Who says it’s not easy being green?
Friday, February 6th, 2009
By Ross Rubin, Executive Director, NPD Connected Intelligence
At this year’s CES, few agreed with the melancholy Muppet about the color of his skin. Stepping into the green spotlight came in several forms.
- Pronouncements regarding corporate responsibility. Some companies noted that their new manufacturing facilities were built with the goals of carbon neutrality; at least one had solar panels on its roof. But most of the announcements were vague, claiming that the company was making excellent progress in meeting their environmental goals.
- Energy-efficient products ranged from power adapters that cut off “vampire power” consumption when the device is off to the benefits of LED backlighting. In the plasma camp, Panasonic touted its NeoPDP plasma technology that offered consumers the choice between greater brightness at the same level of energy consumption or the same level of brightness with reduced energy consumption. At the Sanyo event following CES, the company made a heavy emphasis on its involvement in solar panels and long battery life. Apple, which has been touting MacBooks as the greenest laptops ever, even played the green card on the sealed battery on its new 17″ MacBook Air, noting that the larger, more robust embedded battery means fewer batteries in landfills in the long-run. At CES, there wasn’t much discussion, though, of more ecology-efficient packaging, something that has been promoted by companies such as Apple, Dell, HP, and Nokia. However, the trend toward thinner, lighter TVs might lead to such efficiency. Startup GreenPlug, which is taking on the ambitious task of trying to standardize the industry around a single smart power connector, had its first product announcement, but no statements of support from high-volume manufacturers.
- In recycling. Industry partnerships such as those that Sony and LG support, or the Electronics Manufacturers Recycling Management (MRM) company spearheaded by Panasonic, Toshiba, and Sharp talked about plans to work with governments to open more recycling centers.
If companies are sticking by environmental initiatives, even with all the focus on the recession, that may indicate that the focus on green could be an enduring trend.
Tags: CES, energy-efficient
Consumer Technology | Ross Rubin, Executive Director, NPD Connected Intelligence | 
February 6, 2009 2:25 pm
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By Jeff Stoen, February 6, 2009 @ 5:59 pm
Good topic, Ross.
Did you stop by Creative’s booth at CES to see inPerson Conferencing? Now that’s a green product worth mention. How much sense does it make to jet coast-to-coast or overseas for a two hour meeting when you can have a free videocall right from your desk to any location in the world? Ride your bike whenever practical, use inPerson Conferencing to minimize travel, and you’ll be doing your part to save the planet.