A €1 donation made from each of the first 1,000 Ecobutton sold will be given to the philanthropic organisation Inspire (the Eden and Razzett Foundation).

Announcing this initiative, Steve Alamango, director of Innovative Solutions of Mosta - the company that launched the gadget on the Maltese market - said the idea was to make a tangible contribution to Inspire while associating the product with real money savings that make a difference to non-profit organisations.

Inspire is a non-profit institution which, for over 20 years, has been supporting the local community by improving the quality of life of people with disability through a range of professional services that include therapeutic, educational, recreational and inclusive programmes.

Inspire's chief executive officer Nathan Farrugia thanked Innovative Solutions and said he was grateful for this donation. "Inspire always strives to partner up with eco-friendly operators. We are very attuned to caring for the environment and put in a lot of effort so that our operations have the least negative impact on society.

"The Ecobutton is a great way to increase energy-saving actions and contribute towards a more holistic culture change in favour of the environment."

The gadget is intelligent and easy to use. It is illuminated and sits on the table or desktop next to the keyboard and connects to the computer via a USB cable, making the PC go into deep sleep when the button is clicked.

A small application is downloaded from eco-button.com. In the application, the price of electricity is entered, as well as monitor type and size.

These figures would equate to the user's savings. Each time users take a short or long break, take a phone call or go for a meeting, they simply press the Ecobutton and the computer is put into energy-saving mode.