5 Sustainable Technologies for Consumers in 2019

Sustainability is big, with people looking for ways to make their offices paperless and reduce the amount of time they spend driving.

Large or small, every little bit counts. Conserving some water here, saving a little electricity there. But does sustainability always mean you have to give up your favorite technology?

Thanks to advances in consumer technology, there are more gadgets on the market today that make living a sustainable life easy without meaning you have to give up the comforts of modern life. Here are 5 of our favorites:

Solar-Integrated Electronics Chargers

Keeping your phone, tablet, and laptop all charged and ready to go can be frustrating, especially if you’re traveling and can’t get to an outlet easily. With solar-integrated power banks, you can keep all your small electronics charged when you’re out and about using energy collected from the sun.

The Energizer PowerKeep line offers a 10,000mAh power bank in even the smallest device, allowing you to connect your electronics by USB and charge. The fold-out solar power system generates and stores solar power, or you can charge it with an AC adapter or USB charging port if you’re near electrical outlets.

Your devices also are protected from short circuiting and over-charging, keeping them in good condition for longer. It even comes in a larger backpack version with padded pockets for safe transport of your laptop and other small electronics in between charges.

Automatic Home Growing Systems

Cooking with fresh vegetables and herbs isn’t always possible. Cold winters, busy schedules, and lack of space for planting keep many people from planting home gardens. Automatically grow herbs and other small plants inside your home, no matter the weather outside, giving you healthy, fresh food all year long.

LEAF, an automatic home growing system, features precise temperature and humidity control, automatic nutrient dosing, and automatic water changes for hands-off growing anywhere you have your smartphone. Carbon filters also control odors so your home doesn’t smell like a greenhouse.

Maintenance is easy, requiring once weekly trimming of your plant, weekly water changes in manual mode, and swapping of nutrient cartridges every 3 to 4 months. A single LEAF system can grow about 4 ounces of fresh herbs or one large pepper, tomato, strawberry, or kale plant and matures in 3 to 4 months.

Ohmic Array Technology

Traditional methods of heating water for showers and washing dishes is inefficient and has a high rate of failure.

Ohmic Array Technology, however, passes electrical currents through water, which is a natural conductor. These currents heat up the water molecules, raising the overall temperature.

The technology also allows for water to remain heated even when the system isn’t in use, giving you hot water more quickly than traditional heating methods and reducing wear and tear on the system. There’s less scaling or rusting than traditional systems, meaning water heaters with Ohmic Array Technology need to be replaced less often and save money over time.

Heatworks is one company manufacturing and selling Ohmic Array Technology for consumer use, meaning this technology is available for new builds and retrofits right now.

Compact Intelligent Refrigerators

Medical conditions requiring refrigerated medications such as insulin mean sufferers often feel chained to their homes, unable to get far away from reliable refrigeration without worry.

Thanks to modern compact refrigeration technology, such as LifeinaBox, this fear can be a thing of the past. Not only are these compact refrigerators more portable and convenient, they run on electricity and rechargeable batteries so they are safer and more efficient than traditional refrigerators.

Charge the LifeinaBox at home and use without backup power for short trips, or plug it into the cigarette lighter in your car for longer distances. The smartphone app allows you to monitor the temperature inside the refrigerator, making sure it stays at a level safe for your medication.

Intelligent Housing

This one’s for all the people sucked in by the tiny house movement who also wants an environmentally friendly, efficient home.

The Flex House pairs “right-sized” housing with smart technology to give homeowners the small, efficient spaces they desire while going the extra step to preserving resources.

All-natural finishes and flooring add an extra element of sustainability and beauty. The roof features solar paneling on the roof, allowing the home to produce all its own energy. A low-flow plumbing system conserves water in every fixture.

Each of the home’s systems and appliances are linked to smart home technology which can be run from a smartphone app anywhere in the world. Turn lights on or off, monitor water usage, and even program soothing music to play instead of your morning alarm.

Sustainable City Living Made Possible with @Assist Tomo

As technology evolves, cities get smarter and more connected. Smart city technology allows leaders to monitor resource usage, make life safer and happier for all residents, and even make city living more affordable.

With @Assist Tomo, smart cities can fully integrate all their technology and systems for easier, smoother management, better data, and increased cost savings. Learn more!