Some Odd Items are Green-Tech for No Good Reason - Just Enjoy: Green Technology Articles: Eco20/20

Some Odd Items are Green-Tech for No Good Reason - Just Enjoy

It's like people selling used socks on e-bay. Certain things must simply be taken as weirdly appealing to someone, somewhere - maybe.

Solar Pet Rock

* Not a rock. More of a plastic candy-containment egg gone wrong sort of thing. It's hard to figure why anyone felt the world needed a plastic rock that can dance; with shallow black solar slots on top that lead you to wonder if its mama crossbred with a toaster. Apparently rocks aren't eco-friendly enough for someone; or they thought the rock lacked an essential entertainment value. Nevertheless, to watch this thing dance is hysterically funny. Especially if you have a poodle. It will severely mess with a poodle.

Solar-electric Glowing Garden Ornaments

* Glow-lighted plastic. Yep. Green grass-shaped plastic. Neon pink rock-shaped plastic. Stepping-stones in yellow. Planters in assorted colors. Flowers in popular purple, brilliant blue, and more. All glowing much brighter than the stick-up stars that once decorated so many bedroom ceilings. So here's the plan: lay a bright yellow path amid neon pink accent rocks; plant a few weeds...um, grassy things; drop flowers into pot. Invite Alice. Check tea supply. You're all set for the Mad Hatter's party. If you add spiders with black-light bellies, it would make a heck of a Halloween setting.

Perpetually Rotating Solar Classroom Globe-with Political Map.

* Sure. Why not. Watching the world go around must have some sociological significance. And everyone knows pondering the 'Ronco syndrome' will someday qualify as a valid scientific study of psychotic human behavior.

Solar Address Display

* When it's not enough to plaster numbers on the front of a building, or you simply feel a sign would be better for digital luminance. Not so bad really. It might, in fact, be of service if it catches up to electric big-brother and learns to cycle through time and temp.

Water-powered Shower Radio

* Fit the radio in line with your shower hose, and the water flowing through will power the micro turbine that in turn drives a generator which produces energy for the radio. All for a two minute Blue Oyster Cult fix. How much water will you waste while searching tunes; or letting it run to keep from missing the morning traffic report? Wouldn't it be easier to just sing in the shower? Or, hey, put a solar radio on the bathroom window sill.

Some of these gadgets are sort of fun. But some are so utterly bizarre they should be wearing legal disclaimers stating that plastic solar imitations are considerably less eco-friendly than the real items they should be forbidden to represent. (Just saying: if grass had a lawyer...)

The creepiest thought (excluding eco-friendly sex-toys) is, if solar-power didn't exist, people would still buy the glow-grass in battery-operated gadget stores. Think not? Did you ever see a motion activated "screaming cat in a bag" toy? Now that's one toy that really should come in solar - it would insure the poodle would never poop in the flowerbed.