Going Green

Going green is a massive movement toward being as environmentally conscience as possible. From recycling and using more environmentally friendly products to eating organic produce, green living has made its way into nearly every sphere of life. Is it any surprise that green living has made its way into the tech world?  Green computing is all about the proper disposal of tech and computer waste with the least amount of impact on the environment. Companies, businesses and enterprises have begun to jump on board, realizing that while they can save money with energy reduction, they can also reduce the carbon imprint of their IT operations.

Some of the key points of green computing include the following:

• Get an energy-star computer
• Use a surge protector with a master control outlet. The master outlet can sense when your computer is in sleep mode or shut off and it will shut down the controlled outlets. This saves energy and as a result will also save money.
• Plan to do a large amount of work/activities on your computer at one time. Over time, this will decrease the amount of energy used.
• Use the sleep and hibernate modes on your computer. They reduce energy use by about 60%-70%.
• Shut your computer off at night. Not only will turning off your computer reduce energy usage, it will also cool the processors down. Ideally a computer should only be on for about 8 hours a day.
• Recycle your equipment when you're done with it. Give it to schools, charities, etc, or you can take it to places where people are trained to recycle the equipment in a safe and proper manner. In Portland, Free Geek is a good place to do this.

Interested in learning more? Check out Green IT's site.