Everything’s “eco” these days. Which, in many ways, is a good thing. Many consumers think in terms of energy savings and environmental impact, and many manufacturers are now thinking the same way. Although, sometimes the manufacturers are thinking only in terms of advertising slogans and not really changing the products they sell.

It’s also easy to be caught up in the “new eco-technology” hype. For instance, the new eco-toaster design from Nahamer:

It supposedly uses 50% less energy while toasting your bread 20% faster. And, it’s specifically designed to be repaired rather than tossed out and replaced. I’m guessing that, at first, such a technological marvel may be more expensive than regular toasters — $200 anyone? And of course, such cutting-edge thinking takes time to get to market, so this toaster is just in the concept stage.

But is it really any different than this:

Available at Amazon.com from Black & Decker for $49.95. Seems like the exact same product, minus the eco-hype!