Appliances & Kitchen Gadgets

Cheers!

(Credit: Amazon)

When you start looking for ways to conserve and cut down on waste, you can find them in almost every corner. Take tea bags, for example. Even if you've mastered the "reuse it before you toss it" trick, you're still throwing away every tea bag you use.

Now, you could toss the tea bags in your compost crock, but if you're using bags with staples in them, you've got to remove the staples first. And not all bags are made from compostable material. And that string, and the plastic coating on the paper tag--there's a lot to consider.

Loose tea leaves are automatically a step up from bagged tea. You immediately set yourself apart from the crowd as a tea connoisseur, and you just know you're cooler than, like, 95 percent of the people you know. And if you serve your loose tea leaves in a reusable hemp tea bag, you skyrocket to entirely new levels of in the know.

Hemp is one of the strongest natural fibers available, and it's grown without pesticides. And no, it's not illegal, and it won't get you high.

Granted, at $8 a pop, these bags aren't cheap. But how many do you need? You can brew a pot of tea using just two or three, and then pour out cups for everyone at the table. So enjoy your cup of tea, dump your grounds out in the soil around your plants, and know you're doing something good for the world.

BoilingPoint is a replacement for the electric-kettle.

(Credit: LEVITAT)

I've seen a lot of combination appliances, (which for one reason or the other seem to love to utilize toasters in any way they can) but rarely do I see an appliance that removes an element. However, that is exactly what the BoilingPoint kettle has done: left the cup and threw out the kettle.

The gadget warms up water directly in the cup. A heating element is attached to a plunger mechanism, (sort of like a toaster after all) so no kettle is necessary. Simply fill the cup with water and place it under the element. When the water is boiling, the element retracts, and a fresh, steaming hot mug of water is ready for tea.

Besides the elimination of the kettle, the concept appliance has other benefits, too. By heating the water directly in the cup, only the exact amount of water that is needed actually gets used. Conventional kettles may leave excess water that just sits flat and unused until it is time for the next cup of tea. Or, worse yet, the excess water gets poured down the drain.

BoilingPoint modernizes the concept of waste in ways that we are not all too unfamiliar with. If you think about it, the design isn't too far off from other conceptual changes in how we approach our interaction with everyday items. From grocery shopping with reusable bags to recycling our cooking oil into motor oil, the notion of reduction of needless waste is quite the common one--be it oil, paper, or water.

A new way to wash.

(Credit: http://www.dailymail.co.uk)

Sure, saving water is great and all, and everybody loves the environment, but a new technology coming out of Leeds University might allow for millions of apartment dwellers to finally have their own washing machine and dryer.

I don't know about the U.K., but here in the States, I've found many apartments simply are not set up for installing a washer and dryer. Landlords typically pay the water bill, so even if the infrastructure is there, the enthusiasm for laundry capabilities usually is not.

All that is set to change if this new washing machine works as well as it claims. Users would simply insert some detergent and only one cup of water. A cartridge delivers thousands of small, reusable plastic chips (or granules) that would then absorb the dirt and water. Not only does the technology promise to clean your clothes, but also at the end of the cycle the load would be "virtually dry", eliminating the need for a separate dryer.

It doesn't take a great leap of imagination to see the potential for this new spin on an old chore. The technology, dubbed Xeros, is already being compared to the Dyson bagless vacuum cleaner, which revolutionized the home cleaning industry when it was first released in the mid-1990s. The inventor, Professor Stephen Burkinshaw, is already in talks with commercial partners and hopes to see his idea become commercially viable as soon as next year. It would seem that for space-challenged apartment dwellers the future finally looks bright--without having to lug a closet full of laundry down the street.

Like it or not, our lives depend on energy. Lots of it. In fact, the United States alone consumes more than 3.35 terawatts per year, enough energy to run that computer you're reading this from for about 35 billion years, give or take a few million.

Look, ma! Less energy!

(Credit: Whirlpool via vhxn)

In an effort to decrease our environmental imprint and be smarter about how efficiently we're using our energy, several companies have introduced "green" models of their products. Though the Green movement started as a few political conservationist groups in the early 1980s, it is now responsible for one of the more prominent paradigm shifts in technological innovation. Products like Whirlpool's concept green kitchen are paving the way in allowing us to still live comfortably without making things quite so uncomfortable for Mother Earth.

In the true spirit of "green," the ecokitchen follows the familiar mantra of "reduce, recycle, reuse" in a way that would make even the most die-hard tree hugger happy. Its design makes it 70 percent more energy efficient than its conventional counterparts, using processes that are apparently supposed to mimic earth's ecological cycles (Kit Eaton via Gizmodo). Doing so not only saves precious resources, but also saves you some green...running this kitchen costs 24 percent less.

The magic begins in the fridge, which has drawers designed to conserve the cold while you're standing with the door agape, wondering what to have for your midnight snack. The heat that is a by-product of the refrigerator's cooling cycle is then funneled off to be used to heat the water for your dishwasher. Using tricks like these, the kitchen succeeds in reusing up to 60 percent of the water and heat that it generates for other purposes.

Since it's still just a concept, it may be awhile before you have a "trash into treasure" kitchen. But there are ways that you can "green" your kitchen in the meantime, like fully stocking your fridge (this reduces the amount of energy necessary to cool your food) and using as much natural light as possible. See here for more ideas.

The Virtual Green Restaurant

(Credit: conserve.restaurant.org)

Earlier this week the National Restaurant Association unveiled its new green-centric Web site. Green is in, and the 90-year-old trade group does not wish to be left behind. The new Web site offers tips and tricks on how to conserve energy, and therefore money. At the heart of its new conservation-minded site is what it's calling the "Virtual Green Restaurant." It's Flash-based and interactive, allowing users to better visualize what they can do to improve efficiency in their own restaurants.

Understandably, the National Restaurant Association is focused on saving money for its members and the bulk of the advice on the site reflects that attitude. Most of it is common sense: fix leaks, use less water, turn things off--that kind of stuff. However, there are some good resources for restaurateurs interested in federal and state conservation services. In addition, the site has a feedback area, in which they want to hear your story of conservation. Ultimately, this is where the site will grow the most--through the combined efforts of the almost 1 million restaurants and food service outlets they represent.

Everybody loves to save money--especially restaurant owners. By creating a central depository for green education and research, the association is sure to inspire budget-minded restaurateurs into embracing both kinds of green.