Flax seed laptops debut in Barcelona, plus the monster SUVs of Europe

And, IKEA's latest sustainable move sticks it to do-it-yourself furniture

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Lenovo’s new ThinkPad Z13 with a food-derived flaxseed fiber-based display lid. Photo: Lenovo.

What the flax? This laptop top has gone bio

I am very much a desktop computer guy. Laptops, with their fiddly mousepads and slippery keys, seem too fussy for my I-learned-to-type-on-a-real-typewriter fingers. In addition, their small screens don’t suit my less-than-great eyesight.

However, I am considering relenting and am looking at laptops so I can be more mobile with my work and play. But what to buy? Apple AAPL 0.00%↑ products are out because I am wedded to Microsoft’s MSFT 0.00%↑ Windows. Meanwhile, I’m tempted to stay with Hewlett Packard HPQ 0.00%↑ products, which have served me well over the years.

But I’m also a sustainability guy, fully aware that computers are resource-intensive and difficult to recycle. So, it was interesting to hear reports from Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress event of a new laptop from Lenovo (LNVGY) that has a lid made almost entirely of flax fibers and uses 75%-recycled aluminum for its frame.