Step this way to get your daily fix of green news, eco product launches and videos delivered by email.
Electronics chain Dixons started 2007 so well, pledging to ban energy-guzzling incandescent light bulbs by the end of the year and propelling itself to the top of Greenpeace's bulb league in the process (yes, the league really exists -- see here). Our excitement at the opening of a new online Dixons Greenshop, however, evaporated when we had a look round.
Skip over to the Greenshop and you'll find four categories -- laundry and dishwashers, refrigeration, entertainment, eco gadgets -- rounding up nearly 100 Energy Saving Trust-recommended products. So far, so good. Take a look in the laundry section, though, and you'll find the first four 'eco' products are tumble dryers. Even Hummer drivers with 100-inch plasmas left on 24/7 have disowned tumble dryers, so what are they doing in a Greenshop? There's also no option to filter the products by their EU Energy Label rating.
Refrigeration is fairly non-existent, with a meagre list of ten A+ (the top energy ranking) fridge-freezers from the likes of Siemens, Bosch and Miele. The eco-gadgets section is a mite better, featuring this new Freeplay charger and the wind-up FM/DAB radio, the Freeplay Devo, which ranks a respectable 7.8 over at our sister site CNET.co.uk. Lastly, there's the entertainment section containing a bunch of TVs that -- even if you drill down through the tech specs -- won't tell you how many watts they use on standby and powered-up. Which is about as useful as a 40-inch plasma on your lap.
Further investigation reveals that to qualify for the Energy Saving Trust rubber stamp, the TVs must use only one watt (or less) while on standby, which is pretty good. But on full-power this goes up to less than or equal to 250 watts, which is massive econsidering an old 32-inch CRT TV would typically use around 125 watts.
Rounding out the shop is a standard Top Ten list -- use energy-saving bulbs, wash at 30°C, turn your thermostat down. All told, the Greenshop is a step in the right direction but could've been far better. So until Dixons puts its greenhouse in order, check out the eco-gadget sections at Ethical Superstore, Natural Collection and Nigel's Eco Store.
Please note: Your email address must be entered but will not be displayed
Please note: All submitted content becomes the sole property of CNET Networks UK and may be used, edited or rejected at CNET Networks UK's sole discretion. You acknowledge that you, not CNET Networks UK, are responsible for the contents of your submission.
Step this way to get your daily fix of green news, eco product launches and videos delivered by email.
