Politicians aren't the only keepers of the public trust who've just gotten performance evaluations. High-tech product makers also are the subject of report cards rating their efforts in matters environmental and economic, affecting the health and welfare of product users.

There's some nasty stuff in consumer electronics. Take the brominated flame retardants (BFRs) used in circuit boards and plastic casings, which don't break down easily and can build up in the environment. Or PVC, a plastic used in products and cable insulation.

Long-term exposure to BFRs has been tied to impaired learning and memory functions, behavioral problems with newborns and interference with thyroid and estrogen hormone systems. PVCs, when released by incineration, are toxic even in low concentration.

That's why Greenpeace periodically holds a bright light to product makers with its updated Guide to Greener Electronics, rating companies on their elimination of these (and other) nasty chemicals, as well as their safe and efficient recycling of old products, energy consumption in manufacturing and vows of future improvements.

So who's doing the job right?

Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Philips are rated "greenest" in the latest Greenpeace report. Philips was singled out for introducing the first TV (Econova) totally free of PVC and BFR. HP did virtually as well as Philips, trailed by Samsung and then a tied-for-sixth Motorola, Panasonic and Sony.

At the bottom of the pile, for wrongs including unkept promises and a poor recycling effort, were Toshiba, Microsoft and Nintendo.

Cost of running TVs

Did you know that some smaller-screen TVs (like 32-inch) can cost as little as $16 a year in electricity to operate, while 60- to 65-inchers bill at more than $125 a year, presuming the set is lit about five hours a day (the national average)?

Starting in May, TV shoppers will be instantly armed with that information. By law, every new set displayed on a showroom floor, in a catalog or online ad must bear an Energy Guide label spelling out the model's annual cost of operation. That's thanks to a just-passed amendment to the Federal Trade Commission's Appliance Labeling Rule.

Today, the most energy-efficient big-screen TVs are the rear-projection models that only Mitsubishi is still cranking out, followed by LCD flat-panel sets illuminated with LED edge- or (better) backlights.

Plasma flat-panel TVs are least efficient, although 2010 Panasonic models are "30 percent" improved, and videophiles will stomach the difference (maybe a $30 uptick in annual running cost) to enjoy plasma's best-in-class picture performance.

Bad side of hybrid cars

Before you pat yourself on the back for buying an energy-efficient hybrid car, read Aaron Robinson's take on "where electric vehicle batteries come from" in the November issue of Car & Driver.

Eighty percent of the world's cobalt supply, "a key ingredient in long-lasting batteries for cell phones, laptop computers and electric and hybrid cars" is mined in Zambia and the adjacent, civil-war-plagued Democratic Republic of the Congo. It's "one of the worst conflict situations in the world," noted a Robinson source, rife with human-rights violations, corruption and environmental degradation.