Continuing the trend of giving electronic devices an eco-friendly makeover, Imoeba World launched earlier this year to bring consumers the newest, greatest accessory for their beloved iPods: cases made from recycled leather.

The Alpine cases are made from bonded leather, a manmade material that is constructed from real leather scraps that would end up in a landfill if another purpose was not found for them. They may be made from a manmade material, but they look and feel like the real deal. The Alpine cases live up to their earth-friendly name by coming in a lovely shade of green. You can choose whether you want a green cover with white trim or vice versa, but the color scheme speaks for itself. The cases are made for the classic iPod and for the third-generation iPod Nano.

Imoeba World is determined to spread environmental awareness not only through their iPod cases, but in the way they conduct business. All of their packaging comes from recycled paper instead of plastic and some of the proceeds from sales are donated to Earth 911.

Imoebe Alpine cases can be purchased online at bestbuy.com and also at select retailers in North America. Hit the jump to get your and to learn more about what Imoeba is doing to add some green to the face of technology.

» Imoeba World (Official Site)

Couch potatoes will soon have yet another way to remain eco-friendly. The Environmental Protection Agency has announced new guidelines for set-top boxes, the devices that deliver television and video content. As of the beginning of 2009, Energy Star set-top boxes for cable, satellite and telecom televisions will have to be 30 per cent more efficient than the standard models. EPA will also work with the companies who provide these services to offer customers an upgrade from their current set-top box, in hopes that not only will there be a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, but that the initiative will save customers some money as well.

A conversion of all set-top boxes in the U.S. to Energy Star-approved boxes would save approximately $2 billion annually, as well as reducing emissions the equivalent of 2.5 million vehicles per year.

“With approximately 148 million set-top boxes installed in the United States and 23 million more set-top boxes expected to ship in 2008, EPA is challenging manufacturers and service providers to deliver boxes that not only offer the newest features, but are also energy-efficient,” said Robert Meyers principal deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.

» Environmental Protection Agency

Here at Ecollo, we believe that recycling is the earth-friendly thing to do, whether it be plastic bottles, paper or your old electronics. Recycling electronics is still a relatively new concept, and as such many people aren't sure where to take the computers they no longer need. We've tried to provide a few suggestions, including the recent "Maill Back" initiative by the United States Postal Service, where old electronic devices could be mailed free-of-charge to a company for recycling.

Once you mail back your old cell phone or turn in your computer for recycling, there's a good chance you never give the device another thought. And why would you; after all you've presumably done a good thing by turning it in to a reputable company instead of sending it to a landfill, right? Ideally that would be the case, but as you'll see in these pictures, once we dispose of our old electronics in what we assume is an environmentally "safe" way, they may become China's problem. We already established last month that donating your old phones may not be exactly as charitable as it seems. Now it seems we have some evidence that recycling our electronics may not be so great either.

It's incredibly disheartening to see a town basically turned into an electronic landfill, especially if we believe we've been doing the right thing by supposedly recycling. Until we can be sure old electronics are being properly handled when we do the "green" thing and turn them in, maybe they really are better off staying stashed away in the back of our drawers and closets.

» Ecollo

I came across a great resource the other day: GreenerCars.org.  It's a web site with over 10,000 vehicle ratings and lots of great articles on how to drive green, green automotive technologies and much more.  If you're considering buying a new or used vehicle you should definitely visit this site.  Hit the jump to check it out for yourself!

» GreenerCars.org

The words "down to the wire" have been used to describe General Motors' plans for the Chevrolet Volt, which the care manufacturing giant hopes to have ready by the end of 2010. The Volt is a plug-in hybrid car that GM hopes will be able to give Toyota and its Prius and run for their money in the hybrid market. GM is almost ready to select a battery supplier for the new vehicle, but the company CEO admits the deadline is still proving to be a challenge as the company rushes to conduct experimental testing on the battery systems and begin developing other components of the car.

"At this point the focus for us 100 percent is getting the Volt produced in the U.S.," Wagoner told reporters on the sidelines of the Beijing Auto Show. "So far, so good, but it's going to be right down to the wire to meet the production deadline we've set."

The Volt has already been advertised despite the fact that its still two years away from launching. It will feature some of the traditional hybrid technology such as gaining energy from braking, however it will also be one of the first attempts to use lithium-ion batteries to power a car, as the batteries are generally used to power electronics. If GM has their way, the batter pack will last for 10 years, run for a minimum of 150,000 miles and accelerate to 60 miles per hour in nine seconds or less.

GM will introduce 16 new hybrid vehicles during the next few years, including the Buick LaCrosse, which will launch in China this summer prior to the start of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The car is not expected to experience huge sales due to its higher price point, which is why GM is aiming to introduce less expensive hybrid options. Typically the more affordable hybrids are the big success stories, as new buyers entering the market for the first time gravitate toward their more attractive price tag, hence the enormous success of the Prius. However, GM does hope vehicles like the LaCrosse will prove they are committed to the idea of fuel-saving technology.

» Reuters Environment

Even though Nokia unveiled the Remade, a phone made from recycled materials this past February, the director of Nokia's environmental affairs unit says consumers won't actually be able to purchase such phones for a few years yet. However, now that everybody seems to be going green and seeking ways to make their lifestyle more eco-friendly, the demand for these types of products is exptected to grow significantly.

"We believe it will become a competitive factor," Markus Terho, a director at Nokia's environmental affairs unit, told a news conference.

"It's a few years away," Terho said, adding that recycled materials already accounted for 40-60 percent of the metal parts in Nokia's current phones.

An insufficient quantity of recycled materials was cited as the reason for the delay of the phones hitting the market, however the company has introduced green measures, such as reducing their packaging in 2006.

