That CRT probably has company in a closet, basement or attic: other obsolete electronic items that also deserve better than the trash. They and other gadgets incorporate hazardous materials like lead and mercury; although the Environmental Protection Agency suggests that a properly run landfill will contain that refuse, other studies suggest that refuse can leak out into the environment under some conditions.

As a result, 17 states have banned throwing out electronic hardware with regular trash, even if they rarely enforce these bans. (CEA, as you might imagine, would prefer one nationwide law about electronics recycling.)

Fortunately, it’s gotten easier to send your electronics to a more suitable fate: recycling, followed by safe disposal of whatever toxic trash is left over. And more people realize their “e-cycling” options: While a 2007 CEA survey found that only 24 percent of consumers knew about nearby recycling programs, that number is now at 58 percent.

They do, however, face a potentially confusing variety of choices–as you can see by searching at CEA’s greenergadgets.org or the widget below this post. Let me walk you through the ones I’ve tried.

The most tempting solution is to make money off the problem by selling your e-junk. Sites such as BuyMyTronics, Gazelle, MyBoneyard and YouRenew will pay for older electronics and in some cases cover shipping costs. But I’ve found that you can eke out a little more money through eBay–even for castaway items like old chargers for camera batteries.

Donation works as well. Beyond charities and Freecycle, remember that many local user groups (in the Washington area, for example, the Capital PC User Group and Washington Apple Pi) will refurbish old computers.

In terms of recycling, you have three main options: an electronics manufacturer, your local government, or a retailer.

I’ve recommended recycling programs run by such companies as Apple, Dell, HP and other before. But I have to admit that I’ve yet to try any of them. Why? I always forgot about any dead gadgets at home whenever I was making whatever purchase would have qualified for free recycling through these systems.

I have, however, used municipal e-cycling many times. Most are not that convenient: Just as many jurisdictions handled paper and glass recycling in an earlier decade, you have to drop off their e-trash at a designated central location.

Around Washington, that’s how the District of Columbia, Fairfax County and Alexandria in Virginia, and Montgomery County and Prince George’s County in Maryland operate. But in 2009, Arlington County, Virginia–where CEA and I are based–launched a more convenient curbside electronics pickup option.

Finally, you have programs run by such retailers as Staples and Best Buy. (Both retailers’ options get a nod from the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, which has criticized some e-cycling programs for exporting the toxic problem to prisons or other countries.) The latter–unlike many other recycling programs–also stopped charging to recycle CRTs up to 32 inches back in November.

Short of curbside pickup, this is my current favorite. Even if you weren’t planning to to go one of these stores, it easily beats trekking out to a trash-transfer station. The stores, of course, hope you’ll decide to pick up something while you’re there.

Yet after this progress, a further holdup to recycling hasn’t improved much: Computers still demand extra work to scrub the sensitive information stored on them.

Consider how smartphones mostly get this right: Almost all include a hard-reset option in their system-settings apps to delete your data and restore the original configuration while keeping any system-software updates intact; see the Factory Reset wiki for device-specific instruction.

(If you don’t want to wait for traces of your old data to get washed away by the next owner’s information, iOS devices should make your data unrecoverable automatically, while on Android phones you will probably need to run third-party software.)

Computers, on the other hand, tend to hide their factory-reset option in a startup sequence (in Windows) or on an operating-system disc (on a Mac). They also don’t preserve any system updates you’ve installed.

Securely deleting your data, as I’ve outlined before, gets trickier yet. First you’ll want to create a new “administrator” account in Windows or Mac OS X, then delete your old user account’s files using the open-source Eraser in Windows or the “Secure Empty Trash” command of OS X.

This looks like an odd oversight. With the effort companies put into their setup experiences, I’d like to see more attention paid to easing the user’s farewell to a device.

That may leave one final last obstacle to safely disposing of old electronics: our own apathy. As I write this, I have an aging HP printer/scanner collecting dust at home. Anybody want to make me an offer for it?

By Ellen Savage, Director, Member Programs

I’ve had the same office keyboard for the five years I’ve worked at CEA. Though the keyboard had served me well, after approximately 1,300 days of use the “N” key was starting to stick and the letter imprints were wearing off some of the keys. I recently decided it was time for an upgrade, and I’m amazed at how such a seemingly small change has made such a positive impact on my everyday work life.

Since I felt the failing functionality of my old keyboard most acutely while working, it’s probably not a big surprise that I shopped for my new keyboard online, from my desk. After reading some reviews, I decided on the Logitech K750 wireless solar keyboard. I installed it last week, and I am in heaven. Here is what I love:

• Slim profile – it’s about 1/3 of the thickness of my old keyboard
• Wireless – no cords cluttering up my desktop
• Solar powered – the keyboard charges itself whenever there is light. Even through my office is windowless and only gets artificial light, the keyboard works great. Logitech says the keyboard can stay charged in total darkness for up to three months. I haven’t tested that yet, but I can say that the keyboard worked perfectly after being in darkness over a weekend.
• Environmentally responsible packaging – it came in a fully-recyclable cardboard box, and the installation instructions were imprinted on the inside lid, eliminating the need for product inserts.
• Easy, quiet typing – I didn’t realize how much more sensitive the keys on a new keyboard could be. It’s also much quieter than my old keyboard, which I’m sure my office neighbors appreciate.

Had a realized how happy a new keyboard would make me, I would have upgraded sooner. That’s the thing about accessories. In CE, as in fashion, we may spend most of our budget on big-ticket items (like a laptop or a new suit) but it can be the accessories, like keyboards and jewelry, which add the most versatility to the things we use every day.

What CE accessories do you appreciate the most?

The goal was lauded by members of Congress and industry executives, to name a few, for setting such a lofty goal to divert electronics from landfills to the recycling stream.

