Green IT

There has been a lot written recently about IT and how much energy it uses. Of course, there is also a good deal of discussion about what IT leaders can do to lessen the use of energy. The problem with most of the articles, and the advice dispensed, is that it is written from the perspective of a fairly large organization with a substantial IT department. That does not generally work well for smaller organizations, especially those with substantial restrictions on how they spend money, as is common in non-profits.

Does that mean that we in the non-profit sector can do nothing? Fortunately, the answer is NO. We may not be able to make large, bold, even newsworthy moves, but we can do smaller things that can make a difference. Yes, no one thing is going to be a huge deal. But small things add up.

The first thing I always suggest is to buy energy efficient equipment. The easiest way to make sure that you are doing that is to buy equipment that has the highest "epeat" rating. (Epeat is a program that rates the energy efficiency of electronic equipment.) The cost of highly rated equipment is rarely much higher than good quality non- epeat rated equipment, and if you pay for your own electricity, you are likely to recoup the minimal difference that way, especially if you are keeping equipment for a long time.

This leads to a second, not intuitively obvious, step you can take. Buy good quality equipment. A good computer doesn't generate more waste than a cheap piece of junk - but you will put less into the landfill, because you are not putting so many computers into the trash. And less energy is used, and waste generated in the production of equipment because you are buying fewer computers. It's much like the advantage of re-usable items vs disposable.

One more idea is to give a serious look at duplexing. It doesn't always make sense. But, if you are doig a substantial amount of printing that can be printed back to back, you can save on paper - and both landfill and storage. That can be well worth a modest premium.

These are far from the only things you can do to help improve the environmental impact of your IT. I'll probably post some more tips another time. And, I'd certainly be interested in hearing what other have to say.

The most important thing is to start doing something, even something small, and go from there.