Alternative energy gadgets: No battery, no cry
Crave loves gadgets, but we don't love electricity and fuel bills. We've selected some of our favourite gizmos reviewed by our new sister site SmartPlanet that run from alternative energy sources
Thanks to modern technology, we can waste time in ways our ancestors could only dream of, while they were working down the mine, in black and white. Unfortunately our world of gizmos and gimmicks, doodahs and doofers isn't entirely free: just ask the polar bears.
One way to save money and the planet simultaneously is to ditch the fossil fuels and electrical leash and seek alternative sources of power. That's where our new sister site SmartPlanet comes in: it reviews products on their quality, value, ethics and greenness, so inconvenient truths are balanced by conveniently thrifty products. We've picked you out an elite bunch of the best money- and power-saving gadgets our eco-expert buddies have rated.
Good old Trevor Baylis. Not content with bringing the gift of radio to starving Africans, Trevor is now bringing the gift of music to granddads and goths on buses with the Eco Media Player. It's a wind-up MP3 player that also digitalifies your vinyl records and charges phones and other, less green MP3 players. It costs £150 but could pay for itself after a few winds. Just remember to switch winding hands occasionally, or you might end up beefcake on one arm, and chocolate cake on the other.
Click through the links to see more alternative energy sources that keep your gadgets singing and the earth spinning. -Rich Trenholm
Ah, the sun. Here at Crave we don't see it too often -- the price of being based in South London. But when it does creep from behind the clouds, we like to harness it to our will, perhaps with the Voltaic Systems Converter. This £100 solar-panelled rucksack is an ecological double-whammy: not only does it charge your gizmos, it's made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate -- that's the PET stuff that plastic bottles are made of.
If wearing your solar charger on your back isn't for you, try the Solar Technology Freeloader. Crave knows all about freeloading, and we certainly know a bargain when we spot one. For a paltry £23 you can charge most MP3 players and phones simply by plugging into this sun-worshipper.
The smart ed is like a smart fortwo coupé, except with electricity providing the juice instead of nasty old fossil fuel. Come back, gearheads: the ed isn't one of your mother's electric cars. It makes no compromise on perfomance, reaching a nippy 60mph and covering 72 miles of city streets before pit-stop top-up.