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Why should kids get to have all the fun? Parents will also enjoy reaping the rewards of this week’s giveaway, which puts renewable wind energy in the palm of one lucky winner’s hand! We’re giving away a HYmini Portable Wind and Solar Charger, (worth $50!) which offers a revolutionary way of capturing renewable energy for your iPod, mobile phone, PDA, mp3, or digital camera on the go! The HYmini is a hybrid, tiny green power station that you can easily tote on your daily travels to recharge nearly all of your electronic gadgets via its built in mini wind turbine and miniSOLAR panels. The HYmini may also be charged in a wall plug, USB outlet or with a hand crank generator on days you’re stuck indoors. Enter to win after the jump!
ENTER TO WIN THE HYMINI PORTABLE WIND & SOLAR GADGET CHARGER!
1) Sign up for our weekly newsletter (if you haven’t already!) We’ll be notifying the winner in our newsletter – so you need to sign up and receive next week’s newsletter to find out if you have won the HYmini!
2) Add a comment to this post with your answer to the following question: Click the images in the gallery below and tell us which of the green gadgets we’ve previously featured on Inhabitots is your favorite, and why? Learn all about Rocco, Fastronauts, BugPlug, and Power Hog by clicking on the corresponding link beneath each image.
Contest ends Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 12 midnight EST. Winner will be announced in next week’s newsletter!
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.
126 Responses to “WIN IT WEDNESDAY! Win a HYmini Wind + Solar Gadget Charger!”
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Rocco: it is green and also can teach some principles in physics !
The Power Hog has got to be my favorite! A gadget that teaches kids that electricity isn’t free and allows them to save money at the same time is an awesome idea. It also encourages them to go outside and play if they have to pay every time they want to play their favorite video game. Love it!
The BugPlug has to be my favorite, because of all the products formerly shown, it seems to be the one that is the most useful for all ages!
i’m a new subscriber
my favourite is Fastronauts – green
I love the Hymini the best! The wind and solar charger is a no-brainer and small enough to actually carry around and use. I can definitely see some good “learning opportunities” with the kids. Can they get their DS charged while riding their bike? Which works better or faster, wind or solar? Why? Great way to get the kids and adults thinking in the right and obvious direction. Thanks for sharing the array of green gadgets.
Oh the powerhog for sure! While they are all great, practical and ‘cute’ the power hog has a dual message of cost and usage. When will the adult version come out!?
Rocco because i like that it is green and he teachs physics
All of the Green Gadgets that you have introduced have their own fabulous attributes!
I have chosen the “BugPlug” as my favorite gadget. Perfect for a kid’s room or nursery, the BugPlug is a small energy-saving creature that seeks out power-draining devices and shuts them off at the source.
I like how it is kid-friendly and with a power strip, you can plug in several appliances. The BugPlug
has a infrared sensor seeks out human motion and body heat; if there is none, the power draining
appliances are turned off.
Thanks, Cindi
The Rocco, how cool is that, and my little 2 year old has tons of energy- just think of the possibilities of lighting up a room:)
Rocco because i like that it is green and he teachs physics
I definitely loved the Power Hog. It teaches little ones that power isn’t free! And that they should appreciate the time that they get to use it.
I’m going with the Power Hog as it’s a great concept to get them in the green way, great look and something that will get used on a daily basis to boot with.
My favorite is the Fastronauts. I like that they encourage kids to play outside. I think any toy that gets a kid up and off the couch is wonderful. Not to mention, these are really cute. Looks like they would be a good teaching tool for discussing how they work.
Rocco definately because of the flashlight element!
bebemiqui82(at)yahoo(dot)com
My favorite is definitely the Fastronauts. Kids get out and play, then they can talk to their parents and learn important concepts. What is not to love about that? It is brilliant! And it doesn’t hurt that the toys are adorable and cool!
The bug plug is really neat. My husband and i often bemoon that things get left on when no one is in the room. This would take care of the problem.
