The phrase “kill 2 birds with 1 stone” comes to mind– but on a blog concerned for the environment, that might not be the best choice.
Let’s just say that you can: buy a unique Christmas gift AND do your part to “save the world.”
Check out some of this season’s more greener items, and see if you can’t spread some holiday cheer!
Kill a Watt
We buy appliances everyday and have no idea how much electricity it is actually costing us. That new gift may look cool, but how much energy is it sucking away? And what is it doing to your electricity bill? The Kill a Watt allows you to plug it in to an electric wall outlet, and then plug your appliance into that. The Kill a Watt then tells you exactly how much energy you’re using. If you leave it on, it will count killowatt-hours. I wonder what’s worse: the new HD TV, or your constantly running fridge. ($24.99)
Solio Hybrid 1000
About the size of a remote control, the Solio Hybrid 1000 allows you to charge a normal cell phone with 10-12 hours of direct sunlight. It’s perfect for a hiker or outdoorsman also, who just may never be near electricity! If you have no sun available, the Solio also charges via a computer’s USB port. ($79.95)
Hydrocar
You never know when the kids want to go “green.” Ths Hydrocar is a toy car that contains a fuel cell and runs on hydrogen gas. The fuel cell splits water into hydrogen and oxygen with direct sunlight. If your kid is a future-engineer: the car requries set-up for a fully functioning automobile! ($85)
ZipCar Gift Certificate
Last post, I discussed the ZipCar program. Don’t forget to buy your friend, especially those in college, a ZipCar membership or gift certificate. The ZipCar allows those living in urband areas to “rent” a car by the hour, starting at $5/hour, for quick errands and trips. For the extra environmentally friendly, many of these cars are hybrids. It’s a great alternative if a bike can’t do the trick.
dana said,
April 1, 2008 @ 1:50 pm
cool! i’m gonna try that. annother thing/couple of things we could give would be a copy of Al Gore’s An Inconvienient Truth or an energy efficient-lightbulb to help them get started on switching their whole house over, or maybe even both!
Green Electricity - Nick said,
April 3, 2008 @ 3:30 pm
Informative article; these things will definitely help people get a handle on there electricity out goings.
Michael said,
April 14, 2008 @ 1:46 pm
As an alternative to the phrase “kill 2 birds with 1 stone” you could say “light 2 candles with one match”