The EcoButton

Posted by Chad Criswell Feb 21, 2008

Following on the heels of products such as the Eco-Strip and Belkin’s new green oriented power strip, the Eco Button is being marketed as a strong visual reminder to help you save electricity every time you leave your computer sitting idle. Although the Eco Button is quite eye catching it is essentially a glorified Sleep button which performs a function similar to the sleep button that is already built in to most computer keyboards. One has to wonder if in the future keyboard manufacturers will seize on this obvious point and begin tailoring their sleep buttons in a more eye catching manner.

The Eco Button web site provides a very eye catching flash movie showing just how much CO2 it believes could be saved if everyone in Great Britain used its product. On a global scale the estimates are even more impressive yet one has to wonder just how much of a carbon footprint the manufacture of these devices would have on such a global scale? In the end, it is probably much more effective to make a nice big colored sign to remind you to hit the sleep button rather than shell out a penny on such a redundant device.