A new PC from startup Zonbu uses only 5 percent of the power of a standard PC and will sell for just $99. The two pound PC requires only 1/4th of the chemicals and fossil fuels in production, according to the company, Zonbox.

To further drive the green message home, the company will take back the machine and recycle all of the components, and they will pay for carbon offsets for all of the electricity consumed by the computer. You can't get much greener than that.

But the Zonbu may draw consumers more for its price tag than its eco-footprint. At less than $100, and being plug and play, it makes sense as a child's or first time web user's PC. The only catch is that you have to sign up for a two-year contract for Internet access to get the discounted price, or pay $249 and supply your own Internet connection.

The price is so low because there is no Microsoft (only Intel) inside; the applications are all Linux open source programs. But since most folks will spend the majority of their time using a browser anyway, Firefox does just fine.

It will be interesting to see consumer response. PeoplePC and other low-budget computers have not been very successful, but that was before the current shift towards environmental responsibility.