Green IT Is Beyond Hugging A Tree!
Technology has become an indispensable part of contemporary business and social interactions. With the increasing demand for smart devices, laptops and electronic gadgets, there’s need to adopt Green IT practices i.e the use of effective and environmental friendly IT products which invariably impacts on eco friendly energy usage. This implies that green technology initiatives should be adopted more than ever before to:
-Reduce Waste.
Businesses use more stationeries: paper, printer toners, electronic gadgets etc. Interestingly, an average office worker uses at least 180 pounds of paper according to Info Trends and if your active small business uses HP Laser Printer, you’re definitely going to consume more toner every three weeks to one month. Also, more than 84% of gadget wastes are disposed than recycled every year.
However, policies can influence compliance and regulatory practices of IT manufacturers and consumers alike especially corporate social responsible initiatives of IT organisations. For example Apple accepts old phones and gadget paraphernalia for recycling, Dell encourages its customers to donate unwanted Dell products, as well as manufacture refillable ink cartridges like Dell 2335dn Multi-Function Laser Printer. Dell also uses renewable bamboo as packaging for its Inspiron Mini 10 and 10v netbooks, while IBM encourages buyback quotes for the value of 1 to 250 items.
-Promote Efficient Use of Renewable Energy.
In this contemporary times, power is needed consistently to operate IT infrastructure, devices and services. This also translates to using cleaner and cheaper energy alternatives. For instance, Google created wind turbine technology to serve its energy needs and have gone ahead to partner with Kenya and Mauritius. The use of solar energy is also fast becoming more available for home use. This augurs well for a country like Nigeria, because no one has claim to the wind or sun, no need to factor in derivative allocation when budgeting for a fiscal year, no wind or solar spills! More importantly, our commitment to cut down greenhouse emission will contribute to the climate change migration, energy security and economic development contemplated by the Paris Agreement.
-Encourage Innovative Communication Systems & Data Storage Services.
Agreeably the need to become IT compliant takes its toll on our finances as business and social interactions requires more data usage in virtual/online spaces. It’s therefore important to create more innovative techie tools and social network applications that require less data consumption for communicating compared to the available video conferencing apps like Zoom, Duo, Whatsapp and Skype. Recently a more improved SMS/MMS software known as “Rich Communication Services” was created for android devices, supporting features like messaging apps including group chat, high resolution images & video sharing and all contact integration. IT companies like Verizon, Lee O’ Carroll will begin supporting RCS pre-installation on mobile phones from early 2019. It also promises efficiency in cloud based services.
-Create Eco-Friendly Products.
Organisations and research institutions should also carry out more research on Green Chemistry, an aspect of nanotechnology to reduce/eliminate the use of hazardous material in IT manufacturing/production process.
There’s indeed more to the phrase “hug a tree” in this techie world you and I live in.