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A simple way for businesses to reduce the environmental impact of their activities is to forgo mobile phone contracts that offer automatic handset upgrades and sign up for a SIM-only deal instead. This new breed of contract gives the customer a SIM card that can be used with an existing phone, preventing unnecessary waste and enabling users to get maximum value from existing products. T-Mobile has just launched its Business SIM-Plan for small businesses that don’t want to be tied to long contracts. Available on a 30-day, six month or 12 month rolling plan, Business SIM-Plan provides up to 30 users with 2,000 minutes each of inclusive calls to UK landlines and mobile phones and unlimited UK texts for £30 per month, with the option of unlimited mobile email and internet access for an extra £5 per month.

The HP Designjet L65500 has been named ‘Environmental Digital Printer 2009’ by the European Digital Press Association (EDP). Developed for the graphic arts market, the L65500 is the ﬁrst printer to use HP Latex Inks which provide many of the beneﬁts of solvent-ink technology but without the environmental drawbacks: prints are odourless; emit extremely low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs); produce no ozone; and require no special ventilation. The Nordic Swan-certiﬁed inks can also be used with recycled substrates.

Introduced in November 2008, Ecofont cuts toner and ink consumption by 20% by replacing solid lines with ones that contain numerous small holes. Dutch design agency Spranq, which developed the green font, is now applying this principle to enterprises’ own fonts. Ecofont Professional provides an Ecofont version of the customer’s corporate typeface and an Ecofont button for Microsoft Ofﬁce applications so that users can reduce toner consumption at the press of a button. www.ecofont.eu

The Onzo Smart Energy Kit has won a ‘red dot’ design award ahead of its launch in the summer. The home energy management system consists of two parts: a sensor that attaches to a cable running from the electricity meter; and a portable display that can be placed anywhere in the home. Data sent wirelessly from the sensor to the displa can be viewed in real-time or downloaded to PC and fed into Onzo’s supporting web servi which provides graphical visualisations of electricity use. www.onzo.co.uk