Ecobutton - Product Review
My son had been nagging me for weeks to try out his Green Footprint Group's ecobutton but being the technophobe I am, I kept putting it off. I just couldn't see how a little green plastic button - albeit beautifully emblazoned with the GFG logo - could really do much. Oh what a fool I was!!!
When I bothered to read the blurb I discovered that the ecobutton was actually rather a good thing.
Pay attention, here comes the science bit: It works on any Windows 2000, XP or Vista computer and with just one click puts the computer in a special ‘eco-sleep' mode which saves more energy than conventional standby and is also quicker to activate. Measuring approximately 5cm in diameter and made of recycled plastic, it is estimated that 3 hours of use per day would save you £50 a year!
So how did it work at the coalface??
Well, I diligently followed the instructions and logged onto www.eco-button.co.uk. Even for someone as technically challenged as myself, I found this pretty foolproof and the download was quick and quite painless. Then, after plugging the ecobutton into a USB port...I was ready to save money and carbon dioxide!
And it's very simple. Instead of closing your laptop lid or...horror of horrors, leaving it on sometimes, you just press the ecobutton, which glows green to subtly prompt you to do this, and the computer goes into ‘eco-sleep' mode. When you want to use the computer again, you merely press any key, wait a couple of seconds and the computer bounds back into life.
The ecobutton screen is then displayed and - this is the bit I really love - gives you a running total of how much money and how much carbon dioxide you have saved, both in your current visit and overall. I may be quite sad but I find this bit great fun - it's surprisingly reassuring to see you are actually saving carbon dioxide and, yes, it may only be a gram here and there, but if everyone did it...think how much we could save!
Once you have admired your saving, the screen prompts you to press any key again and the computer returns to exactly where you left it. This may be a quirk of my laptop or my wifi but it used to take a while for the computer to come back online after I had opened it again. With the ecobutton though, it is straight back online!
Jo
Ecobuttons are available online:
www.eco-button.com/uk/A3.16.wheretobuy.htm
for £14.99 each plus £1.76 postage to any UK destination.
Ecobuttons are also available from the Green Footprint Group for an introductory offer (until 1st February 2009) of £12 each plus £1 postage to any UK address:
8 Jan 09
