"Green" electronic products are extremely popular nowadays, since more and more people are becoming aware of the major environmental issues of our planet and actually try to do something about it. And that's exactly the case with the EarthDrive USB flash drive from ATP, a device that really screams "green," starting with its packaging and ending with the material it's built from.

ATP Inc. is a well-known manufacturer of all sorts of memory products, whether we're talking about Flash memory or DRAM. However, with the EarthDrive, it has managed to create a product that's entirely bio-recyclable, manufactured from a biodegradable polyester derived from renewable resources, and which still manages to carry out its external storage functions very well.Moreover, the company seems to have taken this eco-friendly approach even further, since it's actually donating a hefty portion of the EarthDrive's sales towards the planting of new trees across the world, which is indeed a noteworthy decision, especially given the fact that relatively few technology firms prove their commitment to the environment in such a manner.

Design and aesthetics

Overall design features

Design-wise, the EarthDrive is somewhat different from the numerous devices of this type available on the market. First of all, it's extremely small (it measures just 35.7 mm x 23.3 mm x 10.31 mm), which means that you really won't have any problems carrying it around. However, since such a small size might make it prone to loss/misplacement, the device also sports a small hole in the upper side, which can be used for attaching the drive either to the lanyard provided in the package or even to something more solid, like a backpack, bag, etc.As far as the color scheme is concerned, the EarthDrive is rather "classical," featuring an all-white front side, while the rest of its body is all-black (reflective, piano-black, to be more precise).Despite being manufactured from biodegradable materials, the quality of the build is quite impressive. Thus, there's nothing "cheap" about it, and even if the case looks just like plastic, it's by no means the cheap plastic we encounter in so many other similar products on the market.

Button and sliding mechanism

In order to keep the size to a minimum, as well as render the device as shockproof, dustproof and waterproof as possible, the drive from ATP features a sliding mechanism, which means that users will have to push a button in order to "eject" the USB connector.The button is placed right in the middle of the drive and is dented and "tall" enough, compared to the surface level of the drive to ensure the fact that users won't have any problems pushing it out. Plus, no springs are involved, so the sliding mechanism is not very likely to fail anytime soon.

Last, but certainly not least, I'll have to point out that the drive also sports a LED activity indicator, which turns to bright blue whenever data is being transferred.

Eco-friendly and bio-recyclable

We couldn't really end our analysis of the design of this drive without talking a bit about one of its main features, namely the one related to the materials it has been built from. As the guys over at ATP inform us, following a very long research period, they've been able to design and build the device using the maximum amount of biodegradable materials (PLA). PLA, or Polylactic acid is a biodegradable polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn.
source : softpedia