By Samantha Nevels, Policy Communications

With great power comes great responsibility, which is why the CE industry has long demonstrated a commitment to socially and environmentally responsible business practices. This commitment is evident in everything from encouraging green design and manufacturing of new products to developing and promoting electronics recycling programs. And green tech was on full display at the 2013 International CES^®.

For the second year, more than 190,000 badge holders were made from vinyl banners salvaged from the previous year’s CES, and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)^® collected discarded publications and show collateral, setting out to surpass last year’s collection of 50,000 pounds of materials. CEA also made two $50,000 donations to local Las Vegas organizations, Green Chips and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), to advance clean energy and sustainable living.

U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson visited CES to experience firsthand how the consumer electronics industry is on the vanguard of developing products and technologies that are green and sustainable. She also toured green products and technologies throughout CES, including Eureka Park, as well as show floor exhibits from LG Electronics, Panasonic and Samsung. Highlights included Panasonic’s energy efficient televisions and Samsung’s “eco-wall,” which showcased green appliances and ENERGY STAR products.

CEA hosted two panels during CES focused on e-waste and energy efficiency policies and programs in the U.S. Both were well-attended, and led to a productive and robust discussion on how the industry continues to work together with government and private sector stakeholders toward common sustainability goals. What’s more, Administrator Jackson made opening remarks at both sessions, and she commended the CE industry for its green programs and initiatives.

The e-waste panel (see video here) focused on voluntary and proactive steps the industry has taken, including the eCycling Leadership Initiative and Billion Pound Challenge, which set ambitious goals and expectations for recycling consumer electronics. Most agreed that a comprehensive and national strategy is necessary to maximize resources and impact. One panelist compared eCycling to the issue of litter decades ago, in that public awareness and education are two critically important ways to change behavior. In this way, recycling your consumer electronics should be as easy as buying them.

The energy efficiency panel (see video here) focused on the best policy and program approaches to achieve real and tangible energy efficiency gains. Panelists recognized existing programs such as ENERGY STAR that are working extremely well in the consumer electronics market. Panelists also noted the importance of avoiding unnecessary mandates that could stifle innovation in an industry that’s already achieving substantial energy efficiency gains as a result of competition and consumer demand. All agreed that it’s in the best interest of the industry to continue to make their products leaner and greener.

By Guest Blogger, Chandler Slavin, Dordan Manufacturing

How important is the environment to you? According to various contemporary consumer marketing research reports, very. Google “sustainability” and “consumer preference” and you are bombarded with numerous studies, posts and articles proclaiming that sustainability concerns are at the forefront of consumers’ buying preference value indicators.

Sustainability isn’t just about selling more environmentally conscious products, however; it is also about selling more for less. And who “sells more for less” more efficiently than Walmart, who in 2006 introduced the Sustainable Packaging Scorecard? Intended to reduce packaging across the supply chain five percent by 2013, this initiative sent a shock wave throughout the CPG supply chain that continues to reverberate today. For the first time in history, not only was packaging being assessed on quality, performance and cost, but fossil fuel consumption, cube utilization and greenhouse gas emissions.

Six years later, the dialogue about sustainable packaging has grown to emphasize the environmental performance of both the packaging and the product. By taking an integrated approach to sustainability, which considers the entire product/package life cycle system, not only can companies sell more sustainable products, they can do so for less.

To learn about sustainable packaging solutions, visit Dordan Manufacturing at the 2013 International CES in Las Vegas, located in the Sustainable Planet TechZone of The Venetian Ballroom, booth #70326.

With the holiday season upon us, I am starting to think about my holiday shopping list. In recent years, I have found myself spending more time in the electronics section of the stores I visit than the apparel section. I am not alone. According to the CEA Holiday Gift Guide, technology gifts once again top many wish lists. Tablet computers, smartphones, digital TVs, digital cameras and camcorders, and video game systems are in demand.

Those who want to do good by the environment can choose electronics that use less energy by looking for the ENERGY STAR label as they do their holiday shopping. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s blue ENERGY STAR label helps consumers easily identify products that are energy efficient, and it can be found on products in more than 65 product categories.

Many of the products on your holiday gift list can earn the ENERGY STAR rating, including televisions, DVD and Blu-ray players, soundbars, speaker systems for MP3 players, computers, monitors and printers. ENERGY STAR-certified products provide all the functionality of standard products but use less energy, helping us cut our energy bills while keeping our environment healthy. If every TV, DVD, and home theatre system purchased in the U.S. this year were ENERGY STAR-qualified, we would save more than $260 million and prevent the amount of greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to what 300,000 cars produce in a year.

