Ten of the Most Fascinating Forces Pushing the Computer Industry Towards Going Green!!

If you are like me, my laptop -and my desktop computer and printer -are integral pieces of my middle class way of living here in the USA. I use these appurtenances of electronic–based hardware daily for business and personal communication and for purchasing transactions. Moreover, I am conscious of my monitor’s automatic screensaver that activates a virus scan when it’s not in use. What I was not aware of though – are the social, economic, and environmental changes that are pushing the computer industry towards “green computing”. Summarized below then, are ten of some of the most interesting forces behind this push to revolutionize the technological designs, manufacturing processes, and general use and disposal of our nifty computer systems and components.

1- World Population Growth – Today’s world population is 7 billion. Projected World population is expected to be 9.2 billion by 2050. Thus the demand for computer products is expected to grow
dramatically.
2- Hazardous Landfill Growth – Computers are difficult to recycle. Much of what’s inside computers is toxic such as non-degradable amounts of lead, cadmium, brominated fired retardants, PVC’s, and other plastics made of crude oil products.
3- Precious Metals Scarcity – Rare earth metals are crucial in advanced manufacturing of computer disk drives. Right now, China produces some 97% of the world’s supply of rare earth metals.
4- Electrical-Powered Inefficiencies – $250 billion is spent globally each year powering computers – 85% of that energy is wasted idling. Also, newer computers are more “electricity-hungry” – The electricity consumption for high-performance desktop computers with gaming processors and graphic cards are the most energy-guzzling appliances in homes.
5- Shorter Computer Life Cycle – The sophistication of today’s marketing for the newest, latest models affects consumer behavior – people are now changing their computers more often than they did a few years ago making the life expectancy of the average computer much shorter.
6- Government Legislation – European Union Legislation was passed in 2005 nicknamed the ‘Ecodesign Directive’ – for establishing a framework of ecodesign requirements – the main objective of which is “to bring about improvements in the environmental performance of energy-related products throughout their life cycle from mining of the raw material through to recycling at end-of-life.”
7- Int’l Standards Growth – The internationally recognized ‘Energy Star’ Logo for rating energy efficient consumer products was originally conceived as a voluntary labeling program in the early 1990’s by the United States Environmental Protection Agency – but now, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan and the European Union have also adopted this standard and Sweden has expanded the standard to include ergonomics.
8- Alternative-Energy Sources Growth – VIA Technologies, a Taiwanese company, is aiming to offer the world’s first certified carbon free personal computer products. In partnership with Motech – a solar cell manufacturing industry leader located in China – part of VIA’s Green Computing Initiative is developing alternative solar panel-powered computers for multiple applications from remote locations to urban centers.
9- Global Warming – (Known also as Anthropogenic Climate Change) – Average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit around the world since 1880 according to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. And the rate of warming is increasing. The 20th century’s last two decades were the hottest in 400 years. The Arctic ice is rapidly disappearing and the region may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040. Glaciers and mountain snows are rapidly melting. Glacier National Park has 27 glaciers compared to 150 in 1910. Coral reefs are dying off in record numbers with some areas seeing bleach rates of 70%. Lastly, there is an upsurge in the amount of extreme weather events – wildfires, heat waves and strong tropical storms. Causes – greater concentrations of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are pouring into the atmosphere – commonly referred to as greenhouse gases. These gases help to trap heat near the Earth’s surface due in part to industrialization, deforestation, and pollution.
10- Green News Growth – The overwhelming majority of Americans (92%) use multiple platforms (online and offline sources) to get news on a typical day – including national TV, local TV, the internet, local newspapers, national newspapers, their cell phones, and the radio. Most use four to six platforms daily. But nowhere is the expansiveness of the green news landscape more evident than on the internet where one can find hundreds of eco-friendly websites, blogs, and businesses including industry news leaders, Huffington Post, Treehugger.com, Greenbiz.com and Green.alltop.com which highlights the top green news and headlines across the web.

Perhaps because of all these factors, there has been a tremendous growth in awareness by personal computer users like myself to use recycling centers for their old computers and ink cartridges. So next time you are on the web, check out earth911.com and ecosquid.com to decide whether you want to resell, recycle, or donate your old computer products. Welcome to the world of ecycling!