Green Computing: Help your planet while using computers

Guest Post by Davinder from Techno Life @ tothepc.com

"Save your planet", you must have heard this many times. With so many people using computers, adopting green computing habits can for sure render help to this cause. Green computing does not involve any rocket science or use of premium software.

 green_cooling

For starters, switch off or put your computer to sleep mode when not needed. Majority of us leave computer awake while we relish dreams at night. Not right? Allow your computer to have pleasure of little sleep!

Using a small utility Amp WinOFF you can configure computer to shut down automatically. Now this should help green cause big time. You can also configure power management settings on computer to optimize power consumption of the computer.

LocalCooling is one great piece of software to provide exhaustive information about power consumption of different components on computer. Next step involves eco-friendly way of dumping old computer. Checking out recycle options provided by computer vendor is best bet.

"Free is Good" endeavor by Yahoo is nice way to get rid of techno stuff that is still in working condition. Get cool stuff free while reducing waste and helping our planet! [Photo credit MeFind under CC]

This post was published by on July 14, 2008

About the Author: Thilak Rao works as a Social Media Expert. He is one of the first professional bloggers from India, and he loves to write, travel and click photos. Follow him on Twitter @thilak

  • http://technologycurrent.com Julian @ Technology Current

    Nice, Have you heard of Cherrypal? I plan on checking it out when they are released. It is a very green cloud computer. You can learn more at http://technologycurrent.com/cherrypal-computer

  • http://www.technixupdate.com abhishek

    cool..liked it…thanks

  • http://www.gadgets4nowt.co.uk Wii

    My firm used to throw away our old PCs but they are now either giving them away to charity or for specialist recycling. Every little bit helps.

    PS – Nice to see a guest post, good work!

  • http://www.seoresults.co.za SEO Man

    The recycling of old computer hardware (and cellphones & their batteries) is something which is of major concern to me. It would be cool if the major manufacturers would offer a small rebate / trade in of old equipment when upgrading.

  • http://www.greatpriceshere.com Nicole Price

    All these are good ideas in the current energy shortage situation.

  • http://eventurebiz.com/ John Hoff – eVentureBiz

    Hello Davinder. I never leave the computer on at night, not just because of the green issue, but also I have found that friends who leave their computers on all the time end up with their computers having problems more than I do.

    Seems like there would be a connection there.

    Some other ways to go green when computing (which I do) is:
    - Try not to have to print anything. Instead, do as much as you can electronically.

    - Print on both sides of paper when you do have to print.

    - If you print something on one side but don’t need it after a day or two, put it back in the printer and print on the opposite side when you can.

    - Turn your printer and speakers off so as to not waste power.

    - Put your computer in a well lit area so you don’t need to use power to light up the room.

  • http://www.networkingblogger.com Gadgets

    thats a nice article to save planet and avoid warming.

    Nice drive, i support it :)

  • Wade Sinclair

    In our company we already made some big steps for switching to green computing.

    As a part of this we implemented scriptlogic’s desktop management tool called desktop authority.

    This tool includes very powerful power management abilities that can help in shutting down unused desktops and monitors saving thousands of dollars in energy costs.

  • http://technodorm.com Fahad

    Hi Davinder.
    Good article!
    All of us should try to do our maximum to conserve energy and make this earth a greener place. And your tips will surely help a lot of people and bring attention to this important topic!

  • http://green-flamingo.com Nathaniel

    Great points, the shutdown the computer is the one most people need to pay more attention to. I would consider adding a but more to the list.

  • http://www.netage.co.za Marketing

    Brilliant article! We’re all so dependent on technology, and on energy to drive this technology, so we tend to be wasteful without even realizing it. Opening people’s eyes and offering simple solutions to save is key to going forward into an energy efficient and sustainable future.

  • http://green-flamingo.com Nathaniel

    Those are some other really great points John! The printer problems most people don’t notice, and it is good to be in a well sunlit room or area so as not to waste the power. At night, I use energy saving bulbs, and try to keep light to a minimum. I also heard that keeping your computer on a t night can damage you, because of all the waves of the computer, and the closer it is the more affected you are. If you keep your computer in the same place as you sleep then you have one more reason to shut it down.

  • http://www.oneyearmillionaire.net One Year Millionaire

    Thats a pretty catchy pic for this post too! Green computing is the future

  • http://goatechno.blogspot.com vailancio

    I would like to join tech-buzz as blogger.I want post and be famous.My work always lies unnoticed.Currently working on goatechno.blogspot.com.
    If you are interested please contact me

  • http://watchfriends.net watch friends

    Hey thanks for making my computer eco friendly =)

  • http://www.networkingblogger.com Gadgets

    desktop authority for power management sounds good. Thanks for the info wade :)

  • http://www.flowers-org.com/ Dan

    We always should keep in mind that planet is everything for everyone and only mankind is able to save it

  • http://green-flamingo.com Nathaniel

    @ Vailancio – I think you should try a more subtle approach to people. You are spamming some people and they don’t like that. If you want to guest post then you have to ask nicer.

  • http://www.evawhite.com Eva White

    That makes so much sense. Be green and save money as well. Total win-win situation.

  • http://www.squidoo.com/Buy_Google-Massacre google massacre

    It’s time to buy google massacre! Buy it now and get a bonus!

  • http://www.gadgets4nowt.co.uk Wii

    Does anyone here watch Dragons Den on the BBC. They had a guy in looking for funding on a green PC range but he got absolutely torn apart by the questions they asked him.

  • http://www.paystolivegreen.com Pays to live green

    The best way to save energy on your computer and accessories is to shut off all of them at night and make sure to unplug them. This will ensure that no energy is used as they still use energy when plugged in.