As you do your holiday shopping this year, consider looking for the ENERGY STAR label and doing something good for the environment all year long.

Una Song works for EPA’s ENERGY STAR program and is focused on marketing ENERGY STAR consumer electronics. This year marks ENERGY STAR’s 20th anniversary. Together with help from ENERGY STAR, American families and businesses have saved nearly $230 billion on utility bills and prevented more than 1.7 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the past 20 years.

By Samantha Nevels, Policy Communications

As the seasons change and it gets colder out, you’re probably going to spend more time indoors with the heat on. Looking for new ways to save money on your energy bill? You’re not alone. A consumer survey conducted by CEA found that 60 percent of consumers are concerned about their electricity bills. The good news is that consumer electronics products account for only 12 to 15 percent of an average home’s energy use.  Nevertheless, every little bit of unused energy saves you money and reduces energy demand.

Be Power-Wise. The first step in cutting energy costs is understanding your energy use. CEA has made this easy through a new, interactive Consumer Electronics Energy Calculator available at GreenerGadgets.org. With a few simple steps, this calculator will estimate the amount of energy used by your consumer electronics devices. All you have to do is select which electronics devices you own and estimate how many hours per day you use them. The calculator will then determine your energy cost per month and per year, and compare your energy use to that of the average U.S. household.

Below are a few quick and easy tips that will make a difference this holiday season:

• Give the Gift that Gives Back. Electronics are a popular gift for the holidays and now you can give a great gift that also gives back in many ways.  Look for the ENERGY STAR or EPEAT-certified product labels when purchasing electronics. These indicate energy efficient appliances that will save you money on your electricity bill and help protect the climate.

• New Electronics Gift? Recycle the Old One: Whether you get or give an electronics gift, be sure to reuse or recycle the old one, enabling the valuable materials to be used again in new products while helping to save natural resources. Check out CEA’s electronics recycling site locator at GreenerGadgets.org.

• Pay Attention to the Plug. Plug electronic devices, such as televisions, DVD players, game consoles and audio systems, into eco-friendly power strips, or unplug devices altogether when they are not in use.

• Read the Fine Print. Check your electronics owners’ manuals to make sure you are taking full advantage of any energy-conservation capabilities that your electronics may have.

With these quick and easy tips you’ll be on your way to having more money in your pocket and contributing to a better, more sustainable environment. Visit GreenerGadgets.org to learn more about how you can live green, buy green and recycle responsibly.

ENTER TO WIN! In celebration of our new Consumer Electronics Energy Calculator, we are giving away an ENERGY STAR-qualified LG 42 inch Plasma TV and an ENERGY STAR-qualified Panasonic Blu-ray disc player and surround sound system. To enter to win, visit GreenerGadgets.org/HolidayEnergy.

Happy holidays!

The holidays and Black Friday are fast approaching, so why not go green this holiday season? Whether it is giving gifts that are made from recycled consumer electronics or buying energy efficient home products, there are many different ways you can be “green!” Here are some green products to consider for yourself and others:

Eco-friendly Products for the Outdoorsy People on your Holiday List:

Bruton Outdoor Solar Power Pack

If you have someone on your holiday shopping list who loves the outdoors, look no further. It’s hard to go on a camping or hiking trip without worrying that your phone is going to run out of juice. This Solar Power Pack has twin solar panels and a DC adapter enabling you to use the sun to charge any device that connects to a mini or regular USB port.

ThinkGeek Solar-Powered Water Bottle Cap

You no longer have to worry about your lantern running out of batteries. This solar-powered water bottle cap fits any standard 2.25-inch bottle, like a Nalgene, and the cap’s four white LEDs will team up with the water to make a lantern. Makes a great camping night light!

Eco- Friendly Radios for the Music Lovers on your Holiday List:

Eton FR160 Wind-up, Solar Powered, Radio, Torch & Mobile Phone Charger

When you are out and about at the beach or just gardening in the yard, sometimes you want to listen to music. But what if your iPod isn’t charged? Meet your new best friend. This radio has a resilient, rugged, rubberized exterior that has shortwave functionality as well as AM and FM reception. With a solar panel or hand crank to charge, this radio is eco-friendly and sure to be a great travel companion.

