Donate Your Old Computer Equipment to A Good Cause

Donate Your Old Computer Equipment to A Good Cause. Why Recycle When You Can Re-Use?

We have to donate all electronic garbage so that it can be further recycle thus use it again for good purpose. By doing so we can save environment, earth as well money. So, take steps to save energy. Got any old computer equipment lying around? You could recycle it, or you could put it in the hands of someone who will get some good use out of it.

That's the idea behind Computers With Causes, a charity that accepts old computers from individuals and small business, refurbishes them, and gives them to people or organizations who need them.

This reduces e-waste, cuts down on clutter, and puts perfectly good electronics back to work where they can help change the world for the people or groups who receive them.

According to their website, "Computers with causes evaluates each and every donation on a case by case basis. Whenever financially beneficial, computers with causes will repair, refurbish, and properly prepare donated property for placement into an educational environment or other cause we support. The ultimate goal being to maximize the benefit of your donations both financially and through educational purposes to the communities in which we live."

Functioning computers will be put back to use in the community. Non-functioning computers can even be useful, as they'll get donated to schools to help teach computer repair.

Anything Computers With Causes receives that can't be used gets recycled, using what they call a "zero landfill" process.

Donations earn you tax deductions, and some donations can even earn you a free vacation!

Source: http://www.riverwired.com/blog/donate-your-old-computer-equipment-good-cause
Read more!

LED Lighting Lowers Operating Costs with an Eco-Friendly Solution

The cost of energy, energy security, and global warming have become primary topics driving the national agenda. While businesses attempt to curb their energy costs and limit their contributions to GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions, they have to accomplish these goals while remaining profitable enterprises. Business owners are now challenged to implement sustainable initiatives that also lower their operating costs.

Lighting's role in solving these challenges is significant. According to the Energy Information Association a department of the DOE, lighting accounts for 18% of all energy and 25% of all electricity consumed. U.S. buildings consume almost 40% of all energy produced, and lighting accounts for as much as 25% to 40% of the energy consumption in the commercial building sector. Since most electricity is generated from coal, lighting accounts for a large portion of current GHG emissions. The 2007 McKinsey Report states that converting commercial fluorescent lighting to LED offers 110 megatons of GHG abatement potential by 2030. For every ton of GHG abatement achieved with LED lighting there is a potential savings of $87 by 2030. In comparison, car hybridization offers only 90 megatons of abatement potential, and will cost $100 to $140 per ton. Improving lighting efficiency is one of the easiest ways for businesses to lower their energy costs, save money, and help the environment.

Of almost equal cost and perhaps greater "pain" than the energy bill, is the constant maintenance all traditional lighting requires. Depending on usage, LED lighting systems last over 5 times as long as fluorescent. Unlike residential installations where changing a light bulb is relatively easy, the cost of changing a bulb in many commercial building is substantial. Maintenance costs can soar into the $1000's for lamps in hard to reach places that require lifts and multi-person teams. Savings and productivity improvements from reduced maintenance have a positive impact on operating costs and profits.

The best way to save energy in any lighting system is to turn lights off. Motion and light level sensors can provide 50% to 75% additional reduction in energy consumption. Although energy savings from motion sensing can be realized with numerous lighting technologies, fluorescent bulb lifetime is reduced 25% to 50% under the constant on/off cycling. What good is saving energy if motion sensing drives maintenance costs up? Fortunately, LED lighting lifetimes are increased with motion and light level sensing. LEDs and be cycled on/off indefinitely without adverse affects. Additionally, LEDs can be dimmed, over the widest of ranges, and unlike fluorescent get more efficient as they get dimmer. Dimming and improved efficiency are great benefits for daylight harvesting (utilizing natural light during peak hours of sunlight while turning unnecessary interior lights off) applications.

A new and growing cost associated with fluorescent lighting is the legislated need to recycle bulbs. All fluorescent bulbs contain mercury which is a deadly neurotoxin. Even small amounts can have adverse effects and the EPA recommends immediate and thorough actions when a fluorescent bulb is broken. California has legislated that bulbs containing mercury must be disposed in a separate waste stream. The $1 to $2 cost of recycling fluorescent bulbs hurts profits and exposes personnel to serious health risks. With over 510 million fluorescent bulbs entering the US waste stream every year the potential recycling cost to American businesses is a staggering $1 Billion dollars. LED light fixtures contain no mercury and eliminate the costs and hazards associated with recycling.

Source: http://www.industryweek.com/articles/led_lighting_lowers_operating_costs_with_an_eco-friendly_solution_18227.aspx?SectionID=2
Read more!

How green is your Google search?

That time you are spending on Google has its price for the planet. But how big that price is a little less clear.

The buzz started with this headline Sunday morning in the Times of London: "Revealed: the environmental impact of Google searches - Physicist Alex Wissner-Gross says that performing two Google searches uses up as much energy as boiling the kettle for a cup of tea".

But of course, it's not that simple. The story cites an upcoming paper by Wissner-Gross, an M.I.T grad with a Ph.D. from Harvard, on the energy consumption of web sites for some of its numbers, and then apparently factors in things like running your computer to get their number.

Wissner-Gross also calculated the CO2 emissions caused by individual use of the internet. His research indicates that viewing a simple web page generates about 0.02g of CO2 per second. This rises tenfold to about 0.2g of CO2 a second when viewing a website with complex images, animations or videos.

So guess who wasn't happy? Maybe, (break out the Church Lady voice here, people), Google? Urs Holzle responded late Sunday night on the company's official blog - saying that by their estimates, a Google search requires the same amount of energy that your body burns in 10 seconds - and in terms of greenhouse gases it is about 0.2 grams of CO2 produced.

