Firm Aims to Reduce Power Charger Clutter to One 'Green Plug'

Why does every tech gadget you buy need to come with its own power brick or charger? These wall warts are the worst example of e-waste. The tech industry makes 3.2 billion external power supplies each year, and nearly all end up in a box in your closet, in a landfill, or in a scrap heap somewhere in Africa. Isn't there a better way?

That's the question that troubled tech industry veteran Frank Paniagua, who decided to do something about it. He started Green Plug, a business that's developed a design kit that allows consumer electronics makers to provide universal power connectors for their power-sucking gadgets. If adopted by the consumer electronics industry?and that's a big if at this point?the scenario would look something like this: A consumer would buy a single Green Plug-enabled home charger from a tech firm. This device might have several USB ports for charging DC-powered gadgets, including cell phones, laptops, MP3 players, camcorders, and so on. Although Green Plug devices would include a cable to connect to the home charger, they wouldn't need a power separate powerbrick or additional wall plug.

What about traveling? Wouldn't a power brick be necessary to run your laptop at Starbucks, or at an airport or hotel? Not if those businesses also get with the program and add Green Plug charging stations, thereby making the technology ubiquitous, says Paniagua, who co-founded the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA).

An ambitious project certainly, and one that'll take a lot of arm twisting to implement. Will tech industry go along? One power-player, Westinghouse, says it may be the first to implement Green Plug, according to Paniagua, who?s preaching the gospel to other industry players too.

Another question: Will consumers be willing to shell out for a Green Plug universal charger ($69 to $89, Paniagua estimates) or keep collecting power bricks for free?

Stay tuned.

CREDIT: PC World contributor Jeff Bertolucci filed this blog post.

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