Magno Small Wooden Radio

This retro, stylish product, made in Indonesia, is made of sustainably harvested wood and packaged in recycled materials. It is also able to play iPods and MP3 players. This radio gets green points because for every tree that is used in production of Mango radios, a new one is planted.

Eco-friendly Phones for the People who Love to Talk on your Holiday List:

Samsung Restore

This eco-friendly product would be a great gift for anyone looking for a simple, easy-to-use phone. The Restore’s outer casing is made from 27 percent post-consumer recycled plastic, and overall the handset is 84 percent recyclable. This phone is also powered with an ENERGY STAR-version 2.0 qualified charger. Go ahead and brag, you know you want to.

LG Remarq

Hate bulky, big phones? Then this phone is for you. It’s as a whole 87 percent recyclable. The Remarq features a sleek, compact design with a full QWERTY keyboard, so you can type emails and texts quickly. With this phone you can be environmentally friendly and socially savvy!

This holiday season, CEA’s Digital Answer Man Jim Barry has been very busy on the road promoting new and innovative CE products for the holidays. I recently caught up with Jim and had a candid discussion about his most visited website, his favorite CE products and what he is most excited to see at the 2013 International CES^®.

What website would you say you visit the most often and why?

Barry: It’s hard to say which site I visit most often since I look at lots of sites every day to keep up on industry happenings including – of course – CEA’s website. I’m also checking in with CNET, engadget, The Verge and Gizmodo, all of which have interesting takes on what’s going on in the business.

If you were stuck on a desert island and could only have one technology with you, what would it be?

Barry: Assuming there’s no wireless service on my desert island, I’d want a fully loaded e-reader to catch up on reading but would probably need a solar or manual crank charger to keep it going.

The holidays are coming up. What technologies are at the top of your list?

Barry: I’m in the market for a new traveling computer. So for the holidays this year, I’d be happy to find one of the new “convertibles” that combine the best of tablets and Ultrabooks under the tree.

The 2013 International CES is fast approaching! What are you most excited to see?

Barry: I’ve been going to CES for more than 30 years but I’m excited and energized each year by all the new technologies and products. This year, I’m looking forward to seeing new applications of voice recognition/artificial intelligence beyond smartphones and gesture technology in more than video games.

What is your favorite recycled electronic that you have seen so far? (For example, circuit board bookmarks)

Barry: The CE industry has taken a real leadership position in the environmental movement with energy efficient products and recycling programs. Some of my favorite products are the wireless phones made almost entirely from recycled materials. Examples are the Reclaim and Restore from Samsung and the Remarq from LG.

Don’t miss Barry this holiday season in Chicago, New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, showcasing the hottest gadget gifts. Be sure to check out some of the recent products he’s shown on tour and keep up with him on Twitter @CEAanswerman. Questions for the Digital Answer Man himself? Sound off in the comments below!

Business to business interaction was the event goal, as 500 exhibitors showcased their latest product debuts across 35,000 square meters of exhibit space. More than 80,000 attendees included executives, manufacturers, retailers, engineers, purchasing managers, developers, government leaders and more than 300 media to cover the event. Being home to major technology manufacturers like Haier and Hisense, the city of Qingdao hosted because of its commitment to leading the future of technology innovation. Not to mention it is a beautiful city on the coast!

Aside from the show floor that featured the latest in hardware, content, technology and delivery systems, the event had conference programming and a host of private meetings. It was an interactive business setting for technology companies looking to make a splash in the Chinese market. Speakers addressed technology trends throughout the globe during conference sessions, and touched on themes like environmental sustainability.

This being my first business trip to China, I loved learning about and experiencing a few new Chinese customs:

• Business Gifts: There is normally an exchange of gifts at the end of official meetings or dinners. Gifts are given to the highest-ranking person from each organization who receives the gift on behalf of the company represented.

• Business Card Exchange: When meeting someone for the first time it is customary to exchange business cards with him/her. The procedure is started by a handshake, followed by a two-handed business card exchange, a bow of respect and then the examination of both sides of the card. The card is always treated with respect, and introductions are made in order of one’s rank within the company. Also, it is not unusual for someone to leave immediately following a business card exchange. Casual conversation is not expected.