That's about a thousandth of the greenhouse gas produced by driving your car one kilometer, according to Holzle.

And Jason Kincaid on TechCrunch notes that producing a book creates around 2500 grams of CO2, and that by some estimates building a cheeseburger is 3600 grams.

He also notes that if that Google search keeps you from driving to the library, we all win.

So is it 0.2 grams? 7 grams? Well, here's the punchline. In interviews, Wissner-Gross says he never mentions Google by name in his research! "Our work has nothing to do with Google," he told Tech News World. "Our focus was exclusively on the Web overall, and we found that it takes on average about 20 milligrams of CO2 per second to visit a Web site."

He did tell Tech News World that the Times quoted him correctly in the story as saying, "A Google search has a definite environmental impact" and "Google operates huge data centers around the world that consume a great deal of power," he confirmed.

"I don't think anybody would disagree with those statements," Wissner-Gross said. "Everything online has a definite environmental impact. I think everybody can agree on that, including Google."

So ultimately - two facts. First, we're all in this together - Google has every reason to seek out alternative ways to efficiantly run its data centers for speed and energy efficiency. And second - everything you do online leaves a carbon footprint.

Source: http://www.necn.com/Boston/SciTech/2009/01/13/How-green-is-your-Google/1231852857.html
Read more!

Green Tips to Make Eco-easy Office: Go Green and Save Energy

With the current focus on increased environmental sustainability, conservation is quickly gaining momentum as a business necessity. Many companies are selecting green products to decrease their own impacts on the environment while saving money and resources. So, how can you and your office make green choices and make a difference? Here are some easy tips:

1. Learn the Lingo - Plenty of eco-alternatives exist, from textiles and fabrics to wood substitutes and hemp, and it is important to know your options. For example, Staples offers paper supplies made from sugar cane waste. The final product, available in notebooks, memo pads and filler paper, feels just like regular paper.

2. Love the Labels - When purchasing computers and office equipment, look for the ENERGY STAR(r) label, which identifies products that are more energy efficient than comparable products. These items can reduce the cost to power your office space or home office by up to 80 percent. For paper and wood items, check for the Recycled and Forest Stewardship Council logos.

3. Use a "Green" Screen - For a better, clearer computer picture, use an LCD monitor. Older monitors contain lead and other toxic heavy metals and can be hard on the eyes. And don't forget to set your power management settings to put your monitor and/or computer to sleep after 10-15 minutes of inactivity. You'll help save money by using green PC as well as by reducing electricity use.

4. Make a Sticky Statement - Addicted to sticky notes? No worries. Use sticky notes made from recycled paper and enjoy the same great quality. Also look to "right size" your sticky notes to save paper and money.

5. Write with "Green" ink - Many pens and highlighters are available with refillable barrels and non-toxic ink, and some pens also contain recycled content. These eco-preferable essentials make brainstorming a more eco-friendly activity.

6. Print Smart - While many businesses now include a "Please consider the environment before printing" disclaimer in their emails, printing documents is sometimes unavoidable. When printing cannot be avoided, look to double side print and copy, only print or copy the pages you need, and use eco-preferable papers. Opt for 30 to 100 percent post-consumer recycled printing paper, available in individual reams, as well as in bulk volume for offices.

7. Trend set with "Green Décor" - New eco-friendly bulletin boards are now available, which are made from 100 percent recycled rubber and are much more durable than traditional cork. Also look for natural and fast growing sisal, bamboo, and other plant fibers for rugs and other desk accessories.

8. Recycle Old Office Technology - Companies often upgrade technology for their employees without considering what to do with the old ones. Staples offers everyday, in-store recycling for a wide range of technology products through its EcoEasy recycling program. There are also trade-in events at Staples stores throughout the year, where customers can upgrade and recycle old technology.


Related: Important Tips For Buying Green PC

Source:http://www.northfloridanewsdaily.com/News/2008/1229/business_news/184.html
Read more!

Intel, HP Strengthen Green Computing Campaigns

Reaffirming their commitment to green computing, Intel and HP announced planet-saving initiatives at the "Greenergy" forum, a slight twist from the Synergy event that the two have been jointly organizing since 1997.

"There's been a lot of talk about efforts (that) everybody's doing, steps they are undertaking in terms of greening," said Ricky Banaag, Intel Technology Philippines Inc. country manager, who explained that Intel's approach to "eco-technology" is driven through four pillars: sustainable manufacturing, energy-efficient performance, design for the environment, and policy and industry.

According to Banaag, Intel has long been working on reducing the environmental impact of the company's operations through various initiatives like: solid waste and consumer recycling to reduce e-waste, packaging reductions of 16-40 percent which decreased number of shipments and fuel consumption, and the pursuit of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for fabrication plants and buildings, among many others.

In the next five years, Banaag said Intel has the following environmental goals: to reduce absolute global warming gas footprint by 2012 from 2007 levels; reduce energy consumption per chip 5 percent per year from 2007 through 2012; ensure that Intel products maintain energy efficiency for the next two product generations; reduce water use per chip by 2012 from 2007 levels; reduce generation of chemical waste per chip by 10 percent by 2012 from 2007 levels; and recycle 80 percent of chemical and solid waste generated per year.

Banaag also shared that Intel, along with Google and the World Wildlife Fund, has been actively promoting the Climate Savers Computing Initiative which aims to improve computing energy efficiency by 50 percent (by collectively saving $5.5 billion in energy costs) as well as to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by 54 million tons per year.

Meanwhile, HP has been just as busy with similar greening initiatives both internally and in the products that they come up with as they see more customers, especially enterprise consumers, are actually also beginning to look at what companies like HP are currently doing to promote greening.

