If you're one of the millions trying to live an eco-conscious life, you might be changing your light bulbs to energy saving, you can walk to work, but what are you doing about reducing your carbon footprint when on your PC and electronics and all the related daily activity you do around it?Here are some suggestions on how to become more IT eco-friendly with the use of technology these days. We only live once, lets make the best of it.
Here are various ways you can contribute:
Hosting on "greener pastures"
If you are looking for a hosting environment for that new website of yours, you might want to look into a eco-friendly environment. HostPapa is one example, they use a 100% renewable energy green web hosting environment for their data centers.
HostPapa has taken the initiative of going green by purchasing 100% green renewable energy to power their data center, web servers, office computers, laptops and office space. These energy sources supply HostPapa's entire equivalent energy consumption into the power-grid with certified 100% renewable green energy sources, such as wind and solar-powered energy.
Use Energy Star Certified PC Hardware
Newer PC hardware in most cases uses less energy, and there’s a good chance it will also come
with energy-management tools that shut off the power automatically after lengthy idle periods. Many computer components and electronics from a motherboard to an external hardrive have the Energy Star Logo on it. These green friendly products help fight global warming by meeting strict energy-efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency all without sacrificing quality or performance. So, just look for this logo to save energy, money, and the environment the next time you shop for green electronics.
However there are other technologies like AMD's chip maker's PowerNow! which optimizes battery life and provides performance on demand when required by an application. PowerNow! also allows the AMD CPU to dissipate less heat under normal operating conditions, providing a cooler and quieter-running notebook.
Here are a list of the latest popular hardware you can get that are energy saving compliant:
Laptops examples
- HP Pavilion DV6785SE 15.4" Entertainment Laptop (Core 2 Duo)
- All the new Apple Laptops for example are Energy Star Qualified, the Apple MacBook MB403LL/A 13.3" Laptop 2.4 GHz (Core 2 Duo)
is the bestseller of the bunch.- Sony VAIO VGN-FW139E/H 16.4"(2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo 3 GB RAM, 250 GB Laptop
- Asus Eee PC (with Solid State Hardrive)
Note:
If you looking for the energy-efficient hard drivesthe new Toshiba hard disk drives is something
to look at. Among the list of models announced is the new 400GB 2.5-inch MK4058GSX HDD. Designed for notebooks and laptops, this HDD uses only two platters which apparently display the highest density data among all Toshiba HDDs. The MK4058GSX's operation is almost inaudible and it even uses 20 percent less energy than what the current 320GB MK3252GSX HDD model does.Here are some LCD Monitors that are worthy of a look at:
Did you know a 42-inch plasma TV could consume more power than a large fridge? To put it into perspective with other TV technologies; a 28-inch CRT TV consumes 100W, a 42-inch LCD consumes twice that amount, while a plasma could use as much as five times that consumption. In short, if you really have to get a TV set, it would be best to go for LCD TVs, although it's obviously the wisest choice to continue using your old CRT TVs if they still work. If you want you want to make sure of what you're buying, wait until November 2008 when Energy Star starts rating energy efficient TVs.
- Acer AL2216Wbd 22" LCD Monitor
- HP W2207H 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor
- Samsung SyncMaster 920NW 19" LCD Monitor
Printers
- Canon Pixma MP610 Photo All-On-One Inkjet Printer
- Brother HL-2170w 23ppm Laser Printer with Wireless
- Epson Stylus Photo 1400 Photo Printer
If your curious on your enery consumption today for ordinary electronics
Calculate Your Energy Consumption
Use the Energy Calculator to see what your electronics' use means for your wallet by the minute, day, month and year.