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GoodCleanTech.com reported today about a sighting of the Sony Ericsson GreenHeart Concept phone in Copenhagen. The concept embodies the synthesis of several green-tech considerations including recyclable materials and bioplastic shells, ebook manuals instead of paper ones and eco-friendlier packaging.

As reporter Mariella Moon points out in her post the phone’s design probably won’t incite technolust, but the concept phone does warrant bragging rights when it comes to its charger, which sips a mere 3.5mW once the phone’s battery reaches full-charge capacity. That’s a ten fold improvement over current energy-efficient chargers.

Unfortunately the phone’s talk and standby times are reportedly on par with existing phones so there’s not a lot to get excited about on that front when it comes to practical use scenarios.

Then again it may not matter either way since the phone is after all only a proof-of-concept, and whether it ever becomes something you can hold in your hand remains to be seen.

I stumbled upon Ohio University’s Green Computing Guide and was impressed by how much helpful green-tech info it packs into so little space.

The guide includes common myth-busters like turning off your computer uses more energy than leaving it on (false), and a how-to steps to turn your computer into a greener machine.
 

There’s also a downloadable .PDF version.

Following up on Saturday’s post on five ways to properly unload your cellphone is a link to RBRC.org (Rechargeable Battery Recycling Program). Type in your zip code and RBRC will point you to the nearest drop-off location to discard dead or unwanted rechargeable batteries (and cell phones too). With more than 50,000 collection locations nationwide you’ll likely find one just around the corner (as I found here).

Ditching your old mobile phone for a better-stronger-faster iPhone 3G or Blackberry Bold? Great, but be sure to do the world a favor and dispose of your old phone in a green-tech friendly such as those described in the EcoLocalizer story Five Green Ways to Dispose of That Old Cell Phone.

Here’s a brief excerpt from the story, FYI:

Cell phones contain a number of toxins that build up in the environment over time, like arsenic, antimony, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc. These chemicals are linked to all sorts of nasty health problems, such as neurological disorders and cancer.

As for the smashed-screen iPhone in the picture, that was mine. I dropped it the night before the new iPhone 3G went on sale. I’d had no intention of buying the new iPhone 3G right away, and was going to wait for the crowds to die down and bug fixes to take care of any first-run issues that would likely crop up. But fate stepped in and somehow my hand knocked the device off my desk and onto the floor with all the grace of the Diving Horse that used to plunge from its perch atop a pool on Atlantic City’s Steel Pier. Ironically enough I wound up at the Apple Store on the Atlantic City Boardwalk to stand in line with more than a hundred others to acquire the new model (though not without some bribery on my part on account of I needed to get to NYC before 5 p.m. to talk about the new iPhone 3G on Fox’s Happy Hour program).

Despite the smashed screen my old phone fetched more than $200 on eBay – an option that isn’t mentioned in the EcoLocalizer story but one worth considering if your “old” mobile phone is still new enough to fetch a good price on eBay or Craigslist.org.

Kudos to Rebecca Day over at Electronic House for her excellent story Green Technology: Why Internet Downloads Will Save the Planet.

Here’s an excerpt: If I’m feeling especially green, I can download “near-DVD-quality” movies from Netflix rather than going the snail mail route. I can use TiVo as a window to Amazon’s Unbox video collection. New releases typically run $4 per rental and $15 for purchase, but when I buy a title for playback on my PC or TiVo, I get a smaller file, too, for playback on a portable.

Great work, Rebecca!

After sorting through a number of technology products that made a difference on the green-tech front, the editors of Electronic House present their top choices in Going Green: The Best Products of 2008.
 

Additional green-tech stories by Electronic House can be found here, and this feed will keep you up-to-date on future green-centric stories as they appear.

Want to know how Apple stacks up against Nintendo when it comes to who’s greener? Microsoft vs. Sony? Now you can, with Greenpeace’s Greener Electronics interactive graph. The scores may surprise you.

Welcome to gGadget.org, a new green gadgets and tech blog by Joe Hutsko. gGadget.org will offer green-tech gadget and gear reviews, roundups and features for living a greener personal-tech life. Please visit often and tell your family, friends and coworkers about gGadget.org as well!