For the second time, GreenerGadgets.com and and Core77.com have partnered to host the Greener Gadgets Design Competition–the goal being the creation of some creative takes on going green. They’ve chosen the Top 50 Entries to feature online and you can get in on the decision-making process now by voting for your favorite gadget on the Greener Gadgets Design Competition website. Voting will determine the Top 10, which will be judged live at this year’s Greener Gadgets Conference in New York on February 27th.

The gadgets range from surprisingly simple to quizzically complex and cover a host of different green endeavors, but if you’re looking for a few front runners that also happen to be some of our favorites, here are five Greener Gadgets with great potential. Don’t forget to cast your vote by Friday, February 20th!

LIGHTIMUS
The design is a sleek throwback to the hour glasses of years long gone by, but the purpose of the LIGHTIMUS slants more toward a product of the future. On one side, solar panels absorb light; on the other, LED bulbs give light. During the day, you would flip your LIGHTIMUS solar-side up to catch some rays and in the evening you would lift the LED-side for a bright glow that lasts up to 8 hours.
Pro: Gives new meaning to “turning up the lights”.
Con: If you’re in the dead of winter and the days are dark and snowy, the LIGHTIMUS won’t be shining bright.

CompostAll
If more of us composted it would mean more of us were cultivating gardens, which would mean more of us were growing some of our own food, which would push us in the direction of more sustainable food patterns. Many of us, however, find the garbage disposal to be an easier option than a bucket of leeching leftovers on the counter. The CompostAll gives you the convenience of grinding up remnants, but stores the “mulch” for you to take out to fertilize some future food.
Pro: Could be the key to lazy composting.
Con: Details on the sorting system are a little vague and there are smell issues that could arise.

Watt Blocks
Standby or “vampire” power sucks. It can even suck about $100 of your home’s yearly power costs. Enter  Watt Blocks. You plug the cube-shaped Watt Blocks into an outlet and the electronic device with Twilight traits into the Watt Block. Then you plug the master switch (think a mini guitar pedal that’s attached to a cell phone charger) into an outlet near the front door. Every time you’re headed out a quick tap of the foot petal will initialize the Watt Blocks to block power to the devices plugged into them.
Pro: Even as more of us are alerted to the issue of vampire power, the inconvenience of unplugging everything has kept most from changing the situation. This is easy.
Con: The master pedal for Watt Blocks could be a little too easy for kids and pets to control.

Urban Fan
You might be thinking “a fan, seriously?” and pointing out that it’s not exactly new technology, however the goal of the Urban Fan actually fits perfectly with the green issue of energy usage associated with heating and cooling homes. Fans circulate warm and cool air and utility companies even recommend a fan turned to low if you want to reduce your furnace and natural gas consumption. One problem with the technique is that fans can be expensive, a little tricky to install and possibly against the rules for renters. The Urban Fan simply installs into your existing light bulb socket and can be easily un-installed if needed. Made from mostly recycled plastics, the Urban Fan itself would be recyclable at the end of its lifespan.
Pro: By making fans easy to use, we might see a decline in reliance on heating and air conditioning.
Con: It’s not clear whether you could have the ceiling light on without the fan or vice versa.

RITI Printer
While the printers themselves can be environmentally un-friendly with power usage (real and vampire), the biggest eco-enemy of printing is the ink cartridges themselves–although advancements have been made with recycled ink cartridges–and the RITI Printer addresses just that; instead of conventional ink, it uses coffee grounds or tea remnants to dye. It would also run electricity free, according to the designers, with people repeatedly sliding the top, coffee-ground filled portion back and forth.
Pro: Cheap, all-natural ink and an excuse to drink more coffee, what’s not to love?
Con: Because there’s no explanation of how the printer connects to your computer, its inner workings, or how a person could move their arm that fast, the planning seems to be lacking here.

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