Aside from its reduced energy consumption and recycling initiatives, HP has been coming up with flat panel displays instead of cathode ray tube (CRT) screens since the former are said to use less material and energy. The company has also been renewing its inkjet packaging and pouring in investments on energy-efficient product lines like the HP server processors, desk jet printers, laser jet printers, blade PCs, xw6400 workstation, and its servers and storage.

HP Philippines managing director David Tan shared that HP has collaborated with Dreamworks Animation in coming up with the Halo studio--a network of rooms that lets HP employees meet with colleagues from across the globe by providing life-size, real-time, eye-to-eye conferencing with no delay. According to Tan, use of the Halo studio in global HP offices has led to productivity gains and huge travel cost savings. Asked whether the HP office in the Philippines shall have a Halo studio set up as well, Tan said the Philippines is one of the countries recommended to install Halo, most likely by next year.

HP has also embarked on the "Planet Partners Program" which offers to take back end-of-life HP and non-HP computing equipment like PCs, handhelds, notebooks, servers, printers, etcetera, for recycling. According to Tan, HP has, in fact, recycled more than 250 million HP print cartridges worldwide since the inception of the Planet Partners program in 1991.

In the future, Tan says HP will continue to "green" its operations by reducing their combined product and operations energy use and associated greenhouse gases (GHGs) by 25 percent in 2010 and recover 2 billion pounds of computing and printing equipment by 2010.

Source: cio.in/news/viewArticle/ARTICLEID=5800014
Read more!

Cell Phone Makers Go Green With Chargers

The five major cell phone manufacturers launched Wednesday a common energy rating system for chargers that's designed to enable customers to choose the most energy-efficient charger.

The new rating system will be star-based, and it will show how much power chargers use when left plugged into the wall but disconnected from the phone. The ratings are based on the European Commission's energy standards for chargers, as well as the Energy Star standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The rating system was developed and will be supported by LG,Motorola, Nokia, Samsung Electronics, and Sony Ericsson.

Customers will be able to visit each cell phone manufacturer's Web site to see and compare the results for every charger. The companies said that most consumers are unaware of much energy a charger uses when it's left plugged into a wall.

"If the more 3 three billion people owning mobile devices today switched to a four- or five-star charger, this could save the same amount of energy each year as produced by two medium-sized power plants," Nokia said in a statement.

The companies have been taking steps to help solve this problem, and they have made power chargers more energy efficient as well as implemented power-alert systems. Motorola said it has been able to reduce average standby energy use by at least 70% since 2000.

There's also a crop of new companies that are looking for alternative ways to charge a cell phone. M2E Power is working on a motion-powered charging product that could provide about 60 minutes of talk time after six hours of motion. Additionally, solar- and wind-powered chargers have also popped up.

Source:informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/smartphones/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212100881&subSection=Infrastructure
Read more!

Three Important Steps to Improve Laptop Battery Life

Like chocolate and episodes of Mad Men, there's no such thing as too much battery life. Alas, it's the rare notebook battery that'll give you more than a few hours-unless you know some tricks for squeezing extra juice. Remember these three tips the next time you travel:

Disable Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Few airplanes offer Wi-Fi (yet), so turn off your notebook's power-sucking Wi-Fi radio. Same goes for Bluetooth.

Drop the screen brightness You can afford to keep screen brightness cranked up when your notebook is plugged into an outlet, but not when you're flying coach. Drop the brightness setting a few notches, then get back to work. Chances are you'll hardly notice the difference. Then drop it a few more notches. The lower, the better.

Watch downloads, not DVDs Notebooks are great for watching movies, but DVD drives consume a considerable amount of power. Therefore, leave the DVDs behind and choose digital downloads instead. Stock your hard drive with movies from Amazon or iTunes and you'll be able to watch longer. Don't want to pay for movies you already own? Use a tool like Handbrake to rip your DVDs, creating MPEG-4 files you can store on your hard drive (or put on your iPod, thus saving your notebook even more power).

Source: pcworld.com/article/153998/three_quick_ways_to_improve_laptop_battery_life.html
Read more!

Easy Ways to Go Green with Your Computer

Not everyone can afford to install solar panels or get a new Prius this Earth Day, but there is one place you can go green without spending an arm and a leg or radically changing your lifestyle: your computer. Chances are you spend the majority of your day sitting in front of the keyboard, and a few small changes can go a long way toward reducing its negative impact on the environment. As an added bonus, doing your part for the environment will save you money, too. This Earth Day, we've rounded up a few simple ways you can go green with your computer.

Shutdown Your Computer Without Losing the Perks of an Always-On PC


Obviously, computers require electricity to run, so shutting down, sleeping, or hibernating your computer when you're not using it conserves energy. Every modern operating system has its own settings for conserving power, so the first thing you should do—if you haven't already—is open the power settings of your green computer and set them for optimal energy use. Set your computer to put your monitor to sleep, spin down your hard drives, and put your computer to sleep when you're not using it. Even better, since your computer uses less power when hibernating than when sleeping, set up your computer to hibernate rather than just go to sleep.

One of the biggest turn-offs (no pun intended) about shutting down or sleeping your computer is that you miss out on some of the finer things your computer provides even when you're away. For example, if you're downloading a large file, you may want the download to continue even when you're away. Likewise, we've covered tons of ways to remotely access your computer, all of which no longer work if your computer's turned off. Luckily you can continue using your computer during these times but still conserve power the rest of the time.




For example, Windows users should check out previously mentioned WinOFF, which shuts down, restarts, and hibernates your computer (among other things) after a certain amount of time, at a specific time, or when your CPU goes idle so that your computer automatically shuts off at times you don't need it.



