Check out this selection of cool gadgets meant to make our homes more safe and comfortable.

Cool gadgets are everywhere. If you followed the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, you know that everyone from startups to global brands are falling all over themselves to create the next revolutionary device. Some of these things, like curved OLED televisions or an app to organize all your other apps (really?!) are either pointless or super expensive or both.

However, some cool gadgets are less conceptual and more practical, and better yet, already headed to open market. At EcoSalon, we have our ear to the ground, watching the internet for news of cool gadgets (and some bigger devices too) that really could lead to more efficient, healthier homes. Here are some of our favorites.

7 Cool Gadgets For A Smarter, Healthier Home

1. x12 Smart Bed from Sleep Number

Sleep Number recently unveiled the x12 smart bed, which contains sensors that monitor your sleeping habits, movement, heart rate and breathing rate. Thanks to a smartphone app that collects all the data (pictured, top) the bed actually learns your sleeping habits and suggests adjustments that could deliver higher quality sleep. And–best of all– it includes a Partner Snore feature that allows you to gently raise your partner’s headrest to help ease snoring.

2. Power Flower from Parrot

Love the green, air-cleaning quality of indoor house plants, but find yourself doomed to kill them? The Power Flower from Parrot is a Bluetooth-enabled device that’s designed to monitor your potted plants, then communicate what you’re doing wrong via a smartphone app. It also works on lawns!

 3. Softbrew by Sowden

If, like me, the first task of your day is brewing a pot of coffee, than this will likely be your favorite from this list of cool gadgets. The Softbrew by Snowden is a simple and eco-friendly brewing system that will make you wonder why you ever bothered with electric pots and paper filters. It’s all thanks to the Softbrew’s stainless steel filter which is etched with thousands of holes, small enough to keep the coffee grounds out of your cup. The porcelain pot also stays hot longer than glass or steel, and the filter and packaging is all recyclable.

4. The Power Pillow

On the weekends, I love to snuggle up on the couch with my laptop for some non-work surfing. The only problem is my laptop’s battery often runs out, forcing me to plug in the power cord, creating a dangerous trip wire across the living room. The Power Pillow, one of the many cool gadgets now gathering funding on Kickstarter, is an innovative answer to this problem. The company claims the pillow will be available in a range of different designs. Inside each will be two two–12000mAh slim form batteries capable of charging just about any USB-powered device. Juice the batteries using a solar charger like the WakaWaka and it’s a stylish and sustainable solution.

5. WeMo Insight Switch by Belkin

Take your home energy conservation efforts a step further with the WeMo Insight Switch. This innovative device allows users “to control and manage the energy usage and costs of home electronics from anywhere through their iOS or Android device.” It’s also possible to put appliances plugged into this switch on a schedule and receive notifications when the appliance is turned on or off.

6. Breath Humidifier by Roolen

Do sinus issues or super dry air require you to sleep with a humidifier? Most are fairly clunky, and feature scant ability to customize for individual needs. Not so with the Breath Humidifier by Roolen. Breath features sensors and settings that automatically adjusts the device to a humidity level best fit your surroundings, ensuring that you don’t waste water or energy.

7. Mr. Postman by Simple Elements

Tired of checking the mail when there’s nothing there? Or worse, worrying about someone stealing your mail when you can’t get to the box right away? Mr. Postman is a solar-powered smart mailbox that brings snail mail and package delivery up to the 21st century. Along with additional security such as a keyless locking system and tampering alert, Mr. Postman makes your life smarter by letting you know what packages have arrived.

Related on Ecosalon

5 Cool Gadgets to Create Your Own Electricity

4 Indoor Growing Gadgets for Lazy Gardeners

5 Energy Conservation Gadgets That Work (Even When You’re Not Home!)

Images via Sleep Number, Parrot, Sowden, Power Pillow, Belkin, Roolen, Simple Elements

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The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is a gadget geek’s dream date and the source of many tech news “leaks,” debuts and reviews. So why were green issues apparently under wraps as the world’s biggest tech executives made early keynote speeches there, on the mainstage of the trendsetting tradeshow, Wednesday?

Nobody was asking – or so it seemed – green questions, discussing environmental issues or highlighting eco-friendly features of the technologies on display. Not live, on blogs or in broadcasts. And certainly not in detail.

