The Paperfix Stapleless Stapler is a great way to bind together small amounts of paperwork without the need for staples or paperclips. This helps to reduce the amount of metal being processed for use in staples and other such bindings.

The Paperfix Stapleless Stapler is able to safely fix around 4 sheets of paper together. It achieves this through a system of cutting and folding which causes the sheets of paper to interlock. By applying pressure to the device, just as you would a normal stapler or hole punch, the sheets of paper become interlocked. Though they can come apart more easily than if they were stapled, the pages will remain together well enough for general household or office use. Additionally you can make it more secure by using an additional punch to the side as well as in the corner of the paperwork without affecting the ability to read the pages.

The benefits of not using staples are many. Firstly you save on the amount of metal being processed for such office equipment, it has been estimated that around 200 tons of staples were used in the UK throughout a year. Secondly you will never find you have run out of staples, the stapler is ready for use at all times. Thirdly due to the lack of metal the pages can be easily put through a shredder without any hassle of removing staples. Fourthly there is no chance of your accidentally putting a staple into your hand or finger, anyone who has achieved this or has concerns due to small children will know that is a great advantage!

The negatives though are that only a limited amount of paper can be secured together, 6 pages would really be a maximum. Also as they can come apart more easily there will be times when the system simply is not secure enough. However, as these circumstances are usually in the minority it seems worthwhile having one of these alongside a regular stapler to help you cut down on your staple usage at the very least.

The Paperfix Stapleless Stapler is available for just £3.99.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Paperfix Stapleless Stapler article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

The Rainwater Pillow is a flexible alternative to a rain barrel. Able to hold significantly more water than conventional barrels, the pillow can be placed underneath decking, in a floorspace or any other such ground level hidden space. The water collected can then be used in a garden or even to flush toilets.

The Rainwater Pillow is designed to take advantage of even short sharp showers, collecting heavy rainfall effectively in minutes. It does this by taking all the rainfall from a houses guttering system, filtering in and due to gravity the water is pulled into the pillow for storage through wide piping to ensure effective and fast collection. Two overflow pipes ensure that the pillow never overfills or ruptures.

By collecting rainwater you can reduce your household water bills (especially if on a water meter) as the water can be used for gardening, cleaning cars and other outdoors objects and even for flushing toilets. It also helps to reduce the amount of water entering drains and so reduces water requiring processing in water treatment facilities. This collected water can also be used in times of drought when water restrictions are applied. Rain barrels do allow for this but do not easily accommodate a hose pipe, and cisterns can take up a lot of space or require a great amount of planning if they are to be placed below ground. The pillow instead takes advantage of unused spaces and with its pump system the water can be accessed conveniently for outdoors use.

The Rainwater Pillow comes with all the basics needed for installation on your property, including an installation manual and DVD. The system comes with two filters to be placed onto your drainpipes to filter the water run off from your roof to ensure the water entering the pillow is free from debris. It also includes a 25 psi water pump, this pump will be able to provide you with 10-12 gallons of water per minute out of things like a hose, this is comparable to a standard hose attached to a tap. The pump is controlled by a remote control so that by connecting a hose and pressing a button you are able to water your garden, green house or even wash a car.

The pillows come in a range of sizes, the standard basic size has a 1000 gallon capacity, but there are pillows for up to a 40000 gallon capacity. The Rainwater Pillows can be made to custom specifications to allow them to fit in any available ground level space like that within a crawl space, under decking, in a greenhouse and such like. The standard 1000 gallon pillow measures 9 ft x 11 ft x 2.5 ft (275 cm x 335 cm x 76 cm) and needs a clearance height of at least 3 ft (91 cm) to accommodate the pillow expanding with water.

The rainwater pillow varies between $2,500 and $4,500, depending on what capacity you opt for.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Rainwater Storage Pillow article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

The Solar Pool Heater by Hammacher Schlemmer is a simple device to heat the water of an above ground pool without incurring any energy bill costs.

The Solar Pool Heater is designed to be attached to a pump-operated filtering system, it takes the water from this and passes it through its 6 meters (20 feet) of coiled black piping. This piping is housed into the device to make the heater only measure 58.5 cm x 58.5 cm x 25.5 cm (23 in. x 23 in. x 10 in.). It is this black piping that heats the water, exposed to the sun this piping heats up in the sunlight, warming the water that is passing through it effectively. this warmed water is then fed back into your pool.

Obviously this type of heating will not make a drastic change in temperature of a pool, but it will help take away the chill. It is estimated that the pool heating system increases the temperature of a 6,000 gallon (2271 liter) pool by 5º F (around 3º C) in 10 days. Up to 4 of these heaters can be connected to the one pool at once to speed up the heating process. By only using the heat from the sun there is no long tern running costs for this heater, though obviously it will be ineffective on cold cloudy days.