I love the Power Hog. I try to instill the idea of conservation in my 2 year old (it often involves flow charts with drawings of power plants and light fixtures), and the Power Hog is an innovative tool for explaining the concept to kids and making the lesson stick.
Weekly Subscriber!
I like the Fastronauts as my daughter would have fun playing with them while learning about energy.
The BugPlug would be great to cut down on extraneous gadgets using electricity. So smart… and cute!
I like the powerhog, great way to teach children about energy conservation and maybe saving a little money
tiramisu392 (at) yahoo.com
I like the Power Hog — I think it is a great way to teach kids (and adults!) about the costs of energy, and think about reducing their usage. It is a smart device that makes you conscious of the energy you are using.
My favorite is the Power Hog. I think the whole family could learn about energy consumption with that great little gadget.
the charger! we all know how grumpy we get when our phone, camera, ipod, etc. run out of juice!
I am partial to the Fastronauts. My wife and I rarely, if ever, leave on unnecessary appliances, so our son sees this and will see it daily anyways. The Fastronauts are the only ones which our inquisitive and full-of-energy toddler would actually play with. Perhaps if he were older, the HYmini would be very neat…
I subscribe already!
I like the Power Hog because it teaches kids about money and electricity at the same time!
I like the power hog since it teaches a very difficult, but important, lesson in a very hands-on and easy to understand way.
I love the concept of the powerhog esp for limiting media consumption.
Hey there! I’m a long-time reader, first-time (finally) subscriber.
By a slim margin, the Fastronauts are my favorite. They are bright, safe, and attractive forms for young children. I think the concept of “powered by play” is a wonderful way to encourage play while subtly teaching kids about the conversion of renewable energy. A child loves nothing better than to get a reaction to their energy, so their desire to play is amplified with the Fastronaut. And what human being doesn’t love playing outside?
I recently discovered the HYmini after purchasing the book Design Revolution. A couple weeks after thinking how much I’d love the set for my bike rides to school, lo-and-behold, here you are giving one away!
Personally, I really like the BugPlug. I tend to leave my bed-side lamp and my cell-phone charger plugged in (or in the case of the lamp -on)
At first I was going to choose the Power Hog, but I knew if I ever ran out of coins, I’d simply open it from the bottom and continue on with my day.
The BugPlug is a better fit for me and my deviant self.
Dear Santa,
I’ve been a very good girl this year. I pick up trash when I see it when I’m riding my bike instead of driving a car (I gave mine away because I can ride). I turn off and unplug unused devices and appliances. I stopped eating meat three years ago. In the spring, summer, and fall, I grow a wee, organic garden that helps sustain me and I have just enough left over that I can share my bounty with my neighbors. Santa, the Hymini would certainly benefit my already green lifestyle; it’s small and portable enough to take with me on the bicycle adventures I hope to embark upon once the weather warms. I would be able to keep my phone charged in case of an emergency, and keeping my tunes playing in the mp3 player and powered speakers in my bicycle basket will make bicycling in undiscovered territory that much more blissful for me. Santa, I’d really love to have a Hymini, and hope that you think I should have one, too.
Oh…and I’d really love to have world peace, too, if you can manage.
Namaste’,
Tee
I’m a subscriber! I love the Rocco! I love that it’s geared towards kids, because it’s hard to teach a little one about being green and energy conservation sometimes. To introduce those concepts to them that early is fantastic!
The Rocco; what a great fun way to teach about energy and physics (can you tell I’m a former science teacher).
My favorite item is the Bugplug because energy saving is extremely important.
We have to save energy for our kids, it is our responsibility to pass a clean planet to the next generations.
Rocco is my favorite because there is no better way to demonstrate to children alternative energy source than doing it by playing with a green toy. Beside I love physics and rocking.
I’m a fan of the Power Hog because it’s a good way to keep track of what you’re doing and shows practically individual impact.