If a download is what you're waiting for, many peer-to-peer clients, like the popular BitTorrent client uTorrent, can shutdown your computer when a download completes so you can get your file and save energy, too.

Between WinOFF and built-in shutdown features common to many apps, we've taken care of the the download problem—but what about when you want to access your computer remotely? If it's shut down, you can't very well get to it, can you? Actually, you can, assuming you set up Wake-on-LAN on your computer. Once Wake-on-LAN's enabled, you can turn your computer on over the internet from anywhere—so there's no reason not to shut down your computer when you leave the house.

Source:/lifehacker.com/382319/easy-ways-to-go-green-with-your-computer
Read more!

Dell Turns to Recycled Plastic, Thin Client for Green Computers

From the people who brought you the bamboo computer come two new greener computers: a new desktop made partially out of recycled plastic water bottles, and Dell’s first thin-client computer, a minimalist PC designed to access remote apps and data.

Recycled water bottles? That’s how Dell is pitching its new OptiPlex 960, announced this morning, which uses at least 10 percent post-consumer recycled plastic in its casing. “That’s about the equivalent of three plastic water bottles,” Curtis Campbell, the OptiPlex’s product manager, tells us. The 960 is part of Dell’s launch this morning of a whole new line of “greener” OptiPlex computers, a series aimed mostly at institutional buyers.

Beyond the greener materials, the OptiPlex also boasts higher energy performance with a redesigned power supply that’s 88 percent more efficient than previous desktops, and reduced and recycled packaging. All this means the desktop has achieved EPEAT Gold and Energy Star 4.0 ratings (just like Apple’s newest Mac line.) For large buyers like government organizations and schools, more efficient computers are important for their financial and environmental bottom lines.

Dell’s first thin-client computer, the OptiPlex FX160, is a stripped-down terminal designed for users accessing files and applications running remotely on a local server or in the cloud. The future of greener home computers will probably look more like the FX160 than the rest of the OptiPlex line as more services move into the cloud and users can accomplish more within their browser. This could mean fewer constantly spinning hard drives and less power wasted on unnecessary cooling, which could be better for global warming.

Source:earth2tech.com
Read more!

Hitachi Testing Green Technology

The Japanese conglomerate - a company in energy circles mostly known for its work in nuclear - has been conducting an experiment with a software application that delivers health advice and dieting tips.

In a trial with its own employees, Hitachi employees lost a collective 5.1 kilograms (11,200 pounds), said Etsuhiko Shoyama, chairman of the company in a keynote speech at Ceatec, a large technology convention taking place outside of Tokyo this week. Ceatec is similar to CES, but in a foreign language. (Panasonic also discussed its green home strategy at the convention.) On average, the application works on about 67 percent of the people who try it and testers have typically been losing around 5 percent of their body weight in 90 days.

As a follow up, Hitachi is testing another technology called Life Microscope, a wristband that monitors vital signs such as heart rate and sleeping time and downloads it to a computer. If you’ve been getting up slightly later, Life Microscope will confirm it.

The idea is that all things are interconnected. If software and hardware like this can make people healthier, it starts to erode the demand for more expensive healthcare down the road. Is it green technology? A lot of investors insert the health and lifestyle category under the clean and greentech umbrella because it fits in with the concept of sustainability. The customer base also overlaps quite a bit.

Other interesting technologies at Hitachi: Geomation. The application crunches satellite data to determine the optimum time to harvest wheat and rice. In tests on the island of Hokkaido, where farmers saw carbon dioxide output during harvesting reduced by 30 percent.

The company also has two data center technologies - Harmonious Green and Cool Center 50 - that aim to reduce CO2 emissions and power consumption by 40 percent to 50 percent, respectively. The two technologies revolve around ways to centralize data centers.

By 2025 Hitachi wants to reduce its carbon output by 100 million tons annually from current levels.

Source:seekingalpha.com
Read more!

The ROI of PC Power Management

The green benefits of PC power management may have their allure, but given the state of the economy, I can't blame any IT manager for putting cost considerations first.

Therein lies the beauty of PC power management, though: I'm quite convinced the easy-to-calculate ROI makes it a no-brainer.

For those of you not in the know, PC power management software enables an IT admin to set all users' PCs and monitors to power down after a predetermined set of time -- but power up quickly when they're needed during the work day. Those solutions that include wake-on LAN capabilities can awaken machines automatically for patching or other remote maintenance, meaning those tasks can be easily completed after hours and the systems can still get their rest.

First, consider the costs of not powering down PCs when they're not in use. I've seen figures ranging from $25 to $75 for a computer/monitor combo. Why the range? I suppose it depends on what model computer and monitor you're running (LCDs use far less power than CRTs), as well as how much use your systems get in a day. If they go long spells without being touched, then there's more money to be saved from powering them down.

But let's just go with the low-end figure and say it costs you $25 to power each desktop and monitor in your organization when they're not in use.


Now let's look at the costs of software to power down PCs. I spoke with the CEO of Autonomic Software, Tony Gigliotti, today. His company offers its ANSA suites, which uses an intelligent agent for such tasks as vulnerability management, asset management, and, in line with the subject at hand, PC power management. He told me that Autonomic's Software costs around $33 per license for the first year, then $10 per license per year after that. (Notably, Autonomic isn't the only player in this space; BigFix, Verdiem Surveyor, KACE KBOX, and 1E NightWatchmanoffers offer competing solutions.)

So let’s do a little math. Say you have 500 computers at your organization, and you decide to invest in some PC power management software. If it's around $33 per license, you're looking to pay $16,500 for the software. But you're also going to be making back $25 (which, again, is a low-end estimate) per computer that year thanks to energy savings. That would mean $12,500 in savings for the first year.

