A 'Trash Amp' For Your iPhone, Solar Chargers For Your Tablet... 2011's Coolest 'Green' Products

As 2012 creeps up on us, it's time to start looking back at 2011 and the highlights of the past year.  Blaze editors have already reviewed some of the news and political events of the year on GBTV, but what about all of the cool stuff in the geek universe?

The folks at Discovery Networks have gathered 30 of their favorite Green Gadgets and Tech Stories from 2011. Here are three that caught my eye.

The Trash Amp - For around $50 you can have room-filling sound from your smart phone or a very portable amp for your guitar.

See (and hear) the full demonstration of the Trash Amp from its inventor.

Did Santa leave a new iPad2 (or almost any tablet computer) under your tree? If so, there are myriad products for holding or displaying these magical tablets, but this one does both of those jobs and it is also a solar charging unit. For each hour of sunlight, the Voltaic Spark claims to deliver one hour of power for use. The $299 marvel will act as a case, a stand and charge other devices. It can also be fully charged from an AC current to act as a backup battery.

My personal favorite item among the thirty wonderful gadgets in the TreeHugger story is this very clever, Satellite Chair.

This stealthy design allows folks living in apartments or places that have restrictions on satellite dishes to still receive dish-delivered programming.

The folks at Gizmodo report;

"The chair provides the same level of reception as a 24-inch dish, and manages to incorporate a hidden LNB, or low-noise block downconverter, which is that small arm you see positioned in front of modern dishes. The chair can even be sat on with the removable cushion installed, but since a warm body pressed against its backrest hinders reception, you'll want to keep that spot clear if you've got friends over watching the game."

To wade through all 30 of these cool/green innovations, visit the full list on the TreeHugger.com page from Discovery.