Company scores plummeted in the previous edition of Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics, when new criteria on climate change were introduced. However, leading brands like Nokia and Samsung are now making significant progress in greening their electronics products, with improved environmental policies responding not only to these new energy criteria, but also to the more stringent chemical and e-waste criteria.

The Greener Electronics Guide is our way of getting the electronics industry to take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products. We want them to face up to the problem of e-waste and take on the challenge of tackling climate change.

First launched in August 2006 and now in its 9th edition, the Guide ranks the leaders of the mobile phone, computer, TV and games console markets according to their policies and practices on toxic chemicals, recycling and energy.

The Guide has been a key driving force in getting many companies to make significant improvements to their environmental policies, and it continues to provoke significant change in the industry. Intel recently announced that its new Xeon 5400 processors use transistors made from hafnium, thus avoiding the use of toxic Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs).

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Mahatma Gandhi believed that the spinning wheel, or charkha, was a sign of self-reliance and independence. Now that belief is being taken to a new level with the e-charkha, a hand-driven spinning wheel that generates electricity.The e-charkha, which was designed by a follower of Gandhi’s Ekambar Nath philosophy, can generate enough electricity in its attached battery for 6-7 hours of power in rural homes. Two hours of operation can light up the e-charkha’s specially designed LED light for eight hours— so the spinning wheel provides enough light for its continued use as an instrument of clothing production.

Even though the e-charkha is only 9,000 rupees ($197), the Indian government is giving the spinning wheels away for free in the farming village of Jatwara.

The spinning wheel reminds me of the electricity-generating exercise machines in Portland’s Green Microgym. There are so many opportunities to harness the electricity we already generate in our daily lives— I’m glad to see people are taking advantage of it all over the world.

::CleanTechnica

Typical USB memory drives sure are handy for taking information on the go, but they’re often made with toxic ingredients that are difficult to recycle. Enter the world’s first recyclable USB drive: ATP’s EarthDrive. It looks and works just like other drives, except it’s made from PLA (Polylactic acid)—a biodegradable polyester derived from renewable resources like corn. And, every time an EarthDrive is sold, the company donates a portion of the profits to help plant trees. The handy little devices range from 1GB to 8GB and can be purchased for $20 to $100 in retail stores and online.

Researchers at Durham University are giving classrooms a makeover, replacing students’ wooden desktops with interactive multi-touch ones. Along with a team of educators and manufacturers, the researchers have recently unveiled SynergyNet, a hardware-software system similar to Microsoft Surface that offers an immersive and potentially more engaging learning experience for youngsters. Pupils using the interactive tables can, for example, work out math problems visually and physically (using their fingertips to move around units) or see the teacher’s blackboard demonstrations right on their desks. The system has already been implemented in one unnamed UK school and is expected to appear in other primary and secondary schools over the next few years.

[via Register Hardware]