Over two years, though, you'd make your money back. How so? Well, you're paying $10 per license, which totals $5,000 -- but you're saving another $12,500 (assuming power costs remain unchanged). So in two years, you'll have spent $21,500, but you'll have saved $25,000. Voila. Money in the bank.

The deal can becomes even sweeter if you happen to be served by a utility that offers rebates for purchasing PC power management licenses. PG&E, which serves Northern California, is one such utility. It offers a $15 rebate for each PC power management software license your purchase, according to Gigliotti.

Factor that into your equation, and the deal becomes even sweeter. After the rebate, you're paying a net of around $18 per license the first year, which for 500 PCs, which totals $9,000. You're saving the aforementioned $12,500 for the first year on energy costs. So in year one, you can save $3,500. The savings increase from there.

Also notable, most of the products I've mentioned don't just do PC power management; they offer other value through patch and configuration management, a point worth considering as you contemplate making the investment.

Source:weblog.infoworld.com
Read more!

Vodafone to halve CO2 emissions by 2020

Vodafone has said it will halve its global carbon dioxide emissions by 2020, and will only use carbon offsetting as a last resort.

The reduction is to be measured against Vodafone's emissions in the 2006/07 period, which came to 1.23 million tonnes of CO2, the company said. According to Arun Sarin, the company's chief executive, the move is "the right decision for a responsible business to take".

"It is good for the environment but also makes sense for the business," said Sarin on Monday. "It resonates from a financial perspective, as improving energy efficiency helps us to control costs. We have reviewed the options, including carbon offsetting, and have concluded that the most effective strategy is to cut our CO2 emissions directly. There are no simple solutions to what is a complex challenge but, through operational changes and technological innovation, we will focus on improving energy efficiency in our networks, which account for 80 percent of our emissions."

Vodafone recently entered into a network sharing agreement with Orange but, according to a Vodafone spokesperson, this will not factor significantly into the CO2 reduction goals as the agreement covers the sharing of mast sites, rather than base station equipment.

The spokesperson also said that Vodafone would be using renewable energies to contribute towards its goals — with the type of renewable energy depending on the country in question — and would only use carbon offsetting as a "last resort". The CO2 reductions will be measured in absolute terms, rather than being measured as relative to network traffic, the spokesperson said.

"This is a significant commitment from one of the world's largest companies," said Jonathan Porritt, founder of the Forum for the Future and an adviser for Vodafone on sustainability issues.

"With a simultaneous focus on the products and services that they offer — and thus on helping their customers to reduce their emissions — Vodafone has the opportunity to show real leadership. 2020 may sound a long way away, but it is what Vodafone does over the next two or three years which will determine whether or not they hit that 50 percent target," said Porritt.

Tom Delay, the chief executive of the Carbon Trust, also welcomed Vodafone's move, saying it was "what consumers expect and want to see from leading businesses in the UK and abroad".

A spokeperson for Vodafone Australia said a local response to the carbon cuts will be issued today.

Vodafone Australia has a "strategy underway" to reduce greenhouse gases, said the spokeperson, which includes an annual corporate responsibility report, first published in September 2007, containing information on carbon emissions and renewable energy initiatives.

"Fifteen percent of Vodafone of Australia is powered by green, renewable energy. We're looking at how to continue to up the ante on that at a level that is commercially viable. We'll look to buy green energy — which obviously comes at a premium — and balance that with the cost of doing business," the spokesperson told ZDNet.com.au today.

Source:zdnet.com.au
Read more!

5 Tips For Buying Green Desktop Gear

You may very well prefer to postpone the task of refreshing your fleet of desktop systems and monitors, an exercise that can be both expensive and time-consuming. But inevitably, machines break down or your needs change, so you have to bite the bullet.

Following are some points to consider the next time a system refresh looms at your organization. Notably, many of these tips apply not only to desktops, laptops, and monitors -- but any piece of IT gear.

1. Know your needs. Hopefully, you wouldn't buy a high horse-power pickup truck or SUV if you didn't need its extra fuel-guzzling power when a gas-efficient sedan would suffice. You should most cer-tainly apply that mindset to your PC purchase: Higher-end systems with more powerful components tend to draw more energy. Before you shop, consider what your computing needs are for the present, as well as the near future.

For example, you might be a Windows XP shop today but envision mov-ing to Vista in a year. If so, remember that Vista's bare minimum system requirements are an 800MHz processor, 512MB of RAM, a 20GB hard drive with at least 15GB of available space, and support for Super VGA graphics. Then again, you might be contemplating a move to an alternative OS such as Ubuntu, which has minimum requirements of a 300MHz proc-essor, 64MB of RAM, 4GB of disk space (for full installation and swap space), and a VGA graphics card capable of 640x480 resolution.

In a similar vein, be honest with yourself as to what size monitors your users need. Larger screens with higher resolution have higher energy re-quirements -- but some tasks, like video-editing and spreadsheet work, really do scream for a large viewing space.

Finally, give thought to replacing desktop systems and monitors with laptops -- again, if laptops can really suit you and your users needs. From a green perspective, a laptop requires fewer parts to build; it's small and lighter and thus requires fewer resources to package and ship it. In terms of your annual electric bills, a laptop costs less to power than a similarly equipped PC plus a monitor.

2. Embrace energy efficiency. Once you know your needs, try to find a PC or laptop that meets those requirements as well as Energy Star 4.0. That way, you'll know it's got an 80-percent efficient power supply and knows how to make the most of low-power modes. (There's also an Energy Star specification for monitors, which is more dated but still useful.)

