PlayStation 3 users can finally rejoice as Netflix will introduce streaming video for the PS3 system. The system will require a boot disc in order to function but should see a complete integrated system later next year. Users can log onto to their Netflix account and request the new PS3 disc starting now, as the disc should be shipping out tomorrow November 6th.
Samsung and Sprint have officially released their newest Earth friendly device, the Reclaim M560. The new Reclaim’s housing is made from 40% bio-plastic which is derived from corn product. The packaging which is also eco friendly is made from 70% recycled materials. In Sprints effort to become more eco-conscious they have decided to donate $2 to the Nature Conservancy’s Adopt an Acre Program. Now lets get down to the specs: Samsung has kept this phone pretty basic but no too bland at the same time. Some of the main features include a full QWERTY keyboard, GPS, Social Media widgets, 2MP camera, and a microSD slot. The mobile also features a standard headphone jack with volume rocker to give a decent music experience as well. If you wish to get your hands on this eco friendly & stylish handset it is available today for $50 after a 2 year deal from Sprint.
People everywhere have been celebrating Earth Day since it’s creation in 1970. Today Earth Day spans across 175 countries and is celebrated by over a billion people. Over the years people have always been encouraged to recycle paper, glass, and plastics in and out of the home. Families have done a great job at recycling these materials while helping out our environment. These common materials are broken down and reused to make other products and materials. In today’s household we see many electronic devices that are either outdated, broken, or just collecting dust. Like glass, plastics, and paper many of the components in electronics can be properly broken down and be reused to produce other devices.
Here at Gazelle we have developed our “Gazelle Recycle Network” in order for people to find responsible recyclers in their neighborhood. The Gazelle Recycle Network has been created to support our customers looking to recycle their bigger electronic items that we don’t support online. If you have any items such as CRT Monitors, Printers, Scanners, Fax Machines, you can search by zip code to find a drop of locations nearest you.
To visit the Gazelle Recyle Network and do your part this Earth Day click here!
There’s a new feature on the site that we’re pretty excited about – the Recycler Network. While we are always champions of reuse as the first option, there are items that simply do have any life left in them and must be recycled in an environmentally sound manner. We often get requests to take printers, older monitors, and other items. One challenge here is not to compound the environmental problem. Shipping e-waste across the country to a responsible recycler keeps e-waste out of the landfill, but how much fuel do we use and how much CO2 are we expelling in the process? Not to mention the hassle of shipping bulky items.
To help address this, we wanted to create a more localized option to help people recycle without the hassles of shipping. If you have an item that isn’t in a category we support, such as a big old CRT monitor, or a fax machine, you can search our network and find a local recycling location that will accept it. Everyone in this network has met our standard as a responsible recycler.
So what defines a responsible recycler? We break it down into 4 basic sets of criteria:
So if you have electronics to recycle that we aren’t taking online, find a location near you that will. We’re also working to grow the network, so if you know a recycler, please suggest they join our network.
It’s all a part of the reCommerce revolution.
Here at Gazelle we are always finding ways to offer even more convenience and value to our customers. If you haven’t been “monitoring” the site lately we are now accepting LCD Monitors for trade. We currently cover all the major brands in practically every screen size. To trade in your LCD Monitor now click here! By the way…for all those looking to safely recycle their older CRT Monitors Gazelle can show you how here.
Although this year at CES saw somewhat smaller crowds from past years, the show still proved to be as fun and entertaining as ever. The major manufactures still produced breathtaking booths and exhibits to keep all the glamor and excitement around the actual event, and shift the focus away from this rough economic time period.
As expected, a main focal point at CES were 3-D TVs being displayed by Sony, LG, and Samsung. These devices attracted a massive media frenzy surrounding them. I had a chance to test out a Samsung 3D LCD TV running a first person shooter video game. The screen literally brings the game to life and puts you right in the middle of the action. Along with the 3D TVs OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) displays also attracted many visitors. These televisions produce a higher resolution picture quality (contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1) than normal LCD and are also much more energy efficient.
The Netbook craze was a popular theme around this years show as well. Asus, MSI, and even Sony showed off their new lineups of Netbooks. The Sony Vaio P Series (8” Netbook) was definitely the most impressive, and really stood out at this years show.
Wireless in-home entertainment also had a definite impact on this years show. LG and other brands displayed their BD Live players and internet ready LCD TVs. The purpose of these devices is to be able to stream HD content within your home network virtually eliminating hardware and media.
The “Green” message at CES this year was much larger than previous shows. This was a great trend to see, with manufacturers all displaying at least one Green product line. Motorola, Samsung, and Nokia all displayed phones made from recycled materials. Asus also showed off their new bamboo laptop series which are not only eco-friendly, but great looking and extremely luxurious as well. Almost every major brand displayed a Green message this year, and were eager to talk about some of their Green initiatives heading into the New Year. The Green Gadget Tech Zone at CES was an area that showed a lot of growth and promise this year. The section has grown from just 520 square feet last year to more than 3,000 square feet at this years show. A CEA survey found that 53% of consumers who were interested in green factors were also willing to pay more for it — about 7.5% more on average.
