Novothink’s Surge hybrid solar charger case will charge your iPod touch anywhere under the sun.

This carrying case includes state-of-the-art solar panels that fit right in your pocket. You can charge your iPod Touch anywhere you go. Whether you’re running, hiking, biking or just laying on the beach, your iPod can be charging. No need to worry about the battery running out from playing too many games or listening to too much music … enjoy your music and get out in the sun for a maximum charge. (more…)

What a great idea: The Light Catcher is a 2011 iF Cesign Concept Entry that turns the power of the sun into a reuseable AA or AAA battery. (more…)

Will we continue to fund new, renewable energy research as President Obama suggests, or take a step back and de-fund alternative energy research under the guise of deficit reduction as Congressional Republicans propose? With gas prices threatening to hit $5 a gallon, the decision appears to be an obvious no-brainer (although brains seem to be a commodity in short supply in Washington).

Current U.S. Department of Energy grants have already resulted in some groundbreaking energy solutions. One such clean, renewable energy technology may lay right in our rivers’ estuaries.

Scientists at Stanford University are reporting the development of a new battery – a so-called “mixing entropy battery” – that extracts and stores energy produced from the difference in saltiness literally at the point where freshwater in rivers flows into oceans.

A report on the battery, which could potentially supply about 13 percent of the world’s energy needs, appears in the current ACS journal of Nano Letters.  (more…)

Earth Day is Friday, April 22 – we’re featuring a green tip of the day from April 1-22.

Tip #20: A key aspect to our lifecycle approach to sustainability takes into consideration the: design, raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, use, and final disposal of any given item.

When it comes to charging our gizmos and gadgets, that usually requires either hand-cranked power or handy little batteries. Until such time whereby these items can all be charged via the sun or wind, opt for rechargeable batteries rather than disposable. Today’s batteries are filled with heavy duty toxins – metals and carcinogens – that pollute our land and seep into our water-table, adversely affecting our food, water and entire ecosystem.

• find Radio Shack’s rechargeable batteries and power supplies
• rechargeable batteries @ bestbuy
• if you’re in the UK – USBCell rechargeable batteries

Related: our series of green tips of the day.

previously on altCon – rechargeable gadgets

Here’s a first for eco fashion — Kicking off today, New York City-based, The GreenShows steps off the runway and hits the street in SOHO with a first-ever EcoLux Pop-Up Shop in Bloomingdale’s featuring 10 apparel and accessories lines along with meet & greets with some of today’s most innovative earth-conscious designers: April 20-23 Wed-Fri 10a-9p; & Sat 10a-8p.

In NYC: Bloomies SOHO, 504 Broadway – 5th floor. Cancel the shrink this week – get some green retail therapy instead:)

• Cape Wind Project Gets Last OK, Lacks Buyer for 50% of Power - boston herald
• The problems and issues continue…Day of Remembrance: One Year After Gulf Oil Disaster – yahoo! news
• The status quo is where the big money’s at…Obama: Clean Energy Cuts No Fix for High Gas Prices – reuters
• Wildfires Destroy a Million Acres in Texas – bbc
• What if you’re happily hopeful? Why do Hopeful Consumers Make Healthier Choices Than Happy Ones? – sciencedaily
• Endangered Tigers Find New Wild Home – livescience
• Whose job is it? Should states be able to sue polluting utilities? Supreme Court Skeptical About Climate Change Suit – npr
• It’s official – people are slobs. Group Reports Record Trash Haul From NJ Beaches – myway

There are a lot of do gooders out there celebrating Earth Day in many creative ways.

Three such friends of the earth — prominent players from the fashion and publishing worlds — fashion house Stewart+Brown, PAPER‘s Luigi Tadini and Marie Claire’s Amanda Hearst are collaborating to support New York’s best clean water advocate, Riverkeeper.

From Wednesday, April 20 through April 30, 20% of sales from Stewart+Brown’s e-commerce site will be donated to Riverkeeper. Snag some eco-minded fresh fashion, help protect Mother Earth and brag about it to your friends:)

Tadini, one of the co-founders of Riverkeeper’s Junior Council, agrees with pal and current Chair, Hearst, who explains, “Clean drinking water is a basic human right and it’s a shame that for many it is considered a luxury. As a New Yorker, I realize how lucky I am to have access to drinkable water and it is almost entirely due to the efforts of Riverkeeper. (more…)

I’ve often wondered how the few intrepid individuals living on houseboats anchored at docks in the Hudson River on Manhattan’s Westside could make a go of it year-round. Perhaps designer Wyatt Little’s Uboat - a sustainable, off-grid houseboat concept – might make life on the water a little more practical, self-sufficient and comfy.

Mr. Little’s idea for a floating home would utilize the many meandering waterways that criss-cross our urban landscape. The self-sufficient Uboat would provide for all its energy needs via 3 roof-mounted solar panels and a geothermal heating & cooling system designed to run through a dock piling (I presume this would require a permanent dock site). (more…)

Earth Day is almost here, Friday, April 22 — we’re featuring a green tip of the day from April 1-22.

Tip #19:  As we follow the chasing arrows reminding us to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle it’s important to follow that order: Reduce what we consume; Reuse everything; and then when there’s no further use for the item, Recycle. This way, we keep what’s already made out of the waste stream for as long as possible and act in a more responsible, sustainable manner.

A couple of very common items that you should already be reusing are to-go drinking vessels for cold & hot beverages and reusable shopping bags. One-time-use disposable shopping bags, plastic water bottles & coffee cups are huge contributors to our landfills and often wind up polluting our waterways, as well. Remember, there are also many other useful items that can be reused.

• A great resource for finding quality, everyday reusable items is Reuseit.com. (more…)