• Addressing Others: The Chinese normally place their last name (family name) as their first name, and given name as last name. For example, Li Wei, Li is the family name, while Wei is the given name. When you call someone, you can simply call Mr. or Ms. Li if it’s your first time meeting. Nowadays however, some put their English name in a Western way, to be consistent with Western custom. If asked, people in Qingdao were accommodating to questions of how to address them and understand it’s difficult for foreigners to properly address their names.

• Food:  Chinese food is world famous for its eight regional cuisines. With Qingdao being a coastal city, the local seafood is revered. Food can be served on a big plate that everyone on the table can share with their own chopsticks, or “public” chopsticks that are used only for taking food from the main plate to your own plate. I never had a meal that was less than eight courses, and most of it was fabulous! Chinese food is really inclusive including things far beyond your imagination. There is no limitation of what to expect, such as fish served with heads intact or cartilage kabobs. There is no “prohibition zone” in food, you just eat what you like, but do try everything that is served – it is considered disrespectful if you don’t.

• Cultural Issues: There is to be no public talk on the political issues between China and the U.S. Politics is always a sensitive topic in China.

• Proper Attire: Avoid red, green and yellow, as these colors are not suitable for business dress!

As summer begins, electricity bills start to rise. Fortunately, your favorite consumer electronics (CE) devices amount to a mere 13 percent of the average home’s energy consumption. Your television, for example, only uses about 6 percent of the energy needed to power your air conditioner. But some new innovations in CE can help you keep your air conditioning – a major cost component of your electricity bill – down this summer.

The number one thing you can do is use a programmable or “smart” thermostat. One example is the Nest Learning Thermostat, a smart thermostat that will actually learn your schedule and the temperature at which the house should be at different times of the day. The Nest has motion detector technology that can tell when you are home and when you are not, and adjust the temperature accordingly.

The EverSense is another innovative home energy system with a touch screen (photo to the right), and it connects right to your smartphone or tablet. An app on your phone or tablet can trigger automatic temperature changes based on the distance you’ve travelled from your home. The touchscreen includes programming functions, an energy conservation mode, and five-day weather forecasts.

Other smart thermostat options include the Wi-Fi-enabled ecobee Smart Thermostat, the Homewerks Radio Wireless Thermostat, and more. Investing in a smart thermostat will not only reduce your home energy bill, but will also enable you to manage your home’s temperature from wherever you are. Many of these devices can communicate directly with your smartphone or tablet for maximum convenience. Going to be late getting back from the lake? No problem, just use the appropriate app and turn the A/C off at home to save energy and money.

An alternative way to save energy is to exchange your old appliances and electronics for new electronics that meet the latest ENERGY STAR specifications. Currently, more than 27,000 electronics product models meet ENERGY STAR specifications set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. These products offer huge cost savings by using energy more efficiently than the older models.

If you’d like to get a better understanding of the energy use of your CE, check out the GreenerGadgets energy calculator and find out how much you use!

For more tips on how to be green in your home and with your electronics, visit GreenerGadgets.org.

By Doug Johnson, VP, CEA Technology Policy

It is no secret that the state of California’s burdensome and onerous regulations impact our entire industry – and we’ve been working to improve this situation since 2006.

Earlier this month, the San Jose Mercury News covered flaws in the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) regulatory process.

While we were happy that the paper focused on some of the key issues (including CEC’s use of old data and industry product convergence), one oversight included a mention, without citation, that “electronics” now account for 31 percent of home electricity use.

What the article failed mention is that a definitive report found “consumer electronics” account for only 13 percent. What’s more, it’s estimated that U.S. energy consumption will drop five to 15 percent by 2020 – largely due to innovation, product convergence and consumer incentives.

We found the paper’s 31 percent figure troubling because the focus of the article was squarely on consumer electronics, and while items like toasters and hair dryers have electrical components, they are in no way considered part of our industry.

Too often, our industry has witnessed unnecessary government mandates advanced on the basis of poor data and analysis, which has led to false claims of energy savings from regulation. Context means everything, and within the public policy realm, consumer electronics have had a distinct experience in a couple of ways.

First, the ENERGY STAR program – a market-oriented, voluntary and flexible government-industry partnership – has proven to be the most effective policy driver in moving the market toward higher levels of efficiency, as opposed to static and costly regulatory limits set by government.

