Green computing

Green Computing is the design of technological and computing products that reduce the use of hazardous substances and radiation. The focuses are similar to those of green chemistry; reduction of the use of hazardous materials such as lead at the manufacturing stage, maximized energy efficiency during the product s term of use, and recycling or biodegradable of both a defunct product and of any factory waste.

In among consumer electronics.

The European Union s directives 2002/95/EC (RoHS), on the reduction of hazardous substances, and 2002/96/EC (WEEE) on waste electrical and electronic equipment required the substitution of heavy metals and flame retardants like PBBs and PBDEs in all electronic equipment put on the market starting 1 July 2006. The directives placed responsibility on manufacturers for the gathering and recycling of old equipment.

Suggestions for better power economy and paper consumption:

make use of automatic power management, that will turn off the disk, or monitor, or quickly dump the memory state to enable a power-down of the entire machine (hibernation), if the system is idle.

only power on peripherals (monitor, printer, speakers) when needed.

reduce the monitor s brightness, by adjusting the settings and choosing dark desktop wallpapers.

review documents and emails on-screen; print as little as possible.

share printers using the network, and use recycled-content paper.

reduce the use of paper communication, such as fax and memo.

=See also=

For similar initiatives in other fields, see:

Green chemistry

Green_building

=External links=

[http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/waste/weee_index.htm the European RoHS-WEEE directive]

[http://wings.buffalo.edu/ubgreen/content/programs/energyconservation/guide_computing.html University at Buffalo s guide to Green Computing]