You too can be an energy star with this illuminated concept designed by Efrain E. Velez for the Core 77 2008 Greener Gadgets Design Competition. Of course, as with any earth-saving measure, the Krank Lamp’s energy has to come from somewhere, and in this case, it’s lit up by your own elbow grease.

As long as you crank it up for about 60 seconds every 40 to 60 minutes, the lamp’s LEDs keep on keeping on. Those drill-like twists use the principal of magnetic induction to spin up a few volts, lighting up the night with just a bit of your own assistance. Seems like a small price to pay for nearly free energy.

Designed in both a table-sized configuration and a floor model, it’s designed to remind us of how we’re all such energy pigs. We’d probably think twice about leaving the lights on needlessly if we had to crank them up ourselves, now wouldn’t we?

Core 77, via GizMag