We bought a carpet sweeper on Earth Day as a way to save energy (versus a powered vacuum cleaner). Can I just say, I LOVE IT. It works so well! Better maybe than my vacuum, which is always getting clogged up and then dropping bits instead of sucking them up. It's so quick and quiet, super convenient, lightweight, does great with dirt, hair, dust bunnies, works on our hardwoods and our low-pile carpet.
It doesn't do corners/edges, so I'm thinking of picking up a little dustbuster to go with it, so I won't have to drag out the big vacuum cleaner every time my floors need a touch-up.
I'm sure I'll vacuum once in a while too, to get any ground-in stuff (not that there's much getting tracked in anymore because the sweeper is so quick and convenient that we tend to pick up dirt near the door right away), but it's perfect for day-to-day tidying up.
We got the Bissell Swift Sweep Sweeper from Amazon.