Trends in Japan - CScout Japan Blog » Eco-friendly inventions for household appliances

Eco-friendly inventions for household appliances

Written by: Rebecca Milner on April 24, 2008 at 8:05 pm | In Fashion & Lifestyle Trends, Marketing & Ad Trends, Technology & Gadget Trends |

The current mania for all things eco is producing a fair number of impressive innovations in addition to the expected gimmicks. An example of the former is “Eco Tokukun” from Kankyo Souken, a product to make your household fish grill more environmentally friendly.

These small stones, made from recycled paper sludge and silica, aluminum oxide, and calcium oxide and designed to lie in the bottom of the gas grill, promise to cut carbon emissions from the cooking process by 25%. They also increase thermal efficiency, cutting cooking time by 25% and thus your gas usage (and bill). Considering that the fish grill is a kitchen appliance common to pretty much all Japanese homes, and used on a regular basis, these are pretty significant numbers.

As if all that weren’t enough, Eco Tokukun (only ¥450 a pack) also absorbs the odor and juices from the cooking fish, which eliminates waste and the need for unpleasant cleaning, and can be used up to 30 times before needing replacement.

Meanwhile another eco-gadget, the Eco Watt (¥3,150), from Enegate, aims to educate people about their own energy consumption. While similarly named products have flitted in and out of the market for a few years now, the current eco boom has brought the Eco Watt back into the spotlight in a new sleek modern form.

Plug any of your household appliances into the Eco Watt, which then itself gets plugged into the wall outlet, and the digital screen displays the amount of electricity being used, the estimated cost of said electricity, the estimated amount of carbon emissions the power use is causing, and amount of time the power has been running.