What thoughts run through your head when you consider the latest and greatest high tech gadget? Different people will have very different answers. Some may well think that they're cool. Others might feel that they're not worth the money. Some almost certainly feel that they're overly complex and can be difficult to use. A lot depends upon your own individual viewpoint. However, it's probably a fair bet to say that you certainly don't associate the latest "must have" electronic gadget with being more environmentally friendly - but electronic devices can, in the right set of circumstances, be good for the environment.

One possible candidate would be digital picture frames. These have become very popular over the last couple of years. As a result of high levels of competition, prices have now fallen to the point where you can buy a perfectly serviceable digital frame for no more than you might expect to pay for a traditional frame. One of the many perceived benefits of digital frames is the fact that they can store and display hundreds, sometimes thousands, of photos using one single frame.

It all depends upon how many snapshots you take, but if you tend to get a bit snap happy then displaying your photos using a digital picture frame might well be better for the environment. Whether you avoid having photos printed out at a processing lab or if you just print out less on your computer printer you will wind up using fewer materials.

One further example is the gadget du jour - the electronic book reader. E-book readers have been available for quite some time now, but they really took off in 2009. They look set to grow ever more popular during 2010. Right now the Amazon Kindle is the market leader - but Sony have also secured a good share of the market for these devices.

The U.S. book, magazine and newspaper sector requires 125 million trees per annum in order to feed it with paper. Additional to the trees required, vast quantities of water, chemicals, energy and ink are needed to satisfy our reading habit. Since books are a physical product, they need to be shipped to the bookstore, generally by road. Then customers get into their cars, drive to the book shop, buy their books and motor home again. It all adds up.

Electronic books do not need large amounts of paper, bindings, ink etc. in their production. Also, since they are not a physical product, they may be delivered using the internet instead of the traditional road or rail transport network.

Of course, both digital photo frames and e-book readers are physical products themselves and they consume both energy and materials during production. They also require to be shipped to the retail outlet or direct to the final user. Even so, studies have shown that, even when the materials consumed are offset against the savings in paper, energy, ink etc. that such devices can be better for the environment (though it will depend, to a certain extent, on how many books you read or how many photos you process each year).