How Technology Can Declutter Your Life


With all the new gadgets and gizmos flooding the market daily, it's easy to understand why some folks think technology is totally overwhelming. But au contrair, technophobes: Their are plenty of products and services that can actually declutter your life, cut back on waste and help you live a greener, cleaner and more stress-free lifestyle. Read on for the green tech that can help organize even the most cluttered life.


Get Into Google

From desk calendars to planners to print-outs, staying organized at the home and office the old-school way often means using a TON of paper. Not only can said paper products easily get misplaced, they're responsible for massive tree chopping and thus, carbon emissions and pollution caused during production. Get organized digitally with Google and the search engine's e-mail service, Gmail. Create shareable spreadsheets with Google Docs, manage appointments with Google Calendar, stayed tuned into the latest news with Google Reader and make to-do lists with Google Tasks.

Share Photos Digitally

Printing out photos, making sure they don't get misplaced, keeping them from getting bent and sending them out to all your friends and family uses a lot of paper and ink, plus all that shipping wreaks havoc on the environment. Simplify the photo-sharing experience by opting for online photo albums like Flickr, Facebook, Snapfish, Photobucket and Shutterfly. Uploading photos and videos is super easy, as is sharing the albums with friends and family.


Embrace E-Readers

Nothing piles up more quickly than old books, newspapers and magazines. Reading is great and all, but it sure causes a lot of clutter in the home. Enter E-Readers. Products like the Amazon Kindle DX and Sony Reader allow users to download as many books and publications as they want and read them via a digital display. Plus, the portable products are way easier to read on a crowded subway than bulky dailies.


Universal Chargers

Most folks have drawers upon drawers stuffed with tangled masses of wires from electronics' chargers. It's hard to believe it's taken til now for someone to start producing universal chargers, but thankfully, that day has finally arrived. The iGo Eco Charger connects to a slew of different mobile phones and gaming devices through power tips and USB cables. Plus, the device comes with its own internal battery, so consumers can charge electronics even if there's no wall outlet around. In related news, the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in conjunction with the GSMA recently created a universal charging solution, a charger that can be used with all future makes and models of mobile phones, provided that cell phone companies comply. Sony Ericsson said it will launch phones compatible with the charger this year, and the universal charging solution has also drawn interest from companies like LG, AT&T and Nokia.

Listen to Streaming Music

When working on or nearby a computer, there's really no need to turn on a radio or mp3 player at the same time. Instead, try online music channels. Sites like Slacker and Pandora allow listeners to create their own channels by listing a favorite song or artist. The stations then stream music by that particular artist and songs by similar-sounding musicians. The best part? Both stations are free and require no downloading.


Manage Your Personal Finances Online

Staying on top of credit cards' and bank statements' nebulous paper trails is enough to make anyone nuts. Mint.com provides free, Web-based money-managing software that makes personal finance simple. By syncing credit card, bank and investment accounts, the tool creates easy-to-read charts that let users see where they're spending money, how investments are performing and set up budgets. The software even provides personalized saving and money-making suggestions, and can send e-mail and SMS alerts whenever a change in finances occurs.

What types of tech do you rely on to declutter your busy life?

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Sarah Parsons is editor of Inhabitat, an online magazine devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and design towards a smarter and more sustainable future. Written by a young tech-savvy team designers and design journalists, Inhabitat delivers fresh content daily, showcasing emerging work from the cutting-edge of the global design community.