GREEN COMPUTING

Green Computing

Green Computing

Green Computing reduces the environmental waste and electricity involved while using a computer. In becoming aware of the waste of materials such as paper and electricity, society has begun to take measures to counter this wasting.

One such program to counter the problem is Energy Star, developed by the United States Department of Energy and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. This program encourages manufacturers to create devices that use little or no power while not being used. These types of machines can be identified by the Energy Star label on its body. Machines such as personal computers, monitors and their printers for the most part comply with the Energy Star program.

The book Computer Learning for the New Professional written by James Holmes and Katie Mardsen, gives us helpful tips on disposing of our old equipment. The one main tip that helps to get this point across tells people not to store useless machines in basements, storage rooms, warehouses or any other location (Murugesan 2008 24-33). These devices contain harmful materials and harmful toxins such as lead, mercury and other flame retardants. They are not safe in a land fill either as they will release these things into the environment. It is recommended to recycle and refurbish this used equipment. Manufacturers can use all of this equipment to produce outdoor furniture and automotive parts as well.

Green computing or green IT, refers to environmentally sustainable computing or IT. It is "the study and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers, servers, and associated subsystems—such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and networking and communications systems—efficiently and effectively with minimal or no impact on the environment (Segan 2007 56). Green IT also strives to achieve economic viability and improved system performance and use, while abiding by our social and ethical responsibilities. Thus, green IT includes the dimensions of environmental sustainability, the economics of energy efficiency, and the total cost of ownership, which includes the cost of disposal and recycling. It is the study and practice of using computing resources efficiently (Holmes and Mardsen 2003 36-99)."

With increasing recognition that man-made greenhouse gas emissions are a major contributing factor to global warming, enterprises, governments, and society at large now have an important new agenda: tackling environmental issues and adopting environmentally sound practices. Greening our IT products, applications, services, and practices is an economic and an environmental imperative, as well as our social responsibility [2]. Therefore, a growing number of IT vendors and users are moving toward green IT and thereby assisting in building a green society and economy.

Pathways to Green Computing

To comprehensively and effectively address the environmental impacts of computing/IT, we must adopt a holistic approach and make the entire IT lifecycle greener by addressing environmental sustainability along the following four complementary paths:

Green use — reducing the energy consumption of computers and other information systems as well as using them in an environmentally sound manner

Green disposal — refurbishing and reusing old computers and properly recycling unwanted computers and other electronic equipment

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