1. Lenovo ThinkPad L420: Lenovo states that the ThinkPad L420 is their greenest laptop yet, and that’s a bold statement from the PC laptop giant, as their ThinkPad X301 was very eco-friendly. The L-series laptops are made from 30% post-consumer recycled content. The green-ness also affects your bottom line, as this laptop is supposed to save you 40% on operating costs alone. It has an LED-backlit display and power manager. It includes energy certifications from ENERGY STAR and attains the EPEAT Gold standard. The packaging is recyclable and there’s 20% less of it to go to waste.

2. Acer TravelMate TimelineX: Acer does its bit by displaying information about the eco-friendliness of their laptops very visibly. The TravelMate TimelineX meets EPEAT Silver, RoHS, WEEE, and ENERGY STAR standards to protect the environment.

3. Asus Bamboo Series When Asus first released their Bamboo laptop a few years ago, it was somewhat shocking that so much wood featured prominently on a device that can get very hot, but Asus didn’t do this haphazardly. Bamboo has a tensile strength that rivals that of steel, and it’s a perfect substitute for plastic. The packaging is also eco-friendly, so it’s 100% natural and recyclable. The laptops use a bamboo frame and even the trackpad is made out of bamboo.

4. MacBook Air: Macs are no slouches when it comes to being environmentally friendly. It uses energy-efficient components that require less energy to operate than other laptops. The MacBook Air also earns the EPEAT Gold certification. It’s also ENERGY STAR 5.2 compliant. If you buy a new Mac, Apple will help you recycle your old ones.

5. Toshiba Protégé R700: The replacement to the environmentally friendly A600 is the new R700, and it also has an EPEAT Gold certification. The LED backlit display uses less energy than others. Coupled with a power-saving software, it will allow you to curtail your energy consumption. Toshiba has also cut down on the use of harmful chemicals in their PCs over the last several years. (Note: The R700 has now been replaced by the r830 series – expect the same green qualities and even faster processing times).

By Range Govindan.

Some of my favorite notebooks for everyday use are from the Black n’ Red brand.  Nothing fancy here, however you can’t beat the combination of their simple visual appeal, impeccable quality, and great value.  Sturdy covers, with good quality binding, and most importantly high quality paper that won’t have your writing bleed through.  There are many options to choose from, but I like the coil bound version with polypropylene cover. $7 via Amazon

If making the decision between traditional ruled paper, and graph paper is just too hard for you, the notebooks from Doane Paper will make your day.  The unique design of their notebooks give you graph paper and ruled paper all on one page by using a heavier horizontal line to make up the squares of the graph paper.  Doane Paper notebooks are available as standard legal pads, pocket size journals, and hard-cover coil-bound versions.  $4.50 to $11 via DoanePaper

Whitelines notebooks come in multiple formats including coil bound and book style binding, with your choice of ruled or graph paper style. The paper itself is a very light gray, while the lines are actually white.  The logic behind this design is that the white lines will not distract or interfere with your writing or drawing.  Also, when you scan or photocopy the paper, the lines become invisible.  My personal favorite is the lined A5 with hard black cover and coil binding.  $12 via Amazon

If you are a fountain pen user, or someone who hates when your writing shows through to the other side of the page, the Rhodia Web Notebook is the perfect option for you.  These notebooks use a heavy 90 gauge paper that deals well with just about any ink and is also the smoothest paper you will ever write on.  $20 via Amazon

For the most professional looking notebooks, you can’t go wrong with the Levenger’s Circa system.  These notebooks are not cheap; however their unique disc binding system and high quality cloth or leather covers will make you stand out from the crowd in a meeting.  The disc binding system allows you great flexibility in moving and organizing your notes. $49-$129 via Levenger

Illustrations by Jordan Awan