What do you call it when appliances suck energy even when they’re off? Vampire draw.  One of the biggest offenders is your set top box that you use for your cable, satellite, or DVR service.  As of now, your service providers are not really interested in providing energy efficient equipment because they don’t pay your electric bill and so far, people aren’t complaining in enough numbers for them to respond.

Well the EPA has finally unveiled the new, new car stickers.  You know the sticker that tells you how many miles per gallon a car will get along with an estimate cost for fuel for the year.  Even though electric cars don’t use gasoline, they still have to have the same information on the car as gasoline and diesel powered cars.  So the EPA has come up with MPGe or miles per gallon equivalency.

The Blue Ocean Institute has created the FishPhone app for iPhones.  This is a free must-have app for seafood fans.  If you are dining out or purchasing seafood, this app will tell you what’s safe and what’s dangerous to eat.  You can even get wine suggestions.

The thing about a dedicated ereader is that it does one thing very well while saving trees and using very little energy.  Some ereaders are adding a game or two, but the primary focus of the device is to read books.  All of them have added the ability to listen to mp3s so you can rip audiobooks to mp3s and listen to books as well as music.  Pictures can also be viewed on the ereaders but most using E Ink or black and white TFT will only display the pictures in shades of gray.

This is the second piece in the Green Holiday shopping series.  What gadgets exist that are unique,useful, fun and environmentally friendly?  Let’s find out.

A few of the items found here, are not only environmentally friendly but they are also altruistic.  For instance IKEA offers a low cost solar lamp.  For every lamp you buy, Ikea will donate one to children whose homes lack electricity.

Most of us own laptops, mp3 players, cell phones, and other portable gadgets that we need to charge from time to time.  In this, the first of several Green Holiday shopping guides, we will be discussing the different options for charging your portable devices using renewable energy chargers or a couple of  cordless options.  Included in this shopping guide are chargers that have gotten  the high reviews/ratings in their price category.