Steve Jobs was no foreigner to green issues: he was a vegetarian and a proprietary of countless green-friendly movements both inside and outside of Apple, and many can learn from his examples. He was praised for convincing Disney to not renew their Happy Meal toy deal with McDonald’s, and he withdrew Apple from the US Chamber of Commerce after their climate change denial. If he even turned just one person vegetarian, he no doubt saved hundreds of animals’ lives and truly reduced his and his company’s green footprints, and he started a movement that inspired others to undoubtedly do the same. And after allegedly turning a blind eye, critics said, to the fact that its suppliers polluted China, the extent to which they cleaned up their act gained him even more respect.

The world has no doubt lost an extraordinary visionary, both in technology, in environmental issues, and in American innovation. The fact that many learned of his passing on devices that he himself created speaks volumes to his success, and he will certainly be missed. Hopefully, many will continue to live out his legacy and will continue to live with him as an example of how to be more mindful of the environment, of American technological advancement, and of how one idea, even if small, is never worth giving up.

If you’ve ever worked up a storm running and wondered where you could’ve instead used that energy — or, perhaps, if you’ve seen children running around like crazy and have wondered if there was a way to bottle up their energy and market it, you were either way onto something. There’s a new product out on the market that harnesses the energy you create when exercising and uses it to charge mp3 players, cell phones, and other gadgets that may have run out of power. They have claimed that 10 watts of power is dissipated as heat through each step you take while running, jogging, or even just walking; why not use this transferred heat for a better purpose? While mechanical engineers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison are still working to develop this product, you can be sure that I’ll be first in line to pick up a pair. Waiting for my mp3 player to charge while I’m running isn’t nearly as fun as listening to it during the run — and you can also think of this product as a device that’ll be a power-outage (or camping trip) savior. Whoever said exercising couldn’t go toward a greater good was clearly just not wearing the right shoes.