But how can industry make such a leap after recycling 300 million pounds last year? The answer is consumer education and forging meaningful partnerships with local governments.

On Nov. 15, which was America Recycles Day, one such event was held at the University of Utah. Drivers streamed into a university parking lot and had volunteers remove old printers, computers, TVs and even a typewriter or two from the trunks of their cars.

The event aimed to collect more than 60,000 pounds of electronics and is just one of many collections Samsung Electronics America has sponsored in the past year in Utah. Local news stations including FOX and NBC filmed old electronics filling large cardboard boxes and let Salt Lake City residents know where to come to drop off their old devices.

“To me this represents a real commitment and partnership between the Salt Lake Valley Health Department, University of Utah, Salt Lake City and Samsung,” Michael Moss, director of corporate environmental affairs, Samsung Electronics America, said at a press conference after the collection event kicked off.

Since last summer Samsung and Salt Lake County have held many eCycling events. In 2010, those efforts lead to the collection of 715,000 pounds of electronics for recycling, all of which Samsung paid for.

At the Nov. 15 event, Salt Lake County and the Consumer Electronics Association got the word out to local media while Samsung put advertisements in local media.

“It’s really critical we have this type of outreach and that people understand they play a role in it,” said Amanda Smith, executive director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.  “I’ve found that if you don’t have community and individual support and buy-in … it’s nearly impossible to accomplish anything in a successful way. I want to applaud Samsung. Look at the numbers they’ve done in the last year voluntarily collecting this waste; it’s absolutely astounding.”

Samsung has undoubtedly become a leader in eCycling, but by no means are they the only electronics retailer or manufacturer ramping up their recycling in Utah. In Utah, Sony and Electronic Manufacturing Recycling Management Company (a recycling company sponsored by Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Sanyo, Sharp Toshiba and Vizio) have sponsored the recycling at Deseret Industries, a local charity, and Best Buy collects electronics at its 10 locations across the state.

“It’s not just happening here; it’s happening nationwide where manufacturers enter partnerships with communities like Salt Lake County,” explained Walter Alcorn, CEA vice president of environmental affairs and industry sustainability.  “It’s not just a statewide issue, it’s a national issue.”

Nationally, industry sponsors or operates more than 5,000 collection sites (to find one near you go to www.GreenerGadgets.org) and is increasing the number of collection sites and events. In pursuing, that approach industry will work with local governments on events and activities to gather their valuable insight on local dynamics. In turn, we can collaborate on educating consumers on what to do with end-of-life electronics.

“If we can together develop programs, days like today,” Smith concluded. “We can make a difference.”

By Walter Alcorn, CEA Vice President of Environmental Affairs

Recycling is a big deal for my industry – the consumer electronics industry. Last April we announced the eCycling Leadership Initiative with an ambitious Billion Pound Challenge to more than triple the amount of electronics recycled annually by our industry from 300 million pounds in 2010 to a billion in 2016.

But where will all this recycled stuff go? By weight more than half of all collected consumer electronics are old televisions and computer monitors, and the heaviest component of most of those products are Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs). For decades, CRT was the technology of choice in the display industry but during the past decade demand for CRTs has dropped drastically as newer flat panel technologies like LCD and plasma have become affordable and widely available. Until now most CRT glass collected for recycling was cleaned up and recycled into new CRT units, but the market for new CRT displays is now nearly gone.

While there are many possible uses of CRT glass conceivable – use as X-Ray shielding in medical and dental offices comes to mind – there are presently no alternative uses or processing technologies in the market for CRT glass. In partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) we are looking to change that. Working together we are posting a global challenge to identify the best business models on new uses for recycled CRT glass. Whoever proposes the best solution by December 11, 2011 gets $5,000 of the $9,000 in total prize money. Bring us your ideas! Even if you don’t win the challenge you could be awarded $1,000 or more.

As our manufacturers and retailers ramp up their recycling efforts, we at CEA are also ramping up our efforts to educate consumers about electronics recycling. Last month, we rolled out a new website called greenergadgets.org, which includes a zip code locator for consumers to find recycling events and drop-off locations.  According to a CEA study in 2010, 58% of U.S. consumers said they know where they can recycle electronics. Together with our manufacturer and retailer partners we are working to increase that number during the next few years. And we are also looking to find new innovative recycling methods for our legacy products.

By Tim Doyle 

When you upgrade your computer, smartphone or TV, or buy a new consumer electronics device, how much thought do you give to its “green” quotient? How energy-efficient is it? How much packaging does it require? And, just what should you do with your “old” technology?

In April, CEA helped facilitate an industry commitment among members to recycle one billion pounds of electronics annually by 2016, so that helps with the last question. More broadly, we’re seeing a sweeping trend in the industry toward “greener gadgets” – smaller, more energy-efficient and smarter, more powerful devices that are more eco-friendly than ever before.

Take TVs for instance. The amount of power needed for a liquid crystal display (LCD) TV has plummeted 63 percent since 2003, while the energy demands of a plasma TV has declined 41 percent in the past few years. Meanwhile, the environmental footprint of these devices is now a fraction of what it used to be, as the average flat-panel TV is 82 percent lighter than its bulky cathode ray tube TV predecessor was in 2004 (both studies can be seen here).

When it comes to smaller electronics, such as a tablet computer or smartphone, the trend is perhaps even more pronounced. I once had four separate devices – a digital camera, camcorder, palm pilot and cellphone – while today my smartphone ably serves all those functions. Moreover, a slim tablet computer is a tiny fraction of its desktop computer ancestor. And, of course, these products are the hot consumer electronics products of the day and use a tiny amount of energy compared to those predecessors.

While this trend is clear to me, we at CEA want everyone to understand the full lifecycle of greener gadgets. So, today we’re pleased to announce the launch of GreenerGadgets.org, an important resource on green electronics.