» Reuters Environment

Humans aren't the only ones who benefit from sleep; setting your computer to 'sleep' or 'stand-by' mode when you aren't using it could save energy. In fact, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans could save 44 billion kWh - or $4 billion - if computers and monitors were to utlize the sleep function on their machines. To add further perspective, the greenhouse gas emissions saved would be comparable to approximately 5 million cars per year.

The EPA has launched the Energy Star Low Carbon IT campaign to educate individuals and companies about the best ways to minimize the environmental impact of computers. Using the sleep function has the potentnial to save users up to $50 per computer each year. Fox Entertainment Group Inc., Microsoft, HP and Dell Inc., are among the participants in the program.

"Although the work day may come to an end, we never clock out of our environmental responsibility," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "By joining the Low Carbon IT Campaign, our partners are taking steps that are not only good for their bottom line, they're good for the environment."

Companies who wish to join the campaign can make a pledge online to enforce stricter guidelines for energy efficiency when using computers.

» U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Put on your thinking cap because Discover magazine and Instructables have a task for you. The two are collaborating on the Green Science Fair For a Better Planet, where anyone and everyone can present their unique green ideas and possibly win some prizes in the process.

Discover and Instructables have left the entry criteria wide open: participants can build eco-friendly projects, test and compare earth-friendly products, find new uses for old parts or simply demonstrate effective ways to lead a more environmentally-conscious life.

To find inspiration, you can check out some past Instructables projects such as building your own solar power system, a DIY composter, or constructing an evaporative terra cotta beer chiller to cool your summer drinks without wasting energy.

Among some of the prizes up for grabs are the Celestron Skyscout, a GPS device that will show you the solar system, as well as an MP3 player, a portable wind-up radio or a rockin' Discover magazine t-shirt.

Hit the jump to learn more about the Green Science Fair and get inventing!

» Instructables

Erik Rhey, one of the writers for of the Good Clean Tech blog, has very little tolerance for the common wasteful tecnology habits that plague many households and business offices. Now he's speaking out on what he considers the top offenses that are frequenly committed and warning tecnological polluters to give these bad habits a rest already.

It was bound to happen. Sooner or later, I was due to go Andy Rooney on you poor readers and vent about the tech habits that drive me crazy. My goal here is not just to wax cantankerous, but to tell you straight out: Don't do any of these things.

Print everything under the sun. You want to print out a recipe or article and automatically hit the Print button. Then you go to the printer and discover that you needed only 1 page of the 4 that printed. Restrain yourself from automatically printing stuff from the Web. What typically happens is that you print it out and put it in a folder to languish until you do your spring file cleaning and just throw it out anyway. Most of the time you didn't need a printed copy to begin with. And if you do need to print, preview it first and print only the pages you need.

Throw out your iPod or cell phone the minute a new one comes out. People are most wasteful with these two categories of device. Unless your phone or MP3 player is completely broken, don't throw it out. You will not be shunned by society if your device is a generation or two behind. If your identity is that tied to your gadgets, you need to go sit down on a park bench and take serious inventory of yourself.

For more eco-friendly technology coverage, go to PCMag.com's Green Tech page!

Buy your kids cheap electronic crap. Think twice before getting your kids everything that blips, beeps, zips around the living room via remote control, or plays games. Imagine yourself taking it home from the store, unpackaging it, putting it on the floor, and stomping it to pieces--because that's how it will end up very soon. You are teaching your small kids to be ignorant overconsumers who pay no attention to quality. Buy cheap and buy often is the lesson you are imparting. Not to mention the plastic, packaging, and batteries that end up in landfill.

Leave your computer on day and night. I've heard the arguments. People hate the lag time every morning waiting for their PCs to start up. Don't just sit there and watch the Windows status bar go back and forth, go make some coffee or do some sit-ups or something. Yes, time is precious. But how much TV do you watch per day? If you're the average American, about 4 hours. Are you really telling me you can't shave 2 minutes off your TV watching or pointless Web surfing regimen to save a few kilowatt hours?

Throw away or recycle perfectly usable devices. Recycling is good, but if the device still works, donate it. Do you throw away good food? Furniture in good condition? There may not be starving kids in China that will die if you don't eat your peas, but there are plenty of kids in underfunded schools who could use your Pentium II system, and women in domestic abuse shelters who depend on donated cell phones.

Ht the jump to read more from Good Clean Tech.

» Good Clean Tech

If you've been wondering where you can recycle your old iPod or cell phone, the U.S. Postal service has the answer. The "Mail Back" pilot program was recently launched by the USPS, and allows consumers to do exactly as the program title suggests, and send their old electronic devices to Clover Technologies Group for safe and proper disposal. Customers can pick up mailing envelopes at any of the 1,500 participating post offices and as an added incentive, it is absolutely free to participate in the program, from the packing materials to the mailing itself.

Clover Technologies has a "zero waste to landfill" policy and recycles, remanufactures and remarkets inkjet cartridges, laser cartridges and small electronics. Devices that cannot be refurbished will have their component parts removed and either used in the refurbishing of other products or broken down further for recycling.

Consumers can send in as many old printer cartridges, Blackberries, digital cameras, iPods and other MP3 players as they wish. Currently, the program is being tested in Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego but could expand to other cities this fall if it proves successful.

Anita Bizzotto, chief marketing officer and executive vice president of the USPS says this is the latest step in the their attempts to encourage environmental awareness among Americans.

“As one of the nation’s leading corporate citizens, the Postal Service is committed to environmental stewardship,” Bizzotto said. “This program is one more way the Postal Service is empowering consumers to go green.”

» United States Postal Service (Official Site)