Eco

Billions of people can't be wrong about Bob Marley. The reggae icon challenged main stream music and harvested devoted fans all over the world with his music. Now, the Marley family continues to deliver music in the form of hardware....more specifically a media accessory line called "House of Marley", which transcends their love for music and the earth into a line of headphones, earphones and docking stations worthy of the family name. These new gadgets are eco-friendly and provide sound quality only found on high-ticket premium music accessories.

Their headphones line consists of three collections – Jammin', Freedom and Destiny – featuring noise-isolating in-ear and active noise-cancelling over-ear headphones. The company also has a line of docking stations and portable audio systems.

Star Rating:
Cost: $99
Where to buy: Amazon

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Have you thought about what you can do to pinch your power pennies this Earth Day? A good place to start is with your TV. An LED TV can consume 40 percent less energy than a comparable LCD TV, yet deliver the same (or better!) picture quality.

If you're in the market for a new TV, be sure Samsung is at the top of your shopping list. The company offers one of the most energy-efficient televisions available today. While all 2011 Samsung LED TVs meet Energy Star 5.1 guidelines (the highest level of energy efficiency for TVs), the new Samsung LED D6400 Series also includes a few more eco-friendly features:

• Samsung's eco light sensor measures the intensity of the room's light and automatically calibrates the brightness of the image on the screen, saving energy.
• Using Samsung's 3D Peak Algorithm, the LED D6400 Series analyzes the picture to dynamically increase the light output of the backlight by up to 20 percent while reducing average power consumption by approximately 15 percent.
• Its unique Motion Adaptive Dimming Algorithm also reduces power consumption up to 20 percent by controlling LED brightness.

Wow! A smartphone for just $49.99? Last Friday Sprint announced the Samsung Replenish, an Android touch QWERTY smartphone – and yes, it's really only $49.99. While the price tag is impressive, the Replenish has more to offer. This eco-friendly Android device is made of more than 80 percent recyclable materials, so you can feel good about the environment when making your purchase. To sweeten the deal, Sprint is also waiving the $10 premium data charge on the phone.

Features include:

• Touch QWERTY bar phone with 2.8-inch QVGA main display
• Android 2.2, Froyo, with access to more than 150,000 apps on the Android Market
• Special access to Sprint ID Pack, including Green ID pack
• Solar door charging accessory (sold separately)
• 2MP camera and camcorder – upload, share and store pictures with Photobucket, Facebook, MySpace and upload video to YouTube
• Wi-Fi and GPS capable
• MicroSD card slot that supports up to a 32GB memory card
• Three color options – Onyx Black, Arctic Blue and Raspberry Pink (in June)

Today is St. Patrick's Day. If you're looking for a "green" vehicle, consider Suzuki's SX4. Why, you ask? Touting superior gas mileage and a competitive price, this little sub-compact allows just about anybody to go green without paying a lot of green.

Available in three iterations, the SX4 offers a Crossover model (which remains America's least expensive vehicle with all-wheel drive), the four-door SX4 Sport (the least expensive car with standard navigation), and most recently, the SX4 SportBack, combining the utility of the Crossover with the handling dynamics of the Sport. All SX4 models benefit from a fuel-sipping 2.0-liter DOHC powertrain, six-speed manual transmission and available CVT.

And if that's not green enough for St. Patty, check out the SX4-FCV (fuel-cell vehicle). It may not currently be offered for production, but this innovative concept takes the small car revolution to an ever greener future. Read more

It's not all about TVs and Tablets at CES this year; IDAPT has a new i1 Eco dual universal charger that is a CES Innovations award honoree. The compact IDAPT i1 Eco is made of recycled materials, meets Energy Star standards, and minimizes the user's carbon footprint while charging most electronic devices.

The IDAPT i1 Eco charger features an Auto-off system which helps conserve energy by turning off the charger while not in use. It also has a re-start button to wake it up when necessary. The dual charger can give power to mobile devices while at home or the go via wall outlet or included car adapter. Read more

In celebration of Earth Day, it's only appropriate we tell you about the eco-friendly Samsung Restore, hitting Sprint stores this summer.

The Restore is 84% recyclable, with the outer casing made up of 27% post-consumer recycled plastic. It also meets strict RoHS standards, comes with an Energy Star Version 2.0 charger, and the packaging is 100% recyclable. You won't find a paper manual inside the box either, it will be found online. The phone also comes pre-loaded with Sprint's One Click Green tile, which gives you instant access to a collection of green, earth-friendly information and tips.

Just because it's green, don't think it doesn't have the features you're looking for. The Restore has a slide-out, full QWERTY keyboard with optical joystick, 2.0 MP camera and camcorder, MP3 player with microSD card slot (supports up to 32GB; 2GB card included in the box), Stereo Bluetooth, access to Sprint Family Locator, Sprint Football Live, Sprint Navigation and Sprint TV, as well as one click access to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube. Read more

With Earth Day approaching, it's only natural that we would cover some eco-friendly products hitting the marketplace. First introduced at CES in January, ViewSonic's new 23" VT2300LED ViewLED TV is now available. The VT2300LED features 1080p Full HD resolution and boasts an energy savings of 30-50% over traditional LCD backlit panels.

Other than its Full HD 1080p resolution, the VT2300LED has a fast 5ms response time, 1000:1 static contrast ratio, and 300 cd/m2 brightness. Inputs include VGA, S-video, composite, 3 HDMI ports, and TV/cable.

Measuring in at 23-inches, the VT2300LED is an excellent TV to consider as a graduation gift this year. The price is right too. It comes in at $399 (and if you do a little bit of web surfing, you can find it priced even lower!). Not too bad for a Full HD 1080p LED TV. Read more

Sprint has a new "green" handset hitting the marketplace this spring, the LG Remarq. Great for the eco-minded, this compact messaging device is partially constructed from post-consumer recycled materials, with the handset as a whole being 87 percent recyclable. Equally important, the new LG Remarq is free with a two-year service agreement.

The LG Remarq features a slide out QWERTY keyboard, 1.3 megapixel camera, MP3 player, microSD card slot (supporting up to 16GB), Stereo Bluetooth wireless technology and comes preloaded with an Eco Calculator app which allows users to calculate C02 reduction savings by walking or cycling as opposed to driving an automobile. The LG Remarq's packaging is also fully recyclable with images and text on the box printed from soy ink.Read more