The site offers information on how to efficiently use your devices and shop for the most sustainable products that will yield energy savings. The site also has a powerful energy use calculator with the most up-to-date products and energy use figures. We hope you will use this tool to better understand your usage and encourage your friends and family members to do the same. Research indicates that the more you know about your energy use, the more likely you are to consume less and save money.

Equally important is our electronics recycling locator tool. You can punch in your zip code and see nearby drop-off locations for the devices you are ready to recycle. This list only includes our own manufacturer and retailer programs, which use the strictest standards, and third-party-certified recyclers, so you can rest assured your device will be safely recycled! And, this tool is one way we hope to get to the big hairy audacious goal of recycling one billion pounds annually.

We will be updating the site regularly and sharing information about the latest developments in greener gadgets, so make sure you come back often, and let us know how the site is working for you.

By Emily Attwood, CEA Communications Intern

On Friday, September 30, 2011 I had the opportunity to go to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon on the national mall in Washington, D.C. The impressive competition hosts teams from universities from all over the world and challenges them to design, build and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient and attractive. This year 19 teams came to compete for their chance at becoming champions of the Solar Decathlon. The competition was fierce as all the houses were truly impressive, and some of the more impressive designs relied heavily on consumer electronics.

The City College of New York’s house, which is a Solar Roofpad designed to sit on top of a mid-rise apartment building, focused on solar power and decreasing water usage. In the bathroom and kitchen innovative displays showed how much water is being used, which, of course, highlights the importance of water conservation. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)^® has found the more consumers know about their energy use the less they are likely to use. So it’s easy to see how the detailed water usage data would lessen use.

In Ohio State University’s enCORE house, the team focused on the use of energy efficient consumer electronic products on the market right now. The living room featured a LG LED TV that uses a backlighting system to cut energy demand 30 percent from a legacy TV, which uses 35 percent more energy.

The design also emphasized flexibility with a central space that had the ability of being transformed among bedroom, living room and dining room. Its conservative approach favored a smaller footprint, requiring less energy and building materials. The house serves as a practical, innovative, and beautiful solution to the housing needs we face today.

The Solar Decathlon was such a great experience. I mostly enjoyed learning more about how we can become greener in our everyday lives. Even though we may not be living in completely green houses we can all reduce our energy footprint by using energy efficient products in our everyday lives. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency just launched a Greener Products Portal that is designed to help you find green products that can save money, prevent pollution and protect people’s health. The next time you are buying a product be sure to use the tool and see how CE products can help monitor usage and help you become greener.

Last Wednesday, after weeks and weeks of my careful planning (and about 15 minutes of utter frenzy to accommodate last minute schedule changes before the beginning of the Board of Industry Leaders Luncheon), members of CEA’s Government and Legal Affairs staff accompanied nearly forty executives from CEA’s Board of Industry Leaders and TechHome Board to Capitol Hill for meetings with their Congressional representative. Never before in recent history had CEA hosted such a large group for a lobby day. The week prior, many had participated in a webinar to brush up on CEA’s key policy issues. The participants were excited to bring CEA’s message of innovation – including the need for more wireless spectrum, passage of the pending free trade agreements and a national approach to electronics recycling – directly to their elected representative.

I travelled ahead of the mini-buses via cab to Capitol Hill in order to set-up the waiting room I arranged for lobby day participants to use during their downtime between meetings. As I set foot into the room at 1:50 pm, I heard the fateful two buzzes, followed by a pause, and then another five buzzes.

VOTES, I thought as I sighed and sarcastically thanked my constant companion, Mr. Murphy and his most unfortunate “laws.”

Despite technologies such as Twitter, Facebook status updates, SMS alerts, email, websites, Blackberries, cell phones, C-SPAN, closed-circuit television or even the basic landline telephone itself, the U.S. House of Representatives in its 224 years of operation has needed ways to inform its Members that a recorded voted – an elected officials’ one most basic act – was about to occur. The House floor, contrary to persistent popular belief, was never meant to be a place where Members would spend hours upon hours listening to and engaging in off-the-cuff debate. For that sort of give-and-take, head to the other side of the Capitol and take a peek at the U.S. Senate. Instead, the Founders intended that the House focus its time and effort on committee work where the actual “legislating” still to this day occurs. And so in order to let Members know of a vote when they were off at committee hearing or meeting a constituent or having lunch in the Members’ Dining Room, for the past 123 years, the House of Representatives has used a system of bells that ring throughout the Capitol and House Office Buildings (and later lights on all the clocks) to herd the masses to the floor. For those who are curious, there are several different combinations of bells and lights, all meaning something different.

When I heard the bells last Wednesday, I knew within an instant that all the meetings that we had scheduled for our lobby day attendees with Members of Congress would be cancelled and shifted instead to a member of their staff. When votes do occur in the House, they are always clumped together so that Members are not in a constant state of travel to and from the Capitol, and this time it would be no different. In total, Members had an hour and ten minutes worth of voting ahead of them on amendments to H.R.1231, Reversing President Obama’s Offshore Moratorium Act.

But the lobby day participants took this complete upheaval of their schedule in stride. They had been thoroughly briefed by Michael Petricone that situations like this were to be expected and that meetings with Congressional staff are often just as good as meeting with the Member. It is indeed a golden opportunity to forge and build a relationship, since staff do the bulk of the work in Congressional offices. I worked on Capitol Hill for nearly seven years, first as a scheduler and then as a Legislative Assistant. I can say without a doubt that meeting with my boss’s constituents face-to-face was extremely useful in developing his legislative priorities and vote recommendations. Congressional staff are bombarded by a near constant and unyielding stream of information in the form of letters, emails, phone calls, news stories and advertisements, all seeking to sway our opinions – and our bosses by extension. Stopping to meet with someone in person to talk with and listen about what is important to them, their families, their businesses and the district as a whole always yielded the most value for me, and I am certain this is the case for most legislative staff on Capitol Hill.