A second distinguishing experience is what our industry has witnessed before the CEC, which has pushed regulations on electronics in three rulemakings over the past seven years. Each time, as demonstrated in three separate third-party studies, the CEC mischaracterized consumer electronics, used old data, ignored ENERGY STAR’s success, ignored costs to consumers, made math errors, and claimed energy savings that didn’t exist.

Our industry has a strong history of environmental stewardship and leadership through innovation, competition and market-oriented programs, and we believe complying with unnecessary and unwarranted energy regulations is a drain on public and private resources and does nothing to push forward energy and environmental innovation in our products.

If you are a California resident, please take action now. Click here to send your support for AB 1850 to your California legislator.

You can find more information at http://www.CE.org/California.

At the 2012 International CES, CEA donated $75,000 to two Las Vegas-based, environmentally friendly groups to give back to the local community. One recipient was Repurpose AMERICA, a non-profit organization focused on creating sustainable solutions for managing convention waste and putting people to work in Nevada. With a $25,000 grant from CEA, Repurpose AMERICA has given back to the community in a variety of ways including the creation of sun shade structures for two local community centers in the Las Vegas area.

The University of Nevada Las Vegas Rebel Recycling Program most recently received one of these sun shades from Repurpose AMERICA. The sun shade was made from an advertisement from the 2012 International CES and will serve to protect the staff from the sun’s harmful rays throughout the year. This is the first donation of what is expected to be multiple contributions from Repurpose AMERICA of building materials for the reconstruction of the Rebel Recycling Center and the future site for a community garden.

This is not the first year CEA has teamed up with Repurpose AMERICA. After the 2011 CES, CEA worked with the organization to divert 18,000 pounds of magnetic signs, nearly 15,000 square feet of banner material and more than 150 foam core signs from the local landfill, all to be repurposed and given back to the Las Vegas community.

This year at the 2012 CES, Repurpose AMERICA collected a record amount of materials to recycle and repurpose, including: more than 35,700 square feet, equivalent to 20,000 pounds, of magnetic banners, 28,600 square feet of vinyl banners, 16,000 square feet of other show signs and materials and for the first time, almost 50,000 pounds of show publications. Repurpose AMERICA also produced over 190,000 badge holders from 2011 CES badge holders, and over 11,000 of these were collected after the show to be given a third life.

Every year, CEA works to make the International CES more environmentally sustainable than the year before. This year, CES exceeded our own expectations by leaps and bounds, and we’re pressing forward with making the 2013 International CES even better. For more information on the sustainability practices of the 2012 International CES, please go to CESweb.org/green.

Here are some easy ways to be part of the Green Economy:  use energy efficient electronics; unplug unused devices; recycle old cell phones and other electronics; and buy ENERGY STAR-compliant electronics.

It’s important that we all understand how our own energy use contributes to the global economy. There are nearly 2.9 billion consumer electronics (CE) devices in U.S. households and an average of 25 devices per household, including battery-operated CE devices. Home use of CE devices equaled 13.2 percent of overall residential electricity consumption and 9.3 percent of residential primary energy consumption in 2010.

With summer quickly approaching, there are new ways we can keep our homes energy efficient. One example is using a smart thermostat, like the Nest, which efficiently uses the energy needed to keep your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter — and it saves you money on your electricity bill.

CE products have different life spans (18 months for a smartphone, compared to more than 10 years for a TV).  When your CE device has reached the end of its usefulness for you, take a look at extending the life of the product through resale or reuse. See if there’s a worthy home for your small or large electronic devices at a local school, retirement home or community center. You might be surprised how valuable your old device could be to someone else. Also, smaller, newer devices might still have some value, so check our recycling page for some buyback opportunities. And always be sure to recycle your old electronics if they have no further use; find a recycling location near you here.

As part of this year’s recognition of WED, we are giving away several green prizes, including the Eton Mobius (a solar iPhone charger), the Eton Rukus (a solar boombox), the Nest (home energy manager), and a very energy efficient Panasonic Blu-ray disc player. To enter to win, please fill out the entry form here. Thanks for you doing your part in the Green Economy.

Worldwide sales figures gathered by NPD DisplaySearch and touted in a release Monday, May 14, showed that in the fourth quarter of 2011, LCD sets backlit with light-emitting diodes made up 55.3 percent of the total, outnumbering those illuminated by CCFLs (cold cathode fluorescent lamps).

By the fourth quarter of this year, DisplaySearch predicts that LED sets will add up to 70.4 percent of the market, consigning CCFL TVs to the niche category once occupied by expensive, upstart LED models.