The Solar Pool Heater comes with all the hardware and accessories needed to connect it to your above ground pool and its pump-operated filtering system. It also comes with a protective cover to protect the heater while it is in storage over the cooler months.

The solar pool heater retails for $199.95 plus shipping.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Solar Outdoor Pool Heater article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

The Energy Saver Power Monitor By Black & Decker is able to monitor your electrical use without you needing an electrician to wire the monitor in. The information is sent from the transmitter to a hand-held device that gives you an accurate minute by minute account of your electrical usage.

This Power Monitor is part of Black & Deckers Energy Saver range of products. The transmitter part of the power monitor is placed onto the electricity meter, which can be outside. The transmitter is fully weatherproof, capable of working in both the heat of summer and the frosts of winter. It is meant to be compatible with 90% of all meter types. The transmitter though runs on a AA battery, so it may be worth while investing on a high powered rechargeable battery to use in this device. No electrician is required to install the system as the transmitter interfaces with the meters without being directly wired into them.

Once this is fully aligned to the meter and synchronised with the portable hand held monitor by following the detailed instructions  you can start to track your electrical usage minute by minute. By turning different devices on and off around your property you can figure out where energy savings can be made and be more productive in making sure only devices needed are left on.

The Power Monitor By Black & Decker can display your energy usage in dollars as well as by kilowatt hours and can track your energy usage for the month to date, and give you a predicted bill cost for that month. By carefully tracking your energy usage it is thought you will be able to be more aware of appliances left on without need, or of what devices need updating to more energy efficient models. By making these changes through being more aware of your usage you can save on your electrical costs, studies on this sort of device indicate that a saving of up to 20% can be made on a households electrical bill.

The Energy Saver Power Monitor By Black & Decker is just $85.80 with free shipping.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Energy Saver Power Monitor By Black & Decker article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

The Eureka Hard Surface Floor Steam Cleaner is a fast and effective way of cleaning hard surface floors without the need for chemicals. By using steam it cleans the floor surfaces effectively, drys quickly and also kills germs.

The Hard Surface Floor Steam Cleaner made by Eureka heats up water in around 4 minutes to a high temperature to steam clean any hard surface floor. Due to the temperature the steam kills of germs such as E. coli or salmonella that are on the floor while removing dirt effectively. As it uses steam the flooring dries off rapidly too, preventing any issues of wet slippery floors taking ages to dry. The steam cleaner works on just normal tap water, so preventing the need for any chemicals to be used in cleaning and sanitising your hard surface flooring.

The Hard Surface Floor Steam Cleaner comes with two ‘magic pads’ to be used to clean the floors with. These pads are machine washable to reduce the waste of disposable heads. It also includes a measuring cup and funnel to help you pour the water into the steamer, and a tray for preheating and cooling the water safely. The handle of the steamer is adjustable, the steamer is 125cm (49 in) in height at full extension. The handle can be detached so that the steamer can be used on counter tops to clean and sterilize them.

The steam cleaner’s head is 32 cm (12.5in) x 18 cm(7 in), this makes it effective in cleaning even large areas quickly, while its swivel head allows it to be easily maneuvered in small spaces. The cleaner has a 7.5 meter (25 foot) electrical cord offering you a large area of reach without needing to unplug it.  The cleaner weighs 5.5 pounds when empty of water, so it is light enough to move about a house or office with ease.

Some considerations though are that if you live in a hard water area the cleaner will become clogged up. This can be cleaned with vinegar when needed or soft/distilled water could be used instead of tap water. Though the steamer is suitable for hard surfaces, floors that are waxed or even unsealed should not be cleaned by them, as the heat will damage the wood, or melt the wax finish.

The Hard Surface Floor Steam Cleaner is just $65.99 with free shipping!

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Eureka – Hard Surface Floor Steam Cleaner article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

The Current Regulating Vehicle Fuel Efficiency Booster is a small device to help make your car more energy efficient. The device works by regulating the current in the electronics to make sure that a stable current reaches the cars electrical control unit (ECU).

The Current Regulating Vehicle Fuel Efficiency Booster is said to help reduce the amount of fuel used by 18%. The company state that in independent tests they had run by an automotive testing service the device helped to increase a test cars miles per gallon from 28.1 to 23.8 in two weeks.

The Current Regulating Vehicle Fuel Efficiency Booster is inserted into a cars DC outlet, and comes with an adapter to give your car two DC outlets so that you can still use an outlet for another device.  The device is meant to reduce the electrical interference from items such as the stereo, air conditioning or lights to make sure that the cars ECU has a stabilised electrical supply to help it achieve its most optimum working environment. As the ECU controls the cars fuel injection and ignition systems it working better helps to optimize fuel efficiency of the car.

