Questions about Green Gadgets 319What Is a Green Gadget? 319Why Should I Care about Buying Green Gadgets? 320What Is EPEAT? 321Which Electronic Products Does EPEAT Cover? 321What Is Energy Star? 321How Does a Product Earn the Energy Star Seal of Approval? 322What Is the “Change the World, Start with Energy Star” Campaign? 322Should I Donate or Recycle My Old Computer? 323Should I Donate or Recycle My Old Cellphone? 323Should I Recycle My Old Rechargeable Batteries? 324Index 325