Three Ways Your Technology Can Help You Go Green This Earth Day

(StatePoint) These days, there’s no reason why you can’t be both tech-savvy and an environmentalist. More gadgets and technical appliances are trending green, and this Earth Day is the perfect time to learn how you can adopt some of these innovations in your life.

To reduce your family’s overall impact on the environment, consider this lineup of eco-friendly technologies:

Green Apps

There are hundreds of apps designed to help you make earth-friendly lifestyle changes — from PaperKarma, an app which helps you stop the flow of junk mail to your home, to the Green Gumshoe, which facilitates the reporting of environmental incidents to the correct authorities.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a good resource for finding and locating the best green apps. What’s more, they offer developer tools for those wishing to make their own green apps using EPA data.

Lamp-Free Projector Technology

If your home, school or business could use a green makeover, an easy place to start is by replacing an outdated projector with something more energy efficient. For example, Casio’s Lamp-Free Projectors consume 1/3 less power per unit than traditional lamp-based projectors by using a Laser & LED Hybrid Light Source. Guided by Intelligent Brightness Control, you can conserve power up to 50 percent because the projectors automatically adjust brightness to suit the room. For every 6,000 hours of use, that amounts to approximately $800 dollars saved compared to a traditional lamp-based projector.

In addition, Casio’s portfolio of projectors, including its SLIM series, takes environmental consciousness a step further by eliminating harmful mercury bulbs from the equation.

Solar Chargers

You may rely on multiple devices to get you through the day, from your mobile phone to your tablet to your laptop. It’s easy to keep these items running without draining electricity, even when you’re on the go. Solar chargers come in all shapes and sizes these days — clam shell, tree branches, foldable — you can even buy a backpack or laptop case equipped with a solar panel.

With so many manufacturers greening their offerings, consider taking stock of your tech gear this Earth Day and making eco-friendly swaps.