A few of the lobby day participants were still able to meet face-to-face with their Member of Congress. Caleb Yaryan, along with his group, had an exceptional experience that he recounted in an email to Julie Kearney:

We were scheduled to meet with Congressman Tim Scott, who is my representative, but due to a vote he was not able to meet us at his office. His Chief of Staff was very persistent and got ahold of the Congressman via text message. Congressman Scott asked if we could meet him over at the Capitol building, so Julie, Levy Gerzberg and Doug Cole and I were ushered over to the Capitol building where we met with the Congressmen for a couple of minutes. This in and of itself was a great experience; we were able to share our stories with him which were met with genuine interest…During the meeting Congressman Scott told me that he wished he could spend some more time talking about these matters and asked if I could meet him in his office in Charleston on Monday the 16th. I went yesterday and spent a good amount of one on one time with Mr. Scott. He was very receptive to the CEA’s lobbying points and has asked me to continue to stay in touch with him and contact him any time I need his help. I look forward to getting to know Mr. Scott better as he shared he is looking forward to getting to know me better, at the end of the meeting he invited to his house sometime in the future. I wanted to be sure to share this incredible story with you and let you know how much I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of the CEA.

Caleb’s story, although unique, offers several follow-up suggestions for other lobby day participants in order to continue to build your relationship with the Member of Congress or the staff member with whom you met. Write your Member of Congress a follow-up letter on your company letterhead, thanking him or her or the staff member’s time and attention. In the letter, also include information about the topics discussed during the meeting and volunteer to serve as a resource of these topics. You may also consider extending an invitation to your office or facility within his or her Congressional district. District office meetings are difficult to schedule, more so than on Capitol Hill, but patience and persistence will pay off. Join the Innovation Movement to stay up-to-date on CEA’s top policy issues. Respond to the Innovation Movement’s “Calls to Action,” which allows you the option to send a pre-written or to write a letter on your own to your Member of Congress on these critically important issues to the CE industry.

With Earth Day almost here, green practices are top of mind. Here are some tips from the Consumer Electronics Association on how to be a good steward of the environment while loving your favorite gadgets:

1. Look for Green Products

Look for the ENERGY STAR label to identify the most energy-efficient products and consult the EPEAT directory for green electronics. EPEAT combines comprehensive, objective criteria for design, production, energy and materials use and recycling with ongoing independent verification of manufacturer claims after registration. The directory has more than 3,200 products from 45 manufacturers registered in 41 countries.

2. Embrace Energy Efficiency

Unplug mobile phone chargers when batteries are fully charged or when the chargers are not in use. Turn off products when not use and look into new products that help save power.

Investigate home-networking and automation products and services that let you control heating, lighting and cooling from a central location in the home or remotely while you are away. Consult our energy calculator to see how to save money with energy efficiency.

photo via

3. Fix, Reuse or Recycle Older Products

Use our decision tree to help determine if a product can still be fixed and follow our recommendations to extend your product’s life. Consumers with older devices that still functional well should first consider where they might donate an old TV or computer, such as at a local assisted living facility, school, community center, or nonprofit group. Or maybe even a family member in need. You’d be amazed at how much help you can be making such a donation.

If you can’t find such a place to donate, please go to this page to find a place near your home to take your electronics to be recycled. When you go to drop it off, make sure to ask if they use reputable recyclers who are certified or are seeking certification. Tell them you want to be assured they are responsibly recycling.

Every year at International CES, the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow, we doggedly seek to recycle and reuse as much as we can after the show.

In 2010, 68 percent, or 372.2 tons, of the total solid waste generated by show attendees was recycled. We also work to reduce the materials used to put the show on, and this year we improved our efforts through some good old fashion American ingenuity.

Zach Delbex, who heads Repurpose America, offered to repurpose all the signs, foam boards and magnetic signs from this year’s CES. We happily accepted Zach’s offer, and worked with him to collect roughly 18,000 pounds of magnetic signs, nearly 15,000 square feet of banner signs and more than 150 foam boards (3 feet by 8 feet).

Repurpose America, which works to reuse materials at Las Vegas tradeshows, then gave a University of Nevada, Las Vegas Chinese cultural club some of the banner signs, who then used them for a fashion show. One of the signs lives a new life as fashion with the model on the right in red.

Delbex’s group also donated the foam signs to the Boy Scouts who held a Knights of the Roundtable event in Vegas after CES. There the signs were repurposed to build a castle for the scouts attending the event – a far more exciting use than directing the more than 140,000 CES show attendees around the Las Vegas Convention Center!

Repurpose America also needs revenue to fund its operation, so the magnetic signs were cut into business card and bumper sticker sizes and sold to local businesses for advertising. Those businesses then put their marketing materials on the magnetic material. So what was once a giant sign at CES might now be a take-out menu on a refrigerator.

The Consumer Electronics Association, the owner and producer of CES, strongly believes in innovation, whether it be new products that consumer love and value, or ingenious approaches to reducing our waste and promoting sustainable practices.

Earth Day is coming up quickly on April 22, and it inspires us all to think a bit more about our efforts to be green. When it comes to the CE industry, is green the first word you think of? It should be! You might be surprised by all the successful green initiatives launched recently by electronics companies .

I recycled an old printer and a digital camera for free at Crystal City’s Power Purge last year. It couldn’t have been easier. I dropped them off around the corner from my office and was assured they would be safely and properly recycled. I wasn’t alone either. The CE industry recycled about 200 million pounds in 2009, and CEA estimates that figure rose 50 percent to 300 million in 2010. There are 5,000 permanent collection sites available nationwide for electronics recycling.