It’s got to be the PowerHog, great design, fabulous name
(and a great green learning tool too)
Hymini, because we’ve all been caught with a low battery & no charger in sight!
It was a tough call but I’m a huge fan of the Power Hog. It’s a fun way for both kids and adults to learn about power use, and possibly minimize time staring at screens.
It’s a cool green device, Making awareness in the Green Technology. I would be happy to get one, and that too free.
I love the HyMini. I’ve had one for several years and the panel got soaked during a downpour while I was sailing and now it doesn’t work. I need a new one and can’t afford it, so it would be nice to win one. It’s a great product. Charged my phone and iPod all the time.
While Rocco and Fastronauts are cool, how long will the child play with them. PowerHog has many applications, but I think that BugPlug is the most practical.
The Hymini. With as much alphabet soup gadgetry as my kids have (mp3, PSP..drive-daddy-craZY, lol). It’d be nice to show them a better way to power them.
-Curt
I have to go with the BugPlug because the educational function is great, but it’s the goofy looking “bugs” that make it so much fun to display.
I like most the fastronauts: in the “game” category, it seems to be the most appropriate for children of this century, ’cause it is made for both indoor and outdoor games. While playing, they learn about energy and eco-sources, and maybe start to learn that there IS another way.
And furthermore, they’re so cute ^_^
(sorry for the bad english)
It’s a cool green device, Making awareness in the Green Technology. I would be happy to get one, and that too free. I would love to get one.
My favorite is the HYmini Portable Wind and Solar Charger, Everyone can use it.
Love Roco. Love the idea and think it’s a wonderful way to teach children about energy conservation and the power of movement.
I am a huge fan of the Power Hog! Not only is it cute, but it teaches kids about conservation and how important it is to realize that even if you have the money to pay for electricity you are still using up valuable energy. They realize that energy comes with multiple costs to their money and to the environment.
All these toys are awesome though! Keep up the good work!
Ii truly like them all- each has its own special attribute. I think the Bug Plug is great, becuase it is cute and useful for adults as well as kids; you can plug in several appliances, and I love that it turns off power draining appliances when not in use. Would definitiely use it.
I really like the Fastronauts toys because they seem like toys that not only teach children about energy flow, but also get them active! While the BugPlug and Power Hog do a great job of teaching energy conservation, they are relatively passive toys that are tied to electronics (and as we know, many electronics in our homes allow for passive play, with lots of sitting and staring instead of running and jumping!) I like the Fastronauts over the Rocco just because I feel like the ages that might play with Fastronauts might have a better time understanding a lesson about energy than the ages that the Rocco seems to be geared for. That, and I remember as a kid running around the playground with action figures, and it was a lot of fun! If I had had some Fastronauts back in the early 90′s, I’m sure I would have generated tons of power!
The Hymini is great idea-I don’t have kids, but lots of small gadgets/appliances. It is always good to get greener….especially that it’s so close to St. Paddy’s day!
I think the HYMINI is the best product of the bunch. It can show kids that all of mommy and daddy’s gizmos and their toys don’t have to plug into the wall for their juice. That just sets up the stage for thinking of alternative energy sources.
I’ve got more battery operated gadgets than any sane person should have, and it’s always bothered me that batteries are not green at all. Since I live in the “Sunshine State”, I’m all charged up about winning the HyMini Charger. That means I’d never run out of “juice” – either O.J. or the solar kind. This solves two problems in one. Florida’s not a cool place to be when there’s no A/C! So, that Mini Wind Turbine would be totally COOL when the power goes out after hurricanes. Sure hope I win it… Thanks!
I’d have to say the Power Hog as many others have said. Teaches many lessons and still practical.
My favorite was the fastronauts. That is just fantastic.
Think of all the the money and waste by not using
batteries for the kids toys. I hope one day all the toys
will be self sufficent, then maybe i can even transfer
some of the kids left over energy to mommy’s electic
gadgets.
