Categories
Mobile Syrup

Sonos working to make future products more efficient and repairable

Speaker company Sonos announced plans to make its speakers last longer and use less energy. The plans come as part of the company’s larger effort to make itself more sustainable by minimizing e-waste and pollution that drives climate change.

According to The Verge, improving the repairability of products is a significant part of Sonos’ plans. The company started a ‘Design for Disassembly’ program this year to help guide the development of new speakers in 2023.  The program will include changes like using fasteners instead of adhesives, which will make it easier for consumers to take Sonos products apart and repair them.

Unfortunately, Sonos hasn’t revealed much more about the program yet. So far, it’s unclear if Sonos plans to make replacements parts and repair manuals available to customers.

Still, Sonos’ director of policy and corporate social responsibility confirmed to The Verge that the program will “make it easier to repair, refurbish and, eventually, recycle future Sonos products.”

Sonos will start using recycled plastics in its products

Aside from improving repairability, Sonos plans to start using post-consumer recycled plastic in all its products by the end of 2023. Although using recycled plastics can help prevent some plastics from ending up in landfills, oceans or animals, The Verge points out that recycling has so far not been a great solution for dealing with the worsening plastic pollution problem. Worse, because plastic degrades each time it’s reused, many companies mix in new plastics with recycled plastics. As demand for recycled plastics grows, it could lead to greater demand for new plastics too.

Another goal Sonos has is to include ‘sleep mode’ on all its products by 2023. Sleep mode can reduce power consumption when a device is idle — Sonos first added it to its Roam speaker this year. The company aims for its products to use less than 2 watts while idle.

Interestingly, Sonos says that about 75 percent of its carbon footprint comes from the energy its products use over their lifetime. That differs significantly from other consumer electronics, which see up to 80 percent of CO2 emissions come from manufacturing, according to a Greenpeace report. Factoring in both Sonos’ supply chain and consumers’ energy use, Sonos says it was responsible for CO2 emissions equivalent to 267,528 cars driven over a year.

Relying on carbon offsets to cancel its legacy pollution

Finally, Sonos wants to cut emissions from its products’ energy use by 45 percent by 2040, as well as cancel its entire footprint by that date through a mixture of carbon offsets and tech that removes CO2 from the atmosphere. Again, however, carbon offsets aren’t exactly a reliable solution — this ProPublica report details some of the rampant problems with relying on carbon offsets. Further, technologies that remove CO2 from the atmosphere have not yet scaled up to meet the needs of companies promising to use the tech to erase their legacies of pollution.

All that said, it is good to see Sonos at least make the effort. The company should prioritize reducing its environmental footprint since that will likely have a more immediate impact than relying on carbon offsets to take care of past pollution. Hopefully, Sonos will lead the way in the smart speaker space and drive more companies to adopt environmental policies like sleep modes and other things that reduce carbon footprints.

Source: The Verge

Categories
Uncategorized

Will the M1 Return?

The presentation of the BWM concept M1 Hommage at the Villa d’Este Concours d’Elegance in April 2008 had Beamer fans raising their eyebrows.

Now, after the German carmaker’s presentation of the Vision EfficientDynamics concept in Frankfurt, rumours are once again on the loose.

Efficiency and dynamism have been the key words for BMW lately, and the notion of a high-performance ecological supercar powered by a hybrid engine acts as an ideal starting point.

Thanks to its small diesel engine and electric motors, the M1 can crank out 350 horsepower and hit 100 km/h from 0 in less than 5 seconds.

Britain’s Auto Express reported that the car would be released in 2012 with a price tag of around $130 000 CAD.

With BMW’s absence from the niche of supercars following the Z8’s disappearance, the luxury brand and its 4-seater coupe could be making a smashing return.

 

Categories
Uncategorized

BMW’s Green Supercar

Few details have been given concerning the green sports car that is destined to make BMW the star of Germany.

The propeller-logo brand claims that the concept car will demonstrate how a sports car can be efficient.

It is believed that the Vision EfficientDynamics is powered by a hybrid diesel/electric motor. The model can allegedly hit 0 to 100km/h in approximately 5 seconds, consumes 3.5 litres per 100 km, and resonates with the company’s "joy defines the future" slogan.

More details will soon be revealed from now until mid-September, when the car makes its debut at the Frankfurt motor show.