Recycling electronics isn’t the only way technology has gone green either by any means. TV energy efficiency gains being made are staggering. The power consumption of the average TV sold in 2010 consumes less energy than a 100 watt incandescent light bulb – less power than what is needed to light a typical living room.

The Earth Day Network is asking everyone to submit an act of green and help them reach their goal of “One Billion Acts of Green.” I want to know what Earth Day means to you – and I want you to get creative about it! Enter the CEA Earth Day Photo & Video Contest.

The contest, brought to you by the CEA Digital Imaging Division and Tech Enthusiast membership program, opens today and you have until April 17 to submit a photo and/or video. We want to see and hear what Earth Day means to you. It can be anything from a snapshot of your favorite park to a short video telling us what you do to make the world a “greener” place.

Expert judges will select one winner in each category, and you can have your voice heard as well in an online popular vote. Judging and voting will take place April 18-21, and the winners will be announced on Earth Day. Great prizes include an Olympus Stylus Tough 14MP digital camera, a Kodak EasyShare M590 digital camera, a Cobra HDVC5100 digital camcorder with a gadget bag and tripod, and a Cobra HDVC6000 Solar digital camcorder.

Enter today! Be sure to check out the contest site and official rules.

By Guest Blogger,

The 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was impressive – and massive. At the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) alone, 1.6 million net square feet of exhibit space were utilized to highlight the plethora of innovative products and ideas at the show.

Convergence, “smart” technology and revised use-case scenarios rocked the scene. Smartphones now control refrigerators, TVs surf the Web and stream online content and 3DTV already has a model in the works that does not need glasses.

Sustainability itself moved from a trend at past CES experiences to a practical expectation at this year’s show. Here’s a look at the top four themes that we caught onto in Earth911′s visit to CES this year:

1. Energy Efficiency

The name of the game in greening up your tech starts with reducing its overall power consumption. “Smart” technologies in home appliances especially took this trend to a new level, with home appliances like refrigerators, washing machines and ovens that monitor the grid and can tell users when the least expensive time to run a cycle or cook a meal will occur.

These appliances will also learn when you most often use them (such as how many times a day and when you open the freezer) and adjust the temperature accordingly to keep foods fresh, even at slightly warmer temperatures, to reduce power consumption. You can even receive a text message from your oven to start and stop cooking cycles when you’re out in the backyard or even on the road.

Companies also met energy efficiency standards head-on, and the EPA is already revising Energy Star to take the requirements up another notch.

The bottom line is that consumers can expect their gadgets to strive to maximize efficiency and minimize power drain in new, intuitive ways.

2. Monitoring Home Energy Usage

Jumping off of the efficiency trend, being able to monitor and control your home energy usage from any location is a huge theme in consumer electronics.

“Smart” plugs offer a fast way to modify existing homes in order to monitor power usage, without needing a full-scale home energy monitoring (HEM) system.

While their features vary by manufacturer, essentially, smart plugs are outlet units that plug into regular household outlets to prevent vampire power drain, monitor energy consumption and generally reduce the overall costs to run various electronics. Many versions offer Wi-Fi or radiowave technology to communicate consumption rates to energy profiles accessible from any location. This capability, as well as updates available by text or email, make unusual usage patterns easier to spot and money easier to save in the process.

3. E-cycling and Utilizing Recycled Materials in Products

As part of companies’ overall corporate social responsibility (CSR) plans, electronics recycling inevitably comes into play. As the Official Recycling Partner of the 2011 CES, Earth911 may be a bit biased in its focus and emphasis on this trend. But in the wide world of gadget production, e-cycling is an important topic.

Companies are establishing (and have established) nationwide collection opportunities and responsible recycling initiatives for not only their own tech, but their competitors’ as well. With e-cycling searches on the Earth911 Recycling Directory increasing 48 percent last year alone, these are necessary and desired ways for consumers to contribute to sustainability.

Utilization of reclaimed materials both from post- and pre-consumer streams is also a hot trend across manufacturers. For example, the Sony Alpha A55 DSLR series camera bodies are made from post-industrial waste made from the CD and DVD manufacturing process. Also, Panasonic has a goal to use 16 percent recycled materials in every product it makes by 2018.

Find your local recycling solution
for electronics

4. Convergence

Essentially, the concept of “convergence” implies that gadgets can do more outside of their traditional range of functionality.

The newly revealed smart TVs from LG gave a perfect example of this by showcasing a platform that brings more advanced levels of streaming online content and Web browsing. Panasonic’s new integrated TVs add chatting on Skype, visiting Facebook and even tracking your fitness to the traditional television experience.

Convergence of tech means that fewer resources are utilized to produce the same capabilities, and it may mean that people buy “smarter” for their lifestyles. Rather than having more CE devices, they purchase fewer, but that have more functionality.

The trend has yet to play out, and CEA’s Senior Research Analyst Ben Arnold says that it may not affect purchasing either way. “The nature of technology and innovation means we are constantly seeing new products enter the home that are additive rather than replacements,” he tells Earth911. “I definitely don’t think we’ll need fewer devices, I actually think we are finding places where we can use new ones.”

Either way, it’s important at the end of life for all our gadgets, that they are responsibly recycled to find a new life and a new usage.

Editor’s Note: Earth911 was the Official Recycling Partner and the Official Green Media Partner, as well as the Sustainable Planet TechZone sponsor at the 2011 CES. Read here for more information about how Earth911 was a part of the e-cycling conversation at this year’s show.

Related articles:
The CES 2011 Green Scorecard
Will We Need Fewer Gadgets in the Future?
Resources for E-Cycling in High Demand From Consumers

This article was originally published at Earth911.com.

