Ecological computing

[imported_roland]

I need to select a new crop of desktop and laptop computers. In the past we have selected them by experience and value. We have been hit by the cost of recycling old computers but I am thinking: "Should I be selecting computers according to their environmental impact?". Should I purchase computers made near me (ie in Europe) rather than from the Far East because of the impact of shipping? Does anyone produce environmentally friendly computers? Can I select computers because of their low power consumption? Does anyone produce computers which are designed for recycling? I can select nappies and paper according to the environmental impact and plenty of people promote their products because of this (haven't we noticed the Ecover brand?) but its not so easy when it comes to computers.

Anyone tried this before? Anyone got any suggestions? What would you buy?

 

[arcenite]

There is no such thing as an environment friendly computer. Atleast in terms of recycling. I hear they are coming out with a lead-free solder, but also heard it doesn't work nearly as well...

 

[Luckyboy1]

To begin with, thank you for understanding that making computer parts produces toxic waste that breaks down even slower than nucelar waste and IS very, very toxic! :beer:

If you are going to be replacing computers, what happens to the old computers is as important as what you buy. You should send them to a recycling facility and MAKE SURE it is a place that will actually recycle the parts and not just accept them! There is a difference between the two!

I believe replacing tube type CRT's with LCD types is a good envirnmental tradeoff. The LCD types use much less power and as we all know, producing power is problematic from an envirnmental standpoint. You want to make sure the LCD types you buy don't suffer from too much pixel burnout over time. If they have to be replaced every few years due to pixel burnout, then it is NOT a good tradeoff. CRT's have the tube which is glass and we all know glass is very stable and inert. It is lined with reactive chemicals that are toxic. Put it in a standard landfill and the tube gets crushed releasing the time bomb. Make sure they get recycled correctly.

Buying PC's for business that have onboard sound of good quality and onboard graphics is usually good enough by far for most business applications. Also, the power transfer efficiency of the power supplies used is important. Over time, the more efficient power supplies will more than pay for themselves in power savings while being more environmentally friendly.

Get at least a Gig of RAM for all PC's. It will pay for itself in greater productivity and then you won't be as prone to having to upgrade RAM, which may result in more orphaned parts. Within reason, get CPU's for the PC that exceed your current needs and attend to cooling issues on the cases and make sure power supplies are robust and more than big enough to extend the life of components.

By the way, what fine Company cares enough to ask this question?

 

[Luckyboy1]

And by the way, the U.S. producers of components and electronics in general have to adhere to the strictest of worldwide environmental specs. Some Western European States come in second and then unfortunately, for the most part, the rest of the world just dumps like there's not only no tomorrow, but not even an afternoon today!:disgust:

 

[imported_roland]

We've already been replacing CRTs with LCD monitors. Apart from the saving to the health of the user we save enough power in two years to pay for the LCD and over the expected life make substantial savings. We also save on desk real estate!

We do already recycle the machines which are deemed to old for normal use. We have four different phases of recycling: 1. We use the machines for less critical issues (like using old desktop pcs for legacy servers, various components for sound streaming and so forth; 2. We reuse components ourselves as often components in our older computers can be purchases so canibalisation is a good idea; 3. We donate them to reuse experts and they generally get shipped to Africa or Eastern Europe (although they have become really fussy recently and generally want high end machines); and 4. we send them for recycling and disposal - we get certificates back telling us what parts have been reclaimed and what had to be disposed. CRTs are bad news in phase 3 and 4.

We also acknowledge that power consumption and productivity are factored by age - we try to recycle our machines regularly and sensibly. An old machine is a slow machine requiring more power to do the job and doing more harm to the users and the environment. Lead, btw, is fine. PCBs aren't. Nor is Chlorine.

Someone must be thinking about designing computers for the environment. NEC had a eco friendly machine a few years ago but now nothing. Apple used to make machines that lasted but they were expensive due to much better components. Now their machines last no longer than anyone else's because they are made of the same components. And anyway, everyone makes their machines in the far East. Is someone going to be up for the challenge.

What kind of company? A company established over 200 years ago, with 1,000 people in Europe, North America and Australasia that is in the fine art and collecable's industry and whose CIO (ie me) is an eco warrior.