Energy efficiency can shave a chunk of money from your annual utility bills, plus reduce your carbon footprint. Energy Star-compliant systems are easy to find, be it through the Energy Star Web site or your preferred computer vendor.

3. Don't disregard other "green" criteria. Green criteria covers a lot of territory beyond energy efficiency, from the materials used to the ease with which it can be disassembled. These criteria not only have environmental implications but also cost-cutting potential.

There are several such factors to consider here and ask vendors about as you shop. The EPEAT (Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool) registry breaks the criteria down into several convenient over-arching categories. (You can search the EPEAT registry for products that meet these type of criteria, by the way, down to a granular level.)

a. Reduction/elimination of environmentally sensitive materials. Is it important to you that a machine meets the criteria set out in the EU's RoHS directive, which limits the usage of certain hazardous substances in electronics? Or perhaps you want a machine that exceeds those requirements, using even less lead, mercury, chromium -- as well as little to no PVC and hazardous flame retardants. The benefit here is to reduce the adverse effects e-waste has on the planet and people when it ends up in landfills.

b. Material selection. If you're an advocate of recycling and reuse, it might matter to you if the machine's plastic parts are made from recycled plastic, as well as renewable and bio-based plastic materials. These are certainly an Earth-friendly consideration.

c. Design for end of life. Beyond just the amount of recycled ma-terials that go into building the system, you might be concerned with how well the machine was designed for treatment once it's retired. The easier it is to open the enclosures and remove parts -- and the more reusable parts it contains -- the better for the environment. But it's also good for your company if you see the wisdom in purchasing refurbished machines. (See tip No. 5)

d. Product longevity/life cycle extension. Piece of mind comes with a multi-year warranty: It means the machine was built to last a while. Beyond that, consider asking how well the product was designed for upgrading. For example, was it built in a way that it's easy to swap in parts such as new memory or drives with common tools -- or even major com-ponents such as the processor? (See tip No. 4.) On top of the environmental benefits, those kinds of traits often result in cost savings, making it easier for you to invest in parts instead of entire systems when a machine becomes too dated for your needs.

e. Energy conservation. Beyond Energy Star compliance, you might find out whether there are chargers available for the system that draw on clean energy.

f. End of life management. When it comes time to retire your equipment, it's ideal if the vendor offers convenient -- and preferably free -- recycling services, be it directly or through a third party. Some vendors will even offer incentives on new equipment if you return their older gear to them for recycling.

g. Corporate performance. If you've made a commitment to protecting the environment, you may want to hold those you do business with to a similar standard. Some companies demonstrate this with a corporate environmental policy that meets certain international standards, as well as by producing annual reports on their environmental efforts.

h. Packaging. When you purchase a machine, you also have to deal with all the packaging. You might want to know whether that packaging is easy to recycle, or if the company will take back the packaging for reuse (or at least recycling).

4. Consider doing it yourself. After you've made a list of your needs, take a second look at what you've got. Do your systems really need to be replaced -- or would adding additional memory or a new graphics card do the trick? Depending on how many machines you have at your company (or home office), how well the machines are built for upgrades, and your comfort with do-it-yourself electronics projects, that approach might be not practical. But if you can pull it off, you'll save yourself some money and extend the life of your investment.

5. Go the refurbished route. Major hardware vendors as well as third parties sell pre-owned machines at the fraction of the cost of a new machine; thus you can save a tidy sum while doing the Earth-friendly thing. As with buying a new machine, you'll want to determine your computing needs and green criteria in advance so you make smarter choices.

Source:weblog.infoworld.com/
Read more!

IBM Launches Energy Efficient Server

IT major IBM on Monday launched two products, a UNIX server and a water-cooled supercomputer, which have energy-saving capabilities.

The new products are energy efficient and would help reduce bottom line operating costs, IBM said in a release. The new UNIX Enterprise Server is the fastest Unix server in the world and is targeted at the existing IBM clients, the release said.

IBM's new Power6 `Hydro-cluster' supercomputer is built to help users tackle problems in fields such as energy, aerospace and weather modeling.

The new system, uses an in-rack, water-cooling system which offers users nearly five times the performance and more than three times the energy efficiency of its predecessor, the company said.

The two launched are part of a comprehensive launch of a new generation of IBM Power Systems which began last week.

Source:economictimes.indiatimes.com
Read more!

Dell HQ Goes 100pc Green

Dell’s entire 2.1 million square-foot global headquarters in Austin, Texas which employs over 10,000 people, is now running entirely on green PC power coming from wind farms, as well as waste-to-energy conversion.

Paul Bell, president of Dell Americas, said that now was the time for the technology industry to lead the way in achieving carbon neutrality through energy efficient processes like recycling and energy conservation,as well as utilizing renewable power sources.

"Powering an entire campus with green power is an important step in becoming the greenest technology company on the planet and the right thing to do for our shared earth," said Bell.

“At the same time, we’re using green technology to drive operating expense down.”

40pc of the headquarter’s green power is coming from a gas-to-energy plant at a community landfill run by US recycling firm Waste, while the rest is sourced from wind farms run by TXU Energy.

“We’re very pleased that our Austin Community Landfill’s gas-to-energy project will play a key role in Dell’s commitment to using renewable energy. This project is part of our company’s environmental initiative to increase the production of waste-based energy.

"Today, we create enough energy for the equivalent of one million homes each year and by 2020 we expect to double that output, producing enough energy for the equivalent of more than two million homes," said David Steiner, chief executive officer of Waste Management Inc.

This green conversion is expected to give Dell almost $2bn in annual savings on operating costs, while cutting CO2 equivalent emissions by nearly 12,000 tonnes a year.

