If you're the type of person who buys only natural hemp clothing that's been colored with vegetable dyes, then chances are you don't want to listen to your Tibetan chant CDs over a pair of plastic speakers that popped out of a mold in some Chinese factory. Luckily, the curiously named Bird Electron company of Japan has come to the rescue by introducing the EZ-TAKEGTF2, a simple two-driver stereo speaker housed in a section of Japanese SuSu bamboo that's been smoked and aged for nearly 100 years. Somehow, though, I doubt that they were thinking about iPods when they started the aging process in the early 20th century. With one 2.5-inch full-range speaker at each end, Bird Electron claims that the natural resonance of the hand-crafted bamboo enclosure helps it to project quality sound while enhancing stylish interior design. The high sensitivity of the speaker allows it to be driven directly by any device with a 3.5-mm stereo minijack, so you won't need to plug it into a wall outlet. That'll save energy, which makes these bamboo speakers even more appealing to you bleeding-heart hippie types. The EZ-TAKEGTF2 is available now for $199 from Audiocubes.
— Michael Trei

Audiocubes, via Treehugger