As a bussines traveler, I like the concept. I hope I get to try it.
I’m an email subscriber!!!
I love the Rocco because it’s versitile. Flashlight, Rocking horse, and all the fun in the world- boy, I wish these were around when I was younger. This would have been my favorite! Great review on it by the way!
I am a fan of the Hymini because it is a simple yet amazing example of personal renewable energy.
Plus i can use it to capture energy as a bike to work.
MY commute could power my cellphone for the day……carbon neutral minutes are way cooler that rollover minutes!
I love the Bug Plug – especially for lights lights! A great idea for forgetful kids (and parents)!
PICK ME PICK ME – I like the HYmini because of ll the items it’s the one my family would use the most. Though I like fastronauts.
I love the Rocco, and I am sure my daughter would too as it’s not only fun but educational and functional as well.
I was most drawn to the Rocco because it’s so simple and elegant, in how it gives kids a direct experience of energy generation. And it’s practical with the flashlight. I also like the BugPlug for homes with and without kids, as long as it works and you can adjust sensitivity.
I’m not sure about the Power Hog. Maybe I’m missing something, but it seems like there’s inconsistency in what’s happening. Kids experience the “cost” of electricity — and playing an electronically-powered game — because they have to “pay” for it. But a piggy bank is meant for savings, and I assume the kid gets to open the bank and take out what they’ve saved, but in this case, it’s what they have spent. So can’t agree that this metaphor makes sense or helps kids understand cost/benefit.
I have a deep appreciation, for anything that turns kids into batteries. Don’t judge me, but the Rocco Mini-Cooler, er rather, rocking horse sounds like genius to me.
My favorite is Power Hog. Very smart and green gadget…
I am partial to the Power Hog as a visual learning tool. It can also be used to teach safety around electrical plugs.
My favorite is the hymini! it’s a great idea por long road trips or for times at the countryside. It’a a great idea to get familiarized with green tecnologies. Love it!
I love the fastronauts!! Whenever there’s an opportunity to teach kids a valuable lesson about resources, conservation and the price of every single light, car ride, and drink we should seize it. And to make it something that is also fun and stimulating to kids – ROCKS!
It seems like the super cute BugPlug has the most potential to actually reduce power consumption.
rocco definitely has my vote. when i first saw this toy i thought it was such a brilliant idea. i love that it teaches kids about alternative energy and conservation in a way they can see and understand. and i mostly love that it captures and puts to use the abundance of energy that little ones have! go rocco!
First off, it would be nice to see something that wasn’t plastic. That being said, my favorite would be the HYmini chargers. I’d love a way to charge my phone using wind or solar. I’m sure kids would be interested in the wind charger, too. If I had to choose of the toys, I’d go for the Fastronauts.
~R
The Rocco is my favorite! Best design. Most functionally relevant to demonstrate energy transformation. Love it!
I gotta say the Fastronauts are a nice idea
Is the fourth time I try to leave a comment, I want the prize!!!
My favorites are fastronauts because they teach children that the use of energy is not free, but you have to work to produce it; also invites them to exercise.
The Power Hog !
Simple, cute and a good way to manage the kids of their TV/Computer usage !
Hey
Power Hog is def my choice because it combines both energy saving and resources management lessons in a way that even kids understand. It’s always a trade off and it teaches exactly that!
Cheers
The Rocco! Finally you can get excited while riding your favourite steed and know that your excitment is helping to keep the lights on!
All the gadgets are awesome but my personal favorite is the Power Hog. It combines the life lessons we all need when we’re older: how to save money, how to budget expenses for daily needs like electricity and how conserve our resources. I also love that it’s geared towards the younger crowd in its cute piggy design!
I really like the bug plug. On a large scale, something like this should be in every office building and factory floor on the planet – no people = no power! (parking lots too – why light up empty concrete squares?)
rocco! it’s so important to teach kids that there are alternative ways of generating power. and this is such a fun one!!
love the bug plug. A simple idea that everyone need to embrace! And what a cool design too.
