Speaker 1: There's a lot of stuff you can get on Amazon and sorting through it all is kind of overwhelming. So today we're rounding off some of the best gadgets with a sustainable focus.
Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Lexi, your budget friendly buddy, always looking out for you and the best bargains. And yes, I totally get the irony in me recommending buying products in the context of being sustainable and eco-friendly. But if you [00:00:30] are looking to make small changes or just making any purchase at all, you might as well make it the most informed choice possible and hopefully you'll find some of these things really cool in their own rights. You know where to find links and pricing of everything that we talk about today. It's in the description. So let's go. We all know about simple things we can do to help reduce our water usage at home, but what about all of those appliances? These are the govi, wifi, water sensors [00:01:00] and you put them pretty much anywhere you have potential for a water leak. So in the laundry, in the garage, under the sink, there's just so many places.
Speaker 1: Now this three pack retails for $55 and of course they send alerts to your phone. It also has a manual alarm that goes off if you'd rather not do the smartphone thing. And here is a deal for you too. Starting on Black Friday, this entire kit is going to drop to $30. Now not only is this stuff good to help you save water if there's a leak somewhere in your home, it also [00:01:30] be pretty helpful so you can avoid those costly home repairs. If something does go seriously wrong with like an appliance or your pipes. After all, you really don't want your home turning into sea world if you can help it. The hum of business card might not seem particularly wasteful, but think about it, all of that cardboard, sometimes plastic, sometimes metal, we're all digital anyway, so why not use a digital business card?
Speaker 1: This is the link card and it's got NFC in it. There's also QR code around [00:02:00] the back, so you can just set it up with your phone with an app. The best part about it, it's free to enter and update your information apart from of course buying the card for $18 and the person just needs to tap their phone on the card. They don't need to download anything, which is great. It works with iPhone and Android. We love interoperability. Now you could even just use this to share things like links to a product or another cause, just not necessarily your personal details if you don't want that. And there are plenty of looks [00:02:30] to choose from, but Bamboo is my personal favorite. It's also the most sustainable option as all of the other colors are made from pbc. I think this one's really cool.
Speaker 1: Speaking of bamboo, you might be looking at a portable Bluetooth speaker, but let's make it a little bit more eco-conscious with this one from Reveal. Now it's also solar powered, so you might never need to plug this one in, especially if you live somewhere with ample sunlight but never [00:03:00] fear if there's no sun in sight. You can also top it up from an outlet and get up to 15 hours of battery life. Unfortunately it's micro usb, but look, I can live with that. Plus it also recharges your phone or other small device. But yes, as you'd expect, it's not really that fast. Still, we love gadgets that serve more than just one function, but most importantly, what does it sound like? [00:03:30] Pretty balanced actually. It's not too base heavy, but it will get loud enough to fill a small room. I do find it gets a little bit distorted if you're really trying to blast this thing. But this is about portability and not having to charge it with an outlet. So I think those trade-offs are worth it. All of your gadgets need a way to power them. And let me tell you, rechargeable batteries are the way to go for many devices. Now this is the power owl and did I choose [00:04:00] it just because it's got a great name Power Owl?
Speaker 1: Yes, in in part. But this brand also gets a recommendation from my fellow CNET editor, Josh Goldman, who's been using them for several years and he reckons he's recharged them over a hundred times each and they're still going strong. Now the best part is unlike some rechargeable batteries, like the ones that I use a lot in their studio here, you don't have to constantly be recharging these all the time [00:04:30] cause they do hold their charge really well when you're not constantly using them and topping them up. Now this design, it's also just kind of cool to look at in the circle with 16 independent channels and of course LEDs to tell you the battery charging status. It conduc up both AAA and AA batteries at the same time. But am I annoyed that the bundle of batteries that you get with this round charger only comes with 12 batteries when there are clearly 16 slots in this? Yes, yes, yes I am, but at least [00:05:00] it's got room for extra.
Speaker 1: Next, I wanted to share some cool items that you might not have known color. The choice of recycled materials. Now this is the power phone case and this one is specifically for the iPhone 14 probe, but there are plenty of options for other iPhone and Android models available going back quite a ways. So if you're still wrapping that iPhone eight, you got it, you've got an option here. There is a choice of three colors with this neat speckled finish on it and [00:05:30] I really like how it kind of feels a little soft and squishy in the hand, but it still feels protective. It does have a raised lip around the camera, which you definitely do need for the 14 pro, although there is no official drop rating like some other cases. But I still feel like it's gonna give good protection overall and I may or may not have accidentally tested this out with my own phone and it survived <laugh>. Most importantly though, it's made of compostable materials from flax and when it comes [00:06:00] to the end of life you can either send it back to the company, you can throw it in your backyard composting setup or even in your city's option if that's available. And full props to the fully recycled and cardboard paper packaging as well.
Speaker 1: Then there's the Microsoft wireless mouse made of 20% ocean plastic. Now is that a lot? Not in the grand scheme of things, but it is a start and it only encourages manufacturers to do better if we as consumers demand [00:06:30] these products with more recycled materials in them. So consider this my demand. More recycled stuff in our gadgets, please everybody. Now this mouse is actually really smooth to use and I do like that speckled finish as well. Plus it works on Windows and Mac. Even the packaging is fully recyclable. But next time Microsoft go all out, I wanna see more stuff like this. And one final find I had to share with you on the theme of all things recycled [00:07:00] material and it is brand new, it has just come out, the Sony link buds S now come in this earth blue finish. They're made from recycled water bottles.
Speaker 1: Now unfortunately we don't have a specific amount of recycled materials used here, but again, it's a start and they are a little bit more pricey than everything else on this episode, which is under a hundred dollars. But these are actually really good earbuds and I wanted to share with them with you cuz they kind of fall in this theme and they're brand new so they might even go on Black Friday, sales fingers crossed. So let's keep putting pressure on all manufacturers to do better [00:07:30] and make more conscious choices where we can. Thanks so much for watching. I hope you found one or more of these items really fun and helpful on the theme of sustainability. But if there's something I missed that you really thought should have made it on this list, I would love to know cuz I can't find everything. And that's where you come in. Drop me a comment and leave me alike if you enjoyed this video and let me know what more things you wanna see on the future. Episodes of Amazon must haves. I'll catch you later.
