PC Magazine: PC Magazine’s Green Facts
Filed under: Earth 911 - March 17, 2008
We’ve got 48 clean-tech tips and facts for you. Read them all!
- In 2007, companies with an enviro-tech focus received $3.95 billion in venture funding, a 38 percent increase over 2006. IT asset recovery (selling refurbished PCs)—is now a $6 billion–a-year business. (TheDailyGreen.com)
- The “phantom load”—electricity consumed by “switched-off” appliances like TVs, radios, the microwaves—can add $200 a year to your bill. (Cornell University, via TheDailyGreen.com)
- Switched-off devices account for 40 percent of the energy consumed by electronics in an average home. (TreeHugger.com)
- The U.S. government could save $330 million over a four-year period if its data centers complied with Energy Star Version 4.0. (BusinessInnovation.cmp.com)
- Extra heat generated by computers means more heat in the office, which translates to more use of air conditioning. (ClimateSaversComputing.org)
- Companies that sign for the WWF’s Climate Savers Computing Initiative could reduce CO2 pollution by 10 million tons annually by 2010. (ClimateSaversComputing.org)
- At the 2008 CES, Fujitsu showed a laptop PC whose outside plastic shell is 50 percent vegetable-based polymer alloy. (Fujitsu.com)
- Creation of a desktop PC usually requires 10 times the PC’s weight in fossil fuels and chemicals, most of them toxic. (BBC News)
- Fifteen billion batteries are made and sold across the globe every year. (Greenbatteries.com)
- If you’re not sure where to donate out-of-use electronics, Recycles.Org can match you up with nonprofit agencies that use old equipment. By 2011, more than 400 million PCs will have been purchased as replacements for current home and office computers. (eBay Rethink, Gartner) Typical U.S. cell-phone users replace their phones every year and a half. (eBay Rethink)
- 130 million cell phones each year go into retirement. (EPA)
- Recycling 100 million phones would recover 3.4 metric tons of gold—gold that would not have to be mined. (EPA)
- PCs contain gold too: 1.2 tons of PC scrap electronics has more than can be extracted from 17 tons of gold ore. (ResourceSaver)
- Only 15 percent of Americans are aware that local recyclers will take old electronics and computers. (eBay Rethink, ACNielsen) Each year, the world generates 20 million to 50 million metric tons of e-waste, according to United Nations Environmental Programme. E-waste makes up two percent of solid waste in the U.S. and is the fastest-growing segment of U.S. garbage. (Intercon Solutions)
- Flaws in Windows XP’s sleep mode and Microsoft’s choice of “High Performance” as the default performance option may have added $5 billion to power bills annually worldwide. (Treehugger.com)
- NASA, the Department of Defense, and the General Services Administration are all now committed to buying only EPEAT-certified computers. (GreenerComputing.com)
- Manufacturing one desktop and one monitor requires: 530 pounds of fossil fuel, 58 pounds of chemicals, and 1.5 tons of water. (UN, ResourceSaver)
- Twelve percent (25 million) of Americans would pay extra for greener electronics. On the other hand, 41 percent (90 million) are not willing to pay extra. (Forrester)
- Wii is the power-saving leader of game consoles, consuming only 18.4 watts. Compare the hogs: Xbox (186W), PS3 (199W), and a PC (209W at peak usage). (hardCOREware.net)
- While old CRT monitors use more energy to show white than black, LCDs spend slightly more energy to show black than white. (Scientific American)
- Don’t recycle, Freecycle: There are 4,226 Freecycle.org online groups helping more than four million users give away “junk” to others who can use it. (Dell)
- The average office drone uses up 10,000 sheets of paper—about a whole tree’s worth of wood pulp—per year. (GreenIQ)
- 2.05 million tons of electronics were put out as garbage in the U.S. in 2005. Only about 18 percent of that was recycled. (Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition)
- The U.S scraps about 400 million pieces of consumer electronics equipment—e-waste—per year. It’s the fastest-growing waste stream. (Electronics TakeBack Coalition) If you buy a new system, Apple and Dell will recycle your old computer, regardless of manufacturer.
- Search EPEAT.net’s Product Registry to find computers and monitors that are certified green. (EPEAT.net)
- There’s four to eight pounds of toxic lead in all CRT TVs and monitors. Flat-panels have less lead but more mercury. (Electronics TakeBack Coalition)
- It’s estimated that as much as 80 percent of U.S. e-waste is shipped overseas or to Mexico to be dismantled in unsafe working conditions. (Electronics TakeBack Coalition)
- As much as 50 percent of the power most desktop computers use is wasted as heat jettisoned by fans on the power supply. (EcoGeek.org) A survey by Staples in November 2007 indicated that only 23 percent of U.S. residents recycle electronics. Between 2000 and 2007, as many as 500 million computers became obsolete. (Staples)
- To create just one kilogram of consumer goods, manufacturers on average create 5 kilograms of waste. (RSC)
- Shopping for a new HDTV? Plasma TVs consume far more energy than LCDs, and they waste it as heat energy. (The Wall Street Journal)
- As much as 40 percent of the energy used by electronics in a home is consumed when devices are switched off. (Treehugger.com)
- Shopping for a surge protector? Buy one of reasonable capacity. The bigger it is the more energy it consumes. (PCMag.com)
- Bamboo is the most sustainable of all materials. Look for laptops encased in it, such as the ASUS Ecobook. (ASUS.com)
- By 2001, e-waste already accounted for 70 percent of the heavy metals and 40 percent of the lead in U.S. landfills. (EPA.gov)
- Some LCDs are built using plastic rather than glass, which is far easier to recycle. (EE Times)
- If all commuters worked from home just one day a week, we could save 5.85 billion gallons of oil each year. (Environmental Defense Fund)
- If you listen to your CD player 2 hours a day, you can save $200 a year by switching to rechargeable batteries. (Earth 911)
- The energy saved by recycling one plastic bottle will power a computer for 25 minutes. (Think Green)
- Take an HP, Lexmark, or Dell printer cartridge to Staples for recycling and you will get a $3 coupon for ink or toner. (Staples.com) Energy Star 4.0 is quite stringent, demanding highly efficient power supplies and very-low-power idle modes. (energystar.gov)
- Unplug! Each year in the U.S., electronic devices that are turned off but not unplugged use electricity worth $3 billion. (The Economist)