Eco-button - my little bit for carbon saving

I went to the Recycling and Waste Management Exhibition at NEC with Len and Rosie last week. It was a glorious day.

We had to walk through an outdoor display of giant crushers, shredders, loaders and diggers on the way to the hall.

Len had his own itinerary, but Rosie and I sat down for a coffee to research who we wanted to visit. Rosie was targeting media stands in a bid to get a job and I was interested in the domestic recycling displays.

Naturally, we picked up loads of hemp and cotton bags, pens, pencils, sticks of rock, stress balls and a mug for Len to take back to his new desk in Kazakhstan.

We also bought a Green Cone. That involved Len digging a three foot hole in our clay-bound garden, into which to install it. Some good physical exercise. It isn't quite straight but it is sort of in the sun, where it needs to be in order to digest all the waste food we shall be throwing into it.

None of us relish the prospect of recycling the contents of the Bokashi Bin over the winter! The Green Cone seemed an eminently more welcome prospect.

While Rosie and Len were lugging our green cone to the car park, I made a last-minute diversion around the stalls to find the Ace stall where I hoped to discover where I could recycle tetrapaks.

On the way, there was a gadget stand. One of those companies that specialise in marketing all those knick-knacks that businesses like to hand out as freebies to customers.

And that is where I spotted the Eco-Button. I bought two.

It was rather profligate of me really, since all it does is put your PC into Stand By mode, and the promotional cost was £13.95 each.

Normally I would snort at these 'I want one of those' devices, which you don't really need, but I have to admit that it is so much, much more likely that you will hit the green button when quitting your desk for a while, rather then going through the two clicks needed to put your computer into Stand By.

There's a nice little touch. When you resume your position at the computer, a display shows you how many carbon and power units, and cash savings, that you've made.

I've had it installed for a week, and to date have saved £2.61, 11.86 power units, and 5.10 carbon units. At this rate, it will take me six weeks to get back the cost of buying it.

Nice eh? Mind you, I don't know how much carbon was used to make it in the first place. Would that have been incorporated into the price?

A week later, I have spotted the Eco-button for sale in my local Coop supermarket for £14.99 each.