By Tim  Doyle

The tremendous innovation on display last week at the International CES also included many green products. Advancements in energy efficiency, product design, smart home and power generation were prominently featured for the more than 140,000 attendees.

This trend was recent highlighted by the CEA 2010 Sustainability Report (download a copy at www.ce.org/green) and the prominent environmental nonprofit Greenpeace, which issued its own report on green electronics at CES on January 6.

“Our survey shows that electronics manufacturers have made demonstrable progress over the past few years by producing products that are free of the worst toxic chemicals, more energy efficient and more easily taken back for reuse or recycling,” Renee Blanchard, Greenpeace International Toxics Campaigner, said in a news release.

CNET, The Huffington Post and ZDNet have also noticed the sustainability trend at CES.

On the show floor, LG featured Super LED TVs using up to 25 percent less energy than conventional LEDS with no image quality loss.

For its part, Panasonic devoted a whole section of its booth to a model green home, complete with LED lights, solar panels, fuel cells, and an interface to view and control power use.

In the area of smart homes, Zigbee featured many of its smart home products allowing consumers to monitor and control their home electric use more closely.

And, of course, there were plenty more wonderful green products at CES that we didn’t have time to photograph.

The Etón Raptor uses solar power to provide outdoorsmen a compass, altimeter and compass all-in-one devices.

The nPower PEG is a back-up charger for electronic devices. The Cylindrical-shaped device generates power by harnessing kinetic energy. College students, for instance, could place the device in their backpack and recharge their smartphone as they sat in class. In the future, the device could be placed in ocean buoys or find applications not yet known to generate power.

CES also saw the proliferation of solar power on small scales. Bags from Voltaic and other companies have solar material to fuel devices. Also, in that category was the Joos Orange, winner of the Best of Innovations award in the Eco-Design and Sustainable Technology.

The Joos Orange is totally waterproof and can generate a charge in unexpected weather conditions, such as light rain. Once its battery is fully stored it can charge devices for 21 hours. The device, which sells for $138, holds tremendous progress in India, Africa and other parts of the developing world where electricity is scarce. A new smaller version is also on the way.

By Guest Blogger, Bill Kutsche, business development manager, Murata Electronics North America

If you don’t already have a smart meter installed in your home or business, you will soon. According to Pike Research, an estimated 21 million smart meters were installed throughout the U.S. in 2010. And with more than 90 utilities coming online for additional deployments, expect another 58 million in the near future. This year’s CES will highlight a nation moving towards a smarter electrical grid – with these meters poised to make tremendous impact on green market.

A smart meter is the key component of the smart grid that enables utility companies and consumers to better conserve and control their energy usage. They are designed to enable two-way communication from a home/business to the utility company providing interval energy consumption data and time-of-day pricing information to the end-users.

But that’s just the beginning. With the focus being on green technology and saving energy, smart meters are becoming even “smarter” compared to past years. This evolution is good news for consumers. Newer smart meter features include the ability for the consumer to remotely access control of home or office appliances via a cell phone or PC and manage operation according to the provider’s energy-rate schedule to achieve even greater energy conservation and savings. These features are enabled by sensor, wireless, passives, and other technologies that we at Murata know very well.

As the smart meter market expands and smart meter technology advances, it is anticipated that consumer demand for remote energy control will grow exponentially. With this need comes the challenge of designing low cost, reliable smart meters that feature multiple functions. Thankfully, smart Murata solutions are at the cutting-edge of this energy application and are already helping designers not only meet, but also exceed consumer demands.

By Timothy Doyle

Seven shiny new all-electric motorbikes were unveiled at a local Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department station to the delight of CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro and members of the police force.

“We’re happy to contribute,” Shapiro said in brief remarks before local media. “We want to keep Las Vegas green.”

The bikes are the result of a $50,000 donation CEA made at last year’s CES. One police officer praised the no-emissions bikes for being extremely smooth and quiet and for not generating heat in scorching Las Vegas summers. (Traditional motorcycles, he explained, emanate heat upwards.) Along with being green, the bikes are also an effective patrolling tool because they are incredibly quiet and allow officers to sneak up on suspicious activity on the Las Vegas strip.

Officers charge the bikes, which top out at about 65 mph, at charging portals in the back of the station.

Hours after the police department showed off the bikes, Shapiro awarded a $75,000 check to Oscar Goodman, Mayor of Las Vegas and chairman of non-profit Green Chips.

“We are cognizant of giving back to the community and committed to the greening of Las Vegas,” Shapiro said before presenting an oversized check to Goodman at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the site of CES.

The public-private partnership headed by the Mayor conducts energy efficiency audits at Las Vegas homes and community buildings and retrofits buildings so solar panels can be installed.
The Shade Tree, a Las Vegas women’s shelter, utilized this energy efficiency audit and solar retrofit program, along with installing solar panels, to cut energy costs by a projected 10 percent.

“We’re going to be able to show you at the end of the day how your money was spent,” Goodman said. “You’re going to feel that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you help people.”

CEA President and CEO, Gary Shapiro takes a test ride on one of the all-electric motorcycles.

By Guest Blogger Jeff Kellogg, vice president of MWV’s Consumer Electronics and Security Packaging business

Did you know that market research firm, Mintel International Group predicts 2011 will bring a greater focus on packaging that promotes environmental responsibility and unique design? We agree. So, what does this mean to you? Well, primarily, it means your packaging will have an influential role on how your product and brand are perceived, not only on the retail shelves but also in the mind of your customers. Pretty important stuff. It is imperative though that while focusing on brand and sustainability; the packaging must still maintain a level of security and protection all while retaining its consumer friendliness.

