A surge of green products

It's all about saving the Earth.

So how to respond when we see a surge of green products? Complain because someone is "jumping on the bandwagon"? Do we make a fuss because someone is "taking advantage"?

Some might. I have. It all depends on whether the product (or service) works as advertised. If so, then great! I say -- thank you!

What brought these ideas to mind are a new product from an old company. I have several iGo chargers (which I enjoy a lot!). I was looking up something on their website when I saw a notice about a new, green product that was "Coming Soon....". Not wanting to wait, I dug around on their website. What did I find?

I found something I'd been looking for! It is called their "Power Smart Tower" and it lets you cut down on "Vampire Power Loss". This term refers, of course, to the way that many (most?) electronic products use electricity when they are supposedly "off."

It is like when you were a kid and your parents said "go to sleep." You'd go to your room and then pretend to sleep. No worries when you were a kid, because eventually all that pretending worked and you did fall asleep.

With electronic devices, once a vampire always a vampire. (Another popular term is "phantom power loads", for those who don't like vampires.) Among the solutions for power vampires are (a) unplug when not in use (so inconvenient), (b) put on a switch box and turn off (less inconvenient, but you have to be diligent), and now you have (c) automatic devices that sense when devices are not on and eliminate the vampire power usage. I like it.

Here is the link to the iGo Power Smart Tower: http://www.igo.com/Other-Power/Power-Smart-Tower/invt/pm000110004. The website says it is on pre-order, and that it is due to ship... TODAY! October 30, 2009. I should order mine now...