50 Clean-Tech Tips and Going Green Facts
- Selling refurbished PCs is now a $6 billion-a-year business.
- The "phantom load" (electricity consumed by "switched-off" appliances like TVs, radios, microwaves, etc) can add $200 a year to your bill.
- Switched-off devices account for 40% of the energy consumed by electronics in an average home.
- The U.S. government could save $330 million over a 4 year period if its data centers complied with Energy Star Version 4.0
- Extra heat generated by computers means more heat in the office, which translates to more use of air conditioning.
- Companies that sign for the WWF's Climate Savers Computing Initiative could reduce CO2 pollution by 10 million tons annually by 2010.
- At the 2008 CES, Fujitsu showed a laptop PC whose outside plastic shell is 50% vegetable-based polymer alloy.
- Creation of a desktop PC usually requires ten times the PC's weight in fossil fuels and chemicals, most of them toxic.
- 15 billion batteries are made and sold across the globe every year.
- If you're not sure where to donate out-of-use electronics, Recycles.org can match you up with nonprofit agencies that use old equipment.
- By 2011, more than 400 million PCs will have been purchased as replacements for current home and office computers.
- Typical U.S. cell phone users replace their phones every year and a half.
- 130 million cell phones each year go into retirement.
- Recycling 100 million phones would recover 3.4 metric tons of gold - gold that would not have to be mined.
- PCs contain gold too: 1.2 tons of PC scrap electronics has more than can be extracted from 17 tons of gold ore.
- Only 15% of Americans are aware that local recyclers will take old electronics and computers.
- Each year, the world generates 20 million to 50 million metric tons of e-waste.
- E-waste makes up 2% of solid waste in the U.S. and is the fastest-growing segment of U.S. garbage.
- Flaws in Windows XP's sleep mode and Microsoft's choice of "High Performance" as the default performance option may have added $5 billion to power bills annually worldwide.
- NASA, the Department of Defense, and the General Services Administration are all now committed to buying only EPEAT-certified computers.
- Manufacturing 1 desktop and 1 monitor requires 530lbs of fossil fuel, 58lbs of chemicals, and 1.5 tons of water.
- 12% (25 million) of Americans would pay extra for greener electronics. On the other hand, 41% (90 million) are not willing to pay extra.
- Wii is the power-saving leader of game consoles, consuming only 18.4 watts. Compare the hogs: Xbox (186W), PS3 (199W), and a PC (209W at peak usage).
- While old CRT monitors use more energy to show white than black, LCDs spend slightly more energy to show black than white.
- Don't recycle, Freecycle. There are 4,226 Freecycle.org online groups helping more than 4 million users give away "junk" to others who can use it.
- The average office drone uses up 10,000 sheets of paper - about a whole tree's worth of wood pulp per year.
- 2.05 million tons of electronics were put out as garbage in the U.S. in 2005. Only about 18% of that was recycled.
- The U.S scraps about 400 million pieces of consumer electronics equipment, e-waste per year. It's the fastest-growing waste stream.
- If you buy a new system, Apple and Dell will recycle your old computer, regardless of manufacturer.
- Search EPEAT.net's Product Registry to find computers and monitors that are certified green.
- There's 4 to 8lbs of toxic lead in all CRT TVs and monitors. Flat-panels have less lead, but more mercury.
- It's estimated that as much as 80% of U.S. e-waste is shipped overseas or to Mexico to be dismantled in unsafe working conditions.
- As much as 50% of the power most desktop computers use is wasted as heat jettisoned by fans on the power supply.
- A survey by Staples in November 2007 indicated that only 23% of U.S. residents recycle electronics.
- Between 2000 and 2007, as many as 500 million computers became obsolete.
- To create just 1 kilogram of consumer goods, manufacturers on average create 5 kilograms of waste.
- Shopping for a new HDTV? Plasma TVs consume far more energy than LCDs and they waste it as heat energy.
- Shopping for a surge protector? Buy one of reasonable capacity. The bigger it is the more energy it consumes.
- Bamboo is the most sustainable of all materials. Look for laptops encased in it, such as the ASUS Ecobook.
- By 2001, e-waste already accounted for 70% of the heavy metals and 40% of the lead in U.S. landfills.
- Some LCDs are built using plastic rather than glass, which is far easier to recycle.
- If all commuters worked from home just 1 day a week, we could save 5.85 billion gallons of oil each year.
- If you listen to your CD player 2 hours a day, you can save $200 a year by switching to rechargeable batteries.
- The energy saved by recycling 1 plastic bottle will power a computer for 25 minutes.
- Take an HP, Lexmark, or Dell printer cartridge to Staples for recycling and you will get a $3 coupon for ink or toner.
- Energy Star 4.0 is quite stringent, demanding highly efficient power supplies and very-low-power idle modes.
- Unplug! Each year in the U.S., electronic devices that are turned off but not unplugged use electricity worth $3 billion.
- Blog, it eliminates the need for paper, thus saving a tree.
- Or better yet, turn off your laptop or PC and go outside. If we are going to having global warming, you might as well enjoy the warm weather it brings.
- Last but not least, paint your laptop and/or PC green. It will trick the components inside into running at a more energy efficient level. Ok, fine, this last one is a lie. But using a green colored computer will make you look hip to all those that have jumped aboard the "going green" bandwagon.
Now go hug a tree. It's Earth Day!
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