What Happened To The Green Tech Fad?

Green tech continues to be alive and properly — a minimum of in response to the advertising messages of self-proclaimed inexperienced firms. But are know-how manufacturers actually adhering to inexperienced tech practices or just speaking about them? Has the green tech fad morphed from a short-time period trend to a long-term means of doing business?

Throughout the past decade, the time period green tech has been applied to every little thing from excessive-yield copy paper to photo voltaic powered cars and zero-waste factories. Enterprise and technology websites like Forbes and CNET commit total channels to inexperienced technology information, and there is no shortage of information to report. The Green Electronics Council maintains a registry of “greener” electronics manufacturers for product classes including computer systems, TVs and workplace equipment, listing companies that meet sure independently verified criteria for sustainable design, manufacturing, power use and recycling [supply: EPEAT].

Entire new industries have sprung up around finding sustainable and environmentally-pleasant ways to deal with municipal wastewater, clear up oil spills or energy our automobiles, whereas public utilities and state and federal businesses continue to look for methods to partner with corporations within the non-public sector and reward them for energy conservation [sources: Russell, SCE, Wang].

Of course, there are certain contradictions inherent in the inexperienced tech movement on the a part of each shoppers and marketers. How “inexperienced” is it to commerce in our perfectly good smartphones each time a brand new newest-and-greatest model is released, or to depart our multitude of units plugged into charging stations every night time? Is it environmentally responsible for manufacturers to design cheaply made products destined for the landfill [supply: Electronics Takeback Coalition]? Retailers like Staples, Kohl’s and Entire Foods have committed to using one hundred p.c renewable power from sources like photo voltaic and wind, while others come beneath fireplace for greenwashing, i.e., claiming to be environmentally pleasant while continuing to spew greenhouse fuel emissions or create large quantities of waste [source: Mitchell].

We nonetheless have a long strategy to go earlier than green manufacturing and sustainable enterprise practices turn into something we take with no consideration, like unleaded gasoline or non-smoking flights. But so long as corporations discover that it makes good business sense to enter the inexperienced tech arena, whether or not because of buyer demand, social pressure, government grants or the need to adjust to environmental regulations, inexperienced tech appears to be right here to remain [sources: Hincha-Ownby, Shankland, Wang].

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Electronics Takeback Coalition. “Designed for the Dump.” (Sept. 5, 2014) http://www.electronicstakeback.com/designed-for-the-dump/

EPEAT. “About EPEAT.” (Sept. 7, 2014) http://www.epeat.internet/about-epeat/

Forbes.com. “Green Tech.” (Sept. 6, 2014) http://www.forbes.com/inexperienced-tech/

Inexperienced Electronics Council “EPEAT Registry.” (Sept. 7, 暮らしに役立つお役立ちサイト 2014) http://greenelectronicscouncil.org/programs/epeat-registry/

Hincha-Ownby, Melissa. “12 Tech Companies Who’re Proactive About Being Inexperienced.” AuthorityLabs.com. March 8, 2011. (Sept. 6, 2014) http://authoritylabs.com/weblog/inexperienced-tech-companies/

Mitchell, Stacy. “Are Walmart’s Inexperienced Claims Merely Greenwashing?” Renewable Energy World. March 31, 2014. (Sept 7, 2014) http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/information/article/2014/03/are-walmarts-green-claims-simply-greenwashing

Russell, Kyle. “Gas Cell Cars Are Going To Get An enormous Increase in California Next Year. TechCrunch. July 9, 2014. (Sept. 6, 2014) http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/09/gas-cell-cars-are-going-to-get-a-huge-boost-in-california-next-yr/

Shankland, Steve. “Google funds million-greenback contest for higher power electronics.” CNET.com. July 22, 2014. (Sept. 6, 2014) http://www.cnet.com/information/google-funds-million-dollar-contest-for-better-energy-electronics/

Wang, Ucilia. “The Rise of Inexperienced Tech To wash Up Oil And Gas Wastes.” Feb. 12. 2014. (Sept. 6, 2014) http://www.forbes.com/websites/uciliawang/2014/02/12/the-rise-of-inexperienced-tech-to-clear-up-oil-and-gas-wastes/

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