I like the HYmini, but I think the name needs a change.
The Rocco is my favorite. I like the fusion of the traditional toy in an appealing color and shape with the concept of physics and energy generation. It’s learning, but it’s incidental, and is direct cause-and-effect fun that actually teaches a pretty fundamental thing about a kid’s world.
My favorite is the Power Hog! I’ve been waiting for something like this. Our kids seem to think that electricity is free. With the Power Hog we could charge them for playing video games, watching TV or charging their gadgets. This should teach them to conserve electricity and budget their money.
The Hymini is definitely my favorite because it is so versatile.
HYMini: It’s the only product listed I would use a lot, and can tote it around with me teaching others about alternative energy.
HYMini: It’s the only product listed here I would use a lot, and teach others about renewable energies.
looks cool, hope it works
i like the fastronauts. they make power and encourage movement much like the wii. maybe some sort o intergration can occur eventually
I love the Rocco slightly more than I love the other amazing gadgets. Children benefit so much from powering themselves in a rocking-sort of way, that adding power-generation into the activity is simply phenomenal! It’s on my wish list for my infant daughter.
I like the Rocco best because it burns off the kids energy while teaching them about energy.
I like Power Hog! It is the one that can easily be recalled by kids and connect the design of the hog with savings. Promoting energy saving activities for kids will be a tedious tasks given how children considers everything like play. It is best to teach them about saving or conserving power through the help of easily-recognizable metaphors or images like the hog such as the piggy banks. This I think is the best among other designs.
The Rocco is brilliant! I love it when we can learn how to harness energy from things that we already use, as many people will not buy into it if it is inconvenient, sadly. Rocco is such a great way to both do this, as well as it is a really cool toy, that I’m sure my kids would love – I mean most people have a rocking pony anyway, might as well get energy as the kids are expending it.
The ROCCO is a brilliant way to show children, & adults, how energy can be converted. I want a grown-up sized one – in blue.
I love the BugPlug! What an amazing resource to cut power usage!
I like the Power Hog. Conservation and saving are both important lessons for children (and adults) to learn. There’s also a bit of time management in there as well! (Definitely a lesson for both children and adults!)
My fav is Rocco because he sounds Italian. And, by design the possibilities for an adult version are limitless. It’s a great concept in need further development.
However, I’d like to write about the wind and solar power gens. It’d make a really interesting blog post or even a whole blog devoted to it–would be fun to do.
Send these things to me! I need a green job real bad.
While the Power Hog and Bug Plug inventions are really quite marvelous (and the names of these products are also delightfully witty), the simplicity of the ingenious Rocco makes it my favorite.
It offers such an invaluable lesson to our children – that a motion as simple as rocking back and forth can be transformed into something that can be helpful to humanity again. Sure, the conserved energy is not much at all, and the lit-up handles may be wasted unless some creative uses were found for them (but let’s assume the parents and children of green-minded Inhabitats and tots must be bright enough to find some uses!), but the concept of using technology to reduce the waste of energy wherever we can is an imperative one for the younger generation. Perhaps as they grow older these toddlers will also be the activists at their high schools and colleges demanding that the institutions retrofit the gym equipment to power parts of the gym itself.
If indeed the only difference between adults and kids is the price of their toys (and goodness knows that we will play with all sorts of inventive objects until we die!), why not start a kiddie out with a green toy?
The bugplug appeals to me the most.
It strikes me as the most useful. Some of the gadgets seem to be of marginal use. But the bugplug fulfills a real need.
want, solar rules
The Hymini wind/solar charger — very versatile!
I think the power hog is good choice for children. It gives a lesson about energy management. My kids always use a fan to cool their room and they always forget to turn it off. Using this Power Hog they will learn how much do they should pay for turning the fan on in all day.