Dell has always been at the forefront in pushing the green envelope: in February of this year it became the first ever computer company to join the not-for-profit Climate Group, vowing carbon neutrality for its company facilities, manufacturing operations and business-related air travel.

Source:siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single10734
Read more!

Computer Switch-off Software Makes IT Greener

A SCOTTISH company has designed software that automatically turns off work computers after hours, which it claims could lead to a reduction in carbon emissions equivalent to taking two million cars off UK roads.

Several million office workers in the UK leave their computers on overnight, emitting enormous levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Carbon Control Software (CCS), a new Aberdeen-based company, will launch the program in May, alongside a social networking site called Carbon Earth which automatically uploads information on how much a company has cut its carbon emissions and provides at-a-glance view of which businesses are the most green.

They will give the software away for free to home users and charge businesses £5 per computer, with the promise that £25 would be saved on every machine.

John Gillies, joint chief executive of CCS, said that his software would cut the environmental impact of all businesses that use IT. The sector is estimated to emit around one billion tonnes of CO2 a year - between 2 to 4% of global emissions. This is more than aviation and the military combined.

He said: "Employees think that there is no real consequence to leaving your computer on but it's a substantial waste of energy."

The software works by simply cutting power to computers and then producing data centrally on how much energy is saved in order to calculate the difference in carbon emissions.

There are already programs that do similar things but Gillies claimed that his company's product was the only one specifically designed with carbon cuts in mind.

CCS has already had interest from investors. The software is currently being tested by companies such as oil drilling giant VetcoGray, which is owned by General Electric, and Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.

Patrick Harvie, leader of the Scottish Greens, said that innovative ways of combating global emissions were the only way to avoid "stark changes to our lifestyles".

There have already been attempts by environmentalists and government to persuade people to switch their computers off after work, but most have fallen on deaf ears.

John Stocks, manager of Carbon Trust Scotland, said that using automatic software was "one avenue to go down" and warned: "IT uses a tremendous amount of energy and it is very important that all computers are switched off when they are not needed, such as overnight.

Source:sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.2174800.0.computer_switchoff_software_makes_it_greener.php
Read more!

Computer Reuse/Recycling Event on 19 April 2008

A computer reuse/recycling event has been added to the Clermont 20/20 Clean and Green Spring Litter Pickup Saturday, April 19.

"This is a great opportunity for any Clermont County resident or business to drop off a computer free of charge that they are no longer using. When possible, used computers are refurbished, the hard drives are erased and software is reloaded. These computers then end up in schools, churches, not-for-profit organizations and families that ordinarily could not afford a computer. Computers that cannot be refurbished and reused are completely recycled and the hard drives crushed. Reusing or recycling computers prevents thousands of pounds of toxic electronic waste from going into our local landfills," said Becky Ploucha, director of the Clermont 20/20 Clean and Green Program.

Walt Fischer of Cincinnati Computer Cooperative said, "Last year, 20 percent of donated equipment was sold to schools, nonprofits, students and families for under $100 per computer. As a sponsor of 'Crayons to Computers' complete computer systems are given to that organization."

This event is organized by the Clermont 20/20 Clean and Green Program and the Cincinnati Computer Cooperative. Both organizations would like to thank the Miami Township elected officials and administration for hosting this event.

Computers can be dropped off between 9 a.m. and noon Saturday, April 19, at the Miami Township Service Department, 5900 McPicken Drive, Enter off of Meijer Drive, next to the Dairy Queen.

Contact Ploucha at cleanandgreen@clermont2020.org or 753-9222 for additional information.

Source:news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/NEWS01/804030481/1078/RSS10
Read more!

Apple Introduces Free Recycling For Any Brand

Apple continues to do penance for its eco-sins with the launch of a new recycling scheme that will accept not only its own products, but those of rival PC brands as well. That's right; in the name of greenness, the age-old rift is no more.

How will this work? Apple is offering free recycling on items such as CPUs, iPods and mobile phones, both in-store and online; a freepost label is generated when the user fills out their details. Apple will pay for the shipping, with the one proviso that those taking advantage of the service must have already bought an Apple computer. Details on how to recycle your computer equipment are on Apple's.

How to recycle your computer equipment, get information from here
http://www.apple.com/environment/recycling/program/index.html

Source:hippyshopper.com
Read more!

Go Green: Power Your PC With Just 9 Watts

In the future, we'll all work on tower-free workstations, hooked up to IT Support's central server like dribbling, brain-dead human fuel cells from 'The Matrix'. And, like the second and third installments of that trilogy, it will be rubbish.

With no opportunity to fill our hard drives with jpegs, music files and 'hilarious' video, and with the all-seeing eye of the fat controllers able to daily comb through our 'PCs', we'll have no alternative but to work. Hard. All the live-long day.

Nonetheless, there are upsides to this loss of computing freedom and identity.

The absence of PC towers may mean that you have nowhere to display your collection of stuffed toys and commemorative ashtrays, but it will also reduce the temperature in your office. And Mother Earth will be grateful too. Today's average dual-core office PC only rarely uses more than a small percentage of its capabilities, but it still destroys a patch of ozone layer the size of Watford every time you power up. (And getting rid of all that computer-generated heat with air-conditioning soon sees off the rest of the home counties.)

The solution, it seems, lies in products such as the VeryPC GreenHive system, which the Sheffield PC manufacturer claims is the least power-hungry workstation (your bosses') money can buy.