Moving beyond brand owners, retailers are now stretching to meet the evolving needs/wants of consumers by striving to “do well by doing good” and partnering with suppliers that seamlessly integrate in to the retailers’ strategies and imperatives. As retailers begin to address sustainable packaging commitments, there’s a real need to carry products that use the latest packaging material and design innovations to meet these sustainability goals and protect and provide a level of security that deters “would be” thieves. Packaging partners, like MWV, work with both retailers and brand owners to design solutions that fit their specific needs as well as reduce packaging weight, provide reusability or recoverability, and make the most effective use of natural resources.

For example, MWV worked with customers like SanDisk, Kodak, and Swiss Army to create a more sustainable alternative to plastic clamshell without sacrificing security. MWV created Natralock®, a secure package that uses 70 percent less plastic on average, and is made from responsibly sourced and recyclable paper fiber. Because of its proprietary tear-resistant paperboard and ability to capture vibrant graphics, Natralock provides benefits to retailers such as the elimination of “safers” or clear hard plastic cases thus increasing shelf space, reduction of in store theft, and creation of packaging options that enhances product shelf appeal. All of these advantages help increase a product’s turn over and by promoting consumer interaction and brand appeal. Products can now be seen clearly by consumers and often stand out when set next to or pegged with other products wrapped in clamshells.

Some examples of products packaged in Natralock

Because your packaging is an extension of your product, the experience your consumers have with your brand starts the moment they see the packaging and carries through the opening experience. Ultimately, it can also trigger an emotional response and impact the satisfaction or guilt consumers feel about their contribution to environmental waste when they toss it in the garbage or recycling bin. More importantly, it is what entices a consumer to purchase a product for the first time.

MWV’s Natralock fundamentally addresses a big environment call-to-action by retailers for brands to recycle, reuse, and reduce, without compromising security or brand identity.

Be sure to check us out at CES as we provide more real-world examples of why packaging matters.

By Guest Blogger, Mike Daniels,

With the holiday season upon us and the end of the year fast approaching, we will once again see the newest LCD and Plasma High Definition TVs relegate the TVs of yesterday to the basement. Likewise smartphones of all types will send cell phones to the desk drawer and PC Tablets will send laptops and desktops to the corner closet. The American consumer has a seemingly never satisfied craving for the newest technology.

What happens to those unwanted electronics? Most estimates tell us that less than 20 percent of our old electronics are being recycled properly. It’s become such an issue that Representatives Green and Thompson have introduced into Congress a bill, HR6252 called the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act, which would prohibit the export of restricted electronic scrap to developing nations. On November 15^th, America Recycles Day, President Obama signed a proclamation highlighting the need for greater attention to be paid to addressing electronic waste and announcing the formation of a new task force charged with helping the federal government lead by example in responsibly managing used electronics.

Currently 23 states have legislation mandating some level of electronics recycling, placing the burden back on the manufacturer or retailer to insure that electronics are being recycled responsibly. It’s a safe bet that other states will follow in 2011 creating an even larger patchwork of various regulations and reporting requirements. Does it not make sense for electronics manufacturers and retailers (even CEA?) to be proactive next year to develop and implement a national strategic plan to educate consumers and make it convenient for them to recycle rather than letting the state or Federal government take the lead?

The Dell/Goodwill nationwide partnership has proven a successful model for PC recycling with free drop-off at Goodwill stores and refurbishment or recycling handled by Dell in Austin, Tex. Using the nonprofit partner provides consumers with a charitable donation and creates job for persons with disabilities or barriers to employment. What’s not to like about this partnership?

But how feasible is it to ship PC desktops, TVs, stereos, monitors, servers, and printers for recycling purposes (particularly in the face of rising freight costs)? From experience I can say it might make sense to ship high value eWaste such as laptops and smart phones but not much else. Therefore why not establish a network of qualified for-profit and nonprofit eWaste recycling organizations in strategic locations to actually collect, dismantle and/or refurbish obsolete electronics of all types? They could even capture the documentation being required from the manufacturers for those states requiring the data (more states and data reporting to come in 2011). Imagine the natural resources and energy that could be saved by improving on our eWaste recycling rate not to mention the jobs that could be created in 2011! I believe we can make better use of the “taxes” being required from the states to fund their eWaste programs by increasing public awareness and establishing such a network partnership. What do you think?

When we go to CES every year, we at Voltaic Systems tend to look at products differently than most attendees. When we’re not exhibiting behind our booth, we’re peeking at laptop and phone battery specifications and snapping photos of power input plugs. We’re trying to determine whether the device will charge from one of our solar chargers, how long it will take to charge and how to connect to the device. CES lets us efficiently inspect thousands of devices in a few days.

From our perspective, there are a few big trends when it comes to charging electronic devices.

Phone batteries are getting bigger to support more advanced functionality

In 2007, the first year we exhibited at CES, the Motorola RAZR was one of the most popular phones with a 780 mAh battery. Today, the DROID2 has a 1300mAh battery, a 66 percent increase. This means that any charger needs to have correspondingly more power and capacity in order to charge the device effectively.

MicroUSBs are truly becoming standard

Keeping up with constantly changing phone adapters is a necessary evil for our business. In the past, we’d show up and see that Samsung or some other manufacturer introduced a new proprietary adapter. Now, it seems that we haven’t had to build a new adapter in quite a while as manufacturers have stopped creating their own adapter designs and have focused on MicroUSB. This is great for users of electronics as we don’t have to keep as many chargers lying around our house. It is also good from an environmental perspective as fewer chargers are manufactured and, eventually, disposed. As for Voltaic, we get to ship fewer adapters in our standard kit, simplifying and lightening our product.

Tablets are charging more like phones

The rise of the tablets is thrilling from a charging perspective. Laptops are more difficult to charge than phones they require a fairly large battery with high voltage and current output and these requirements vary by manufacturer and specific laptop. The new crop of tablets have a lot of the functionality of a laptop, but seem to be using MicroUSB, which means they’ll charge from any USB port including the ones on our universal batteries. We’ll know more after CES, but in our view, this shows the effectiveness of this particular standardization process.