Overall CES this year was a completely successful event despite some predictions of a lackluster show in the face of slowed consumer spending. Many new and innovative products and ideas were featured. These new innovations give consumers and retailers something positive to look forward to despite the current economic situation.
Thanks again to all the Gazellers who followed us throughout the event here in Vegas. Make sure to check out some our favorite images of CES below.
Admit it. Going Green isn’t just a feel-good fad. It’s a way to reduce our environmental impact while saving some serious cash. Without further ado, eight picks from the brain trust that is both style conscious and energy saving:
1. Simpletech [re] Drive External Hard Drive (500GB & 1TB)
2. Samsung E200 ECO Phone
3. Belkin Conserve
4. Vers 2x iPod Speaker Dock
5. Philips ECO TV
6. Nokia 3110 Evolve
7. iQua SUN BHS-603 Solar Powered BT Headset
8. Voltaic Laptop Bag
Despite what some people believe, recycling is not a new idea. No, recycling, in one form or another, has been around forever.
Centuries before the fall of Rome, bronze items were being retooled for different uses. The residue from fires was used to make bricks in pre-industrial Britain.
As early as 1690, the Rittenhouse Paper Co. of Philadelphia had a paper-recycling mill up and running. New York City’s sanitation commissioner, George Waring, mandated recycling – in 1895. Care to guess who enforced it? Teddy Roosevelt, then New York’s police commissioner.
Henry Ford, a man who believed in efficiency and thriftiness, set up a “disassembly line” so that old Model Ts could be used in the manufacture of new vehicles. (This was a guy who had the wood from shipping carts reused as floorboards.)
And there are a lot of other examples of conservation efforts. The public conscious, however, really got raised by the first Earth Day in 1970. This timing also probably also gave that hippie, tree-hugging perception to the movement. And in that same year, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was formed.
From 1970 to today, enormous progress has been made in recycling as municipality after municipality handed out bins and ordered paper, cans and other materials be placed in them. In the mid-’80s, there was only one curbside recycling program as compared to more than 8,600 in 2006. That’s according to the EPA.
In 1980, recycling kept 15 million tons out of landfills. A couple of years ago, that figure had risen to 82 million. Curbside pickups, drop-off sites and buy-back centers have stopped 32 percent of our solid waste from ending up in landfills.
Okay, this is great, but stop all your clapping and whistling. Sixty-eight percent of our trash and garbage is still being dumped.
The massive Fresh Kill landfill, opened on Staten Island in 1948, closed 2001, was one of three man-made things that could be seen from outer space. The other two being the Great Wall of China and the American Interstate system (maybe spotting Fresh Kill dissuaded alien invaders from attacking.)
The discarding of electronics is, certainly, part of the problem. The Computer Takeback Campaign estimates that e-waste produces 20 to 50 metric tons worldwide and is the fastest growing solid waste. It has also found that 130 million cell phones get trashed a year. Now when you consider that there are some 2 billion people with cell phones now, the problem is only going to get worse.
Add in the 130,000 computers that ended up in the dumpster every day of 2005, of which almost 2 million tons were sent packing to landfills, we have a huge problem.
All of this has been to drive home the importance of recycling – and the purpose of Gazelle. We’re here to make it easy, practical, and rewarding for you to contribute to the solution.
reCommerce: it’s recycling for the 21st Century.
Samsung has announced a new environmentally friendly version of the E200 handset at the Samsung Olympic event in Beijing. The new 9.9mm slim E200 ECO features a 1.3 megapixel camera with media playback capabilities. The external case of the phone, in appropriate green color, is made of bioplastic (extracted from plant material like corn) instead of polycarbonate plastic, which reduces the CO2 burden of producing the phone. It’s also packaged in a uncoated recycled paper box. Samsung is showing great effort in going green, while producing stylish and functional handsets.
This is fantastic. With manufacturers like Samsung concentrate on eco-friendly innovation like this, and Gazelle providing a practical, rewarding way for people to dispose of the gadgets they are no longer using, we can make a dent in e-waste.
We see a lot of products come through the doors here at Gazelle. Some of them are at the end of their useful life, and we shepherd them into the recycling process. At the risk of sounding corny, keeping these electronics out of landfills is awesome in both senses of the word.
More and more, however, we see things that are still pretty new. This is great. It means people are embracing reuse rather than keeping their old cell phones, and laptops in closets and drawers.
In the last couple of days, our first two 3G iPhones have come through. With all the hype surrounding the release of the new iPhone less than a month ago, this may have broken a speed record for reuse. It took a few months for us to get our first Air.
Makes you wonder, what are they upgrading to?…
