GreenFixes

As I sit here and type this blog post on my own personal computer, I wonder: How does my personal computer use harm the environment?This got me thinking and with as much being said about the energy consumed by worldwide computer manufacturing and the new upcoming trend of greening IT in company's, I wondered what harm I was doing to the environment by using a computer on a daily, if not hourly, basis.

Whether you are an occasional online gamer or a heavy computer user for work purposes, it seems our use of computers definitely leaves a negative environmental mark. Until only recently, July 2007 to be exact, the Energy Star requirements only measured a computers energy use while in standby mode, which allowed many computer manufacturers to be able to brand their computers as green. Depending on when it was made and designed, your standard desktop PCs energy consumption ranges from between 60-300 watts when it's in use. The newer gaming PCs actually consume a ton more of energy: almost as much as 750 watts. This amount is what a normal refrigerator uses for power. Consider that the next time you go to play a game on your new PC and stop by the fridge to pick up a snack...

You can use the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) to help to set up your system more efficiently and even assist you in purchasing a greener computer. Another way to help offset your computer's energy usage is by setting it to be able to "rest" automatically when it hasn't been used for more than 15-30 minutes. On some of the newer computers, they even have options that are labeled "power saver" to lessen the amount of energy the computer is using.

Bear in mind that not all 'screen savers' are energy savers necessarily. Its worth noting that LCD monitors do not need screen savers. While PCs use a small amount of energy when started up, it's considerably less energy used than when it remains on for long periods of time. The best option of all is powering the computer down when you are not going to be using it in a prolonged amount of time. Consider also turning off the monitor if you aren't going to turn off the computer completely but are not going to use it for more than 20 minutes. You should also note that laptops use 15-45 watts less than a desktops CPU, before you take into account the monitor usage, printer, speakers, modem, router, etc. which also uses energy even while they're not in use.

So all in all, we are harming the environment by using our computers. But we can offset what we do by following the above tips. Remember, there is always a way we can offset what may be harming the environment!