Fastronauts: the idea of kid powered toys is fantastic. They can play with these past the Rocco age. My nephews would come up with all sorts of ways to charge these toys up. Great way to teach kids to make what they need to play.
Living in Italy while serving in the Air Force has one drawback…I have no access to innovative solar products.
love the rocco. if only we could use it to power our lights. put those kids to work!
I like the Power Hog, very helpful for teaching kids about saving energy & cute also.
My favorite is the BUGPLUG!
I think it’s the most practical product, it just makes sense!
I would buy one if I could, great and easy way to save unneeded energy
the rocco is the best product, it’s educational and love the flashlights/handles.
I think that the idea behind the Power Hog is briliant
it helps me have my camera charged when I am out taking and deleting hundreds of picture from beautiful things I’m seeing outside …
i like the HYmini portable charger….!!
it is very user friendly and very environmental things….
its does not give any change to the pollution but we still can use it…
its really recyclable, saving energy usage, and from here we can teach our children how to save our world by using this kind of method… its really usable we can bring it any where we want. and no need to worry about using energy because it use natural energy by recycling it… so have fun with HYmini wind portable charger…!!!
Rocco is the most efficient design for producing energy within all. It can easily produce energy although It is simple It will work. Other designs look nice and charming but they can easily broke. Only from design approach I think Rocco does not have the basic creative features but it is a working product so it will sell and people can take benefit from that.
definitely the HYmini, because it is a great way to go traveling with kids in less developed countries, where it is not always easy to charche ones electronic devices. With the HYmini it is possible to make kids aware of the amount of energy they use for their electronic devices like mp3 player and so on. I think it is hard to force human beeings to save energy in any way, but gaining sustainable energy is a fun way to run ones electronic devices. And wind is almost evertime!!!!
I think the POWER HOG is a great vehicle for teaching conservation, economy and budgeting (heady subjects to most adults) in a fun and positive way. The money collect could be earmarked for purchases related to further educational products – Like a power hog for mom and dad………
Good Luck Everyone
Rocco: because it is cool and useful!
I like the HYmini because it takes the idea of wind power and miniturizes it to hand-size, like a tool. It would become a permanent ‘toy’, since it could be used forever.
I think the Rocco is a great idea, and would hope it would spur further development to use our expended and wasted energy in a capturable form! (i.e. All those treadmills at the gym?)
New environmental technologies never cease to amaze me. Thanks to Inhabit for keeping me informed and up on the latest! Cheers!
I am from MALAYSIA….A FAR COUNTRY FROM YOU ALL…
I love Inhabitat, sure i will surf it before i start my job!i work as the CDM engineer!
I love green gadget!Ha, i love the design of the owl..In future i have to buy the tshirt for my child.
I love the fan, if i won it!Should i buy some carbon credit for the postage?!maybe i should plant few more tree in front of my house!
As an adult, I like the BugPlug. The kid in me is drawn to the fastronauts. Play and interaction fueling learning and imagination. Score. They look fun too.
I like the Power Hog, because for once there is a gadget that teaches children that electricity isn’t free and from that concept that you have to pay for it, could easily go into what has to happen in order to generate electricity. It looks cute as well, and is made with recycled PET bottles…
All of these are creative ideas – great to see more kids products that teach conservation. My fave is the Power Hog. I think it has the most habit-changing potential because it can be used for years by kids (and adults) of all ages, unlike the other products, which kids will stop using once become bored with them or outgrow them.
My favorite is the PowerHog. Love the design and it’s also a teaching tool!
I think that the Fastronauts will be the most fun and engaging for real kids in real play situations.
Fastronauts are my favorites. Not only are they GREEN but…
They are about the CUTEST LITTLE THINGS I ever did see. This grandmom wants her very own!
I eagerly promoted the HyMini while working at Wired Magazine’s holiday Pop-Up. It works, ’nuff said. Now I want one of my own.