In essence the GreenHive is a single, powerful but low-energy PC, from which a (provided) network cable connects up to seven further workstations. Each workstation consists only of a screen, a keyboard and a mouse, plus a cigarette-packet sized adaptor that VeryPC provides. (This adaptor is known as the 'client box', which brought to my mind a packing case full of besuited men with expense accounts.) The Client Box connects GreenHive, keyboard, mouse and screen, and you're away.

Despite the fact that the GreenHive houses only a dual-core processor, VeryPC reckons that it is perfectly capable of fulfilling the (work) needs of office workers, call-centre cannon fodder and pupils in a classroom (so long as they're not the sixth form computer science class at the Crysis Tester's Technology College). And each 'PC' requires only 9W of power to run.

That's right, 9 piffling Watts.

To put that into context, yer average modern PC requires about 72W to run, and if your system is more than three years old it's probably chowing down on a massive 216W of juice even as you read this.

So even if you're not Bono, Arnie or Swampy (remember him?), you'll save so much green on power bills that you'll be able to afford to go green. Especially when you factor in the initial outlay. Getting a GreenHive for an office of eight will cost around three grand, according to VeryPC. Far less than buying eight desktops and a separate server - and there's less work for tech support to do.

For resource reasons the GreenHive runs only on XP Pro (which doesn't seem to be an unpopular choice) and an AMD chip (no comment). It comes with only a 250GB hard drive, which isn't a huge amount for eight users. But VeryPC says there is plenty of space inside to boost the storage, you get a free online backup service and the GreenHive is designed to exist on a larger network, so what do the workers need local storage for anyway?

Source:pcadvisor.co.uk/blogs/index.cfm?blogid=4&entryid=1773
Read more!

10 Eco-Friendly Solutions to Go Green

There are endless ways to create a greener workplace from using recycled products to installing doubled-paned windows for better insulation. The best way to start is by taking small steps. Here are a few ideas you can work with.

1. Green up your commute:- Since your workday begins when you arrive, let's start with how you get there. The best-case scenario is to telecommute by working from home. Today's technology--e.g., video conferencing, instant messaging and online seminars--has made this a reality. However, if your office can't be home based and walking or biking is not an option, consider carpooling with two to three other like-minded people or using public transportation.

2. Go digital:- The greenest paper is no paper, and one of the most effective ways to be more eco-friendly in your office is to reduce paper waste. Switch from a fax machine to a fax modem to send and receive paperless documents. Use electronic forms whenever possible, and e-mail letters and documents to be read online rather than printed out. Have staff members take their laptops to team meetings so they aren't printing reams of reports.

3. Read the green print:- When printing is unavoidable, use the draft mode on your printer and make double-sided printing your default. The same rules apply to your copier as well. You should also use 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper. Glenn Croston, author of 75 Green Businesses You Can Start to Make Money and Make a Difference, also recommends using software to avoid printing excess blank pages and converting documents to PDF files for paperless document sharing.

4. Green your PC:- Since we're talking about using computers to their maximum potential, we also need to discuss how to make them more efficient and environmentally friendly. Start by putting computers on "standby" or in "hibernation" mode when they haven't been accessed for more than 10 minutes; turn them completely off when you're finished working for the day. When it's time to replace older desktop computers, switch to a laptop for more efficiency. Not only are they more portable, but they use 80 percent less energy. And when upgrading, take advantage of take-back programs for people who want to recycle their old computers.

5. Can you see the light? Daylight is the best natural resource. However, natural lighting is not always adequate, and energy-efficient light bulbs such as compact fluorescent bulbs or LEDs should replace incandescent lighting for cost and energy savings. Just be sure to turn off the lights when leaving the room. Croston recommends installing occupancy sensors or timers on lights so they automatically turn off when no one is around.

6. Get real. Plants that is. A silk tree may be easier to take care of, but a real one adds natural beauty to your surroundings while improving the quality of indoor air. This can be especially important if you work in a newer building that is tightly sealed to conserve energy. Older buildings and homes may also feature materials that produce harmful pollutants from synthetic carpeting and fabrics, plastic coated wallpaper or laminated countertops. One of the best natural defenses against these contaminants is to make liberal use of live houseplants.

7. Take a break. And when you do, toss the plastic wear and foam cups. Encourage your employees to bring lunch from home in reusable containers or frequent restaurants that have green carryout initiatives like Chipotle. Provide washable china and utensils in your lunchroom, or encourage staffers to bring their own. This would also be an excellent time to get some coffee mugs with your company logo on them for visitors and employees to use.

8. Perk up. Speaking of coffee, use fair-trade certified, shade-grown coffee in reusable coffee filters. Not only is organic coffee better for you, but the shade-grown beans helps to protect biodiversity of the fragile ecosystems in the countries that grow it, while the reusable filters cut down on waste. Croston also cautions against using nondairy creamers in coffee because they are loaded with hydrogenated oils and other unhealthy products.

9. Use green marketing tools. Promote your eco-friendly habits in your marketing materials, both internally and externally. "Let your customers, suppliers, and employees know that you are taking active steps to protect and preserve the environment," says business writer Jacquelyn Lynn. "It will build loyalty and enhance your company's image." This can be done in a number of ways, but one of the simplest is to add a green tag line to e-mails that [says] something like: "Please think green before printing this e-mail" or "Bio-based for a healthier environment."

10. Don't just think green; wear it. Another change you can personally make is to have a green wardrobe. Purchase clothing with organic fibers such as cotton, silk, wool or hemp, or fabric made from recycled materials. Who knew plastic soda bottles could look so good? Try to avoid clothing that requires dry cleaning, but if it does, look for a green dry cleaner that uses a carcinogen-free process. Another recyclable fashion alternative is to "go vintage" by visiting secondhand and thrift shops.

Source:msnbc.msn.com/id/23844380/
Read more!