Sony, WWF partner on green challenge

Electronics manufacturer Sony Europe, in collaboration with conservation organisation WWF, has opened Open Planet Ideas, an online challenge to find ideas to repurpose existing technology for new environmental benefits, says The Independent.

Entrants in the Open Planet Ideas challenge can submit ideas in text, video or photo format from 1 September to 1 October, and members of the Open Planet Ideas community can critique, comment on or even help tweak other users' ideas, even if they themselves have not submitted an idea.

Currently members of the site are uploading ideas regarding different environmental problems and trying, as a community, to define the area on which the competition should focus; deforestation or affordable solar technology, for example.

The Indian government is considering banning the import of used computers and other electronic waste - coming primarily from developed nations such as the US, Australia, Canada and parts of Europe - after several cases of e-waste smuggling came to light recently, states the Times of India.

A decision is likely to be taken at the Economic Intelligence Council meeting scheduled for this month to be chaired by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The matter had come up for discussion at the co-ordination committee meeting of various economic intelligence agencies chaired by revenue secretary Sunil Mitra in mid-July.

Making serious money from old electronics is as easy as visiting a US retailer - in person or online - and it takes mere minutes to transform used iPods, cameras, cellphones, laptops, video games, even DVDs and Blu-ray discs, into gift cards or store credit, reports TMCnet.

In some cases, customers can earn hundreds of dollars for electronics gathering dust in a closet or garage.

Target stores recently added its name to a long list of local and national electronics retailers making it easy for customers to trade in electronics and media for cash toward future purchases.