CEA’s January 2012 estimates for U.S. shipments tell a similar story, with LED sets forecast to rise from 9.4 million units last year to 15.3 million this year while CCFL units deflate from 19.4 million to 13.1 million.

That’s a noteworthy achievement, considering that it’s only been three years and change since LED-backlit sets debuted at the 2009 CES  as a high-end option at we’ll-tell-you-later prices.

This transition will force a change in the sales pitch for LED models—which, to stick with the dictionary definition, are no less LCD TVs than the CCFL models nobody ever thought to call “CCFL TVs” or “fluorescent TVs.”

That marketing message for LEDs has been a combination of faster (quicker response times), deeper (darker blacks) or greener (less power use). Not all such TVs share those virtues, in part because of the usual variations in design and build quality and, more importantly, because we’re actually talking about two different types.

“Edge-lit” sets, in which a bank of LEDs around the edge of the screen illuminates the rest of the picture, are cheaper and more common. More expensive “direct” or “array” sets (only .5 percent of the market in Q4 2011, compared to 54.8 percent for edge-lit) have far more LEDs positioned right behind the screen. And they, in turn, can be either white LEDs or sets of red, green and blue diodes.

Analyst Raymond Soneira, president of DisplayMate Technologies Corp., wrote that RFB arrays delivered the most accurate colors in his Amherst, N.H., firm’s research but scoffed at most other LED sales pitches in two e-mails. In particular, he called faster response times a “marketing exaggeration” not borne up in tests and labeled the deeper blacks provided by the ability to turn off part of a TV’s backlight a “processing trick.”

The LED-backlit sets I’ve inspected have all looked terrific. But so does my CCFL-backlit model. That’s the dirty secret of arguments about TV picture quality: For all the time you spend obsessing over these details before a purchase, once you take the TV home its screen becomes your primary frame of reference. You’re not going to plant a second set next to it for comparison purposes.

LEDs can use less electricity than CCFL backlights, but other components in a set can offset that—it’s possible to find LED sets that use more power than CCFL models of the same size, while others draw notably less current. (“Local dimming,” the feature that can enable deeper blacks, can help with that.)

LEDs are often touted as lasting longer than CCFLs—but with the latter’s lifespan being routinely estimated as high as 50,000 hours, you’re far more likely to retire a set because other things on it break or become obsolete.

The clearest case for LED technology is that it can make the entire display lighter and thinner.These traits, analyst and HDTValmanac.com proprietor Alfred Poor noted, have already driven non-LED backlights from the market for mobile devices.

Switching to the newer backlighting technology may not make any one TV dramatically less hefty or thick, but the differences can add up to a serious reduction in shipping costs over timewhich, in turn, should shrink the environmental footprint of the entire business. As the cost differential between manufacturing the two technologies narrows, that savings alone may be enough to conclude CCFL’s employment.

The biggest potential benefit to buyers from the eventual triumph of the “LED TV” may be taking this entire marketing point off the table: When most TVs have this feature, manufacturers will have to compete on quality, price, features or some mix of them. As a customer, I can live with that.

Now how about bringing more affordable LED light bulbs to my home sometime soon?

Something fascinating is afoot in the consumer electronics industry. It’s about recycling, it’s about business, and it’s about the environment.

About a decade ago manufacturer and retailer involvement in recycling consumer electronics (CE) was an alien concept. It was something done by local governments, or charities, but it wasn’t something CE manufacturers and retailers did.

Then state legislators started creating mandates for manufacturers to arrange for recycling of old CE. For CE manufacturers, electronics recycling became a compliance issue to manage and a cost to be minimized.

And then, over several years, things started getting interesting. CE companies began to look at this as a broader resource management issue. Manufacturers like Sony and Samsung announced voluntary take-back programs that went beyond these state mandates. Other CE manufacturers jumped into the game. And then Best Buy rolled out a collection program in all their stores, not because any government official made them do it, but because they found a way for it to make sense for their business – and for the environment.

Last November, Best Buy dropped all consumer fees for their recycling program. And now other retailers are getting into the game. There are now nearly 7,500 locations nationwide that recycle old electronics responsibly; find one near you at GreenerGadgets.org. To find out more about the CE industry’s recycling efforts, please go to CE.org/ecycle.