If you’re an attendee at CES, feel free to stop by with your electronics to see how well they charge from our solar chargers. You’ll find us in the Sustainable Planet TechZone.

By Guest Blogger Jeff Kellogg, Vice President of Natralock, MeadWestvaco Corporation.

Face it, your packaging matters. You may have the coolest new gadget the CE industry has seen since virtual sliced bread, but if its poorly packaged, people will take note, or not notice it at all.

Ask yourself: “What do I want packaging to do for my product?”

The answer lies in striking the perfect balance of security and protection while optimizing your brand. You want packaging to protect your product from would-be thieves but also be accessible and easy-to open for consumers—minus injury and emotional stress. In a perfect world, you can have this product placed on the shelf, free from an intimidating locked glass case and a missing sales associate.

Often with consumer electronics, packaging security can diminish the impact of the product and brand when the item is hidden behind counters or wrapped in a spider-like security device. Theft, tampering, counterfeiting and retail damage can cost everyone valuable time and money (and even have an adverse effect on the environment) but who wants their product kept from their customers?

Today’s CE packaging, should offer newer, more advanced alternatives to traditional fallbacks such as the unfriendly clamshells. These new solultions should be designed to protect against theft and counterfeiting, be more consumer-friendly, and be easier on the environment – all while strengthening the company’s brand through innovative graphics and structural design.

Packaging solutions like Natralock^®, a paperboard-based package, deter would-be thieves from stealing the product inside. The proprietary, tear-resistant paperboard allows maximum space for branding on the package, and the paperboard offers a higher quality look, while maintaining the theft resistance critical to loss prevention.

Because packaging is often considered an extension of the brand, we’ll explore how some of today’s top CE brands like Memorex, Cobra and Kodak are considering more consumer friendly packaging options in my next blog post.

By Grace Ellis

In today’s world, we can never be too healthy. From hand sanitizer to sunscreen, consumers are constantly searching for clean and healthy products to improve their lives. To respond to the consumer demand for these products, Myron Mullins founded Purely Products™ in 2006.

Purely Products was originally founded to meet the demand for germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) replacement bulbs which aids in sterilization efforts through UV. Now the company has several innovative products meant to protect and clean consumers and families.

Myron Mullins has served as the executive vice president of ForSaleByOwner.com and was the founder and president of GoneHome.  Myron is extremely passionate about his charity diaperLove™ that provides diapers to children in need.

1.   What was your motivation for starting your company?

First, was an unmet need involving consumer, medical and industrial products using UV-C (ultraviolet) light. Second was a desire to be involved in the development, education and introduction of affordable eco-responsible products.   Third were my children, and the desire to positively impact the environment they will grow up and live in. Finally, diaperLove, the non-profit my wife and I founded that distributes diapers to families in need, is funded partially through the profits of Purely Products.

2.   What do you think is the biggest opportunity for products in the clean and healthy industry?

Replacing products emitting unacceptable amounts of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) is a massive opportunity. To develop products that provide choices while minimizing SKUs is a really awesome opportunity. We’re seeing significant interest in products that involve negative ions as a healthy & wellness contributor.  With the pending enactment of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 in 2012, the opportunities in light bulbs from CFLs and certainly with LEDs are enormous.

3.   What advice can you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?

Realize that it’s your dream, not everyone else’s. Recognize that it will likely take five times longer, cost 10 times more and cost you sleep, hair and waistline, but the end result is worth it. Know that most ascents of Mt. Everest fail very close to the summit and most new business endeavors fail because the entrepreneur quits too early. Start with a good personal infrastructure of faith, family, health and friends…then worry about the business’s exo- and infra-structure. Learn from others’ failures. Seek and install life coaches and mentors wherever possible.

By Sarah Myers

The mission of CEA is to grow the global consumer technology industry. This summer, CEA has taken its mission abroad as sponsor of SINOCES – China’s largest tradeshow for consumer technology – and participation in the World Electronics Forum (WEF) Interim Meeting in the Philippines.

Opening Ceremony at the 2010 SINOCES

The 2010 SINOCES took place July 8-11 in Qingdao, China. This was my third trip to Qingdao and each time I visit, I can’t get over the beauty of the city and the growth of SINOCES. The show featured more than 500 global technology companies including Applied Micro, Cannon, Gibson Guitar, Haier, Hisense and Panasonic with major trends including 3DTV, telecommunications and connected home appliances, prevalent throughout the show floor.

Global industry and government leaders spoke at SINOCES, including former United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab and CEA’s President and CEO Gary Shapiro, who delivered a keynote address at the show.

SINOCES also featured the International Forum on Sustainability of Consumer Electronics, produced by CEA and Vogel Burda Media’s CHIP magazine. The Forum discussed achieving sustainable growth, green product design and manufacturing and the consumer electronics market in a low carbon era.

World Electronics Forum Delegates in Manila

Following SINOCES, a CEA delegation traveled to Manila, Philippines for the WEF Interim Meeting. With 11 international associations representing nine countries, the Interim Meeting was the most successful in WEF history. Participants discussed key issues important to the entire global electronics industry and set the agenda for the 16^th Annual World Electronics Forum meeting, scheduled January 8-10, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada, which will coincide with the 2011 International CES.

As part of the meeting in Manila, WEF delegates were able to meet with leaders from the local Philippine business community, tour manufacturing facilities and take in the local sites including a visit to the Tagaytay Highlands, which overlooks the Taal Volcano.

The Tagaytay Highlands in the Philippines

Check out photos from the 2010 SINOCES show floor and the city of Qingdao.