Biobased smartphone chargers, biocomposite boats, smart fields, smart farms, surgery-scale biomaterials: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of September 13th

#2 Smartphone chargers get a green makeover

In California, a new tech startup has launched a line of eco-friendly smartphone chargers to improve the sustainability profile of the tech industry. The chargers swap petroleum-based plastics for biobased alternatives. They also use materials from recycled plastic bottles and are packaged using recycled scrap paper.

“We really feel the business model for tech accessories is broken,” Nimble co-founder Kevin Malinowski tells Slate. Prices range from $40­-100. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, only 12.5% of e-waste is recycled. Tech companies, including Apple and HP, have been making strides to be greener.