DTAC Product stewardship program

With current building & OH&S regs, tactiles are are popping out absolutely everywhere. I received this update from DTAC introducing their recycling/refurbishing program and new business policies (.pdf here) worth reading if your about to spec tactiles in your new exhibit
From the DTAC site:
a DTAC product will not complete its life cycle until DTAC collects and remanufactures.

"Our clients don't believe we actually recycle until they experience this service", says Dean Alexander Homicki, CEO of DTAC. "The end client will at some point have to refurbish a floor or surface. It's nonsense for any designers to omit this from their thought process."

Through DTAC's Customer Care program they keep detailed records of all project particulars. This documentation is given to the client at the end of a project which allows for transparent accountability of DTAC to the end client. When the end client realises how much they save by recycling and refurbishing they cannot believe it. So many clients remark, "Why don't others do what DTAC does?."
DTAC.

LG Energy Efficient Monitor

LG Wide LCD Monitor - LG Global Site

- Low Power Consumption (Typical): Normal 20W, Sleep 0.3W

- Reduce energy consumption up to 50% compared to sames class of LCD monitor

- Winner of 2008 IF Product Design Award

Definitely not the highest spec monitor around but could be worth investigating for simple exhibition applications.
From CNET review (link here): It might sound like some sort of futuristic tank, but the W2252TE, which we first told you about in June, is reportedly the world's most eco-friendly monitor. LG reckons it sucks just 22W in use and as little as 0.3W in standby mode.

We tested these claims, and to our delight, it drew just 18.8W in use and less than 0.1W in standby mode. To put things in perspective, other 22-inch monitors tend to draw somewhere in the region of 40W.

So it's genuinely green, but is it any good? Well, yes. The 22-inch panel runs at 1,680x1,050 pixels, the screen isn't horribly glossy, it has a 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 2ms response time, an HDCP-compliant DVI port, and the image reproduction is very, very good.

Don't think for a second that LG is simply scaling back the brightness of the backlight to save power--the W2252TE beams very solidly despite its claimed maximum of 250cd/m2.

LED/LCD monitor

LED backlight cuts LCD TV power consumption
via EE Times India:
Mao Yu-Hai, chief scientist at Power Analog Microelectronics (PAM). explains:
In LCD panels and LCD TVs, most of the power is consumed by the backlight source. These days, almost all desktop LCD monitor and LCD TV utilise CCFL lamps that consume a lot of electric power since they have to be driven by high voltage inverter.
'When using LED backlight, the power consumption can be reduced by 50 per cent. In Samsung's 40inch LCD TV, it consumed 170W. After it changed to LED backlight, it only consumed 100W,' Mao said.
Besides the power saving advantage, LED backlight is capable of realising colour saturation beyond NTSC ratio of 100 per cent and can replace colour filter."

Paint recovery: Resene

This looks like a great program established in NZ by Resene... details here
Whilst Resene Paints are definitely sold in Aus I'm not sure if there is a similar program here, but definitely something to follow up: Paint recovery/Recyling. If anyone know more please let me know.
From the Resne Paints site:
Be PaintWise!
Bring unwanted paint and paint containers into your local Resene ColorShop and let us recycle or dispose of them responsibly. Resene will offer good quality Resene paint to community groups for reuse, recycle packaging materials that are recyclable, send solventborne paints to solvent recovery, find alternative uses for waterborne paints, such as graffiti abatement, and dispose of the rest for you.
Resene PaintWise Recycling of Unused Paint

HowStuffWorks "Paint Components: Dissecting the Grass Green Paint on Your Walls"

Here's a good intro to Low VOC paints and what to look out for:
HowStuffWorks "Paint Components: Dissecting the Grass Green Paint on Your Walls"

OLED lighting

Worth keeping an eye on development of these
Inhabitat � Interiors

Allan Chochinov's 10 Steps for Sustainable Design : TreeHugger

10 simple but important ideas to easily put into practice now.
Allan Chochinov's 10 Steps for Sustainable Design : TreeHugger