Microsoft executives, for example, hyped their gaming projects for 2010 including the release of a “prequel” game Halo: Reach, part of the wildly popular Halo franchise. But they didn’t say how many physical copies of the game they expected to manufacture, and if these included recyclable components.

Earlier, CNN syndicated a feature story by Ben Parr of Mashable predicting TV on computers, 3-D in your home, a range of increasingly smart mobile phones and e-book readers would be among the technology concepts out of CES 2010 to effect consumers worldwide, for years to come.

Great insights! But where are the eco-details? Like: how greenly manufactured (or not) were those 3-D TVs by Sony, or the super thin ones by LG? How enduring are those armies of new e-book readers, and are they lower impact than used books or books from recycled paper?

It’s frustrating that “green” aspects of new products don’t appear to be as important as gigabytes and screen size by now in general and tech trade media. Consumers care. As EcoSalon previously reported, consumer demand for green gadgets is strong in the U.S.

At least NBC Universal, the official broadcast partner of CES 2010, assigned morning news man Al Roker to a segment on national television where he discussed, with Fast Company’s Paul Hochman, several items from exhibitors including the Regen Renu, a 9×9, sweetly designed solar panel that when fully charged can power an iPod for six hours.

To be fair, there was a reference to nature reported by Gizmodo’s live-blog summing up the Sony keynote speech when executives promised a 3-D version of Shark Week – brought to us by Discovery and IMAX (for viewing on a Sony set).

Even with lackluster discussion early on at CES concerning the environmental impact of mainstream gadgets, the executive director of the Green Electronics Council, and the Electronic Products Environmental Asessment Tool (EPEAT, pronounced like “repeat”) Jeff Omelchuck has high hopes of CES and the people who pay attention to it.

EPEAT is a green standards and ratings organization for the computer, laptop and display industries, that could do for electronics what LEED did for buildings, or the Motion Picture Association did by rating movies, namely to make them easier to understand before buying (or selling).

Omelchuck explained Wednesday afternoon, upon arriving to Las Vegas, that he expected to see more discussion – and marketing – of green aspects of the technology on display by this year’s conference end.

“Consumers are getting smarter,” Omelchuck said, “Brands can no longer say things like “˜we’re energy efficient compared to ourselves last year,’ or “˜this is made from some recyclable materials,’ and convince a consumer their product is green. The manufacturers are recognizing they have to meet stronger criteria. Before there was really no historical market data to prove demand for greener electronics existed. Each year our understanding gets better.”

We hope it gets so much better that a separate Greener Gadgets show held by the same conference organizers, the Consumer Electronics Association, won’t even be necessary someday. Though, this year’s takes place in Manhattan, Feb. 25th.

Love gadgets but hate e-waste and greenwash, too? Read up on CES, and e-waste issues below. Then, let manufacturers and bloggers know “green” should be a priority as high or higher than any other cool factor when it comes to new tech toys.

Basic Reading:

“No matter how cynical most may be right now about eco-friendly electronics, eventually everyone attending will have green ingrained in their heads.”- A blog post via Treehugger entitled “CES 2010 A Steaming Pile of Hypocrisy? Does it really matter?”

“Computing will play a role in protecting our planet from climate change and other environmental issues”¦There are over 250 million cars in the U.S. alone and the latest ones have more computing power on them than our first manned rocket ships providing opportunities to help drivers avoid traffic jams, [and] offering real-time tips for efficient driving”¦We also need to ensure that we improve the efficiency of PCs.” -A blog post by Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer for Huffington Post, ahead of his CES 2010 keynote speech

“EPEAT, an eco-label for consumer electronics, has”¦existed behind the scenes as a business-to-business eco-rating system helping giants like the U.S. Federal government purchase low impact computers. Now, EPEAT is going business-to-consumer, making their bronze, silver and gold ratings publicly available as a reference point for shoppers”¦” – A Core77 feature story on EPEAT and eco-ratings of computers and other electronics

Further Resources:

The home page of EPEAT, which stands for Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool

An eWeekEurope.com news feature about Greenpeace’s efforts to stop the illegal shipping of ewaste to developing nations

Gizmodo’s “The Best of CES 2010” special section

Live, streaming video of CES 2010 events via Crunchgear

Engadget’s coverage of CES 2010 news, events and products

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This is the latest installment of EcoMeme, a column featuring eco news, tech and business highlights by columnist Lora Kolodny.

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