What: D. Moser Laptop Sleeve

Where: papernomad – $58

Why We Love It: As surprising as it may be, this paper based laptop cover is pretty rugged. It’s tear resistant (go ahead, try it!) and waterproof, but it is highly susceptible to inadvertent daydreams, doodles, scribbles, and note taking. Of course, that’s what makes the cover uniquely yours, just like those old paper covered text books back in high school… good times.

The key components to its construction include a hemp pull strap with a magnetic closure, cotton cushioning, sheep’s wool lining and a tough paper outer. The total package is hand stitched and at the end of its usefulness, or when your doodling has gotten out of control, it’s completely biodegradable.

Available in 13″ or 15″.

What: Grove + MapleXO Skateboard iPhone 4 Case

Where: eBay – Bids start at $200, 0-4 are being auctioned off right now. Cases 5-9 will be auctioned off on eBay starting March 8th.

Why We Love It: The colors are just brilliant in each case – hard to decide which color combination is our favorite and just amazed that a polished final product like this was created from beat up old skateboards.

Because of the labor intensiveness of the project, they did a limited run of 50 cases. Each case is meticulously handcrafted in Portland. The colorful ‘plywood’ was assembled by Lindsay Holmes of MapleXO by slicing 300 old skateboards into narrow strips, laying them on their sides, gluing them back together making each case completely unique. Grove then took the material and carved out the cases for the final product.

The first lot sold out fast, there are four up for bid now and four more set to launch on March 8th,so if you’d like to get your hands on this one of a kind case, be sure to get your eBay bid in. 50% of the proceeds from each auction will go to the Oregon Humane Society.

What: The Smart Thermostat

Where: EnergyHub – coming soon!

Why We Love ‘Em: Not sure if any of you have ridden in a Prius, but we got to take a tour of Oregon in a Prius through wine country to the coastal sand dunes and along the Columbia River.  Along the way, it was hard not to get caught up in the game of how high the miles per/gallon was particularly the amount of energy we were gaining on the downhill from Mount Hood. Felt like we were able to get better mileage because we were more aware of the amount of energy we were using at any point in time. So imagine if you could monitor your household energy consumption in the same way…

Seth Frader-Thompson was also intrigued by the dashboard energy monitor of the Prius and decided to build a ‘dashboard’ for the home – the Smart Thermostat. It connects wirelesses to your furnace, water heater and other appliances and lets you know how much energy each one is using and how much that energy costs. You can ‘power down’ your house with the click of the button and the system will monitor energy hogs with the ability to turn down appliances that using more than their fair share of energy.

Not yet on the market, but due out soon. You can sign-up to be on their waiting list.

Here are some other energy monitoring models on the market at Unplgged.

Where: Vers Audio – $39.99 & on black friday they are offering a 50% off special with coupon code vers50!

Why: You were the first to get and iPod, the first to get an iPhone and the first to clumsily chuck them on the sidewalk…oops. But have no fear, now you can get a ‘beautiful, tough and very renewable’ case to protect your ‘precious.’

The Vers cases are handcrafted from your choice of sustainably sourced hardwoods or mature bamboo. Steel pins in the corners and a UV and moisture resistant finish provide added strength and protection.

Opt for maximum protection with the complete slipcase, or minimal screen access with the infocase or 100% screen access.

Vers puts innovation and sustainability at the forefront of their designs. Their mission is to minimize the impact their products have on the environment. And, another reason to feel good about your purchase, for every tree used in manufacturing, Vers replants 100 trees through their partnership with The Arbor Day Foundation and the US Forestry Service in an effort to re-forest areas damaged by fire and other natural disasters.

What: Motorola W233 Renew Cell Phone

Where: T-Mobile or AT&T, $9.99 when you renew your existing plan. Through April 30th, new T-Mobile subscribers qualify for a free phone and $100 cashback. For other providers, look for an unlocking code – see PC Magazine.

Why: Wish this phone was on the market when I was shopping for my last phone. I spent a week looking for a more environmentally friendly option and the best my Verizon rep could offer was a phone that was green, as in the color green…..meet Motorola’s Renew, a cell phone that is actually green.

With most Americans averaging a new cell phone every two years, it is nice to see a cell phone on the market with a conscience. Boasting a talk time of 9 hours (read: a lot less charging!), standby time up to 18 days, this is an incredibly energy efficient phone. The plastic shell is made with 25% post-consumer recycled water bottles and over 70% of its components are recyclable. Even the packaging is green using 100% post-consumer recycled paper and a 22% smaller package. In addition Motorola purchased carbon offsets through the Carbonfund in support of renewable energy sources and reforestation. It is consider the first carbon free cell phone.

Incredibly lightweight the phone, itself, is pretty basic. It makes clear quality phone calls using noise reduction with speaker boost which automatically tuning out the noise around you. Fewer of the bells and whistles of other phones on the market, there is no camera, a small display with low resolution, and just a basic music player. But this works for those of us who just want a phone that makes phone calls…….and texts….and plays a few tunes……

On a side note, when shopping for a laptop or a PC, be sure to check out the EPEAT rating (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool). EPEAT is very comprehensive and strict rating system implemented by the GEC (Green Electronics Council) that analyzes criteria across eight categories including Reduction/Elimination of Environmentally Sensitive Materials, Material Selection, Design for End of Life, Product Longevity/ Life Cycle Extension, Energy Conservation, End of Life Management, Corporate Performance and Packaging. To find out if your PC or laptop of choice has qualified for a bronze, silver or gold rating go to EPEAT.com, and if it hasn’t – keep looking!

Who: Vers Audio; Wayland, MA

What: Bamboo iPod Docking Station

Where: Vers Audio, $179.99-$199.99, free shipping & get $30 off if you recycle your old docking station

Why: Not all i-pod docking stations are created equal. Vers Audio offers a unique and sleek solution to the i-pod docking station. With sustainability in mind, they avoided plastics, glues and non-recyclable components to create a high performing audio system. Using all natural woods from sustainable managed forests, using screws instead of glues and using recyclable packaging along with an 80% more efficient amplifier, the result is an eco-friendly system that looks great! Will keep you posted on the sound quality-it would make sense that the tones resonating from woods would be far superior to those from plastics………

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Update: July 28, 2008 – Thanks for the votes of confidence–I am now the proud owner of a Vers!! And I have to agree the sound quality is great and the design is impeccable.  Note to buyer’s, word is that Vers most recent order from the manufacturer got lost in the mail so there is limited supply right now and the Vers site only has cherry availabe.  Also, have heard the complaint that if you use your i-phone with the Vers, the i-phone automatically switches to ‘airplane’ mode meaning that you will not be able to receive incoming calls.