It seems like common sense right? Package gadgets in a way that protects them, yet minimizes shipping materials. Not only is it good for the environment, it will save your company a whole lot of dough. How many times have you opened a box full of Styrofoam and other unnecessary packing materials, only to throw most of it away? Apparently it took awhile for HP to figure this out, but they are feeling much better now.

They are selling the new Pavilion dv692 laptop in its own recycled material laptop bag. Other then that, the only packing material in the bag with the laptop are some air bubbles. They ditched the extra cardboard and styrofoam, reducing the packing materials by a stunning 97%. It’s being sold at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, but I think we’d all like to see this become a larger trend. Hopefully other companies are paying attention. It’s simple, economical and beyond time. I recently bought an Acer Aspire 6920 and at the time I was happy to find that the box was not nearly as full of garbage as I feared it would be. This is a brilliant move.

This device sounds too good to be true. It’s called the Blade and it screws onto the end of your tailpipe. Through extensive testing, it supposedly shows from 16-34% savings on gas! That’s an average of about 3.8 MPG’s. As an example, a US driver goes an average of about 30 miles per day or 10,800 miles per year. At the national average of 22 MPG that means about 490 gallons of gas. At $4, that’s roughly $2,000.

Apparently, when you add the BLADE to your tailpipe, you would only use about 418 gallons or about $1,675. Your savings would be roughly $325! Since I suck at math, I’m forced to take their word for it. The device costs $200, so you could make your money back in several months and still be saving after that. It saves gas, money and the environment. What more do you want?

Seems like all of our gadgets are getting corn makeovers. The outer shell of the Samsung E200 Eco is more environment-friendly then most.

Samsung claims that the bio-friendly plastic is easier to dispose of and consumes less oil, producing less carbon than its oil-based arch nemesis’. The E200 also features a built-in alarm that reminds you to unplug the charger once the phone’s battery is full. It’s also got a 1.3 megapixel camera, video messaging, and a built-in MP3 player. If the power of corn compels thee, then you’ll want one.

Samsung is rolling out a “green phone”, the W510, made out of bio-plastic, which is a natural material from corn. Therefore, making one of these phones won’t pollute as much as manufacturing a typical cell phone would. The Korean market will be getting it this month.

Samsung also unveiled another green phone, the F268, which has an alarm function that alerts you every time it is fully charged. That way, you won’t waste any power by leaving it plugged in. It also sports accessories which don’t contain any BFRs (Brominated Flame Retardant) or PVC.

Imagine a future where homes look like oversized futuristic gadgets rather then the same old stale design. The Reboot is designed not just to look pleasing, but also to be entirely self-sufficient. It has energy collecting solar paint, wind turbines and a rainwater collection system, for hydroelectric energy and water for the house.

The designer incorporates a variety of different renewable energy options together. Some of the features inside include, voice activated house controls and terminals throughout the structure that link to your home computer and phone line. It would be awesome to live in this house, but everytime I turned my back on it, I would feel like it was about to zap me with a plasma beam.

The Manodo display from Sweden will help you keep the earth green, while giving you information overload with facts on how much power consumption your home currently uses, as well as other uncomfortable facts, like the number of pounds of CO2 emissions from your recent hot bath. Yo Manodo, TMI.

The Manodo project is in its pilot stage right now in several Swedish cities, nagging apartment dwellers with a ton of information. It must be like living with your mother. The info ranges from how long before the next tram will pass by the nearest stop to upcoming weather. A green smiley face will appear each time power consumption reaches ‘green’ levels. So, think of it as a kind of game. Device nags you, and when you please the device, it smiles. It’s exactly like living with an overbearing mother.

While many Funeral Directors would try to sell you the most expensive hermetically sealed casket to bury your loved one in, it’s actually a natural process that our bodies return to the Earth and decompose.

