5 Not-So-Green Gadgets

There's more to a truly eco-friendly technology than energy-efficiency. So the next time you're out shopping for the latest electronics, keep these tips in mind.

There are plenty of gadgets out there, some even touting themselves as greener than their competitors. But which ones truly deserve that label? To help you decide, we've put together a list of things to avoid―devices whose construction, use or disposal could have a significant negative impact on the environment. Sure, pat yourself on the back for not buying that late-model Hummer but, as you'll discover, the list of gadgets to avoid holds a few surprises―ones that could easily make it onto the wish list of the unsuspecting.

1. Plasma screen TVs

Producing a picture by electrifying tiny pockets of noble gasses, sandwiched between two plates of glass, was a brilliant, science-fiction idea when it was invented in 1964. The resulting flat-panel displays, known as plasma screens, produced bright colours, dark blacks and a crisp picture, and now there are millions of them installed in homes around the world. Unfortunately, the energy use of a plasma screen is like something out of the distant past, when energy was cheap and no one worried whether its production was leading to a planet-wide catastrophe. Plasma screen televisions use as much energy per square metre as the boxy old-school TVs we grew up with―that means 400 watts for a typical 50-inch display, or more than twice what a comparable LCD television would use. These displays are so voracious that during the run-up to the 2006 World Cup, when plasma screen televisions were flying off the shelves, one scientist estimated that if half of British households bought one, it would require two new nuclear power plants just to provide them with electricity. That's prompted the European Union to introduce legislation, due to be passed this spring, to ban the displays out right. State legislators in California have similar legislation in the works, but so far Canada has no plans to regulate the displays. Now that LCD TVs are comparable in quality and cost (for all but the most discerning videophiles), there really is no reason to purchase these "SUVs of the living room."

2. TVs from manufacturers that don't have takeback programs

If you live in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia or Manitoba, pat yourself on the back―your provincial government has made it (relatively) easy for you to recycle all manner of home electronics. If you live anywhere else in Canada, you have a problem: That new flat-panel TV you just bought might bear the Energy-Star label, but that doesn't mean it won't have a serious impact on the environment; there's the non-trivial issue of what happens when it reaches the end of its life. Televisions aren't as bad as they used to be (big old-style Cathode Ray Tubes could have as much as four pounds of lead in them), but they're still full of heavy metals and, when improperly broken down, release dioxins and other forms of air pollution into the atmosphere. The workaround for this problem is called Extended Producer Responsibility―which basically puts the manufacturer of a device on the hook to recycle it at the end of its life. Because there is no national standard for this kind of recycling in either Canada or the U.S., those who live outside of provinces or states with mandatory “takeback” laws are left to fend for themselves. Here's how various manufacturers shake out, as reported by the Electronics TakeBack Coalition and manufacturer's websites:

* The Samsung Recycling Direct program provides consumers with the opportunity to recycle Samsung-branded electronics at more than a dozen "e-colleX" drop-off locations across Canada. (Non-Samsung-branded electronics are accepted for a nominal recycling fee.)

* Sony has established its own voluntary takeback programs throughout most of Canada.

* All other electronics manufacturers, including LG, Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba and Best Buy do not have manufacturer takeback programs for TVs in Canada, even though all of them are working on programs in the U.S. Meanwhile, others such as JVC, Mitsubishi, Philips and Sanyo have no voluntary takeback programs in North America at all.

3. Greenwashed gadgets

The problem with labeling your gadget as “green” is that there’s no standard definition of that word. It's kind of like saying your new and improved Frosted Flakes are a nutritious choice because they now happen to be made with whole wheat.  Instead, consumers have to use their noggins when selecting products based on this criterion.

For instance, considering how little plastic is required to make a USB drive, does the fact that one has a case made out of corn-based plastic make it significantly better than another USB drive?  Imagine, instead, that you're a corporate buyer, and you're thinking about purchasing not one but thousands of USB drives. To know which was the greenest choice, you'd have to know how much energy was used to manufacture each drive, where that energy came from (i.e. clean vs. non-renewable sources), and a half-dozen other unknown and unknowable variables. Then you'd have to evaluate the opportunity cost of paying a premium for the “green” product vs. buying the cheaper “non-green” version. Sometimes, simply sinking the difference into carbon offsets or some other green initiative could be a bigger boon for the environment.  Another example is solar-powered gadgets. While these are great if you're off the grid―when you're camping, let's say―they might not make any sense at all. That's because the embodied energy in the solar charging device itself the energy required to manufacture and ship it to you is probably much greater than the energy you'll save by using it to recharge your batteries.   Sometimes simply choosing gadgets with the least packaging, lowest power use or longest potential life span is the greenest way to go. 

4. Gadgets with a standby mode (that lack an Energy Star rating)

We've all heard about “vampire energy” or “phantom energy” before―the energy drawn by devices such as TVs, microwaves and DVD players in standby mode―but here are some quick facts to bring it home:

* The average family spends $100 to $200 a year on electricity to power devices in standby mode.

* Because they spend so much time being on, yet so little time being used, devices like microwaves can, over the course of a year, use more energy simply displaying the time than warming your food.

* Cell phone chargers, camera chargers, battery chargers, power adapters and all other external power bricks draw power from the wall even when the devices they're connected to aren't on, and when they're not connected to anything at all. There are two easy ways around this―the first is to buy only devices that receive the Energy Star certification. One of the program's requirements is that a device be "among the lowest power consuming in their category in standby mode." The second is to plug your devices into a central power strip and, when you're not using them, turn it off.

5. Electric Ovens, Hot Water Heaters, Clothes Dryers and Home Heating Units

When it comes to devices around the home, the rule we all learned from cars―electricity good, fossil fuels bad―is reversed. That's because gas-powered hot water heaters, ovens, clothes dryers and the like are so much more efficient per unit of energy that you're actually producing fewer emissions by running them on natural gas (at least until that glorious day, decades hence, when our electricity comes from 100 percent renewable sources). According to Carbon Cops, a show that could only come out of Australia (a country that may be uniquely susceptible to climate change), "Gas heat is the superior in all climate aspects. Gas hot water storage systems generate 1.05 tonnes of green house gasses (based on 140 litres of hot water a day)... almost four times less than electric hot water storage systems." According to Ethical Consumer, a U.K. non-profit that researches the impact of consumer goods, the same thing is true for gas ovens―paradoxically, they result in much lower carbon emissions than electric ovens. One caveat―while they may be better for the environment, gas appliances, when not vented properly, can be a danger to your home, filling the air with nasties like carbon monoxide.

6. Bonus: Desktop Computers

They’ll never do if you're a gamer, but it's true: Laptops use a small fraction of the electricity of desktop computers. (Some estimates put it as low as 20 percent.) Most people have modest computing needs as it is; hence the increasing popularity of cheap Netbooks, which use even less electricity than regular laptops. If you're worried about ergonomics, it's always possible to buy an external LCD monitor (Energy Star-rated, of course), mouse and keyboard so that you can adequately reproduce the desktop computer experience. Just don't forget that even laptop computers, like anything else, can be energy vampires.