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Computer
10 ways to Green Your Computer
Though the computer is super-eco friendly as a paper-saver, it can gobble up a lot of energy unnecessarily. It also contains toxic materials that need to be disposed of wisely.
Adjust computer power settings to save energy
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Computers still use up a lot of energy when they're in standby mode. You can reduce energy use up to 80 percent by adjusting the power management feature.
Upgrade your computer
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By updating components including software on your computer you save money and prevent the release of toxic pollutants into the environment, through disposal.
Buy a laptop instead of a desktop
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They're now comparable in price to a desktop and use about half the energy.
Donate your old computer to charity
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Even if it's too "old" for your needs, it's brand new for someone else!
Recycle your computer
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The heavy metals and chemicals in computers pose serious threats to human health and ecosystems when dumped in landfills.
Choose an ENERGY STAR computer
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ENERGY STAR qualified computers can use up to 70 percent less energy than other models, cutting your greenhouse gas emissions and saving you money, too.
Buy an EPEAT computer
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Get a medal-worthy, eco-friendly laptop or desktop the next time you're in the market. EPEAT computers are made more eco-friendly from start to finish.
Install a power strip
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Don't let vampire energy suck power from your computer when it's turned off. Hook it up to power strips, hit the off switch, and stop the current.
Power mobile devices with a hand crank or solar charger
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Using a renewable power source to charge your laptop will cut down on carbon emissions from fossil-fuel generated energy.
Use green web products and applications
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From widgets and gadgets to plug-ins and add-ons, there are greener web products emerging across the web to help you go green or spread green.
Comments
1:57pm
hm. tip #10 could be inclusive of green web products, not just search engines. for example, the browser Flock released an eco edition offering a bunch of cool green features: http://browser.flock.com/eco/
7:51am
You can use less computers by using 25x faster software, see TrustLeap G-WAN:
http://gwan.com/
-and wonder why not all software is made to be efficient.
9:22pm
No mention of using Linux. Donations of hardware usually end up in the trash at thrift stores.
Windows can create an artificial need to throw out a perfectly good computer. If you are lucky enough to be near a Free Geek location; they can give a tax deduction & make sure it is used/recycled properly.
If you are in Northern California you have a few places to take it. Our donations help people locally. Our older hardware we send to Belize & the Philippines. Computers can have many YEARS of great service if you run Ubuntu Linux.
http://gidgetkitchen.org/
9:44am
Windows perpetuates a cycle of 'upgrade and dispose'. To keep up with Microsoft you have to upgrade every 5 years.
Our charity also uses Linux to make use of perfectly good older hardware that can no longer run the latest Microsoft OS.
The great thing with Linux is the ability to use custom distributions such as Qimo for a computer geared towards children: http://www.qimo4kids.com
You can't do that with Microsoft!
Computers for Charity is based in Bowling Green, Ohio. Our website is: http://computersforcharity.webs.com/
11:53am
What happened to the tip about using blackle? I know it got reviewed somewhere...
9:48am
Check out my Blog for more tips on Green Computing. http://computersforcharity.blogspot.com/2009/07/just-owning-green-techology-dosent-make.html
3:06pm
This is really interesting. A lot of computer manfacturers, hosts, and so on are now concentrating on green energy.. which I think is really nice since it makes our planet "greener"
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