This weekend Samsung is sponsoring a four-day recycling drive for consumer e-scrap at retailer chain HHGregg. From April 20 to 23, consumers can bring their old electronics to any of 208 HHGregg locations and have it recycled at no cost. To find one of those stores, please click here.

Samsung is also sponsoring an ENERGY STAR Pledge Drive at all these locations. Any customer can pledge to consider ENERGY STAR when purchasing CE products, and their pledge forms will be entered into a sweepstakes drawing for one of five Samsung 40-inch LED televisions.

So what’s going on here? No government is forcing Samsung or HHGregg to do this. These companies are finding new ways to make consumer e-waste recycling a part of their business. They care about the environment, and they know consumers do too.  As companies make recycling a part of their business model it brings the power of the CE industry to bear on this environmental challenge. For those of us who have been working on this issue for along time, that is a very interesting – and laudable – development! Stay tuned.

Did you know you could save energy by replacing your old TV with an energy efficient model?

To celebrate Earth Week, CEA is running a contest to educate consumers about the energy efficiency of today’s televisions. Follow CEA’s Facebook page to learn how you can win a 75” LaserVue® DLP energy efficient TV courtesy of Mitsubishi Electronics or a LED LCD Cinema 3D Smart TV courtesy of LG Electronics USA.

If you haven’t entered, it’s not too late! We will announce our next winner on Earth Day, Sunday April 22.

CEA beat out several other environmental campaigns by major national brands including American Airlines and Bayer AG. CEA’s eCycling Leadership Initiative was also awarded an honorable mention in the recycling category.

To raise awareness of electronics recycling, in April 2011, CEA launched the eCycling Leadership Initiative, an electronics industry-wide effort aiming to recycle one billion pounds of electronics annually by 2016. Program execution included a launch press event at the Magnolia Theater of a Washington, D.C., Best Buy store, featuring a Plexiglass box full of e-waste that weighed 387-pounds, which is the amount of e-waste Best Buy collects every minute at its stores nationwide. The campaign also included extensive consumer and media outreach and education, including the launch of GreenerGadgets.org, a website to help consumers find electronics recycling locations near them.

We are excited to win this prestigious honor, and we are thrilled about the progress of this initiative and its associated consumer education campaign. Earlier this week we reported a stellar first year of results. Specifically, participants of the eCycling Leadership Initiative arranged for the responsible recycling of 460 million pounds of consumer electronics last year, a 53 percent increase over the 300 million pounds recycled in 2010. Additionally, electronics manufacturers and retailers increased the number of recycling drop-off locations for consumers nationwide to nearly 7,500 from just over 5,000 a year ago.

To find out more about the initiative’s accomplishments, check out the First Annual Report on the eCycling Leadership Initiative.

By Samantha Nevels, Policy Communications Coordinator

Today here at CEA we are excited to conduct an SMT, also known as a Satellite Media Tour. What exactly is a Satellite Media Tour you ask? It is like a traditional TV or radio interview, but done live and remotely. From our own brand new studio here at CEA headquarters, we will connect with nearly 20 different broadcast outlets across the country to talk about environmentally friendly electronics. Each interview will be conducted by a different station, both local and national, including; Little Rock, New Orleans, Albuquerque, and Philadelphia. For our SMT today, we are focusing on what we like to call “Greener Gadgets” otherwise known as emerging trends in environmentally-friendly gadgets.

Tim Doyle, Senior Manager of Policy Communications for CEA, will be helping viewers understand how technology innovations have led to efficiency gains and smaller devices. He’ll discuss the big trends in home energy management systems, trends in more efficient gadgets and even how easy it is to clean out the clutter and recycle our old gadgets and technology products.

Along with efficiency gains, consumer electronics are more eco-friendly – smaller, lighter and more efficient than ever before. For instance, the amount of power needed for LCD TVs fell 63 percent from 2003 to 2010, and declined 41 percent for plasma TVs from 2008 to 2010. At the same time TVs got smaller and lighter. TV manufacturers reduced the weight of TVs 82 percent and volume 72 percent from 2004 to 2010.

Some of the products being featured on today’s SMT include: a Motorola energy efficient set-top box; the EverSense, which allows the Allure Mobile iOS app to control the temperature of your home while away; the Nest, a home energy management system; and a Guide 10 Plus portable recharger and Nomad 7 solar panel, great for charging handheld devices like iPhones, iPads, GPS systems and cameras on the go.

