When you consider the latest high tech gadget what goes through your mind? It will differ from one person to another. Some may consider them to be trendy. Others may think that they are complicated and difficult to operate. So much depends upon your own individual perspective. However, it’s probably reasonable to say that you won’t associate the latest hot personal electronics gadget with being more environmentally friendly – but electronic gadgets can, under the right conditions, be better for the environment.
One potential candidate would be digital photo frames. These have become very popular over the last couple of years. Due to the high level of competition in the market, prices have now fallen to the point where you can pick up a perfectly adequate digital Electrical Project Manager Training frame for pretty much the same price that you would pay for a conventional frame. One of the many perceived benefits of digital frames is the fact that they can store and display hundreds, sometimes thousands, of photos using one single frame.
A lot will depend upon how many photographs you take in an average year, but if you are in the habit of getting a bit snap happy then using a digital frame to display your photo collection could have a positive environmental impact. Whether you avoid having photos printed out at a processing lab or if you just print out less on your computer printer you will wind up using fewer materials.
Another example is the gadget of the moment – the electronic book reader. E-book readers have been available for quite some time now, but they really took off in 2009. They look set to become even more popular in 2010. Right now the Amazon Kindle is the market leader – but Sony have also secured a good share of the market for these devices.
The U.S. book, magazine and newspaper sector consumes 125 million trees each year in order to get the paper it requires. Over and above the lumber, huge quantities of water, chemicals, ink and energy are necessary to feed our reading habit. As books are a physical product, they require to be delivered to the bookstore, generally using road transportation. Then customers get into their cars, drive to the book shop, buy their books and motor home again. It all adds up.
Electronic books of course, do not consume large amounts of paper, ink etc. in their production. Also, as they are not a physical product, they can be delivered over the internet rather than using the road transport network.
Of course, as both e-book readers and digital photo frames are themselves physical products, they do require both materials and energy for their production. They also require to be shipped to the retail outlet or direct to the final user. Nevertheless, studies have Online Journeyman Electrician Test shown that, even offsetting the materials used against the savings in energy, paper, ink etc. that such devices can be better for the environment (though it will depend, to a certain extent, on how many books you read or how many photos you process each year).
