What Happened at Greener Gadgets 2009?

The Greener Gadgets Conference, sponsored in part by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), recently wrapped up in New York City. Key stakeholders in the CE industry discussed the current state and future direction of green technology, and innovative new eco-design products that benefit consumers while minimizing environmental impact were unveiled. Influential industry members also advocated the continued development of emerging energy technology, recycling programs, energy efficient innovation and the importance of implementing green business strategies.

Keynote speaker Saul Griffith, the founder of Low Cost Eyeglasses, Squid Labs, Instructables.com and several other companies, described how “we must embrace a culture of maintenance and repair since the ‘throw away’ option is no longer available.” According to Ecogeek.com, this was dubbed as “an heirloom culture,” meaning that the products we create today should be made to be durable, to the extent that they could be passed down through generations. These products would potentially use use one-tenth of the power of current products or would be upgradable to last 10 times longer, lessening our need for new gadgets and the need for raw materials and energy to make them.

During the “Green Design for Good” session,  panelists agreed that “durability and sustainability should be top goals when designing new products and that the future goal should be that consumers purchase a small number of products that they really care about,” according to CEA.

The final session of the conference, “Closing the Loop in Cradle to Cradle,” featured a panel of executives and developers of some of the newest and most innovative recycling programs. Consumer education regarding the cost to send waste to landfills and ways to provide infrastructure and rewards for those who recycle topped the panel’s priority lists.

According to Michael Newman, VP of ReCellular, even with the programs we have in place today for electronics recycling, “80 to 90 percent of CE products are not recycled. There aren’t enough drop-off places. Even though consumers care about the environment, many won’t take the time to find out about recycling.” Ron Gonen, CEO of RecycleBank, also added that “We have to come up with a system that with either ‘reward’ consumers who recycle or ‘fine’ those who don’t. If we don’t do that, we won’t see a dramatic change in [consumer] behavior.”