For more information on energy efficient electronics, and how to recycle your old electronics, please visit www.GreenerGadgets.org.

Ask anyone in the consumer electronics recycling business about the biggest concern and chances are you’ll hear a mouthful about CRT glass.

CRT is short for “cathode ray tube” and until about a decade ago CRT technology was at the core of nearly all televisions and computer monitors. Recyclers of old televisions sold CRT glass to specialty recyclers who made new CRT televisions. In other words, the recycling market was robust.

Then newer, better display technologies hit the market and the demand for old CRT glass shriveled. So now where can the CRT glass go?

As part of the eCycling Leadership Initiative, the Consumer Electronics Association® (CEA), Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and InnoCentive sponsored an open crowd sourcing Eco-Challenge to develop compelling economic and environmentally preferable solutions for recycling old CRT televisions and monitors.

We invited our solvers to submit any solution they could think of, however wild, with the hope that it would deliver an innovative new way to recycle CRT glass (provided it was eco-friendly and held promise from an economic standpoint).

And now we have winners!

More than 350 Solvers participated in the Eco-Challenge and 57 solutions were received. Ultimately, three Solvers were named winners in the challenge, which included prizes from $1,000 to $5,000.

• Mario Rosato, an environmental engineer from Spain who has won four previous InnoCentive Challenges, all related to environmental issues. Rosato proposed a closed-loop chemical process for separating the lead, in the form of hydrated PbO, from the glass. The hydrated Pbo is then thermally decomposed to yield PbO, a lead commodity with high market value for a variety of industries.

• Nulife Glass Processing Ltd., based in Manchester, U.K. The proposed solution is derived from a process already being implemented across the United Kingdom.

• Robert Kirby, a mechanical engineer from New Mexico whose solution involved using CRT glass in tile and bricks.

The solutions are the are all part of a path forward to fixing a growing problem now confronting the electronics recycling industry – how to responsibly and cost-effectively recycle billions of pounds of lead-heavy CRT glass. We believe that these and other innovative solutions are key to making CRT recycling a sustainable business opportunity.

While today we are proud to announce these winners, by no means is our work done. In the months and weeks to come CEA will be talking to recyclers about which of these solutions make the most sense from an environmental and business perspective.

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: Krista Silano, Event PR Intern

With the 2012 International CES just a few days away, things here at CEA’s headquarters are swiftly picking up and CEA employees are preparing for another year of tech-filled entertainment in the legendary Las Vegas, Nevada.

Cutting-edge product debuts, must-attend keynote panels, live demos and NEW this year – a celebrity ambassador – are just a few reasons why all of us at CEA are ready to get the show started.  Here’s what some of CEA’s “CES first-timers” are looking forward to:

Chris Richards

Social Media Marketing Intern

I’m most excited to see Vegas, first and foremost, because I haven’t actually been there before! When it comes to CES things though, I’m excited for any and all of the new gadgets we’ll be seeing there. I’m one of those people that can just spend an hour looking at random things in Best Buy, so I have a feeling I’ll be easily pleased at CES. Specifically, I think the expanded presence of Robots at CES could be cool, and of course, all the nice LED/web-enabled TVs are going to make me wish I had more money!

Emily Attwood

Communications Intern

I am excited to see all the new hot products that are coming out. But I am also excited to see the green technology that will be at the show. The green technology really intrigues me because it is so innovative and something that will be a part of our future. As we start to learn more about being more efficient and sustainable companies will keep coming out with new technologies to suite that lifestyle. I also can’t wait to see the show floor and see all the excitement of CES!

Danielle Cassagnol

Member Relations Intern

I’m excited about the social media activities at the 2012 International CES: the big screen rolling tweets, checking-in all over the show floor using Foursquare, and the Mashable Awards, celebrating digital and social media innovations and achievements. I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to meet Pete Cashmore, CEO of Mashable!

Jane Fitzgerald

CEA Marketing Intern

I just saw this incredible video Samsung did about a see-through tablet (I know, I know. It doesn’t exist… yet), so I’m really excited to see what they’ll have this year.

Allison Taylor

Event PR Team Administrator

I am really excited for everything at CES!  This is my first show and I am looking forward to seeing how all of our hard work comes together to produce this huge show.  I am most excited to check out the cameras and accessories.  I love to take pictures so I am really interested in seeing what new products the exhibitors have to display.

Tell us in the comment box what you’re most excited for at the 2012 CES.

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?