North County Voice: Six Easy Ways To Save Money And ‘Go Green’
Filed under: Earth911 - May 29, 2009
By Yoram Baltinester
Want to save money while simultaneously saving the planet? Then listen up…
1) Power down your computers at night. A recent Gartner study measured carbon emissions from a variety of IT devices and found that the top three are PCs/monitors, data centers, and fixed-line telecommunications systems, in that order. PCs and monitors alone contribute 40 percent of total carbon emissions, data centers around 23 percent.
In fact, PCs worldwide consume about 80 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity every year. What’s more, as much as two-thirds of that is wasted, according to Kevin Klustner, CEO of Verdiem, an IT energy monitoring and management company, translating to $5.4 billion of energy waste each year.
2) Stop Printing Non-Essential E-mails, Faxes And Documents. Not only will this save your company money on ink and toner, but you’ll reduce the amount of paper and ink waste clogging up landfills. You can also install software to make your faxes show up like e-mails. That way you can easily delete the ones that aren’t essential and save a ton of paper and ink. Plus, you won’t run the risk of losing the only paper copy you have!
3) Stop Wasting CDs and DVDs. CDs and DVDs can hold a lot of data, but most people only use a tiny portion of the space by burning small files. This results in a lot of unused and wasted space (it’s the equivalent of storing a postage stamp in a warehouse). CDs and DVDs are difficult to recycle so use them intelligently and conservatively.
4) Change Your Power Settings. Almost all computers have lower energy settings that will power down the computer (or parts of the computer) that are not being used. For example, after 10 minutes of inactivity, set your PC to power off the monitor, modem and spin down the hard disks. Most systems have pre-determined profiles that make it easy to set up.
5) Turn Off Peripheral Devices When Not In Use. Specialized peripherals like printers, scanners and bar code readers consume large amounts of energy and, in some cases, are rarely used. Keep them turned off until they’re really needed.
6) Recycle—Earth 911. This tip is two-fold. First, if you need to upgrade a computer, printer or other electronic device, look for energy and earth-friendly machines. Many manufacturers are selling green versions of their devices that conserve energy and use fewer resources to operate, such as printers and copiers that use ink more efficiently.
Next, don’t just throw your old equipment into the trash! First, computers contain components that require special recycling procedures. If not disposed of properly, they can sit in a landfill for YEARS. The federal government requires businesses to donate or recycle old electronic equipment that the EPA considers hazardous waste. If you are caught violating these laws, you will be fined.
If those aren’t reasons enough, you never want to throw your old electronic equipment into the dumpster because your identity could be stolen. So how do you get rid of them safely and without harming the environment?
If the machine or device is less than three years old or otherwise in good working condition, consider donating it to your favorite charity or look for charities that specialize in refurbishing old computers for charitable donations. Some good websites are www.earth911.com or www.youthfortechnology.org. If the machine is too old to give away or refurbish, then consider www.pcdisposal.com or www.1800gotjunk.com.
To learn more, go to http://www.BaltiGroup.com or contact Yoram Baltinester, 858-704-3838, yoram@baltigroup.com.