While a lot of technology really isn’t all that green some tools can be used to make the impact less. With Christmas coming, I wanted to make some gift suggestions you could give to people who really just love their technology.

Kill-A-Watt

I rather like the concept of the Kill-A-Watt. It’s a good way to find out where you’re wasting energy around the home. There are a few versions available, depending on your needs.

The greenest way to use one of these is to pass it around to others. Find out what’s wasting electricity in your home, then share it with someone else.

Battery Charger

Anyone into lots of tech toys and gadgets probably has need of a good battery charger. While there are solar battery chargers out there, I prefer to also have one that plugs in.

At a minimum, you want one that can charge AA and AAA batteries, as these are so commonly used. But if you’re shopping for someone who has kids, you probably want one that also charges C, D and 9 volt batteries. We have a Rayovac one, and it works quite well.

eBook Reader

I have mixed feelings about these. I love paperback books and used book stores. Overall, that’s the best option, I think. Or the library. I reread books enough to prefer owning them myself.

But ebook readers are popular right now, and for some they may be the right idea. No wasted paper, and downloading electronic books is certainly more efficient on shipping. It comes down to how the disposal of the electronics goes after for whether or not this can be green.

There are a few options for ebook readers now. The best known is the Kindle, of course. There are also Sony PRS ebook readers and many others. For people who don’t tend to keep their books, these probably aren’t too bad an option.