Practicality and Creativity for iPad on Earth Day
By Today marks the 41st Earth Day, and although the iPad has only existed for the last two of those celebrations, there are already a number of apps that help users treat the earth more kindly, as well as one that actually encourages wasting paper! Plus I found two creative ways to accessorize an iPad that keep the spirit of Earth Day alive all year.
My Recycle List is a universal app that helps users find a way to recycle practically anything. Created by 1-800-Recycling.com, the app makes it much easier to safely dispose of anything we shouldn’t just toss in the recycling bin, from hazardous household items to ancient computers. The App Store is also teeming with paper-saving productivity apps that replace traditional calendars and to do lists. Two of my favorites are Daily Notes by FluidTouch and Wunderlist HD by 6 Wunderkinder. Daily Notes will appeal to anyone who grudgingly gave up a Filofax to go digital. The app allows users to customize and color code tabs that keep a variety of tasks organized, and linked to a calendar. Daily Notes allows for Dropbox back-up, and is available in the App Store for $4.99. Wunderlist HD is simpler, but it is free to download. Wunderlist has a pleasing, clean UI, and can be synced to an account on a user PC, Mac, or iPhone, as well as many other smart phones.
The New York Times recently changed its subscription pricing structure, a plan that MediaBeat called “ambitious and sort of crazy.” Yet, it looks like the Times might be onto something because CNN reports that the NYT added 100,000 new digital subscribers in the first month that the digital plans were available. It sounds great, except for one caveat. When I considered subscribing to the Times, I discovered that it was actually $5 cheaper per month for me to subscribe to weekday delivery of the traditional paper, which includes digital access across all platforms than it would be for me to purchase the digital all-access plan alone. Cheers to the 100,000 subscribers who chose to go paper-free! Jeers to the NYT for encouraging waste.
If you are looking for a truly unique way to carry your iPad, consider this case made by Vintagecovers on Etsy. The case, which sells for $34 (CAD), is constructed from an old book cover. Finally, for the adventurous earth lover, Voltaic Industries is pioneering a way to charge an iPad using only the sun, and some futuristic equipment. If you want to give solar power a try, you will need to purchase Voltaic’s OffGrid Solar Backpack, which costs $249. The company even offers its own adapter, so you can keep working while your iPad charges.
As we mark the passage of another Earth Day, it is encouraging to see that even as some natural resources dwindle, human ingenuity is still in great supply.
