Tag: friendly

Enjoy eco-friendly beats this earth day: Listen to your favourite music with JBL and Harman Kardon

 As we look to invest in our planet this Earth Day, why not take the first step by investing in planet-friendly audio? Made with sustainable materials, the JBL Go 3 Eco and JBL Clip 4 Eco, and Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 8 are a great solution.

The JBL Go 3 Eco and Clip 4 Eco are the latest iterations of the popular portable speakers, delivering the same great sound and features, sustainably. Built with 90% PCR (post-consumer recycled) plastic and a 100% recycled fabric grille, the new portables reduce plastic waste and the product’s overall carbon footprint, so you can take the party anywhere while reducing your environmental impact.

Make a beautiful impact in your home without dramatically impacting the environment or compromising on sound with the Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 8. Stylish and sustainable, this portable home speaker uses recycled aluminium for the handle and recycled polyester yarn for the grille for a premium yet eco-friendly finish.

The JBL Go 3 Eco, Clip 4 Eco and Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 8 are also packaged in eco-friendly FSC-certified paper-based packaging and printed with soy ink, so you can enjoy truly sustainable sound from packaging to product.

JBL Go 3 Eco / JBL Clip 4 Eco

£34.99 / £54.99 – uk.jbl.com

New innovative eco-friendly design. Same rich JBL Pro Sound performance. The pocket-size JBL Go 3 Eco is the ultra-portable speaker in the JBL range. Power it up and prepare to be surprised. This mini speaker plays on for five hours on one charge, delivering rich JBL Pro Sound and punchy bass. At the beach or in the park, the IP67 waterproof and dustproof JBL Go 3 Eco never fails to set the stage for fun. The compact JBL Clip 4 Eco packs 10 hours of playtime and big bass performance into a compact and convenient speaker. The integrated carabiner clip can take whatever life throws at it, so hook it onto a backpack or bike as the Clip 4 Eco supplies the soundtrack for your adventures. The JBL Go 3 Eco and JBL Clip 4 Eco will be available in Forest Green, Ocean Blue and Cloud White

Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 8

£279.99 / harmankardon.co.uk

Stylish and sustainable, the Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 8 speaker is crafted from recycled materials, combining eco-friendly choices and beautiful design. When moving the speaker from one room to another, the Onyx Studio 8 automatically calibrates itself to optimise the audio performance once turned on. Use Bluetooth to pair two devices and take turns playing your favourite music. Or, wirelessly pair two Onyx Studio 8 speakers together for a wider, more detailed stereo sound experience. Whether you’re conferencing with clear, hands-free calls or unwinding to your favourite playlist, never miss a beat with 8 hours of battery life.

Google Maps Eco-friendly routing launches in Europe

Imagine you’re planning a day trip from your home in Athlone over to Limerick – over an hour and a half journey. To decide how to get there, you open Google Maps — which offers multiple navigation options including walking, cycling and public transit directions. Given the length of the trip, it makes the most sense to drive, and you immediately search for the fastest route.

But what if there were other options: A route that would take nine minutes more, but would save nearly 30% of your expected fuel consumption?

Now rolling out: Eco-friendly routing across Europe

This is now possible thanks to eco-friendly routing in Google Maps, which starts rolling out in nearly 40 countries across Europe today. With eco-friendly routing, you can choose a route that’s optimized for lower fuel consumption, which helps you save money on fuel and reduce carbon emissions — something that’s top of mind for many Europeans. And this is a real concern – according to Statista’s 2022 report, road transportation is the largest source of carbon emissions throughout Europe.

Now, in addition to showing the fastest route, Google Maps will also display the one that’s most fuel efficient, if it doesn’t happen to also be the fastest. With just a few taps, you can see the relative fuel savings and time difference between the two routes and choose the one that works best for you. Always want to choose the fastest route, no matter what? That’s okay too — simply adjust your preferences in Settings.

Eco-friendly routing is making an impact around the world. Since launching in the U.S., Canada, and Germany, it’s already estimated to have helped remove more than half a million metric tons of carbon emissions — equivalent to taking 100,000 fuel-based cars off the road.

Get the most fuel-efficient route based on engine type

The most fuel-efficient route will vary based on what type of engine you have. For example, diesel engines are usually more efficient at higher speeds than petrol or gas engines, while hybrid and electric vehicles perform better in stop-and-go traffic. That’s why, in the coming weeks, we’ll make it possible for drivers using eco-friendly routing in Europe, the U.S. and Canada to select their engine type — petrol or gas, diesel, hybrid or electric vehicle (EV) — in order to get the best route and most accurate fuel or energy efficiency estimates.

This technology is made possible thanks to insights from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and data from the European Environment Agency. By pairing this information with Google Maps driving trends, we were able to develop advanced machine learning models trained on the most popular engine types in a given region.

Helping you make sustainable choices with Google Maps and beyond

Whether you’re staying local or traveling, Google can help you get where you need to go more sustainably with a few helpful tips:

It’s electric! If you have an electric vehicle, just search for “EV charging station” on Google Maps to see charging stations nearby, along with helpful details, like port types and charging speeds. And for some stations, you can even see if a charger is available right now, helping you avoid the wait and save valuable time.

Swap four wheels for two. Often, the most sustainable choice doesn’t involve a car at all, and Google Maps can help you with alternate ways to get around. We recently announced more cycling route information, including a more detailed breakdown of your route and whether you’ll encounter heavy car traffic, stairs or steep hills on the way. And you can find nearby bike and scooter shares in over 500 cities around the world including Barcelona, Berlin, London, Paris, and Rome.

Walking the walk: Google Maps offers turn-by-turn directions for pedestrians. To ensure you’re not walking the wrong way, Live View uses augmented reality to display arrows and directions clearly overlaid on the map. Plus, you can preview your walking route with Street View.

Navigate public transport with ease. By tapping on the transit icon in Directions, you get directions to your destination by bus, train, subway and even ferry. When available, you can see real time arrival and departure times, transfers, and service delays. And Google Maps gives you all the information you need to be prepared, like how crowded your ride will be, what the temperature is like, and if there are wheelchair-accessible routes available.

Sleep more sustainably. Google Search helps you find hotels that have made significant commitments to green practices. Hotels that are certified for meeting high standards of sustainability from certain independent organizations, like Green Key or EarthCheck, will have an eco-certified badge next to their name. This helps you understand their eco-friendly practices, from waste reduction to energy efficiency to water conservation measures.

All this is part of their commitment to empower 1 billion people through Google products by the end of the year – by making the sustainable choice an easier choice.