To design truly green electronics, companies need to shift away from limited lifespan and towards long-living upgradeable goods.
Our second greener productssurvey, " GreenElectronics: the search continues" assesses the progress made over thelast year by consumer electronic companies on their commitments to green theirproducts. Fifteen major electronicsbrands submitted 50 of their most environmentally friendly new products -mobile and smart phones, televisions, computermonitors, notebook and desktop computers, and game consoles for evaluation. Thesurvey assesses the products on their use of hazardous chemicals, energyefficiency, overall product lifecycle (recyclability and upgradeability) andother factors such as the promotion of environmental friendliness andinnovation.
The green news
This year's survey hadcompanies scoring higher and more competitively than last year. We found thatfewer products on the market contain PVC plastic and that fewer hazardouschemicals are being used in products in general. LED displays, which saveenergy and avoid the use of mercury in backlights, can be found in moreproducts today and manufacturers are using more post-consumer recycled plasticin TVs and monitors. Most companies have established better voluntary take-backand recycling programmes and adapted quickly to the new requirements of EnergyStar. But not everyone was happy to have their products evaluated. Companies that were asked but declined to submit products were: Apple, Asus, Microsoft, Nintendo, Palm and Philips.
The Lenovo L2440x widecomputer monitor scored highest with 6.9 points(on a 10 point scale)and is far ahead of the competition in the monitor category. Otherproduct category leaders include the Sharp LC-52GX5 television (5.92), theSamsung F268 mobile phone (5.45), the Nokia 6210 Smart phone (5.2) the Toshiba Portege R600 Notebook (5.57) and the Lenovo ThinkCentre M58 Desktop (5.88).
However no product scored high enough across allareas to deserve the accolade of a truly 'green product'. Unfortunately if youare in the market for a new electronics product it's still a choice between aproduct that is green in one area but not in another. To show we is possibleright now if all current green innovations were combined we took the top scoresof each product category to make a composite score for the industry. These 'bestpractice' scores, ranging as high as 8.6, demonstrate that there isenvironmental know-how available now to produce electronics that aresignificantly greener than anything on the shelves today.
The electronics industry isheading in the right direction. To stay in the race to a green product, everycompany needs to put its foot on the accelerator. It's time to take theprogress made with their greenest products and apply that standard across theboard to all of its product lines. A few expensive niche products is notenough. The electronics industry is oneof the most innovative industry on the planet. It's time these companies step up and give the green gadgets we are alllooking for.
This week,electronics companies will gather at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevadato introduce their latest products.
Wantto know more? Our team at the CES is twittering and blogging as we present the new survey and check out the latestgadgets.
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