The Fuel Efficiency Booster is meant for use in 12 volt cars that are two or more years old and is not suitable for hybrid cars. There is some speculation to its actual effectiveness (though the independent testing would suggest it is effective), as the electrical equipment should be digital and therefore fluctuations in voltage should not cause any negative effects. The efficiency booster is available for just $79.95 plus shipping.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Current Regulating Vehicle Fuel Efficiency Booster article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

The Compactor Trash Can (Smash Can) by Reduce is a great way to compact your household waste cleanly and effectively. By compacting garbage down you will save on bin bags and be able to fit a lot more into your bins.

The Compactor Trash Can has a specially designed lid that you push down on once the trash can (or bin) is full. This compacts the garbage within the can without you having to touch it at all, as it is all safely sealed away, nor will you get a gust of garbage gas in your face. This means any harmful germs or bacteria are kept away from you while your trash is condensed allowing you to use half as many bin bags as before, helping to reduce costs to you and to reduce the amount of plastic bags in landfills.

The can is pedal operated with a soft closing lid which means no annoying loud crash when the lid goes down and no worries about small fingers getting caught. The can has a 40 liter (10.5 gallon) capacity and takes standard bin bags, there is no need to buy heavy duty ones unless you wish to.

My one concern for this from an environmental point is the impression that it reduces garbage going to landfill, it does not, it certainly reduces the amount of bags, but the actual amount of garbage is unchanged. Nor does it reduce the amount of space taken in landfill as the garbage is compressed first when placed into a garbage truck and often again before reaching landfill. It does help reduce the amount of plastic bags in landfills, helps to keep your rubbish safely away from you when compacting it, is a safer bin around small children, and by using less bags it can help quicken refuse collection.

The Self Powered Trash Compactor costs $168.27 with free delivery.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Self Powered Compactor Trash Can By Reduce article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

The Solar Powered Lunar Car is a complex model that will move across a flat surface once assembled correctly. The model comes in multiple parts to construct which helps educate children on a multitude of things, like gear box operation, motor operation and the potential of solar power.

The Solar Powered Lunar Car Kit is constructed from balsa wood pieces which come on a pre cut board, needing to be pressed out and pieced together. The kit contains the parts needed for making the model work and complex instructions. The model is not simple to construct but has detailed instructions with illustrations to help you arrange over 100 parts into a working model. Through making the model you can learn about how motors and automatic transmissions work, how a gear box is constructed and how it operates, how the wiring goes together to connect everything and how the solar energy is taken and converted into electrical energy that the motor can use to operate the model.

The Solar Powered Lunar Car is a great educational model, helping children to learn through play on a multitude of areas. Because of its complexity though adult assistance will be required, also to construct the model you will need a screwdriver, long nose pliers, a sharp knife and sandpaper to help smooth the pieces. The model can be run from a battery instead of solar power, but requires you to provide this AA battery.

The Lunar Car costs just £19.12 plus delivery.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Lunar Car – Solar Powered Robot Kit article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

This Solar Powered Desk Fan made by Solar Technology has been crafted from perspex. The fan takes advantage of even a small amount of light from a desk lamp to turn its blades and keep you cool.

The Solar Powered Desk Fan is delivered in kit form, from pieces of laser cut perspex that can be easily slotted together by following the instructions provided.  The solar panel has been placed on the back of the fan, and though some thought should be used concerning the placement of the solar panel to take advantage of any natural or artificial light source, it is important to place it where you will benefit from the fans breeze. The solar panel is large enough to take advantage of even a relatively weak artificial light so is suitable for any office.

The desk fan is suitable for children aged 6+. It does make a decent learning aid to show the abilities of solar power, be it from natural daylight or from a desk lamp. The child will benefit from constructing the fan, learning how the parts go together and visually experiencing how effectively light energy is converted into electrical power to turn the fan blades.  The advantage to this device is that once children are bored of it, it can be ‘recycled’ into a handy device for any desk worker.

The Solar Powered Desk Fan costs just £29.95 plus delivery.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Solar Powered Desk Fan By Solar Technology article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

This Bicycle Powered Generator is a concept design by the designer Elizabeth Joy Wong for a way of converting kinetic energy into electrical energy for everyday use.

The Generator envisioned attaches to a bicycle, which is peddled to turn the wheels, which then spin a friction drum. This friction drum is then powering the alternator, creating electrical energy. The electrical energy will be then stored in a portable power pack so that it can be used to power many different small appliances.

The Bicycle Powered Generator makes use of some basic principles to turn your motion (kinetic energy) into electrical energy that can be used around the house. Though it will never be a lot of energy, the generator does allow you to replace some of your electrical needs with a sustainable source of power. Many households have exercise bikes within them, this concept should allow you to benefit not only physically from the exercise but also financially in savings. The concept generator would then help reduce a households reliance on unsustainable electricity sources, maybe giving you a warm glow from both being eco friendly and from the exercise!

Source: Designer Elizabeth Joy Wong

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Bicycle Powered Generator Concept article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!