Why not choose a biodegradable casket from Ecoffins. Sure, it looks like something that Ewoks built. Kinda looks like wicker too. But looks aren’t everything. It’s all about a healthy respect for the environment. These are built from renewable natural woods like bamboo and willow, with no toxic glues and metal fittings, and many Ecoffins are made in a fair trade factory in China. They even pack them inside of each other with different sizes to reduce the environmental effects of shipping. Ecoffin also makes environmentally friendly pet sized caskets too.

These days everyone is going green. It’s not just for peace loving hippies anymore. That’s why Asus has their eye on a greener line of products. The idea is to make computers and notebooks out of environmentally friendly materials like bamboo. It makes sense, and not just from a Panda luring standpoint. Bamboo is not only environmentally friendly, but also very tough.

Asus products that will be made with bamboo include notebooks, LCDs and Mini PCs. They claim that they’ve figured out a special manufacturing process to make it even more durable. While the idea will not singlehandedly save Mother Earth, it will help a tad, while giving everything a nice retro look. My one concern is that when they harvest all the bamboo, the Pandas will be coming for our laptops.

Here’s a line of speakers for all you tree-hugging nature lovers. The Fashionation company has a line of small cube and pyramid shaped 3.25-inch speakers that are made from recycled materials and they don’t even need batteries to run. Great sound, and they help save the environment. Another cool aspect is that the speakers fold flat for storage and portability.

Did I mention that they are inexpensive? At $14.95, these won’t ravage your wallet while helping the planet and they can be had in a wide range of color options as shown above. They look like a party ready to happen. Though I do wonder how long they would last. They don’t look very durable.

The Ravi solar charger hopes to steer you toward greener living with it’s attractive flower-like design. The Ravi solar has photovoltaic arrays attached to petal extensions. The flower aspect is not just symbolic, it actually absorbs energy from the sun during the day, storing it in an internal battery. It gets some points for coolness due to the fact that the petals glow once the battery is charged. At night, you would have a kick-ass glowing garden. You would then remove the battery packs to power all of your home appliances.

The idea is that with gardens of Ravi portable solar generators in a neighborhood, enough power could be generated to supply the community, and if that can not be managed, it would at least lessen energy needs. It’s a pretty cool idea, but it has a kind of War Of The World quality that scares me.

Composting is great for the environment, but it’s often a problem of having somewhere to set up a compost pile. If you live in an apartment, you can’t just leave a pile rotting just anywhere. The NatureMill PRO is perfect for this situation. It can deal with up to 120 lbs of food waste per month, and in about every 2 weeks you have a fresh supply of compost you can use for your window garden, etc.

What about the smell? Well, they apparently have that covered too. The cultures used in the NatureMill PRO will produce a mild aroma similar to mushrooms. You likely won’t even notice until you open the lid. The NatureMill PRO costs $399 but there is a cheaper option at $299. If you are a pet owner, there’s even a Pet-friendly version for $399. That one’s specially tuned to deal with pet waste. There’s always another cheaper option, which is to throw it all out the door, but a steaming pile of rotting garbage never endears you to your neighbors.

These wood iPod Touch cases are real beauties. They come from mjdinsmore on Etsy. Handcrafted from cedar and mahogany, they have some nice detail and look like they are quality. They will cost you from $31 to $80 and come in a variety of styles. The one pictured above is carved out of a single piece of sustainable-grown mahogany. That’s alot cooler then using plastic.

Plus, you’ll get that natural, warm feel of wood in your hands. It will keep your iPod Touch well protected with style. You’ll be alright, even if you spill something. No wood jokes. I did it!

The Eco Button connects via USB and puts your PC into sleep mode, thus saving precious Watts and making Al Gore smile, despite the fact that he has become portly in a William Shatner kind of way. It will even wake the PC up, when it’s time to get back to work. The bundled software records the carbon units saved.

As Ubergizmo pointed it, it probably takes a lot of carbon units to build the button and then when it hits the trash one day, it will pollute anyway. Plus it looks like a Frisbee. This somewhat pointless green gadget will cost you $18.