SmartPlanet Tech News

I don't know about you, but I'm a sucker for buying green products. Not just refurbished and EPEAT IT equipment, but recycled content paper products, things made with post -onsumer materials, fair trade or organic clothing and food, energy efficient gizmos, non-toxic cleaning supplies, and more. One of the problems with being a green consumer is that while such products may be non-toxic or sustainably produced, do they actually work?

I got excited when I found about SmartPlanet Tech News, which was a free online news service that also delivered product reviews of new green products and services "in the round," scoring them on quality, value, ethics and eco-impact. The site had a great section on green IT.

Imagine my surprise when I went back to the site recently to find this great online service to have morphed in to a CBS Interactive website now called simply SmartPlanet. The made-over site now features repackaged content from ZDNet and Tech Republic with a focus on news and PR about the various green initiatives in the large IT companies. SmartPlanet has some okay info, but I'm just not sure the world needs yet another promo piece like the Five Ways Steve Jobs Keeps Audiences at the Edge of Their Seats. The website was so disappointing to me that I was impelled to recheck the Seven Sins of Greenwashing website to see if it had gone that far off-track.

Suffice to say that I'm still searching for that elusive green IT or products site that reviews new products and services "in the round" so that we know which ones are both green and work really well.