Green Technology

What is Green Technology?: As the name implies green technology is one that has a "green" purpose. By green we do not mean the color, however, Mother Nature is quite green, and the long and short term impact an invention has on the environment is what we are talking about. Green inventions are environmentally riendly inventions that o ten involve! energy e iciency, recycling, sa ety and health concerns, renewable resources, and more. Example of Green Technology: "ne o the best known e#amples o green technology would be the solar cell. A solar cell directly converts the energy in light into electrical energy through the process o photovoltaic. Generating electricity rom solar energy means less consumption o ossil uels, reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Another simple invention that can be considered green is the reusable water bottle. $rinking lots o water is healthy. %educing plastic waste is great or the environment. &ence, trendy reusable water bottles that you can re ill yoursel are health'promoting, eco' riendly, and green. Another e#ample is %ecycling e'(aste &igh'tech may have a clean image ) all smooth'edged i*hones and liquid crystal displays ) but the elements that go into mobile phones, computers and +,s can be polluting to the environment and dangerous to human health i incorrectly disposed o . And that-s e#actly what happens in parts o the developing world, where the poor take apart your phone with little protection, e#posing themselves to mercury, lead, cadmium and other dangerous metals so that they can get to the gold, copper and other valuable materials within. .o'called e'waste is the astest growing part o the solid waste stream, and some /0 to 10 million metric tons o it are thrown out every year. But there are ways to recycle e'waste, reducing the need to mine more o the metals that go into high'tech items, and preventing the environmental consequences o poorly processed electronics. 2loudBlue, based in New 3ersey, helps tech companies take care o their e' waste, arranging or direct pickup and processing, ensuring that valuable metals can be reused and recycled or uture electronics. 4or customers like banks that have to worry about sensitive data that might be encoded on old computers, 2loudBlue can also process the waste onsite. (ith all this, the company can ensure that no e'waste will ever end up in a land ill ) or worse, poisoning a child in A rica or 2hina.

Why Should Inventors Think Green:

+he world has a i#ed amount o natural resources, some o which are already depleted or ruined. 4or e#ample! household batteries and electronics o ten contain dangerous chemicals that can pollute the groundwater a ter disposal, contaminating our soil and water with chemicals that cannot be removed rom the drinking water supply and the ood crops grown on contaminated soil. +he risks to human health are great. Go Green - If ot !or "ove Then #rofit: 5 the 5nvestor don6t go green because o her love, 5nventors should know that green inventions and clean technologies are good business. +hese are ast growing markets with growing pro its. 2onsumers should know that buying green inventions can reduce your energy bill and that green inventions are o ten sa er and healthier products. Source: http://inventors.about.com/od/greeninventions/p/green_invention.htm http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2030 3!_2030 3",00.html 7dited by +rio *ambudi 8tomo