Best of Green: Science and Technology 2012: TreeHugger

TreeHugger

The Best of Green winners for the Technology category

Best of Green: Science and Technology 2010

Best Gadget Reselling Company: ReCellular

Apple Macbook Pro

Altoid Tin Solar-Cell iPhone Charger

Open Peak OpenFrame 7

Nokia Green Phone

Lifebook Creating modular devices is an important aspect of the future of sustainable electronics. Being able to swap out pieces or combine functions means we can minimize our consumption overall, focusing on upgrading instead of replacing, and efficiency instead of redundancy. Satisfying all this with a slick feel is the Lifebook by designer Prashant Chandra.

Best Eco App for Smart Phone: Eco-Labels There are a lot of apps that help you select products, and one we liked from this year is the Eco-Labels app from Consumer Reports. The information is from a trusted source and makes navigating purchase possibilities a little less frustrating.

Best Green Tech Twitter Feed: Martin Lamonica (@mlamonica)  A writer with CNET, he has a constant stream of cool tweets that cover a range of cleantech issues -- from gadgets to smart grids to start-ups -- and we appreciate that he keeps us all in the know. Plus, two thumbs up to Hugh, our Readers' Choice winner, and his fantastic Twitter stream!

Best Tablet Device: Apple iPad

 Tablet devices are changing the way we interact with the world.










Best Computer: Ultrabook: The latest innovation in the computer world is the Ultrabook from Intel. The laptops are "ultra responsive, ultra sleek, and ultra stylish." But importantly to us, they are also ultra compact -- less than an inch thick -- which means fewer materials used in manufacturing. We are waiting to see which models earn EPEAT ratings, but for now we like this slim option for a portable compute


 

B-Squares

B-Squares are leading the way.The goal of the creators  is not just to produce fun gadgets to experiment with, but tools to make us more comfortable with electronics and therefore more engaged with customizing them to suit our individual needs. It will be exciting to see how B-Squares helps bring modular electronics to the masses.B-Squares is a 3D Modular Electronics system allowing users to customize their own electronic applications.

Best Techy Advancement For The Masses: B-Squares

How B-Squares Work
If you're unfamiliar with B-Squares, here's a rundown. They're square blocks that each have a different function -- one may be a solar panel, another a battery, another an LED light and another an Arduino. Each is built as identical on the outside as possible, with the same size and shape, the same magnetic corners so they can stick to each other, the same micro-suction material on the edges so they can stick to various surfaces, and the same panels along the edges that can be swapped out as needed.

credit: Images by Kevin Pelletier and Water Canary

Clean, safe drinking water is a human right, which is why Water Canary earns our award. The water-testing device is an inexpensive way to collect real-time data about water quality. A person doesn't have to be trained in how to use the device, but can essentially be handed a Water Canary, which will start sending information out about the water quality in the area. Read More

More than 3.5 million people die each year as the result of water-related disease according to the World Health Organization.
Water Canary analyzes water samples by using light and measuring what wavelengths to draw conclusions. A red light flashes to alert the user to a potential water problem. However, the company’s founder, Sonaar Luthra, told Mashable that the goal isn’t to tell you instantly whether or not you can drink a given sample of water (though he doesn't rule out that possibility in the future).

water-canary-map

“It’s not ever going to replace a lab but maybe we don’t need that to make better decisions. We’re not trying to compete with water testing companies. What will hopefully happen is if you get enough red readings in an area you’ll take a more extensive kit there to do a more extensive reading of the area,” he said.

"We've gotten good at predicting and preparing for storms before they take innocent lives and cause irreversible damage, but we still can't do that with water, and here's why. Right now, if you want to test water in the field, you need a trained technician, expensive equipment like this, and you have to wait about a day for chemical reactions to take place and provide results. It's too slow to get a picture of conditions on the ground before they change, too expensive to implement in all the places that require testing. And it ignores the fact that, in the meanwhile, people still need to drink water. Most of the information that we collected on the cholera outbreak didn't come from testing water; it came from forms like this, which documented all the people we failed to help." Sonaar Luthra: Meet the Water Canary,TEDGlobal 

Sonaar Luthra (watch his TED Talk) is packing water-safety analysis and mobile networking into the Water Canary — a handheld, open-source, and easy-to-use gadget accessible to all — hoping to save lives and gather information that will improve global water health.